Elaine Byrne: Horseracing’s rules on ‘integrity’ seem to apply only to the small folk

Gordon Elliott behaved crassly, but the infinitely more sinister behaviour of Sheikh Mohammed is being overlooked by the racing authorities

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, celebrates with jockey William Buick in 2017 after winning the Dubai World Cup

“All men make mistakes. But mistakes don't have to be forever, They can be admitted and atoned for . . . Pull back.”

These sentiments by Seamus Heaney, in his play Enter Tiresias were echoed by Ted Walsh last week. The Grand National-winning trainer and broadcaster described the photo of Gordon Elliott astride a dead horse, holding a mobile phone with one hand and making a peace sign with the other, as “disrespectful”.

“I was ...