Those of a similar vintage to my own may agree that time seems to zip past us far faster than when we were nimbler and fructuous. Not that I remember being either of those things. I am also pretty sure I skipped those years described by many 'as the best years of my life'. Any hoo: can it be a week already since the smashing of the latest glass ceiling? It sure it is and because of last week, Saffie Osborne is the star attraction at Ayr today, confirmed by her presence on the front page of today's Racing Post.

I am not sure about these glass ceilings, you know, being only for female jockeys. It seems a bit discriminatory. There must be glass ceilings for male jockeys, not that I can think of one. Perhaps if an apprentice were to win a classic, though that could be of either gender, couldn't it? As unlikely as it is that an apprentice would even get a ride in a classic. To be honest, I believe the only glass ceiling for female jockeys to be truly smashed to smithereens was the first race won against professionals that was won by a female jockey. Karen Wiltshire holds the distinction, I believe. Since that particular distruction of the glass ceiling hundreds of female jockeys have followed suit and that could not have happened if there were still shards of glass left up there. The other glass ceilings, though ...

Only one female jockey has won the Grand or Aintree National, and as females rarely get a ride in the race nowadays, it seems unlikely that anyone is going to join Rachael Blackmore on that particular list any year soon. The same applies to the Cheltenham Gold and Champion Hurdle. It is Blackmore on her own in those races as well. And Bryony Frost still remains the only female jockey to have won the King George at Kempton. So for the purpose of this bric-a-blog the glass ceiling has been repaired by a glazier and remains in place.

It is too soon to pass judgement on whether Saffie Osborne's success last week has shattered the glass ceiling when it comes to classics for female jockeys, though she has certainly punched a hole in it on her own behalf. I doubt, though, there will now be as many female jockeys winning the St. Leger as their male colleagues. Holly Doyle remains the only female to have won a proper Group 1 classic on foreign shores, the French Oaks, though a German female amateur - how does that work - Nina Baltaime (spelt her name wrong, I am sure) has since won the German Derby.

Until female jockeys en masse begin to break down barriers and smash the figurative glass ceilings, I cannot accept that these ceilings are truly smashed. Until female jockeys win classics on both the flat and over jumps on a regular basis and it is no longer a such a remarkable story that it escapes the confines of The Racing Post, then the expression 'glass ceiling' is mere purple prose.

Luke Comer, a major sponsor of Irish rasing has been warned-off by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board for unpaid fines of over 1-million euros. He claimed he didn't do it, yet all his protestations and his own internal investigation has not moved the I.H.R.B. an inch and for the next three-years he will be unable to set foot on an Irish racecourse or be a licenced trainer. A dozen of his horses were found positive for anabolic steroids during an in-training investgation of his stables. The aspect of this case that amazes me is that Comer lives for nine-months of the year in Monaco. How can someone who does not live in the country become a licenced trainer? The dispute now moves to the Irish courts.

Noel Meade has called for the Interference Rules in Ireland to be looked-at, suggesting that disqualification is the only way win-at-all-costs riding can be stamped out. Also in today's Racing Post, Stuart Riley has asked for the date of the St. Leger meeting to be moved, either forward or backward. It only requires the simplest of change of dates, for the Haydock Sprint Cup meeting to swap with Doncaster. It does not need a committee to be formed to debate the pros and cons, just a little thought by those at the B.H.A.

Oh, and finally someone in Ireland has made the call that their St. Leger is not a real classic and that Ireland has only four-classics these days. I bet someone in Ireland will now come up with the idea of upgrading one of their 10-furlong Group 1 to classic status. Wouldn't that be a mad idea? Who would vote for that?