Observations from Royal Ascot

1.  £17 to park on the Heath.

At least Dick Turpin wore a mask when he was robbing you. I accept the entry fee is high, because that's the price to pay for watching the best of any sport. You aren't forced to eat the Lobster Platter (£40 each) or drink the Champagne but most people will drive and that is a bloody rip off.

2.  Pacemakers

Generally, what is the point? They either go off too fast and get ignored (Jan Vermeer, Debussy) or if they stay closer at the head of affairs, they get in the way when their lack of class begins to tell at the business end of the race.

3.  Market Tell Tale Signs

There were pretty significant moves late on, for both Rewilding (opened at 12's and I saw 13 in a place) and Julienas today. Must take a fair bit of (informed?) cash to shift the prices to the extent they did and whilst I'm not advocating betting like lemmings, it's got to be worth noting when big moves happen late in the market.

4.  Women Smoking

I haven't got that the wrong way round! What is it with young and therefore presumably well-informed women sucking down the cancer sticks? There were loads of them today. The country is a breast / lung cancer time bomb when these hit their fifties