Racing could have been deferred on Monday after the death of one of our own

If fixtures can be cancelled because of fog, or false ground, or a frozen track, if the Scottish Grand National and the Greenham can be pushed back 24 hours as a mark of respect to the Duke of Edinburgh being laid to rest, if there are in fact more important things in life than racing, then Monday's meetings should have been deferred due to the death of one of our own.

It didn't feel right watching Windsor; nor did I derive any pleasure from Pontefract. There were eight races at Hexham and later on that evening Kempton and Market Rasen played host to seven-race cards. In all, there were 37 races run that day; there should have been none.

I didn't know Lorna Brooke, but I wish I did. Everyone who spoke about her said the same sort of things. The sort of things you hope people say about you. "I can't think of any time when anyone could have had a bad word to say about her," said Lucy Gardner, while Bridget Andrews said she was "just the loveliest person".