A CHILL went through my heart last week when I heard of the tragic death of trainer Richard Woollacott; he was only 40. I did not know him, but the reason why his premature passing has been hanging over me is because there but for the grace of God went I.

Richard Woollacott had been a very successful young man. He was a champion point-to-point jockey, riding nearly 250 winners; he was hugely popular on the Devon pointing circuit, where he was known as “a genuinely nice man who lit up the likes of Black Forest Lodge and Chipley Park”. In recent years he trained top-class horses such as Lalor and Beer Goggles, who won a major staying hurdle at Newbury this season.