Even before Tom Jones begins Newbury is wowed by Withhold and Betty

Weatherbys Super Sprint day used to revolve around young, fast horses. Now a rival interest comes from some much older and slower horses. On this particular day a 79-year-old singer who is getting older but possibly no slower was the reason why many of Newbury's 22,667 customers came for a day at the races.

The magnet was Sir Tom Jones, a man who likes to tell his followers that it's not unusual. He might well think that but the sentiment hardly applied to Withhold and Bettys Hope, the marvellous hero and heroine of the afternoon's two principal races.

The most famous and valuable of those is the Super Sprint, a £250,000 dash in which a speedy start can be helpful, as it was for Claire Ovenell, who along with her mother, Sue Dalgarno, was positioned from late morning by the large stage erected for Sir Tom, last seen at Newbury in 2011. Claire was in attendance then as well.