Being a sucker for an interesting phrase, my attention was snagged when I heard a guest on the Today Programme tell John Humphrys: “The Stone Age didn’t come to an end because we ran out of rocks.”

My friend Roger Lewis, who must have been listening to the radio at the same time, used the words later the same day to invoke the spirit of innovation while chairing a meeting of Racecourse Media Group’s Directors.

Roger was referring to the need to adapt racing’s business plan to carry the sport into the future, despite the fact that we’ve still got plenty of rocks. The sport can evolve without having change forced upon it.

To sit on our hands and do nothing, particularly while the world of betting changes around us, is not an option. Which is why the talented team at RMG is developing a stack of new ways for racing enthusiasts to enjoy the racing experience – whether they’re at the track or away from it.

Innovations include the ability to track horses by pinpointing their exact position throughout a race – a clever piece of work which can be applied by broadcasters to enhance their racing coverage and by bookmakers to offer better opportunities for punters to bet or trade bets while a race is in progress (or ‘in-running’ as the professionals call it).

There are lots of other ideas too. Subscribers to Racing TV can already watch streams from individual racecourses on ‘Over the Top TV’ – which is being developed to be compatible with more devices over the coming months, creating an experience which has been likened to the ‘Netflix of Racing.’

But none of these developments mean that we’ll be throwing the baby out with the bath-water. After all, when the Stone Age came to an end, we might have stopped throwing pointy rocks at each other, but we didn’t stop using stone altogether. We continued to build beautiful Grandstands out of it – like the one at Cartmel, which features a lovely roof fashioned from Burlington slate.

We have to stay true to the heart and soul of racing – which means that even in the digital age, honouring the horse and recognising that racing is fun are as important as ever.

Horseracing is an exciting spectacle and a social experience with a timeless quality that enhances our lives. So, as we explore the opportunities offered by the digital age we need to use the new technologies to distil these ancient ingredients, not to change them.

This week’s rock-solid tip for the weekend is Rock The Kasbah, ridden by the soon to be re-crowned Champion Jockey Richard Johnson, in the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown.