I realise that this article has been written some two months after the event, that's mainly due to the fact that I couldn't be bothered to do it until now.  Though that's somehow in keeping with the programme itself, as the first three quarters of it dealt with a case that we're all too familiar with, the infamous "Race Fixing" trial which collapsed last December.  The programme was called "Racing's Dirty Secrets", but they didn't tell us anything about the case that we didn't know already.

The last quarter of the programme was a different story.  We were introduced to a bloke called Bruce Bennett, who allegedly risked £1.3m laying horses to lose in 43 races.  When confronted with the evidence for the second or third time, he reacted calmly by kicking Panorama reporter Paul Kenyon in the b******s.  Earlier in the programme, mr Kenyon had been unceremoniously thrown out of a building by Miles Rodgers, one of the defendants in the aforementioned race fixing trial.  So if the programme proved one thing, it's that investigative journalism can be hazardous to your health, not to mention your ability to reproduce.

When programmes like this come on the telly, those of us who like racing tend to close ranks and think that the likes of Panorama should keep their noses out and stop washing racing's dirty linen in public, and that such things should be dealt with in house.  However, despite the fact that we all tend to find it amusing when somebody gets a boot in the gonads, we should remember one thing - Paul Kenyon is on our side.

If the allegations against Mr Bennett are true, then he has metaphorically kicked every punter in the b******s, conning unsuspecting Betfair customers into backing horses that definitely won't win.

Him or others of his ilk won't be getting any money out of Ivor Donkey though, as I don't use betting exchanges.  Call me old fashioned, but I've always been uncomfortable with the idea of punters being allowed to lay horses to lose, it's far too open to abuse.  As far as I'm concerned, the only people that should be allowed to lay horses are bookmakers.