Have the scales tipped in favour of a rise for Flat jockeys?

To the outsider, the contrast may seem odd. To some insiders it also appears to be a tad strange.

The Grand National and Lincoln often fall a week apart. At Aintree, a horse can be asked to carry 11st 10lb while jumping 30 fences over four and a quarter miles. At Doncaster the horse heading the weights will race over just a mile on the Flat but shoulder no more than 9st 10lb.

That two-stone difference is mirrored in the theoretical minimum weights that apply in both contests. In the Grand National no horse can be allotted less than 10st. In the Lincoln the equivalent basement point is 8st.