Racegoers give vote of approval – but it's a pity about the Pimm's

At noon racegoers had been here for some time, yet the escalator that climbs from the ground floor of Sandown's main grandstand, starting in between the tobacco kiosk and the sausage rolls "by the inch" stand, was either not working or someone had forgotten to switch it on. This could, of course, have been a sneaky Jockey Club ploy.

Sandown Park, lest we forget, is destined to receive an awful lot of cash should its owner be successful in selling near neighbour Kempton for housing. Significant investment in both the facilities and racing surface beckon because, according to the Jockey Club, Sandown has "huge potential that has not yet been fulfilled".

That may or may not be true, but it definitely has an escalator that should have been moving but was not.