If you’re not growing, you’re dying, says impatient Gavin Cromwell

Cromwell will bring stars such as Hello Neighbour and Sixandahalf to the Cotswolds this week in the hope of adding to his six festival winners.

GAMECHANGER: Gavin Cromwell has no doubt that his stock wouldn’t be this high had he not decided to give up alcohol seven years ago. Pic: Healy Racing

No sport sits still. Horse racing has, at its core, remained unchanged for thousands of years. Strip away the layers and it’s still a race to be first past the post, but evolutionary leaps have altered utterly how horse and jockey continue to get to that point.

Saddles and stirrups changed the game aeons ago. Selective breeding has fine-tuned the animals for centuries. And everything from starting gates to track maintenance, nutrition and veterinary science proved revolutionary in the 20th century.