For more than a quarter of a millennium – 254 years, to precise – Tuesday’s Craven meeting has been the moment when British Flat racing emerges from its long winter hibernation at the start of a new season. The first Classics are less than a month away and the Derby and Royal Ascot not too far behind. It is a time for optimism, anticipation and, for Newmarket in particular, a renewed sense of purpose, as the Suffolk town, where Charles II founded the first racing stable in the mid-17th century, prepares for the seven-month campaign on turf.
It is much the same blend of hope and expectation that grips football fansbefore a new season. The pre-season is complete, the new signings – and perhaps a new manager, too – are bedding themselves in and it is time to find out how they all measure up to the competition. For one of racing’s more recent arrivals in the top flight, there is the added pressure of needing to justify a huge off-season splurge in the market in an attempt to compete with the traditional heavyweights.
