APRIL is the best month of the racing year, to me. Breeding comes to the fore at the breeze-up sales and on the course, and we witness the mixing of top-class jumps action and “they could be anything” flat racing: stirring stuff for the weeks and months ahead.

The flat was out in force at Leopardstown last Saturday, when Broome was a wide-margin winner of the P.W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes and promoted to third-favourite in places for the Derby at Epsom.