'It made no sense 50 years ago - it makes even less sense now'

LOGIC should prevail. It didn’t make sense when I was riding 50 years ago that you would race a horse two miles over hurdles one week and in his next week’s engagement on the Flat over seven furlongs he would not be allowed to carry more than 9st 7lb.

It makes even less sense now when the horses haven’t shrunk but the jockeys, compared to Joe Mercer, Frankie Durr and Willie Carson, are like Gulliver in Lilliput.

Tradition is one of racing’s greatest assets but it can also be a trap. It may be fun to glory in the apprentice called Kitchenar who made all the running to win the Chester Cup when weighing less than 4st – but that was in 1844. What’s more the result was relayed from the unsaddling enclosure to the owner in Sussex by carrier pigeon. Sure, the weights have increased since then, but the point of this welcome discussion is have they moved far enough?