Newmarket knows where its priorities lie when it comes to revenue

Well thanks Newmarket for fixing it so I won’t have so many kids running into me and spilling my pint next time I’m enjoying a Friday night leering at Little Mix.

It’s good to know the racecourse has found a way around the problem that blighted the group’s concert in June, although some might have expected that providing a safe, secure environment in which everyone could enjoy the music might have been the main priority.

Still, we know how crucial the revenue from music nights is to the finances of racecourses and the valuable contribution it makes to facilities and prize-money, so it’s important the sport gets its priorities right.

In any case, the cost of the bands needs to be offset by charging adult prices for all and by the racecourse visitors – they can hardly be called racegoers – drinking their own bodyweight in alcohol, an area in which children make a poor contribution.

Some might remember when courses claimed that music nights were a great way to get youngsters involved in racing, but things have moved on.

As for rebranding the Family Enclosure as the Garden Enclosure, I wonder how long it will be before the course has to deter the attendance of confused horticulturalists who have stopped by to smell the roses.