A thousand miles driven this week. Newmarket, London, Chantilly, Badminton and hopefully holiday weekend in the Isle of Wight.

But it has meant spending another morning at Warren Place with Henry Cecil and Two Thousand Guineas favourite Frankel, a day in Chantilly with Freddie Head and 1,000 Guineas hopeful Moonlight Cloud not to mention the triple Breeders Cup winner Goldikova and her talented half sister Galikova.

All that has given source for a piece in the Racing Post this Sunday, a column in the Horse and Hound next week and a larger article I am doing on Henry Cecil with photographer Chris Smith for Close Up magazine next month.

Badminton was a bonus, albeit a car battering one. Anyone interested in man and the horse should have at least once in their life watched William Fox Pitt in the saddle but the really extraordinary thing of the afternoon was Mark Todd, officially nominated Rider of The 20th Century, returning to the fray at 55 and posting a hugely impressive 4th .
There’s a piece about it in the Sunday Times.