As a sideline, it was to be hoped that they would fulfil their public service remit and encourage the apathetic hordes to rise from their seats and place a bet. We live in extraordinarily risk-averse times. The culture of caution is in the ascendancy. Together they preside over a country that lives in fear of odds. But perhaps the BBC can help buck this dismal trend.
More people watching means more people betting and more people going.
And yesterday the race attracted the biggest attendance since it moved to a Saturday. They bore witness to an extraordinary display as the unbeaten and wonderfully impressive Galileo powered down the straight and away from his highly regarded peers. He appeared to be dawdling, but he recorded the second fastest time in the history of the race as he broke the Derby duck for both Sadler's Wells progeny and his trainer, Aidan O'Brien. The win completed a rarely achieved double for O'Brien. On Friday, his filly and Galileo's sister, Imagine, had struggled down the hill but recovered to beat Flight of Fancy to win the Oaks.