I'll be shouting for two horses in the Derby - not that the jockeys ever seem to hear me

Amazingly, during the debate about Kieran Shoemark’s ride on Field Of Gold in the 2,000 Guineas, there was no mention of Joe Mercer’s ride on Claudio Nicolai in the 1978 Cambridgeshire. Both, after all, took place on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile.

As the elderly may remember, especially if they backed Claudio Nicolai ante-post at 33-1, Mercer got his mount boxed in and when he finally extricated himself it was too late to get nearer than a neck behind Baronet. The headline in the next day’s Sporting Life read, 'Claudio Nicolai is unlucky as Baronet lasts home'. I tried to feel pleased for those who backed Baronet but failed.

‘Forgive and forget’ is all very well but there is a limit, as the examples of Hitler and Stalin illustrate. Race-riding can be difficult and dangerous but so can punting. Although punters do sometimes make an error of judgement and back the wrong horse, the jockeys in whom they put their faith and on whom they stake their money are prone to making a complete balls-up of it.