'We don't put anything like enough emphasis on jockeys keeping horses straight'

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Yes, it was a great weekend's racing with much to chew over but it could and should have been better. Interference is on my mind again, because both Group 1s at Leopardstown on Saturday led to stewards' inquiries.

We don't run horses in lanes so sometimes this is just something we'll have to put up with. But it's easier to do that when it's clear that jockeys have done everything they could to keep their mounts straight.

I don't think you can say that of Shane Foley in relation to his Matron Stakes-winning ride on No Speak Alexander, who hung away from his whip towards the far rail, squeezing up Mother Earth so that she was unable to mount a challenge. And I don't think you can say it of Ryan Moore's ride on St Mark's Basilica to win the Irish Champion Stakes, hanging wildly across the track with the result that the challenging Tarnawa was not allowed to run straight.

St Mark's Basilica (Ryan Moore, right) beat Tarnawa in Saturday's Irish Champion StakesCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Evidently the stewards agree with me, as both winning jockeys were suspended for careless, five days for Foley and one for Moore. Are those penalties sufficient to focus the minds of those jockeys and make them think: 'I better not do that again'? Surely no one thinks so.

A Group 1 win in exchange for a five-day suspension is a tidy bargain for any jockey unless he's booked on the favourite for an even bigger Group 1 a fortnight later.

In Ireland and in Britain, we don't put anything like enough emphasis on jockeys keeping their horses straight in the closing stages and we are all losers by it. That includes the jockeys, who are as likely to lose out by interference as to profit by it and, along with the horses, are at risk of serious injury on the rare occasions that someone hits the deck.

From the perspective of this spectator, it is terribly unsatisfying to watch a finish like the Irish Champion Stakes. These top-class races are supposed to show which horse is best, not leave you wondering.

Leopardstown reaction:

Weld rues tactics as St Mark's Basilica survives inquiry and Tarnawa challenge

What was your big takeout from Saturday's Irish Champion Stakes?

No Speak Alexander overcomes late Matron drama to land 25-1 shock

Some of the post-race chat on Saturday suggested St Mark's Basilica had done enough, in the eyes of his owners, to be hastened off to stud, where they would like him to be the new Galileo. Had Tarnawa got past him or even forced a photo, it would be so much harder to claim that St Mark's Basilica had nothing left to prove.

At least one more run would be essential to cement his reputation; or so I would argue, speaking as someone who would like to see this fine animal race many more times. Allowing him to chase his rival into the grandstand may have cost us the chance to see him again.

What's to be done? I've said before that just ramping up the penalties for jockeys is a poor answer to any problem. Anyway, I'd bet that's going to be the proposed solution to the whip problem, so it can't also be the proposed solution to interference as well, or we'll be left with no one able or willing to ride.

So extend the penalties to owners and trainers. They set the culture in which the jockey operates. What any jockey wants most of all is to please their employers. So let's make sure it's a priority for those employers that their jockeys keep straight, failing which their prize-money can be at risk. It won't happen, because owners are way more influential with racing's ruling bodies than jockeys are, but I bet it would make a difference.

Then there's the vexed question of race-times, an issue once more on Sunday because several races at the Curragh were due to start at exactly the same moment as races at Longchamp. Notably, the Flying Five and the Prix Vermeille, both Group 1 races, were set for 2.55pm BST.

Surely this shows a hopeless failure of ruling bodies to work together? Executives must know perfectly well that fans of Flat racing want to watch all the top-class racing, whether it be in Paris or County Kildare. Those cards at Longchamp and the Curragh should be complementary, designed with a single audience in mind.

Let's get these basics right and then we can hope to build a bigger audience in time.

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a three-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday