I was reminded today of comments made by Alec Wildenstein as Westerner was being led back into the unsaddling enclosure following his defeat by Papineau in the 2004 Ascot Gold Cup.
He was roundly castigated for his comment "The dope-testing machine must be broken". It is possible to view those words in a different light given this week’s revelations.
What strikes me as odd is that Al Zarooni was apparently in Dubai when the horses involved were administered the drugs here in the UK. Yet he has made no attempt to absolve himself of blame, and we are now hearing the vet involved didn’t know what he was actually injecting into the animals.
If this is true, then it would suggest Al Zarooni may be a fall guy for something as the SBC Columns writer describes as "not worth contemplating".
As I have said on here before I admire the way Sheikh Mohammed has supported the deep traditions of our sport, for instance running some of his better horses in the Ascot Gold Cup and St Leger when the johnny come lately brigade were trying to sign their death warrants.
However if this runs deeper than the incompetence of one man (Al Zarooni) then the sport in this country has a tough time ahead in being seen to deal effectively with one of its staunchest supporters.