No horse that does what Diego du Charmil did to Capeland can keep the race involved. Never. The fact that steward Simon Cowley takes a different view is irrelevant (except as an indication of the standard of stewarding available on our racecourses) .

Similarly no horse that suffers what Capeland did can be blamed or penalised.

Clearly there are at present no rules covering the point at issue as regards Capeland (when is a fence not a fence). In Yesterday’s circumstances, reasonable stewarding, instead of trying to make up rules “on the hoof”, would apply a “benefit of the doubt “ as regards the unfortunate victim of fairly serious assault and battery.