Lord Huntingdon was cleared of any wrongdoing under racing's notorious "non-triers"' rule by the Jockey Club's disciplinary committee at Portman Square yesterday.
But jockey Daragh O'Donohoe, who had ridden the trainer's filly Silken Dalliance in the Rothmans Royals North South Challenge Series Semi-Final at Newbury on September 19th - the performance which triggered the controversy - was held to account, receiving a seven-day suspension (October 27th-31st and November 2nd and 3rd) for failing "to make sufficient effort during the course of the race".
Silken Dalliance, successful at Kempton 10 days previously, finished 17th of 19 to Indium in the Newbury race, always travelling in rear under O'Donohoe.
But she left that form well behind when winning the Mail On Sunday Mile Final Handicap at Ascot on September 27th for apprentice Adrian Nicholls, a victory which resulted in today's summons, and followed up in the final of the Rothmans Royals Series under John Reid at Newmarket last Saturday.
However, after a two-and-threequarter-hour hearing which began at 10.30 a.m, the trainer, forced to retire at the end of the season by financial considerations, was found not in breach of Rule 151 (i) and (iii), concerning horses being run on their merits to obtain the best possible placing.
He was also cleared of misleading the stewards contrary to Rule 220 (viii) in respect of the report submitted under Instruction H14 headed "Reports on Performance" following Silken Dalliance's Newbury run.
"I think we all had a fair hearing," said Lord Huntingdon, due to vacate his West Ilsley stables on January 10th next year.
"I gave adequate instructions. The fact that Daragh was unable to follow the instructions, the committee could see, was because of a tardy break."
"She did half sit down in the stalls, jumped left-handed and so was unable to get the position which we had all decided she needed.
"The instructions have always been the same with her and in three of the races the jockeys were able to follow the instructions, and this time it just didn't work out. She was obviously unlucky.
"I felt Daragh made at least three attempts to get a run - he was stopped on every occasion - and I can see that he probably accepted the situation rather further out than he necessarily would have done.
"He wouldn't have finished in the first four. He could have finished closer, but that is all hypothesis.
"With H14, I feel we did follow both the letter and the spirit of it."
O'Donohoe's ban represents the penalty for riding an ill-judged race, a more serious charge than simply failing to ride out an unplaced horse, for which a rider can be given between two and five days.
Giving his reaction to the disciplinary committee's punishment, O'Donohoe, who does not plan to appeal and will fly out to Dubai on November 8th to work for the Godolphin team during the winter, commented: "I am disappointed but they have a job to do."
When O'Donohoe was asked if he felt he had been made a scapegoat, his diplomatic and streetwise solicitor Andrew Chalk, anxious to deny oxygen to any potential flames of controversy, stepped in.
"That is a difficult question to ask, and harder to answer," said Chalk. "I am saying nothing."