Champion jockeys past and present collected a total of 15 days in suspensions after One So Wonderful came out best in a finish of short heads in the Juddmonte International Stakes at York yesterday.
Winning rider Pat Eddery, who forced his mount home from Faithful Son, was found to have struck his mount 24 times and was accordingly banned for eight days (August 27th to 29th and 31st, September 1st to 4th) for using his whip with unreasonable force and frequency.
Faithful Son's partner Frankie Dettori got four days (August 27th to 29th and 31st) for excessive frequency and reigning champion Kieren Fallon three (August 27th to 29th) for the same offence and using his whip down the shoulder in the forehand position.
With a furlong of the £335,000 Group One remaining, Faithful Son, the 9 to 4 favourite to give Godolphin its third International in the past four years, was still in front, with Chester House and Fallon appearing his chief threat.
But Eddery was squeezing an effort from One So Wonderful against the far rail and the three strained for the line in unison.
When they got there, to the surprise of most race-goers and the betting ring, who had offered One So Wonderful at 2 to 1 against, Luca Cumani's filly was found to have defeated Faithful Son by a short head, with the same distance to Chester House.
No sooner had the result been announced than the stewards began to view the videotape showing the finish, and after lengthy deliberations published their punishments.
While Dettori and Fallon declined to comment, Eddery took his sentence squarely on the jaw. "That's the rule - no complaints," he said, before expanding on the difficulties facing jockeys under the current guidelines.
"It is a no-win situation for us in that a) you get done for taking it easy and b) you get done for being too hard. I am fighting it out with two horses on my outside and my only thought its to get my horse in front.
"I am a lover of horses. I have a stud and I care about them as much as any race-goer. They are well looked after but they are bred to race."
Sea Wave stormed into the reckoning for the St Leger and quickly wiped away Godolphin's disappointment over the narrow reverse of Faithful Son 35 minutes earlier.
The colt, rated a Derby prospect as a youngster, swept to a record-breaking success in the Stakis Casinos Great Voltigeur Stakes.
He strode impressively clear in the hands of Dettori to defeat the front-running Rabah by four lengths.
The time of 2 minutes 25.12 seconds lowered by 0.67 seconds the previous best established by Diminuendo 10 years ago.
Bookmakers William Hill were impressed enough to quote him at 12 to 1 for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Persian Punch's superb battling qualities won the day in an exciting finish to the Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Stakes.
Celeric had charged to the front inside the final furlong but Persian Punch rallied in great style to land the spoils by a short-head. Maridpour was a further neck back in third.
Trainer David Elsworth is still at a loss to explain the gelding's disappointing eclipse in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
"He's been fairly consistent but he just had that lapse at Ascot. There's been a lot of theories but I really don't know what went wrong," he said.
Persian Punch may now be aimed at the Melbourne Cup for which Ladbrokes quote 20 to 1.
Auction House put himself in the frame for the 2,000 Guineas when out-pointing Coliseum by three-parts of a length in the Deploy Acomb Stakes.
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