AS YOU WERE IN NORFOLK

Horses running out, omitted obstacles galore, mostly very ordinary animals pelting around tight corners at speeds usually beyond their compass... it was business as usual at the first Fakenham meeting of the autumn. It's always struck me as slightly peculiar that this venue, so much an intrinsic part of the fabric of small-scale jumps racing that it was known as West Norfolk Hunt until 1963, is the one that most resembles an ultra-sharp Flat track such as Chester - nothing it can help, of course, but peculiar all the same.

A rather less frivolous matter is the injury sustained by Adam Pogson in a bruising opening selling hurdle, when his mount Protocol was brought down. He required sedation before airlifting to hospital in King's Lynn, where he is believed to have sustained damage to his pelvis.

A regular rider for a variety of small trainers in the East Midlands, more importantly he serves as the stable jockey, assistant trainer and general brains behind the operation of his father Charles' smart permit operation in Nottinghamshire. The Pogsons have managed to tease 23 wins and in some case considerable improvement out of some decidedly ordinary animals in the last five seasons alone - could anyone really have foreseen Lord Baskerville run up a hat-trick and gain an official hurdles rating of 127 this summer after 47 straight defeats previously? - and getting wins out of something as wayward as Seymour Weld rates no small feat, either.

There must be a real risk that the Pogson family's livelihood as a whole could be placed in some jeopardy with Adam unlikely to ride out, train and coordinate campaigns for the string in the immediate term at least, and it is my earnest hope he makes a speedy recovery.

Another point of interest at Fakenham today was that it represented the first Racetech call for the "Croc", J A McGrath, for as long as I can remember. This looks like the first sign of him honouring his commitment to take in more racecourse commentary, having admitted earlier in the year that the BBC's dwindling coverage was doing the quality of his calls few favours, although I must admit I thought he wouldn't be factored back into the roster until the New Year.

Having had to put up with horses flying about everywhere, and a PA system which whistled violently every few words, this must have seemed a very different world to the Epsoms, Aintrees and Longchamps of much of his year to date.