Salsify adds special twist as Sprinter brings the house down

They say you learn something new every day. The vegetarian starter at the ROA Awards was, to use its full name as printed in the racecard, ‘kaleidoscope of beetroot, rocket and watercress pesto, citrus curd with salsify crisps’. Who knew salsify was anything other than a dual Foxhunter winner.

Dinner cleared, the first award is served, replete with first gag of the night. ”It may be the country’s capital of gun crime but it also boasts the small racecourse of the year,” quips compere Nick Luck, referring to Nottingham. The ROA’s large racecourse of the year, as it was last time out, is Chester.

Time for the horses. There are 14 awards for the equine stars of 2016. Paul Jacobs collects the sprinters’ prize in a green bow tie that is a nod to both Limato and his team Plymouth Argyle. His speech includes the admission he has often wondered whether the decision to geld Limato was the best one.