Girl power

Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, a show-biz historian once pointed out. Only she did it backwards. The feminists do have a point, and while women riders still don’t get a fair deal in British racing, Kempton on Saturday provided yet another reminder of how well women trainers take their opportunities.

My hope that Best Mate can prove a Cheltenham hero again this year was restored when I bumped into the ever-amiable Henrietta Knight, who was sat chatting with a friend in the betting hall. Perhaps because she already has three consecutive Gold Cup victories under her belt, she seems more relaxed this year and she assured me that ‘Matey’ is in very good shape despite the snuffles that have affected some other occupants of her West Lockinge yard. Foolishly, I failed to ask Henrietta about the prospects of her Old Vic gelding Glasker Mill in the bumper.