THIS is becoming a weekly bulletin at this stage, but there were more horses who played the rules of British racing - such as they are - to their advantage during the week. Light Wave at Windsor on Monday was one, Realtra in the Sceptre Stakes at Doncaster on Thursday was another.

Realtra was drawn in stall four on the far side, she made her ground over there, out towards the centre of the track, on the left-hand shoulder of the field, yet she finished off her race on the stands rail.

She had to have the ability to get to the front, and she may well have been the best filly in the race on the day anyway, but in tacking across from the far side to the near side, across the front of the entire field, she hampered at least four of her rivals.

Excilly had to be checked, Terror had to be checked, Marsh Hawk had to be checked, Fadhayyil had to be checked. Realtra won by over two lengths, everyone said that she probably didn’t improve her placing, and everybody moved on.

As mentioned before, it is not fair that the benefit of the doubt goes to the perpetrator. But it isn’t just about fairness any more, it is becoming more about safety.

If any of the riders of Excilly, Terror, Marsh Hawk or Fadhayyil had not taken back, if they had fought for their patch, if they had tried to go forward to protect their racing line, there was a good chance that one of the fillies would have clipped the leader’s heels and come down, and that could have been disastrous.

Perhaps this one wasn’t rider Jack Mitchell’s fault. He had his whip in his right hand, his correct hand and, while that isn’t definitive, it did appear that he was endeavouring to keep his filly straight, that she was hanging to her right despite her rider’s efforts.

However, an eight-day ban suggests that the stewards thought otherwise. Paul Hanagan said that the interference cost his filly Fadhayyil second place. In other racing jurisdictions, the winner would have been disqualified and placed fourth, behind Fadhayyil, or 14th, behind Excilly.

The situation is getting worse, not better, as more and more riders realise that their horse will not be thrown out, no matter what interference they cause, as long as they get home by more than a short-head. As well as running contrary to the laws of fairness and of common sense, it is an accident waiting to happen.