I think your colleague would've had a slightly more positive view if they'd actually been there last night, it's always a lot different actually being at a live event to watching on TV, I'd guess it was a pretty good atmosphere last night, I never saw it so can't comment on the racing side of things.
You say that the Glasgow v Edinburgh match was remarkable, but for me that was in part due to the atmosphere and how it concluded, it wasn't the best racing wise I've seen at Ashfield this season.