Ways to give race programme a much-needed makeover

It was 1992 in a corner of the cafeteria at Chepstow. Unlike now there were no colours in newspapers or racecards and part of a commentator's job was laboriously colouring in jockey silks, requiring an early arrival and finding a tucked-away spot.

As the course began to spring to life a man in an anorak asked if he could join me. The man was professional punter Alan Potts and it proved to be the first of many enjoyable discussions down the years underpinned by a shared love of the sport and the intellectual challenges it provides.

An area Potts has always had strong views on is the racing programme, recently under fire because of its ever-increasing reliance on handicaps. The growth in the number of races in the last decade has been almost exclusively through the creation of more handicaps, both on the new cards and replacing conditions races on existing programmes.