With a quivering but unequivocal voice, the racing family sends love to John and Amy Hunt

For those who take part, racing is an industry. For those who watch, it is a sport. For all of us, the participants, the fans and we in the media who seek to provide a link between the two, racing is a community, one whose members are bonded by a shared love. Now, more than ever, the importance of love and community has become overwhelmingly clear.

There are no words to adequately describe the horror of what took place in Hertfordshire on Tuesday. Carol, Hannah and Louise Hunt were the victims of unspeakable evil, all three taken from the people they treasured and who treasured them in a manner none of us can truly compute. 

What occurred makes not a jot of sense, for such wickedness is beyond any form of reason or comprehension. We can no more understand what happened than change what happened. What we can do is what we have done. 

It is when confronted with the worst that racing is at its best. All too many have been the occasions when that community of participants, punters and fans have rushed to come together in support of those suddenly in strife. That has most often been seen following life-changing, or indeed life-ending, accidents suffered by brave individuals who ride horses for a living. 

Racing rallied around Graham Lee after his terrible fall last November and then united once more when Stefano Cherchi lost his life three months ago. In appalling circumstances, racing made, and continues to make, a difference.

Members of the media and weighing room observe a minute's silence at Newmarket in memory of Carol, Hannah and Louise HuntCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

This has again been true following the deaths of Carol, Hannah and Louise. 

My press-room colleagues Dave Yates and Matt Chapman have both spoken with John Hunt in recent days and subsequently conveyed to us both his extraordinary strength of character and his thanks to those who have used public and private platforms to send words of love. 

"He knows that he has so many people taking every step of this journey with him," wrote Dave in a post on X, while Matt reported John describing "the breathtaking messages of support" as "a counter" to the turpitude of Tuesday. "Every message has felt so important, the same as a reassuring hug," John told Matt. He praised his "magnificently inspirational" eldest daughter Amy, and added: "We know people are worried about us. We will get through this."

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There are countless people wishing and praying they do. It is my misfortune that I did not know Carol, Hannah or Louise, and I have not yet met Amy, but I do know John, and echo all the wonderful things that have been said about him. 

Like everyone blessed to spend time in his company, I have regularly heard him talk about his family. He has always been equally sincere in his inquiries about the wellbeing of others. 

I remember there being family-based conversations when spending a day with John in Bath's commentary box four years ago. John had 99 sets of colours to learn but he willingly offered to help with a feature I was writing for a 'Secrets of Racing' series. The purpose of the piece was to shine a light on the work of racecourse commentators. As much as anything, it shone a light on John's innate decency.

John Hunt spoke to the Racing Post about his work and life in a feature at Bath four years agoCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

"What I do find odious are comparisons between commentators," he said. "There is an inference that if someone has had a very good call, someone else has not. That's not how it is and nor are we trying to outdo each other. The thought that someone sits at home wanting someone else to fail couldn't be further from the truth. 

"My best friends in racing are other commentators. You don't want to call a race better than the person in the next box. You just want to do it the best you can."

As admirers of his work would testify, John does it exceptionally well, which is why he has been the voice of BBC Radio's racing coverage for the last 20 years. It is because he is such a talented commentator that the BBC expanded his portfolio of work to include swimming and football, while viewers of Sky Sports Racing also get to enjoy John's warm, comforting presence in the studio presenter's chair. 

John is quite evidently an exceptionally accomplished broadcaster, but it is because of who he is, not what he does, that so many of his friends and colleagues have wanted to provide that reassuring hug. 

Anybody who listened to what was said about John by Mark Chapman on Radio 5 Live and Richard Hoiles on ITV will have been left in no doubt what he means to them and others. Those words are echoed here. 

More than anything, the Racing Post should provide a voice for those who adore racing. We now speak with one voice, a voice that has been left quivering but unequivocal by Tuesday's tragedy. 

For John and Amy, this industry, this sport, this community, this racing family, sends an abundance of love.

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