Russell's punch was a slap in the face for the whole of racing

During a week in which racing made headlines for the wrong reason and didn't make headlines for the right reason, we learned – or rather, had it reiterated – that perception is everything whether we like it or not. We shouldn't have to like it, but welcome to a superficial world of instant and relatively uninformed opinion.

Everyone has heard of Davy Russell, no-one has heard of Wild West. One of them put racing in the doghouse according to the man in the street; one of them shone a benevolent light on the industry, but the man in the street knows nothing of that.

Tangentially, no-one knows what Russell was thinking when he punched Kings Dolly at Tramore. He wasn't thinking at all, really, didn't have it in mind that literally every aspect of public life plays out in front of a multitude of invisible witnesses.