The event is adding a seventh race to its daily card but with racing’s future so uncertain, more ambition would be welcome
There may be a crusty traditionalist or two who will see the permanent addition of a seventh race to the Royal Ascot daily card as a sign of the end times for the Turf. That all five races that now become fixtures on the schedule are handicaps could also prompt a few complaints that the bookmakers will be the biggest supporters of the move.
The point on which everyone should focus above all, however, is that racing is two months away from an entire year with 99.5% of its meetings behind closed doors, with no more than 2,500 spectators per day at any of the handful of racecourses where paying punters made it past the door.