Thursday Night Racing – it's got a nice ring to it, hasn't it?

It's one of the quirks of British racing that so much quality weekday racing takes place during the afternoon, when most potential racegoers, punters and viewers are busy at work and not in a position to attend, bet or watch.

Thursday night's Brigadier Gerard evening is a rare exception to this rule: a genuinely high-class weekday meeting staged at a time convenient to the sport's customers. Disappointingly, the meeting has never proved a major draw for racegoers – attracting only around 5,000 to Esher – but its broader appeal was recognised this year by ITV, which broadcast the Sandown meeting for the first time.

Autocratic and Ryan Moore win last year's Brigadier Gerard StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

As Lee Mottershead wrote in this space when ITV announced that decision three weeks ago, if this proves a success it may encourage other tracks to move more midweek racing into evening slots. If so, it would mark an overdue recalibration of how the sport prioritises and promotes its weekday action.

Evening racing causes headaches for trainers, jockeys and particularly stable staff, who face long days and late finishes, yet the necessity of racing putting on action when customers want to view and bet on the sport has long since been accepted.