GLORIOUS Goodwood lived up to its name again this year, but that’s the thing about holding a meeting in July; the weather is, generally speaking, about as good as it gets in England.

August, on the other hand, is summer’s wettest month. And having endured the tail-end of Hurricane Bertha, racegoers headed for York’s Ebor Festival yesterday with some trepidation, not to say brollies at the ready.

But they needn’t have fretted - the sun finally learned how to put its hat on once again, after a conspicuous absence, and, apart from a few showers today, the forecast for the rest of the festival looks set fair. Known as the Royal Ascot of the North, this is York’s premier racing event and it brings to a close one of the finest sporting summers this county has ever witnessed. The Tour de France was an outstanding success in July, our cricketers are firmly on top of the table and we have three more days of world-class racing in prospect.

2015 will have a lot to live up to.