First cuckoo heralds Flat racing’s start but it may go the way of the dodo | Greg Wood

If all the best horses miss the Classic trials the beginning of the season is heading the same way as the declining CravenThe first cuckoo, daffodils in full bloom and the Craven meeting at Newmarket. For racing fans, it was always hard to say which of the three was the most compelling sign that spring had finally arrived.But times change, the daffs have usually been and gone before Cheltenham these days, and Guineas trials now seem to have been consigned to history too. Four of the 11 runners i