Race week

The major fixtures are distributed across England from the south coast to the north west, and each of them presents a version of the same problem shaped by its own local geography. What is portable between them is the approach rather than the detail.

The major meetings are scattered from Sussex to Yorkshire to Merseyside, and each one has its own local geography. What they share is the pattern: a small area, a large crowd and a narrow departure window.

A company that has worked a particular meeting before is worth more than a general assurance, because the useful knowledge is entirely local.

It would be a poor account of this work that dwelt only on the logistics, because among the seasonal jobs in this trade it is one of the better ones to be given.

It is a good-natured crowd, the countryside is usually at its best, and the driving between the meetings is some of the more pleasant work in the year. There are worse ways to spend a Thursday in March than sitting in a lane in Gloucestershire waiting for the last race.

The outbound leg on a race day is deceptively easy and it has one constraint that catches people: the approach roads close to the course fill from mid-morning as the crowd arrives, and the last two miles take longer than the twenty before them.

Leaving early is the answer and it is also more pleasant, since arriving before the crush means a shorter walk from a better parking position and time for lunch before the first race.