When all-weather racing - running on an artificial track rather than turf - was introduced to Britain back in 1989 it was the poor relation, mere betting-shop fodder.

Attendances were so low that the joke was that Lingfield officials used to go into the jockeys' room and announce crowd changes rather than changes in jockeys' riding arrangements to the crowd. Top trainers would no more have thought of sending their horses to race on the sand than they would have inviting their owners out to McDonald's for dinner.