Ascot shows its class

The late Jim Callaghan told a few of us one day about life in the House of Lords after being an MP in the Commons. ‘In the Commons you wonder if you’ll survive the next election. In the Lords you wonder if you’ll live until Christmas.’ On his first day in the Lords, the Whip detailed to show him round stopped him after an hour or two and said, ‘Jim, you’re making two mistakes. You’re going too fast and you pass every lavatory.’

We are all in danger of rushing things too about the new Ascot. Yes, the sightlines are not perfect, although £10 million has been spent on improving initial faults. Yes, attendances have dropped, although the weather this year may have as much to do with that as any received wisdom about the view. None of the male racegoers I saw on Saturday was jostling anxiously for a better view of the track, and most of the females, struggling with breeze-threatened hemlines shorter than those my mother used to wear on her swimming costumes, were there to be seen rather than to see.