Anybody involved with horses wouldn’t be terribly surprised that four people couldn’t agree as to whether the horse was sound or there was something wrong.”A copy of our report on the inquiry will go back to Portman Square. Kieren Fallon did not ask for the horse to be inspected for lameness. He was concerned about the condition of the gelding in that he thought the gelding was blowing heavily. As far as the stewards are concerned the gelding was sound enough and fit enough to start the race.”Subsequent to the race, clearly there is something wrong with him It’s not entirely agreed what it is It’s just one of those very unfortunate things. During routine testing by our veterinary officer Chris Hammond, he has reported to the stewards that Mr Ed was very slightly lame behind.”Bowen was also said to have considered the gelding to be sound, and Barton added: “We have four conflicting sets of evidence from four competent professional people. The Jockey Club vet at the course also examined Mr Ed after the race and found the chestnut to be slightly lame behind during routine testing.Paul Barton, the stipendiary steward, added: “We asked for the gelding to be routine-tested after the race. To me it felt it was lame throughout the whole race.”Ed Lyall, the racecourse vet, did not lie down.

“I checked the horse at the start and in my opinion he was fine and fit to race,” he said. “After the race I found that Mr Ed showed no signs of distress and he was perfectly all right, in my opinion.”It was just the beginning of conflicting reports. “I am wild about the fact that he would not take my word as a professional that the horse was not fit to run.”I believe that punters were done a disservice by the fact that the horse was allowed to go. He was never travelling with any authority and finished a tailed off last. The jockey was not amused.”When I got down there I told the staff that in my opinion the horse was lame and not fit to run, but the vet disagreed with me and let it take part,” Fallon said. Peter Bowen’s horse, who won the corresponding race 12 months ago, certainly suggested that Fallon had dispensed the correct diagnosis.

If he had been able to communicate, the five-year-old may have have uttered one significant word: “ouch”.
Kieren Fallon, Mr Ed’s jockey, was convinced his mount was lame before the start, but was persuaded by the vet at the stalls that he should participate. Mr Ed, despite his name, was not able to speak before the Travelsphere Holiday Stakes at Goodwood yesterday. This was the fastest heat, the others being won by the Romanian reigning champions and the Canadians who won at the Lucerne regatta last month.. Only two qualify for finals from the three semi-finals, and the Hungarian world champions were bounced into a rep?age by the French crew. The women’s double Debbie Flood and Rebecca Romero finished second to reach a semi-final, and the 33-year-old lightweight sculler, Tom Kay, a late entry to the team, dominated his heat.The women’s pair Katherine Grainger and Cath Bishop were beaten by the 2002 bronze medallists Yuliya Bichyk and Natallia Helakh of Belarus.

The coxless four of Steve Williams, Josh West, Toby Garbett and Rick Dunn, silver medallists last year, had their race well in hand and mastered the feared Slovenians for the semi-final place. Germany, Italy and Canada cruised home in the other heats.Matthew Wells and Ian Lawson won one of six heats in the double sculls and have a good chance of hitting the medal zone, but the stakes are high. The Skellin brothers, of Croatia, bronze medallists in 2002, rediscovered the form which they lost this year at Henley. The South Africans Ramon Di Clemente and Donovan Cech, silver medallists last year and beaten by the British pair at Henley, also cruised home, as did the Italians Giuseppe De Vita and Dario Lari, World Cup winners this year.The fastest semi-finalists, after being pushed by New Zealand, were Wayne Pommen and Scott Frandsen, of Canada, who perhaps have the most to prove. Frandsen finished seventh in this event last year with a different partner. He was a member of the Oxford crew who won this year’s Boat Race by a foot, while Pommen was the Cambridge oarsman who was injured two days before the Boat Race and lost his seat, but is now Cambridge’s president for next year’s race.Four other British crews qualified for semi-finals and three others for tomorrow’s rep?ages, while seven others face heats today.