A day to celebrate the power of Scotland as major prizes are won by the north

I've spent close to half a century willing various Scottish teams and athletes to win things, which I suppose is one way to learn about the importance of resilience and not getting discouraged when things go against you. So I hope you won't mind if I take a moment to savour Saturday's across-the-card big-race double achieved by Lucinda Russell (Kinross) and Stuart Coltherd (Selkirk).

For London-related reasons, most of the money that gets made in Britain tends to accumulate in the south-east, so there's no mystery as to why trainers in the south end up with a lot of the most expensive material. But the job can be done just as well in the north, as we saw again on Saturday when North Yorkshire's Ruth Jefferson saddled the runner-up to Russell's winner and Ann Hamilton, based outside Newcastle, scooped a Grade 2.

Tony Benn used to have a map of Britain pinned upside down in his parliamentary office, saying it gave him a fresh perspective on regional policy, and maybe big-time owners could try that kind of thinking when deciding where to send some horses.