Red Force One declared a NR by the stewards - taking the field down to 7

I have no problem with a rule being a rule if it's equally policed, thinking back to that Epsom race where they didn't know what to do. But what if Red Force One had gone on to win? Almost certainly they wouldn't have applied the N/R rule, that's the issue for me.

A contentious issue as swifty pointed out

After I posted, it occurred to me that the incident might have caused some superficial bleeding if he'd banged his nose on the stall, which might have influenced the stewards' decision, but the report doesn't say that.

Tbh, watching it back there, the horse wasn't knocked about up the straight, even by Joe's sympathetic handling standards.

The point is though, the horse lost hardly any ground at the start and was soon where the jockey wanted him to be, and their decision has affected each-way betting. Give them an inch...

He led last time out so in theory his chance was massively compromised, as it was he ran no race from off the pace. Is there a 'rule'?!

So slowly were they going, Fanning had the option to lead after a furlong but opted to track.

has made no material difference to a horse well beaten

a total farce imo

If this is now a new directive which has to be a black or white decision with no discretion or common sense applied (as was the case today imo), then as you say, what if next time it's a well-backed favourite who goes on to win the race, are they going to declare it a NR?

its a can of worms george...throw it in the bin