THE more you practice, the luckier you get, so it should perhaps come as no great surprise to also discover that when you're the best in the business, ill winds have a habit of blowing you good.
Given his almost insatiable thirst for success, Tony McCoy probably wasn't best pleased when the abandonment of yesterday's scheduled card at Fakenham deprived him of the chance of adding a few more winners to his already awesome tally but he needn't
have worried.
He just travelled to Musselburgh and rode them there instead.
The champion kicked off on Pukka who, in his days with Luca Cumani on the flat, was considered good enough to run in the Derby but who had been slightly disappointing on his hurdling debut at Market Rasen.
A breathing operation since that outing however allowed Charlie Egerton's gelding to show his true colours here as he and McCoy came home six lengths clear of Modicum.
Defeat for Pukka's stablemate Willie Pep behind Key Time looked to have ended AP's prospects of another winner but that old ill wind was soon wafting in to East Lothian again, this time in the shape of an injury to Tony Dobbin.
Having endured a nightmare ride on favourite Palomar in an opener won by Dancing Lyra, Dobbin might have thought his luck had changed when he picked up a spare ride on Baawrah in the novices' handicap chase.
Such thoughts were dispelled at the 13th, where else, when his mount fell and 'Dobs' was stood down for the remainder of the afternoon.
That left connections of Ben Britten scratching around for a substitute jockey for their horse and in the absence of anyone better, they were forced to opt for McCoy, a decision that was to prove a wise one.
Richard Johnson, the Irishman's perennial challenger in the title race, was also in form on his first visit to the track in five years, Magnificent Seven's victory in the last completing a double initiated earlier by Key Time.
Not to be outdone, Graham Lee also partnered a couple of winners courtesy of Dancing Lyra and Majorca which, on a cold December day, might well have been where most racegoers wished they were.
Stay at home punters who bet 14-1 shot Quibble would have been delighted at the starting price as Alan Bailey's runner was forecast to go off around 5-1 albeit he looked a fortunate winner as the well backed runner-up Springaway might well have prevailed had he not tried to uproot the final fence.
In the current climate, we'd better get used to early morning inspections with today's Exeter fixture the latest to face one.
Officials, though, say it is no more than a precaution and let us hope their optimism isn't unfounded as that would allow Alan King's improving young chaser Nenuphar Collonges to enhance his growing reputation in the We Wish You A Merry Christmas Handicap.
It will, as always of course, be a case of Bah Humbug should the nap get beaten.
PERTH WINS ANOTHER AWARD
THEY'VE won it so often, Sam Morshead and his team at Perth could be excused if they were getting a wee shade blasé about receiving yet another accolade as best Small Racecourse in Scotland and the North East of England but not a bit of it, writes Jim Kean.
For the fifth time in the last seven years, and the ninth time since the award was instigated by the Racegoers Club in 1990, the Scone Palace venue has beaten off the opposition to confirm that good things can indeed come in petite packages.
"The entire team are delighted their hard work over the last 12 months has again been rewarded," said Morshead.
"To be singled out by one of our main customer groups is of great value to us as we move into our centenary year and bookings are already coming in for The Festival which opens our new racing season on April 25th."
