Spare a fleeting thought for racing journalists who got stuck with the Bank holiday shift yesterday.
Probably already not feeling great after a Sunday session in the pub, what you really want when running a racing desk on a Bank holiday Monday is a quiet day when nothing really happens
Bank holiday's usually have a busy racing programme, so all that is required is a few nice stories for your race meeting review and then put your coat on as the "lucky last" goes off and you're out the door three strides after the winner has gone past the post.
Not yesterday, however.
First, there was the story of former Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton having her first ride as an amateur in the last race at Ripon. So you know that regardless of whether she wins or not, you'll have to wait around for some quotes to be filed and write up a more detailed review of the race than a Class 6 amateurs' handicap usually warrants. No dashing out of the door before the "weighed in" has been called.
On top of that there were the retirement announcements of two racehorses and a jockey in the form of Hurricane Fly, Telescope and Hayley Turner.
This means more quotes, more articles to file and all the while trying to remember how many races they won, which races and when.
