Winning back punters is Culhane test

It took a security escort out through a rear entrance to defuse the situation, but the abusive letters have slowly died down as the man they were addressed to has prepared for his return. Culhane said: "I didn't expect anything less than a rough ride, and I got what I deserved for what was probably the worst ever example of a jockey losing a race he should have won."

With hindsight, Culhane feels the purple patch he was enjoying at the time probably played a part in his Pontefract aberration.

He said: "Had I gone into the race without a win in ages I dare say I'd have slapped True Courage's backside all the way to the line. But the fact is I'd been riding a winner a day for a couple of weeks, including a four timer at Catterick where three of them won by a short head."

Either way, the incident sent the angry brigade into overdrive.

Channel 4's John McCririck, a master of the kneejerk, called for a three-month ban. True Courage's trainer Barry Hills concurred, while Bruce Millington of the Racing Post seemed to be only half joking when he suggested that any "arrogant six stone halfwit" guilty of a similar offence should "be tied to a stake in the middle of the paddock so that racegoers could be invited to hurl abuse and horse manure at him".

Followers of the hang 'em and flog 'em doctrine predictably pointed to the fact that Culhane's offence would have resulted in a six-month ban in some countries.

True enough, but the fact that you can get your hand chopped off for petty theft in other places doesn't make such draconian measures justifiable. And while Culhane still feels for the punters who lost money on True Courage, no one should underestimate the size of the hole which the Jockey Club's 21-day ban has placed in his own earnings this year.

He doesn't disagree with the suggestion that £15,000 would be on the conservative side, though the idea that each missed winner must have felt like a kick in the groin prompts a swift rebuttal. He said: "I would never be so small-minded as to wish for horses I would have ridden to get beaten.

"Looking back, I reckon I missed around 20 good winners through the ban, but now it's time to think positive and try to get back aboard for when they win again."

Stretford-born Culhane is a lifelong Manchester United fan who refers to Juan Veron and an incident in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of Hong Kong as he looks ahead to what the rest of the Flat season might bring.

He said: "It's all about the way you handle tough situations. I learned about that in Hong Kong, where I went 50 rides without a win and then had to go out and ride the 2-1 favourite in a £200,000 race.

"If anything I think I've had even more stick than Veron got last season, but I won that Hong Kong race and now I'm back I just want to show that one bad ride doesn't make you a bad jockey." For the record, Culhane feels that United are "stone cold certainties" to regain the Premiership title this season.

Arsenal and Liverpool will have plenty to say about that, but the biggest certainty of all is that this front runner won't be taking things easy no matter how far ahead he gets in future.