Why the race will now go to the cleverest rather than swiftest

One of these days we'll see a Group 1 race run without a pacemaker again. I'm sure it will happen although I wouldn't want to say when, and to be honest it goes on so often these days that we've become almost inured to the concept and to its effect on results.

Lest we forget, there were simpler times than these. I remember the days when a pacemaker used to just make the pace, simply try and tee things up nicely for a better-fancied stablemate when connections were worried the race might be run at an unsuitable dawdle.

The pacemaker would either go off way too fast and everybody else in the race would ignore it, or it would do its job well and fade miserably two and a half furlongs from home. Mostly we'd say nothing, but from time to time we questioned the legality of the tactic.