Despite last week’s winning selection, readers of this column might feel that my approach to tipping is a little bit slipshod - that the logic behind the selections is wishy-washy. Importantly, though, it’s never washy-wishy.

Bookmakers occasionally still use tic-tac to communicate the odds in the betting ring, especially if the favourites are flip-flopping. But they’ve never used tac-tic to warn that the favourites have flop-flipped.

The reason for this was the subject of a radio programme earlier in the week, that I listened to as rain lashed the racecourse enclosures: splish splash splosh.

Mark Forsyth, the author of a book called The Elements of Eloquence, explained that the rain never falls ‘splosh splash splish’ because there is a specific order for words in the English language that share the same consonants but which use different vowels.

It has to be I A O; anything else would be a mishmash and most definitely not a mashmish.

But that’s not the only rule that governs word order. A commentator can describe the winning horse as a lovely big old Irish steeplechaser, but he wouldn’t last long in his chosen occupation if he kept referring to Irish old big lovely steeplechasers – because that would be gibberish.

According to Forsyth, the rule of thumb for the order of adjectives is: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun.

Which is why the horses that I usually back aren’t fat slow imported brown little French young geldings. Although you could argue that they might as well be, given the typical return on investment.

So, despite my instinctive love for all things disorderly, it’s apparent that there has to be an established order for everything from the words in the formbook to the numbers of the horses listed in the racecard.

And race fixtures are no different. The Grand National follows the Cheltenham Festival, the Derby follows the Guineas and Cartmel’s August Bank Holiday Meeting follows Cartmel’s BBQ July Meeting (strangely enough).

The 2020 fixture list was published this week and, despite containing 20 fewer British fixtures than last year, features a familiar sequence of race-meetings at Cartmel Racecourse on the equivalent dates to the nine fixtures programmed this season.

Kelso stages 15 fixtures in 2020, the same as the number scheduled in 2019. But, as a result of a quirk in the system, one of the fixtures has migrated from the autumn to the spring, which means that the 2019/20 racing season at Kelso will consist of sixteen dates – the most that the Borders track has ever staged.

If it means more racing at Kelso, I hope everyone will be able to tolerate a few minor alterations to the general order of things. Sequences can change. Maybe it’s even possible that two of my selections can win in consecutive weeks. Who knows… Today, I’m going to back Forever A Lady at Ayr Racecourse’s evening meeting.