Expensive barristers, BHA staffers, trainers and jockeys tied up for hours - all for the sake of a Class 4 handicap

There was a single moment of real tension during an appeal hearing on Wednesday, as Jamie Osborne sought to persuade an independent panel that his Isle Of Sark should be restored to first place in a 1m3f handicap that took place at Southwell the previous month, despite having carried the runner-up across the track.

Jason Hart on Fox Flame had, Osborne suggested, made the interference look worse than it was by steering back into Isle Of Sark in the final strides – perhaps it was a deliberate attempt to influence the subsequent inquiry, perhaps not, but either way, the trainer maintained, it had not been necessary.

I must have been covering these hearings for almost 20 years (tip of the hat to the BHA for admitting reporters to its hearings during that time) but I can't recall a previous instance of someone trying out the equivalent of football's "he's made a lot of that". It's surprising when you consider how keenly contested some of these cases can be.