THEY say that, among sportsmen, there is nothing to compare with the companionship of the weigh-room. Jimmy Fortune was the latest to bid it farewell with a tear in his eye last weekend.

Those of us on the outside could be forgiven for thinking that the comradery might have reason to become strained in these times of wealthy owners having retained jockeys. Jockeys retained by the sport’s biggest owners have had a proper period of musical chairs in the last few years,