The frustratingly lax attitude that the Turf Club takes to the accurate measurement of race distances remains as big a problem as ever, with the justification for the attitude remaining one of “Sure, what difference does a few yards make?”

Well, the problems that this needlessly slap-dash approach to one of the fundamental aspects of racing were exposed in recent weeks. At the Galway Festival, Clonard Street overcame greenness to win an average-looking two-year-old maiden over an extended mile (“about one mile and 100 yards”, according to the Irish Racing Calendar) by half a length from the well-exposed Prologue.