Look at the pubs and you have to think racecourses should open their doors soon

For over a month now we've been readjusting to the post-lockdown reality of racing behind closed doors in Britain and Ireland. The more accustomed to it we become, the more ominous it will be for racing.

By and large, notwithstanding legitimate criticisms of how the BHA or HRI initially might have floundered when faced with a threat of alien proportions to sports administrators, our respective authorities have scrambled well.

More than that, as the first major sport to return, and with the benefit of being able to draw on the best practice of international counterparts in France and Japan, they put in place extensive public health protocols that served as a blueprint for others. That's not to put too fine a point on it, but anyone who has been racing will attest that it feels as safe an environment as you could imagine.