How social media can prove a force for good in the world of racing

In a pre-digital era the multiple authors of a certain bestselling book once advised that "bad company ruins good morals so choose your friends wisely".

Even for those of us with a very much pick-and-mix attitude to any sort of spiritual guidance, the age of Twitter reinforces that particular piece of biblical wisdom on an almost daily basis.

On Sunday, Mark Johnston was forced to defend himself after accusations surfaced on the social media platform that he and his team had somehow been negligent or responsible for the death of Permian following the tragic ending of the Secretariat Stakes in Chicago, in an accident that left jockey William Buick hospitalised.