Soft-ground results that don't fit the mould are a natural part of the landscape

When it comes to racing in the autumn, I'm very much in the Andre Fabre camp: really, what is wrong with soft ground? Unless, of course, you've backed a fast-ground horse ante-post and the weather has relieved itself unceremoniously on your punting bonfire. The spectacle may be less 'float like a butterfly and sting like a bee' and more 'last man standing', but it's a spectacle nonetheless and can be a revealing one.

For example, I know Frankel was at his most ludicrously impressive when winning the Guineas on good to firm, but I don't think I was ever more impressed by him than when he was asked to step out of his comfort zone and take the Champion Stakes in the mud. The fact that it wasn't flamboyant or flashy detracted from the performance not one jot.

Purists will tell you that soft-ground races in the autumn don't show us what the modern thoroughbred is all about, but that depends on whether speed and fluency of action are the only things we expect of good horses. Maybe there's still a place for stamina, versatility and a rugged disposition, however unfashionable these assets may be.