IT was not surprising that Defoe was not disqualified and placed second behind Wall Of Fire after he had passed the post first in the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

Roger Varian’s horse did move over onto the stands rail, he did take Wall Of Fire’s ground just as Hugo Palmer’s horse and Josephine Gordon were building momentum. The best horse in the race probably won the race, they said, and they moved on.

We have been here before. The benefit of the doubt going to the perpetrator, not to the victim, and that is not as it should be. Common sense dictates that the benefit of doubt should go to the victim, that the burden of proof should rest with the perpetrator.

Common sense says that placings should have been reversed, but precedent said that they would not be and, in these instances, unfortunately, precedent usually triumphs.

It was surprising, therefore, that, two and a half hours later, two hours away around the M25 and up the M11, and just above it in the A to Z of racecourses, Star Of The East was thrown out after passing the post first in the Randox Handicap at Newmarket, and the race awarded to Okool.

It was a rare defeat for precedent, but it was a victory for common sense and for what-is-right-ness, and that is a step in the right direction. All we need is a victory for consistency now, and we’re on the road.

QATAR racing ran two fillies in the Lowther Stakes at York on Thursday. Oisín Murphy rode Special Purpose and wore the maroon cap. Jamie Spencer wore the gold cap and rode Natural.

Question 1: Which filly was the owner’s first string and which filly was the owner’s second string?

Question 2 (a): Which filly would have been the owner’s first string and which filly would have been the owner’s second string had the race been run in early 2014?

(b) In late 2016? (Note: ‘Neither filly could have raced then’ is not the correct answer.)