'Really frustrating and pretty depressing' - the cost of slipshod scheduling

We're always hearing from racecourses and racing officials about how much competition they face, from rival sports and other glittery attractions that can distract people from what really matters, i.e. picking the winner of the next. Such problems must be bravely borne, but there are times when racing competes with itself and that, surely, is a problem that ought to be tackled at once.

Just before 3pm on Monday, we contrived to stage the Coral Welsh Grand National and the Paddy Power Chase at the same time. The Chepstow marathon set off, after a couple of false starts, at 2.53pm while the Leopardstown field departed at 2.57pm, at which point the Welsh race was about halfway run. By the time Stan Sheppard was raising his arm in triumph, the Paddy Power was two-thirds over.

I had a go at watching the two races simultaneously, which would have been easy enough if one of them had been a small-field conditions chase. Keeping track of the combined 48 runners proved beyond me, though I dare say a super-keen 20-year-old with perfect vision and no hangover could have managed it and perhaps even enjoyed the experience.