'I did something so stupid, so ridiculous, so embarrassing that they couldn't possibly broadcast it - Chris Tarrant must have thought I was a prize idiot'

For as long as there has been a Racing Post, John Randall has been part of it, a member of staff since day one. Thanks to his deep knowledge of the sport's past, allied with a historian's sense of which supposed facts actually need some investigation, he is the rock on which much of our coverage is founded.

When a tribute is required for some important figure who has retired or passed away, Randall is ready with all the key facts of their career. He monitors a vast array of racing-related records and alerts the rest of us when one is about to be broken.

Randall is always right. Writers for other papers know this as well. Many years before I joined the Post, I bribed someone to share his phone number and often used it to make sure I'd got my facts straight or to find out some detail which no-one else knew.