What were the ITV team doing at home? They should have been at Newmarket

If that was our big chance, we not only missed the target, but the ball went all the way out for a throw-in instead.

Circumstances conspired to allow horseracing to be the first competitive sport to return in Britain. And, before we throw ourselves any bouquets, it was not because of anything we did or did not do. It is because racing is non-contact (human to human anyway), held outdoors in vast racecourses where social distancing is straightforward and it is worth a lot of money to the economy. The argument for racing to return on June 1 was stronger than the counter one.

So, with racing resuming before any other live sport, last weekend was a glorious and unprecedented opportunity for it to sneak into sitting rooms it had never visited before. ITV’s main channel broadcast two fabulous days of Flat racing from Newmarket, with cameo appearances from Newcastle and Haydock.