At the 2f pole he has three horses in front of him with a barely a horse's width between. In that situation I would expect a jockey to show composure and wait to see where it opens up. At the top of the straight he appears to opt to go to his right (which is what he told the stewards), but at that point the Juddmonte horse edges to its right, Fox then switches to the gap to the left of that horse, at which point the head-on showed he was directly behind the Godolphin horse, which he then angled to the right of.

I think to be found guilty of the non-trier rule, they should have to show/prove a motive. The horse has been beaten just over a length by a well-bred Godolphin horse so it definitely wasn't to get a mark. Was it place laid? If it was then he judged it well to be beaten a head for 3rd. I think it was an ill-judged ride, a ride more about education, settling etc etc as per his riding orders, than busting a gut to win. In hindsight with a whip-happy Fox ride he may well have won it. Happens every other race. For the stewards to state he only used the whip once is interesting. Using the whip is not obligatory. The irony is Fox normally gets done for overuse.

I'm with George and Swifty - and normally I'm a bit overhard on our short friends - who no matter how angry I get that they deprive me of my cash, I always end up in the same conclusion, 'mostly they're acting according to orders'.... and I've talked to a few. So often they are scapegoats for the real brains behind the scams. I don't believe this one was any kind of scam, it pulled hard, he did what he was told and it didn't pan out 100%. I saw a few jockeys around him also not gong for it with much vigour, as you do in many races.

Remember and contribute to the injured jockeys fund they give everything for us day in day out…..

101% fox was riding to orders.

playing up - how long will he take on the blindfold?

4 places - btn a head

Serves you right

What clues could we have used to avoid backing his I wonder...