The times may have changed but William Hill's commitment to the Great St Wilfrid remains steadfast

Nothing shows how much times have changed more than poring through the names in an old racing result.

That was my thought as I looked up what happened in the 1994 Great St Wilfrid Handicap, won by Whittle Woods Girl for the sadly missed Eric Alston, who gave up training to care for his wife, his childhood sweetheart.

It was quite a race. Runner-up Hever Golf Rose, beaten a short head at Ripon as she tried to give the winner two stone, soon tired of carrying big weights in handicaps — and won the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp little more than a year later.