Whatever you think of the Racing League, novelty raceday ideas are always worth trying

So it seems the Racing League is off to another rocky start, failing to fill any of the races at Yarmouth on Thursday. This is absolute catnip for the kind of person who thinks racing should stick to what it has always done and they've been spotted on social media in recent days with triumphant comments along the lines of 'Racing is not a team sport'.

Here's another thing that racing is not: wealthy enough to just leave everything as it is and hope for the best. We have to work hard for our audience and that means being open to trying new things.

I'm as keen as anyone else to maintain the sport's great traditions but we can't pretend that the need for innovation ended when Admiral Rous came up with the weight-for-age scale. We must always be prepared to experiment in the hope of hitting on something that will broaden or strengthen racing's appeal.