From Frankie to Frankel, it's been a wonderful ride

It did not start well. On the evening of October 1, 2007, a proof of the front page of issue 7,024 of the Racing Post was passed to me. I had been appointed editor of the newspaper hours earlier and had spent the afternoon in a whirlwind of meetings and conversations.

It looked great. The headline proclaimed ‘Dettori: I’m on the Arc winner’. Nice and strong. A decent first effort, I thought. Except Frankie’s quotes about his prospects of winning at Longchamp aboard Authorized were far more measured than the headline.

He wasn’t happy. The next morning, as I was waiting to do an interview with At The Races, Frankie was on air justifiably slating me for the misleading headline and wondering what the paper had let itself in for putting a clown like me in charge.

I was asking myself much the same thing but went on and tried to defuse the situation, while internally bollocking myself for allowing a sensational headline to get through like that.

But I quickly found that if your starting position is clueless but determined, the determination can take you to a place where you are merely semi-clueless but determined and that gives you something to work on.

I told myself at the start that if I could last three years I would have done okay so, having actually survived 11 years and a few weeks, it feels like the time is right to step aside and let someone else have a go.

It has been the most fabulous ride and I have never lost sight of how lucky I have been to land what amounted to my dream job once it became apparent that Crystal Palace were not interested in playing me at left midfield.

Within a month of that abysmal start we had published what I still consider to be one of the finest series of pieces I have read anywhere in the form of David Ashforth’s coverage of the Kieren Fallon trial and by that time the jumps legends had taken over.

Straight away the Kauto Star-Denman era was being played out to an increasingly enthralled and burgeoning audience of jumps followers. It was a fantastic time to be a racing fan as Paul Nicholls, showing a pioneering willingness to be so open and helpful to the media, ruled the winter game with his Ditcheat yard also containing superstars such as Master Minded and Big Buck’s.

The Flat was not to be outdone, though, and between 2009 and 2012 two phenomenal colts, each trained by a true gentleman, lit up the summer months. In the space of just 22 weeks Sea The Stars, in the hands of John Oxx, reeled off six Group 1 triumphs – in the 2,000 Guineas, Derby, Eclipse, International, Irish Champion and Arc – and when he retired to stud along came an even more extraordinary horse.

Frankel, expertly handled by the magician that was Sir Henry Cecil, was perfect in 14 races over three seasons and his Champion Stakes victory, just months before his trainer finally succumbed to cancer, was truly a privilege to cover.

But then it’s all been a privilege really. From standing in the drawn sunshine at the top of Nicholls’ famed uphill gallop, the glorious Somerset countryside stretching into the horizon while Denman, Kauto and the other big guns snaked their way to the top, breath flaring from their nostrils, to being at Flemington for the Melbourne Cup, it has largely been a dream come true from start to finish.

Denman (centre) and Kauto Star (right) were giants of the jumping gameCredit: Mark Cranham

Sir Anthony McCoy’s career, one of the most remarkable in sport, gave us an epic narrative for years until his emotional farewell at Sandown, and throughout my time as editor there has been the constant drip drip drip of the unique Aidan O’Brien winning big races.

O’Brien is utterly fascinating. He has basically devoted his entire life to his profession and reaped spectacular success as a consequence.

I saw him just before the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster a few years ago when, with typically impeccable courtesy, he thanked us for sponsoring the race.

I subsequently found out that he had flown from Ballydoyle after overseeing the morning exercise. Then, moments after the race had finished, he drove to a nearby airport, caught a plane to Nice for a wedding, stayed for an hour before flying back to Shannon airport in western Ireland, after which he drove straight back to the stables in time to prepare the yard for first lot. He is nothing short of miraculous.

Besides so many memorable moments there have been difficult times as well, for sure. Reporting on heartbreaking accidents to jockeys like JT McNamara, his cousin Robbie, Freddy Tylicki, George Baker and far too many more has been a desperately sad task.

The deaths of two teenage jockeys, Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson, in a fire in Norton in 2009 was a truly horrible event, and we lost two fine colleagues in Alex Lawrence and Dave Brewer far, far too early.

And we still miss our marvellous northern reporter Tom O’Ryan, whose determination to cover the Norton fire when he knew the two youngsters who lost their lives was humbling to see.

Racing people have to be tough given the risks involved in the sport and their spirit in the face of adversity has always been something to admire. It is my view that the sport has been fortunate to have so many great writers to chronicle all its highs and lows and in the likes of Alastair Down, Lee Mottershead and Steve Dennis it has been a pleasure to work with true masters of the pen who know how to expertly give the tear ducts a squeeze from time to time.

Dennis’s piece on the death of Denman was one of those moments when I had to sit in the office for a few minutes before returning the proof to the page-editor.

But it is not just the high-profile writers who have been such a joy to work with. The Racing Post has talent and commitment wherever you look, with many people doing lots of the hard graft and craft that is every bit as important in producing the edition every night as the beautifully put-together 800 words from the course.

In the Sunday Q&A we always ask whether social media is a friend or a foe. I fell out of love with it earlier this year when Twitter became infested with toxic minds who revelled in the ease with which they could direct their venom straight to the recipient’s phone.

But I learned to filter out that irrelevant pollution and focus instead on the interesting posts, the wit and the warmth of those who wanted to communicate like civilised people, and that connection with the audience is something media professionals these days should value.

I have had so much good feedback from readers who want the Racing Post to be better, rather than shower you in bile, and have loved hearing from and replying to all sorts of people whose real names, faces and locations I have no idea about.

Saturday’s edition, number 11,093, will be my last as editor. I will still be writing this column, presenting some Postcasts and focusing on creating content for the business-to-business market, but I will have a bit more time off to while away the afternoon at Plumpton, try to take fewer than 100 shots to complete a round of golf and generally slow down a little.

And I owe my wonderful colleagues past and present and the brilliant Racing Post audience, in its traditional print and new digital forms, the biggest thank-you in the world for allowing me to have had so much fun.

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