While a little politically incorrect to say so, smoking cigars has been a constant pleasure throughout my life and one which gets me through many a long car journey to racecourses.
In addition, when combined over time with copious amounts of whisky or brandy, they can enrich the voice which is my usual sagely advice to younger commentators.
As an appetite suppressant, cigars were a great help to the legendary Lester Piggott, though they didn't seem to prevent my late colleague John McCririck from carrying a bit of overweight.
Quite early in Channel 4 Racing's afternoon coverage, the end of Mac's huge, expensive Cuban was already a gooey mass of saliva which his regular sound technician Rod had to hold while the big man threw his arms about and performed to camera.
Lest you feel sorry for Rod, he always said what a pleasure it was (to hold said disgusting object) such was his respect for the larger-than-life broadcaster.
Sometimes a cigar can also provide a distraction and settle the nerves and, one day at York, I lit up in the commentary box before the first race.
Unfortunately, even though the large, front window was wide open, the smoke blew in setting off fire alarms across the racecourse and, very soon, an angry security man rushed through the door and looked like he might send me plummeting to the ground in Tattersalls many metres below.
A delay to racing seemed likely and, with the running order of the programme set to be disrupted - not to mention the all-important ad breaks - the boss wasn't too pleased either.
The aforementioned McCririck seemed to enjoy the 'Knavesmire' which hosts this week's exceptional Sky Bet Ebor Festival.
No one prepared for a programme more thoroughly than Mac and he would sit in the corner of the downstairs press room dining area making many annotations - always on two racecards - while also referring to what looked like ancient pieces of Egyptian parchment containing the names of past winners.
However, his favoured position close to the window could be a little noisy at times as the bandstand, just outside the old weighing room, was not far away and on hot days when the windows were open, Yorkshire's best brass could be heard at full volume.
One day it became too much and, increasingly irritated, he cried out: "When will they ever stop?!" before returning to his parchment.
Eventually, it was time for the band to take a break and Mac almost sang the word "Hallelujah" but, aware of his colleague's mood, the mischievous John Francome quickly popped out to give the conductor a few quid to start up again.
At the time, McCririck and Frankie Dettori were the only two personalities who truly transcended the sport and became recognised by the wider non-racing public. They were what in modern parlance might be described as influencers.
Frankie was a regular on TV, most notably perhaps on A Question Of Sport while Mac went for the reality show money, getting himself booted off Big Brother as quickly as possible by behaving badly.
He also appeared in a memorable episode of a programme called Wife Swap in which he shared his Primrose Hill duplex with the spiky Edwina Currie who scurried around to deliver breakfast-in-bed only to be told: "There's no toast here!"
That wasn't a match made in heaven and not everyone enjoyed Mac's appearances, but his views were often on the money even if they might be a bit jarring for viewers today. Unfortunately, a lapse of judgement when making misogynistic remarks one afternoon on The Alan Titchmarsh Show proved to be his downfall.
Sent marching off the set by Titchmarsh, Mac can't have known that the producer of the show was married to Channel 4's Head of Sport.
No one has come close to matching his cigar-smoking persona since and, with the 'bankrupt' Dettori licking financial wounds in the States, British horse racing does not have a single, recognisable participant beyond the racecourse gates.
York's Juddmonte International highlight on Wednesday used to have a tobacco connection as the race began life as the Benson & Hedges Gold Cup, and it got off to a dramatic start in the inaugural running in 1972 when Roberto, the Derby winner, inflicted a shock defeat on the unbeaten Brigadier Gerard.
All looked good for the 1/3 favourite when he cruised up to challenge under Joe Mercer but the "Brigadier's" trademark turn of foot was missing and Roberto, ridden by Panamanian jockey Braulio Baeza, just kept galloping whereas 'Smokin Joe' (a pipe man) was easing down inside the final furlong.
For most horses, it would have been no disgrace to get beaten by Roberto (with the subsequent Arc winner Rheingold fourth) but Brigadier Gerard was almost certainly below his best, and bounced back subsequently to end his glorious career with victories in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Champion Stakes.
Since that first edition, and under the sponsorship of Juddmonte Farms, the race has often been the highest rated contest in Britain, and in some years, the world.
Its place in the calendar, huge prize money and the distance of a mile and a quarter on a fair, flat track make it an obvious commercial target for top-class horses destined for stud careers. But there was another major shock in 2015 when Arabian Queen overturned the top-class Golden Horn, and the winner's fourth foal See The Fire features in this week's renewal.
On form, she has a bit to find with the Eclipse first two Delacroix and Ombudsman (who beat her into third at Royal Ascot), but mirroring her mother's evident love of York, See The Fire is unbeaten in two visits.
Although facing much lesser opposition, she was a devastating winner of the Middleton Stakes over the Juddmonte course and distance in May and, on her latest start, conditions probably turned against her behind Whirl in the Nassau at Goodwood.
As described above, the Knavesmire is flat and fair but some horses don't like it at all and there is an old saying to "always forgive a bad run at York."
Well, See The Fire loves it and could well burn up the track just as some idiot smoking a cigar in the stands once tried to do.
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