BHA to blame for Fillies' Mile farce as system's flaws embarrassingly exposed

When Donald Rumsfeld spoke of known unknowns and all that back in 2002, equine doppelgangers were the last thing on his mind. The BHA, though, really should be alive to the issue by now.

Rumsfeld was discussing the lack of evidence linking Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government to weapons of mass destruction. Clearly, we're talking apples and oranges here, but the issue of ringers, intentional or otherwise, is as old as racing itself and is persistently advertising racing's penchant for self-destruction.

The fabled Gay Future Cartmel coup was a cunning variation, in that the correct horse eventually contested the correct race and landed an elaborate gamble. There have been countless other instances, and the orchestrated plots of old tend to be viewed through a sepia-tinted prism. More innocent times.