PMU dividends and religious observance: what I've learned from France's return

People seem programmed to concentrate on the differences, rather than the similarities. This is not just to do with racing. It is barely a month since my second daughter was born and I have already felt a small flush of guilt at how much I compare the things she does with her older sister at the same age.

Many of us who have decided to grasp French racing with both hands since it returned on Monday will probably have done the same. For those who previously regarded French racing as secondary in their thinking, it is an obvious temptation. All prior knowledge had been built up while we had Bath and Hamilton to compare it with. Now that contrast does not exist, it no longer isolates the variables but rather invites a more rounded view of how the French race.

First of all, there needs to be a caveat. This of all weeks is not the time to start drawing conclusions that will be held steadfastly forever more. The racing picture in France at the moment is more extraordinary than in Britain, where as long as there is stasis little will change. The analogy that appeals, admittedly to someone with no knowledge of either, is sculpture or clay modelling. Knowledge is moulded, not forged.