Lydia Hislop: On Ascot, damaging language and the challenges National Hunt racing faces

Nicky Henderson lost patience with questions about the withdrawal of Constitution Hill. Alan King had already suggested a track issue broader than Edwardstone's specific needs.

Today's meeting at Sedgefield is in jeopardy after two horses died in the same race at the track's most recent meeting on 3 November. ARC have realigned a bend and will give the turf more time to recover between fixtures. The BHA’s racecourse inspectorate concluded that the incidents were not linked. Henderson claims that Constitution Hill would have been injured if he had run on the ground yesterday. However, the conditions at Ascot were good-to-firm. The ground categories can be measured objectively via times. It was not good to firm at Saturday's race. On the other hand, it was on a balance between good and bad.

The public must believe that when the sport's record on welfare is placed under the spotlight, that the authorities and participants can be trusted to do the right thing. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is responsible to minimise risk and to ensure no injury or fatality occurs that could reasonably have been prevented. BHA works privately with courses to monitor individual trends and with participants to make sure their courses are safe. The most evident recent initiatives include evolutions in the design and structure of obstacles and the introduction of pre-race screening at the Cheltenham and Aintree Grand National Festivals.

Lydia Hislop is concerned about gambling. She recommends over-18s to bet only what they can afford to lose.