Sometimes things just happen: wise words of a former colleague ring true when it comes to Kieran Shoemark

In 20 years at the Racing Post, I have received many wonderful bits of advice from colleagues – there’s no chance I’d have lasted this long without the bosses seeing through me otherwise – but one that has always stuck firmly in my mind came from our former football doyen Kevin Pullein: remember that sometimes things just happen.

Pullein, of course, was referring to football matches and the fact that sometimes circumstances will fall in favour of a certain team for no reason whatsoever, perhaps nothing more than a lucky bounce of the ball here or there, and we should always be careful when betting not to read too much into what might just be a completely random result or even set of results. Indeed, Pullein also suggested that we might more accurately assess the performances of teams if it were possible to watch a match with all the goals wiped from the recording.

I recalled Pullein’s words when seeing some of the negative reaction to Kieran Shoemark’s ride on Emily Upjohn in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday. I wonder what some of those criticising the jockey would have said if you had stopped the video at the furlong pole and asked what they thought of his ride then.