The going concern about which this pro punter can hold his tongue no longer

The time has finally come when I can hold my tongue no longer. I'm afraid I'm going to have to banish the myth that rain on good, soft or heavy going makes the ground "easier to get through".

Over the years I've accepted that many people, in all sports, just blindly regurgitate the same old nonsense without any reference to the facts. But, having read a man of John Gosden's undeniable intellect blaming Stradivarius’s performance on "the type of ground", I felt it was worth pointing out the facts.

It all sounds very plausible of course. Anyone who's ever poured milk on to their sticky porridge will instantly see that the spoon moves through the substance more easily. But rain falling on to ground sinks further in, the opposite to a bowl, when the liquid moves back towards the top as it cannot sink further than the base.