Tears, flowers and a worthy Leger winner on the day Doncaster honoured the Queen

As Doncaster prepared to open its gates on this first St Leger Sunday, a sizeable number of smartly-dressed locals mingled outside the main entrance, eager to celebrate one of Britain's oldest sporting events. While they waited, the South Yorkshire air was filled with the moving strains of Amazing Grace, played by a lone piper. For this uniquely momentous occasion, it felt right.

So many of the words spoken about the Queen since her death on Thursday have reminded us she possessed a marvellous sense of humour. That so, it seems completely in order to report that the musician had not been hired by the racecourse but was instead a busker, earning his crust by a handwritten sign that promoted his latest CD, available to buy for £6.99.

A couple of hours later he was gone. The scene he vacated was still filled with emotion. The racecourse had erected an easel, on which sat a photograph of the Queen handing Frankie Dettori his prize following Stradivarius's triumph in the 2019 Gold Cup. At the foot of the easel, many floral bouquets had been left by racegoers, the array of colour forming a tribute that grew bigger when four members of the Barton family arrived.