IN the great scheme of things, with a worldwide pandemic in full flow, it was news that probably didn’t cause more than a ripple in many quarters. Irishman Ed Vaughan is to stop training and in the year when he has probably his best performer, the dual Group 2 winner Dame Malliot. She is a homebred of Anthony Oppenheimer, a discerning owner whose principal trainer is John Gosden.

The owner of recent Group 1 stars Golden Horn, Cracksman and Star Catcher chooses his handful of trainers carefully, and being on his list is an imprimatur of considerable weight. Yet, Vaughan is being forced by the economics of racing to pull up stumps and pursue another avenue within the industry. When trainers of his calibre cannot make it viable, you have to be very worried about literally hundreds of more in the profession.