Prescott turns up! But even he's overshadowed by 'the Viking who came in peace'

At first it seemed like a mirage, but even up close it looked very much like him. Perhaps it was too much of the Dorchester's champagne, but it was surely too early for alcoholic hallucinations.

Then came the warm handshake, the smile and the familiar sense of humility and gratitude at having been invited, and it became plain that this really was Sir Mark Prescott, out and about at a gala evening in a London hotel, with first lot a mere ten hours away and Newmarket some 70 miles in the distance.

Sir Mark Prescott with Joe Saumarez Smith and Charlie ApplebyCredit: Dan Abraham

Perhaps Kirsten Rausing had insisted he come, the way she insisted he went to Paris with her to watch Alpinista win the Arc. He'd been wrong about that one, he confessed of his attempts to wriggle out of unnecessary international travel, and he looked more or less comfortable to be at what had the makings of a glittering celebration of a remarkable year of racing. It was certainly all the more remarkable for his unexpected presence, although rumours that Elvis was also in the building proved unfounded.