Champion trainer Aidan O'Brien has received a £4,000 fine following an identity mix-up over his runners in last October's Fillies' Mile at Newmarket.
It seemed that outsider Snowfall had place third in the Group One contest but an eagle-eyed watcher on social media spotted that the horse was actually another Ballydoyle runner, Mother Earth.
Jockey James Doyle was wearing the correct cap but got on the wrong horse ahead of the race and O'Brien, who was watching from home, contacted the British Horseracing Authority to admit the error by his team at the track.
O'Brien received his fine after a hearing this afternoon and the BHA have announced that they'll be stepping up identification checks in the future.
"Since the incident at Newmarket, additional ID checks have been in place at major Flat fixtures to minimise the risk of a reoccurrence.
"A longer-term piece of work has been ongoing since October to look at the additional resource, technology and funding required to implement a further ID check once horses are saddled.
"It is particularly challenging in the current environment due to the additional resourcing requirements that the BHA's COVID-19 protocols already place upon staffing levels, but additional checks are being carried out on a discretionary basis.
"We will continue the work looking at the feasibility of implementing an additional check following saddling permanently and communicate any changes to participants and the public as necessary."
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