WE all find aspects of horse racing commentary which get on our nerves, whether that is the use of certain words or phrases or just an aversion to particular callers (they’re all lovely fellas, as I can attest having worked with many over the years). For the most part, the use of particular racing jargon doesn’t bother me and it’s only right that horse racing should have its own set of idiomatic language.

The fact that such expressions aren’t literal is perfectly understandable, so I won’t be having a rant about expressions such as “gave him the office” or even the much-lambasted “jumped from fence to fence”. I quite like the latter, and indeed similar expressions used by the likes of Richard Pitman and the late John Oaksey, because they are responsible for adding a little colour to my childhood obsessions. On the other hand, I get much more annoyed by people who scoff: “What’s he meant to do – jump in between the fences?”