Within the rebranding research being conducted for British racing, one intriguing question is whether the sport can be popularised by the rampant appetite for participant reality television. The answer, given the modern paranoias about health and safety and animal welfare, is almost certainly not. Yet the reaction to Anthony Knott's surreal winner at Wincanton last week shows what can be achieved.
Knott, for those still unfamiliar with the tale, is a gap-toothed Dorset dairy farmer who had endured 28 barren years as an amateur jockey before registering his first win - and celebrating it by waving wildly to his agricultural mates in the crowd before riding the final furlong like a bareback cowhand.
It was fairytale viewing - especially when Knott, 44, revealed that his