Something new? Let's try it – we might just end up liking it

It didn't take all that long, did it? You don't need to be Marvo The Memory Man to recall the days when the all-weather track at Newcastle was viewed as a carbuncle on the face of a much-loved friend, a crime against turf, the thin end of the wedge being driven fatally into the heart of racing.

Now it has gained acceptance, possibly because there are different demons to, well, demonise, but also because racing professionals are paying tribute to the fairness of the surface, the encouraging standard of prize-money, the fact the track serves its purpose in bringing synthetic racing to the northern fraternity.

When plans were announced there was an outcry, great fulmination about how the turf course at Newcastle was practically kin to the Elysian Fields and how it would be better to kill kittens rather than dig it up.