Eight-races at Ascot yesterday, four of which went to female jockeys, though one female in particular greedily took home three of those winners. I doubt if while watching Touleen yesterday that Saffie Osborne gloated in her abject defeat, at least not nearly as much as I did. Touleen's defeat at Royal Ascot had more bad luck than poor riding involved in the eventually result. At the royal meeting, the filly was baulked at least three-times and though no one could say she would  have won without the interference, she would certainly have finished closer. Every jockey, every day, can find themselves in a poor position in a race through no real fault of their own and the criticism thrown at Saffie was uncalled-for. Owen Burrows should have shown some loyalty, as should the owner. Is anyone criticising William Buick for not be able to grab hold of the filly to get her to run straight as a gun barrel to the line?

Hopeful, through the week, Saffie's hat-trick of winners on a big day will be both noticed and applauded in The Racing Post. It would be a remarkable achievement to win three competitive handicaps on any day of the week, to do so on a Saturday highlighted by the country's most valuable horse race should be worth a fanfare of some description. And the day ended with Gina Mangan, on  her first day back from a savage suspension, winning on a horse trained by Christopher Mason, a man who above all other trainers, seemingly, recognises a good horsewoman/jockey when he sees one. I would hazard a guess that this was the first time in Britain that half the races on a racecard as important as Saturday at Ascot were won by female jockeys.

I am returning to the savage punishment given to Rossa Ryan for his momentary lack of concentration at Sandown that resulted in a 28-day ban, a suspension of his licence that David Jennings considers lenient. On Saturday, at York, Connor Beasley received a 10-day ban for causing Mark Winn on Rajapour to fall. Fortunately neither horse nor jockey were seriously hurt in the incident. Now here's the thing: Ryan's error did not result in an incident that caused a fellow jockey to fall, something that might have had far more serious consequences; he did not prevent another horse from winning by running off a straight line or by bumping into another runner. Connor Beasley, no  doubt without any form of malice, did achieve all of those things. A Horse fell. A jockey fell. Beasley moved off a straight line. He must have bumped Winn's mount, Rajapour. Although uninjured in the fall, who can say how the fall will affect the horse psychologically in the future. 10-days suspension for causing a fall; 28-days for a lapse in concentration that affected no other jockey or horse. How can that be fair? Rossa Ryan should have got 10-days, Beasley 28-days. Big tears for those who lost money on Thunder Home, no tears for punters who lost money on Rajapour. Scandalous and hypocritical.

Today, for me, it is a morning for gloating. The girls do good, with victories around the country for other female riders, and a 5-year-old mare wins the King George & Queen Elisabeth Stakes, proving again my point that horses should be kept in training until they reach their prime, which for flat horses is age 5. Imagine what races Sea The Stars could have won if he had been kept in training until he was 5. Dancing Brave, too. If owners like Juddmonte were to be brave enough to put actual racing before the profits of breeding, would our sport be healthier or poorer? You tell me? Kalpana now looks a great mare, which could not be said of her last season and it is sad, at least to me, that Juddmonte would prefer to win the mares race on Champions Day for a third time rather than chase real glory in the Arc at Longchamp.

There are questions in need of asking after watching the K.G. & Q.E. yesterday. Why has it taken so long in his career for Colin Keane to be employed by an organisation with the high class horses that he has deserved to be riding for a decade? Was Calandagan at his best yesterday? He suffered no bad luck in running and was beaten fair and square. Is Benvenuto Cellini improving or is he just the best of a moderate crop of 12-furlong 3-year-olds? Why did both of the Japanese horses run so poorly? And why was Kalpana the only British-trained horse in the race? Another bad look for British horse racing.