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Photo finish errors have become far too common – results must be picture perfect

Oregon Gift (far side) was incorrectly called the runner-up in a photo finish at Kempton but has since been awarded the race
Oregon Gift (far side) was incorrectly called the runner-up in a photo finish at Kempton but has since been awarded the race

Of all the mishaps, fiascos and debacles that afflict British racing there is surely none more dismaying than the case of a wrong result being called following a photo finish, which occurs season after season with what is becoming almost comic regularity.

The latest example of the sport getting this seemingly simple task wrong came at Kempton last Friday, when odds-on favourite Oregon Gift was wrongly denied victory by the judge, who called Bird For Life the winner in a photo finish.

In doing so thousands of punters were left out of pocket, since the revised result, announced by the BHA on Wednesday, does not affect bets already settled on the race.

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