John Best has classic vision as Inler shows pace and power on gallops

Kent trainer has live candidate for 2,000 Guineas and believes that he has strong team for the months ahead

Seven days have passed but John Best remains entranced. He is still in awe of the gallop completed by Inler, who warms up for the Stan James 2,000 Guineas at Leicester today week.

“It was an exceptional piece of work,” the trainer said. “I have always thought he is very good, but it shocked me and everyone else who saw it. I feel that we have an exceptionally talented horse on our hands.”

A few of those have passed through his Kent stable - notably Kingsgate Native, winner of the Nunthorpe and Golden Jubilee Stakes. Yet Best does not hesitate to place Inler in that league. “His work was as good, if not better, than what we saw from Kingsgate Native,” he said. “I feel he will possibly be a better horse than Kingsgate Native over six furlongs.”

Inler's 2,000 Guineas odds have since tumbled but that gallop introduced a note of caution in Best's mind. The horse whose sole start saw him win a six-furlong Newmarket maiden in October might almost be too fast“My one concern is whether a horse with his pace will stay a mile,” Best said of the Red Ransom colt. “His pedigree says that he will, but you just wonder. Even if he doesn't get it, he will be a very good horse between six and seven furlongs. I'm convinced of that.”

In that respect he will be none the wiser after Inler runs next week. The Leicester race is over six furlongs, the only conditions event of its kind that Best could find. He said: “I'd like to run him over seven, but the Leicester race gives us just over three weeks to the 2,000 Guineas, which is ideal.”

It would be refreshing to see Inler lining up with a genuine chance against the sport's superpowers at Newmarket. Best has saddled one previous 2,000 Guineas runner, Hurricane Spirit, a 100-1 chance who fractured his knee when unplaced behind Cockney Rebel three years ago. Inler, however, promises much more.

Nor is the colt his only intended runner. Elspeth's Boy is being prepared for the classic after he defied odds of 33-1 in a Wolverhampton maiden on his debut in November. “We did almost nothing with him before that run,” Best said. “He had none of the preparatory work we put into Inler and has been slower [to come to hand], but he's moving well. We're hopeful that he'll make it and the owner is keen to have a go.”

Best is relishing the challenge of getting the best from a team of 85 horses he believes is his strongest yet. “At this time of year I'm usually wondering how we are going to win races with badly handicapped three-year-olds,” he said, “but there are some nice prospects. We come up with at least one good one every season but this year we could have more.”

Two he nominates are Kingsgate Choice and Agent Archie, the latter a winner at Goodwood in September. “I feel he is listed class at least, but he has an attractive rating so we'll start him off in a handicap,” Best said. “I just hope I can keep them all in one piece. Sir Mark Prescott once said that horses spend their time trying to kill themselves while we try our hardest to keep them alive, and he is absolutely right.”

Inler is owned by Harry Findlay, which raises an intriguing possibility. In normal circumstances Findlay would balk at running another horse against Denman, yet should Inler fail to stay a mile his natural target will become the six-furlong July Cup, the objective for Denman, the Australian sprint star who has joined Godolphin for a European campaign.

For now, however, Best is reluctant to entertain the prospect. “Inler was certainly not stopping when he won over six furlongs at Newmarket,” he said. “I am sure he would have stayed seven furlongs last year, and it's not much further to go the mile in the Guineas.”

If Best's assessment of Inler's natural ability is correct, the speed his colt shows may simply reflect his class. Top-class milers are a match for all but the finest sprinters; it would be of greater concern were Inler seemingly short of pace in his work.

It is also encouraging that Inler's preparation has been flawless. “So far everything has gone as we wanted,” Best said. “With any horse, you have got to be fit. You can't hold back. The 2,000 Guineas is his main aim and we have cracked on with it.” Both horse and trainer are straining at the leash.

Sport in brief: Northants lose Virender Sehwag

Cricket Virender Sehwag, the India batsman, will not be allowed to play for Northamptonshire this summer after a U-turn by his national board.

Northamptonshire signed the opening batsman for their Friends Provident t20 campaign and were in celebratory mood last week after the Board of Control for Cricket in India gave the official go-ahead, only to change its mind after reviewing the India team’s calendar.“Now we have to rethink and we are seeking the possibility of bringing alternative potential match-winners to supplement the fine squad that we have,” Mark Tagg, the Northamptonshire chief executive, said.

Higgins reaches last 16

Snooker John Higgins, who begins his defence of the World Championship title at the Crucible in a little over two weeks, beat Fergal O’Brien 5-3 to reach the last 16 of the Sanyuan Foods China Open in Beijing yesterday. Ding Junhui pleased the home crowd with a 5-3 win over Gerard Greene. Marco Fu, of Hong Kong, beat Bjorn Haneveer 5-2 and Neil Robertson beat Mike Dunn by the same score.Sky entry confirmed

Cycling Team Sky have been formally included as one of the 22 teams in this summer’s Tour de France. Bradley Wiggins, the triple Olympic champion, will lead their challenge. The Englishman finished fourth last year behind Alberto Contador, of Spain, who will again compete for Astana. Lance Armstrong, the seven-times Tour winner who finished third last year with Astana, will lead Team RadioShack.

Crews on the water

Rowing The crews for the Xchanging Boat Race on Saturday each had two outings yesterday. Cambridge had a gentle technical paddle and practised starts, while Oxford went for a series of three-minute bursts in choppy conditions. Cambridge have tinkered with their crew recently but Chris Nilsson, the head coach, said that they had “moved on pretty well since Saturday and are in exactly the right shape”.

Williams optimistic

Golf Tiger Woods will be judged by his form rather than taunted for his extramarital affairs when he returns to action at next week’s US Masters, according to Steve Williams, the player’s caddie. The New Zealander said yesterday that the crowd at Augusta National would be too respectful to barrack Woods. “I think they will be very happy to see Tiger playing at Augusta where he’s been successful,” Williams said.

New alliance formed

Bowls Encouraged by Sport England, and the chance of obtaining funding, four governing bodies have formed the Bowls Development Alliance (BDA). The bodies — Bowls England (flat green outdoors), the English Indoor Bowling Association Ltd, the British Crown Green Bowling Association and the English Short Mat Bowling Association — represent more than 400,000 participants at 7,500 venues.

Source:The Times

Jenson Button refuses to be distracted by the ultimate prize

Jenson Button hung around a while in Melbourne today to bask in the warm glow of victory as fans queued to get the autograph of the winner of the Australian Grand Prix. Nice to be loved, although Australia’s home-grown favourite was not so sure.

Mark Webber not only dashed the hopes of a nation with his erratic drive on Sunday, which included wrecking Lewis Hamilton’s race on the way, but then gave his countrymen a bit of a kicking while they were down.

Webber branded his homeland “a nanny state” when asked his opinion of police who impounded Hamilton’s road car after he was stopped for smoking his tyres on a public road. Webber, Formula One’ straightest talker, pulled no punches on his way to riling government officials.

“I think we’ve got to read an instruction book when we get out of bed - what we can do and what we can’t do,” he said. “It’s certainly changed since I left here. It p****s me off coming back here, to be honest. It’s a great country but we’ve got to be responsible for our actions, and it’s certainly a bloody nanny state when it comes to what we can do.” Well, perhaps Webber had good reason to be, as he put it in somewhat earthy Australian terms, p****d off as his Red Bull team threw away the chance of victory yet again, leaving the door open for Button to sneak through to a celebrated win.If Button’s victory was typically unspectacular, with Hamilton and Fernando Alonso producing the fireworks, it had the experts drooling. Sir Jackie Stewart, the three-times world champion, dropped by the McLaren hospitality suite late on Sunday night to tell Button he had produced a performance in the mould of truly great champions.

“That was a drive that Jim Clark [double Formula One world champion] or I would have been really proud of,” he said over a hearty handshake. High praise indeed.

Button continually bats away any suggestions that he could make himself Britain’s first back-to-back world champion but there was no doubt the thought was swimming around his mind yesterday as he absorbed the acclaim. Multiple champions are rare commodities and only Clark, Stewart and Graham Hill among British drivers won more than one title.

“You want to retain your title — only 30 per cent of drivers do it,” Button said. “But it’s never easy, especially fighting against these exceptional drivers. It would be an achievement to win back-to-back titles with two different teams - but we can’t write that story yet. We don’t come away from Melbourne thinking we can win the next race easily. It’s not like that. We have a long way to go, so we are going to work on it and I hope this win has spurred us all on.”

Button had earned a day off today and he indulged in familiar rituals, repeating the routine of this weekend last year when he won the first race of the season on the way to his maiden world championship: coffee at the same restaurant by the beach in Melbourne’s St Kilda suburb on Sunday and dinner in his favourite Japanese restaurant with Jessica Michibata, his beautiful girlfriend.

Button can’t remember the rituals he went through in Malaysia, where he also won last year, but you can bet he is rooting through his 2009 Filofax for ideas before he flies to Kuala Lumpur late tonight.

Even though his McLaren is not the class of the field, he has somehow taken a victory and good enough points in the first two races of the season to get himself into third place in the world championship, while Sebastian Vettel, the fastest man so far this year, has scored a big fat zero after two breakdowns while leading. That alone is encouragement.

“Vettel had the quickest car but they [Red Bull] weren’t able to make the most of it and didn’t get points,” Button pointed out. “We are picking up points when we don’t have the quickest car and hopefully we will get to a point when we are as quick or quicker.”

Malaysia was the scene of one of Button’s finest, if weirdest hours, when the 2009 grand prix was stopped midway in a torrential downpour and he was awarded half points for leading. Another deluge is on the cards on Sunday but Button will not worry. He is as calm as he was on Sunday when he snatched victory from under the noses of Red Bull’s Vettel and Webber — and he needs no nanny to tell him how to win again in Malaysia.

Source:The Times

Stephen Harmison puts his hand up for England recall

Sheikh Zayed Stadium (second day of four): Durham, with eight second-innings wickets in hand, are 304 runs ahead of MCC.

This same game last year marked the start of the circus surrounding Michael Vaughan’s forlorn attempt to return to Test cricket, giving Mitchell Claydon a brief moment of fame when he removed the would-be returning hero. That Claydon happened to be an Australian merely added to the poignancy.

Stephen Harmison is now in roughly a similar position. Another Ashes series is approaching and the big man wants his place back. The odds may be against him, as they were all along with Vaughan, but he made a rather more effective start yesterday with two wickets in an impressive new-ball spell.

Generating pace and establishing a generally good line, Harmison nipped one back to remove David Sales leg-before and then tempted James Taylor to fish outside off stump, having almost taken an edge two balls earlier. Although a second spell proved more expensive, Harmison had at least made an early point.

It was easy to feel sorry for a weary MCC as they collapsed to 162 all out. Again, they spent the hottest part of the day in the field before Durham declared on 459 for nine. Even then, the scorecard flattered the home side — if we can so describe MCC 3,400 miles from their true home — because Dawid Malan took four cheap wickets late on.Will Smith, the Durham captain, did not enforce the follow-on despite a first-innings lead of 297. A bristling Steve Kirby responded with wickets with his second and third balls, but Durham could still take great encouragement from performances of Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick, the latest youngsters to emerge through their academy.

Kyle Coetzer extended his stay to 521 minutes and 172 runs before missing a full toss from Malan, but more talk among the loyal band of Durham members here centred on Stokes, an 18-year-old all-rounder who starred for England Under-19 over the winter and marked his first-class debut with a stylish fifty.

The left-hander, who left his native New Zealand at the age of 12, edged a Steve Kirby no-ball to second slip on nine, but played some neat shots straight and lofted Dean Cosker confidently over long-on before succumbing when he attempted one shot too many against James Middlebrook.

Comparisons are unhelpful, but when Stokes later strangled Alex Gidman down the leg side, courtesy of a brilliant catch by Phil Mustard, it was easy to think of another all-rounder who briefly played for Durham, held back nothing with the bat and enjoyed the knack of taking wickets with bad balls. His name would only burden Stokes.

MCC lost Scott Newman in the second over and the slingy Callum Thorp returned after tea to end the joint resistance of James Foster, with a fine return catch, and Malan, who had batted within his limitations. Borthwick, 19, then went through the tail with a mix of leg breaks and googlies to finish with four for 27.

Behind the scenes, Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager (cricket), met John Stephenson and Fraser Stewart, from the MCC, to discuss the pink ball experiment. Richardson believes that a day/night Test is at least 12 months away and has asked for scientific research into the best colour contrast between ball and sightscreen.

“What we want to do is make sure we try to co-ordinate all of the different projects happening now,” he said. “Manufacturers are doing their own things, some national cricket boards are doing their things, MCC is doing something. What we want to try to do is make sure we take a co-ordinated approach.

“Manufacturers are saying, ‘You tell us what you need and we’ll develop it for you’, but we don’t know what we need. The first step has to be the scientific approach, to go to these research guys and get them to tell us what we should be asking for. We need to establish scientifically what makes sense, pink, orange or what.

“At the moment, the data collected is all very much on a hearsay kind of basis — what did the wicketkeeper think, what did the fielders think, what did the TV guys think and so on. That is helpful and progress is positive, but before we think of that, we need to establish the science that makes sense.”

Durham: First Innings
M J Di Venuto st Foster b Middlebrook 131
K J Coetzer lbw b Malan 172
*W R Smith c Newman b Middlebrook 13
D M Benkenstein b Cosker 41
I D Blackwell c Sales b Kirby 13
B A Stokes c Newman b Middlebrook 51
†P Mustard not out 23
S G Borthwick c Sales b Malan 0
C D Thorp c and b Malan 0
M E Claydon c Gidman b Malan 0
Extras (b 4, lb 9, nb 2) 15
Total (9 wickets dec; 138 overs) 459
S J Harmison did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-181, 2-203, 3-295, 4-330, 5-411, 6-457, 7-457, 8-459, 9-459.
Bowling: Lewis 12-3-34-0; Murtagh 19-2-91-0; Kirby 20-7-48-1; Middlebrook 35-4-118-3; Gidman 11-3-36-0; Cosker 29-6-77-1; Malan 6-1-20-4; Taylor 6-0-22-0.

Second Innings
*W R Smith not out 4
S G Borthwick c Foster b Kirby 0
D M Benkenstein lbw b Kirby 0
I D Blackwell not out 3
Extras 0
Total (2 wickets; 4 overs) 7
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0.
Bowling: Murtagh 2-1-4-0; Kirby 2-1-3-2.

MCC: First Innings
S A Newman lbw b Thorp 0
D J Malan c Borthwick b Thorp 41
D J G Sales lbw b Harmison 4
J W A Taylor c Mustard b Harmison 0
*A P R Gidman c Mustard b Stokes 29
†J S Foster c and b Thorp 26
J D Middlebrook not out 11
T J Murtagh c Benkenstein b Borthwick 21
J Lewis c Di Venuto b Borthwick 0
D A Cosker b Borthwick 1
S P Kirby b Borthwick 13
Extras (b 4, lb 8, nb 4) 16
Total (45.5 overs) 162
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-6, 3-6, 4-41, 5-102, 6-103, 7-132, 8-132, 9-142.
Bowling: Harmison 9-2-37-2; Thorp 10-7-25-3; Claydon 10-3-31-0; Stokes 4-0-14-1; Blackwell 8-2-16-0; Borthwick 4.5-0-27-4.
Umpires: B Dudleston (England) and R T Robinson (England).

Source:The Times

Jose Mourinho: I don’t like Italian football

José Mourinho has fuelled the growing rumours that he will return to English football this summer by describing himself as dissatisfied with life in Serie A and admitting that he misses the English game.

“It is a simple situation, I am happy at Inter but unhappy with Italian football,” the Inter Milan coach said yesterday before his team’s Champions League home tie against CSKA Moscow tonight.

Asked why, his explanation was frank: “Because I do not like it and because it doesn’t like me.”

Earlier, Mourinho had said, with typical modesty: “I miss English football and English football misses me, there’s no doubt about that, but right now I’m thinking only about Inter.“At Inter I’m very busy with the league, the Italian Cup and the Champions League. These occupy all my thoughts, preparing games and analysing them.”

Mourinho left Chelsea in September 2007, after twice winning the Premier League.

He won the Serie A title in his first season with Inter, 2008-09, but his relationship with fans and media has not clicked in the way it did in England and he evidently feels underappreciated in Italy. A return to England has long been rumoured.

The most plausible English destinations for Mourinho would be Manchester United, Manchester City or Liverpool. Sir Alex Ferguson seems as entrenched as ever in charge of United, although — presumably — he cannot carry on indefinitely. While Rafael Benítez’s position at Anfield is hardly secure given the team’s form, it seems improbable that Mourinho would want to move to a club without the funds to make a large-scale investment in the transfer market. Manchester City could certainly offer that.

Carlo Ancelotti is under pressure at Stamford Bridge after losing to Mourinho’s Inter in the Champions League this month, but will probably not be sacked after a single season in charge, while Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, is not likely to reappoint a man whom he parted with after a personality clash.

It was not the only piece of plain-speaking from the Portuguese yesterday. He questioned CSKA’s right to be in the competition after Alekei Berezutski and Sergei Ignashevich, the defenders, were provisionally suspended for testing positive for a banned substance after a group-stage game away to Manchester United in November.

They were given one-match bans, which they had already served, after they were merely found to have taken a cold medicine that had not been reported by the club’s doctors.

Mourinho, though, feels less forgiving than Uefa. “There’s something grey about CSKA’s progress in the Champions League,” he said. “If two players go to an anti-doping control and a substance is found that’s not allowed in the Champions League, there’s something grey.”

Stage set for Andy Murray after Nicolas Almagro retires

It may have had more to do with the fact that he had won five points in the last six games he played rather than any nagging pain in his ankle, but Nicolas Almagro quit on his stool last night, speeding Andy Murray’s passage into the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on a sultry evening under the lights.
These helping hands in major championships do not come along that often, so the fact that Murray played only 37 minutes of tennis should be taken as a positive gesture and move purposefully on, having shown only fitful authority in his first two matches. Now, tomorrow, he will play Robin Soderling of Sweden, with whom the British No 1 has not crossed swords with in four years.
Soderling’s steady ranking improvement, the fact that he reached last year’s French Open final, having beaten four-time champion Rafael Nadal on the way, his arrival into the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals of the 02 arena last November and his crushing victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the fourth round yesterday, serve to confirm that the No 6 seed is an opponent not to be underestimated.
But there are opportunities everywhere. The loss of the top two seeds Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – beaten by Croatian veteran Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets after running himself into the ground during February – Nikolay Davydenko’s wrist injury and the inability of Federer’s conqueror Marcos Baghdatis to rise above Tommy Robredo’s steadiness yesterday, means that the field has lost a clutch of performers considered to have a champion’s potential. Murray and Nadal, who were finalists a year ago, appear best placed.
As brief as the work-out was for the Scot, it was full of good things. Almagro is a flashy player and so much depends on whether you stay with him and indicate that you possess a robustness he would find difficult to break down. When Murray lost his serve in the third game – a net cord contrived to help the Spaniard on the second break point – his response was truly emphatic.
Defensively brilliant – he had to contend with some massive Almagro service returns and still managed to be able to control the rallies – and picking off the Spaniard at will as the first set went on, Murray was soon in complete control, enough for Almagro to be lashing at the ball rather than striking it with much intended control.
At the end of the set, his left ankle was strapped and when Murray thumped down an ace to win the first game of the second set, Almagro decided that it was fruitless to continue playing.
Nadal was absolutely thrilled with his 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over John Isner, the giant American whose serve was just off enough in the third set for it to cost him dear. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since the Australian Open, has begun to look like the Rafa of old and had enough in reserve to go out 45 minutes later and win a doubles match with Marc Lopez, his partner, against Michael Llodra of France and Israel’s Andy Ram, 6-2, 6-4.
“He (Isner) is a very dangerous player, maybe he will make a really, really top player," Nadal said. "When you have a serve like this – maybe I had better not talk any more because if he improves just a little it is going to be very difficult to stop him.”
Nadal meets Tomas Berdych, the No 19 seed from the Czech Republic, in today's quarter-final.
Source:The Times

Jonny Wilkinson runs into Toby Flood barrier as he is dropped

This is not where Martin Johnson hoped England would be on the concluding day of the RBS Six Nations Championship: fielding a refurbished back division against unbeaten France in Paris, dropping his one iconic player, Jonny Wilkinson, to the replacements’ bench and crossing his fingers that a shock success will add a little lustre to a disappointing season.
Nor does Johnson, the England team manager, yet know whether his captain will make it as far as the Stade de France on Saturday. Steve Borthwick’s left knee is giving serious concern and two specialists have offered opinions, one negative, the other positive. Borthwick is keeping it in a protective brace for 48 hours and he will be assessed again today, with Louis Deacon and Tom Palmer, the Stade Français lock, on standby.
But at the end of the championship, there is as creative a look about England’s backs as there seemed at the start against Wales, even though only three players have survived from that opening victory.
Toby Flood has the onerous task of taking over from Wilkinson at fly half, a role delegated only twice before, to Paul Grayson in the 1999 World Cup quarter-final against South Africa and Danny Cipriani against Ireland in 2008.
Indeed, Wilkinson, who has mixed some outstanding play with some indifferent execution, will learn to steer clear of future Calcutta Cup matches. Two years ago, he established a world record for career international points against Scotland, but England lost and he was dropped. During last Saturday’s draw at Murrayfield, he passed Ronan O’Gara’s record for points scored in the Six Nations and has suffered the same fate.
“Jonny took a number of heavy knocks against Scotland but we’re happy to pick Toby,” Johnson said. “We need two players in every position and Toby suffered something similar last week, after taking a blow to the head while playing for his club. We’re lucky to have two guys who can play so well at 10, we will need them going forward to next year’s World Cup.
“You can see Toby growing as an on-field general and ball player. He’s not as experienced as Jonny, but he’s played in a World Cup final. He is graduating into that sort of leadership role in the team as he gets more experience. He needs more game time in that position over the next 18 months, but if I thought Jonny was in decline, I wouldn’t have picked him in the last seven internationals.”
Wilkinson is only one of seven changes (one positional) from the team that played out a drab 15-15 draw against Scotland and can finish no higher than third in the championship.
There is a first cap on the wing for Chris Ashton, whose first representative appearance in rugby league four years ago was on the winning side against France at Headingley, and a 61st appearance for Mike Tindall, who makes up the same midfield trio (with Flood and Riki Flutey) that functioned so well against France at Twickenham last year.
Ben Foden makes his first international start at full back and will look for good ball from a pack strengthened by the return of Simon Shaw at lock while Lewis Moody, having been dropped one week, returns at open-side flanker, with Joe Worsley displacing James Haskell on the blind side.
If Borthwick withdraws, Deacon will be his replacement, although Johnson was coy about naming a replacement captain. Tindall would be one candidate, Nick Easter another, but England’s state at the end of a demanding campaign is such that David Flatman and Hendrik Fourie joined training yesterday to allow Tim Payne and sundry back-row players to rest.
Scotland named an unchanged XV to play Ireland at Croke Park on Saturday, although amendments to the bench bring in Richie Gray for the injured Nathan Hines, Mike Blair for Rory Lawson and Alasdair Dickinson for Geoff Cross. Simon Taylor, the former Scotland No 8, is to join Bath on a three-year contract after three seasons with Stade Français.
England (to play France at Stade de France on Saturday): B Foden (Northampton); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tindall(Gloucester), R Flutey (Brive), C Ashton (Northampton); T Flood(Leicester), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (London Wasps), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), S Shaw (London Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, captain), J Worsley (London Wasps), L Moody (Leicester), N Easter (Harlequins).Replacements: S Thompson (Brive), D Wilson (Bath), L Deacon (Leicester), J Haskell (Stade Français), B Youngs(Leicester), J Wilkinson (Toulon), M Tait (Sale Sharks).
Source:The Times

How the races unfolded on day three of the Festival

Copper Bleu continues winning run for Philip Hobbs and Richard Johnson, left, with determined success in the Jewson Chase.

1 Copper Bleu (R Johnson) 12-1
2 Othermix (P J Brennan) 50-1
3 The Midnight Club (Paul Townend) 16-1

4 China Rock (N P Madden) 9-1
20 ran. Also: 6-1 fav Rivaliste
Copper Bleu won an eventful renewal of the Jewson Novices’ Handicap Chase, the first race on day three of the Cheltenham Festival.
There were plenty of casualties throughout the two-mile-five-furlong contest, but Richard Johnson weaved his way through the field to lead at the final fence.
Philip Hobbs’ eight-year-old, who was fourth in the Supreme Novices’ last year, began to idle out in front which enabled Paddy Brennan to have another go on runner-up Othermix.
The pair crossed paths on the run-in, but Johnson showed his strength to galvanise his mount once more and score by three and a half lengths.
Willie Mullins’sThe Midnight Club ran on well for third, with the well-backed China Rock in fourth.
Johnson said: “He ran well here last year (fourth in the Supreme) and I always felt on that form he had a good chance today.
“The tongue-tie helped and I think the extra trip has also helped today. He was having a look around on the run-in but it’s just fantastic to have a winner.
“It’s a funny place when you are on your own. He wasn’t stopping, he was just looking around.”
Hobbs’ wife, Sarah, said: “The horse is still very green but he jumped super and Richard gave him a great ride. I thought to have one winner [Menorah won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on Tuesday] was great, but to have two is fantastic.”
Philip Hobbs added: “He developed a breathing problem over the last couple of months so I tied his tongue down.
“The plan was to be handy, but Richard said he was flat-out all of the way. He also got lucky avoiding any trouble going down the inner.
“We’ll probably go to Punchestown, where he won last year, for a two mile five furlong novice handicap chase.”
Tom George, trainer of the runner-up: “Obviously we are delighted with the run, he’s improving and he’ll keep on doing so.
“Blinkers definitely sharpened him up and I’d say he’ll go to Aintree because we are only just getting him right.”
Mullins said: “I’m delighted with the run. They’ve gone a good gallop from start to finish and the ground was a little bit too lively. His jumping kept him in the race and he stayed all the way to the line.
“Today’s race was only two miles and five furlongs which is on the short side for him. The Irish National is an option but that may come too soon so the big novice in Punchestown is more likely.”
Source:The Times

The Spike Bar: Tiger Woods's return - in the player's own words

Peter Dixon recalls the Woods saga, bemoans the ludicrous pro-am and welcomes back a Ryder Cup favourite.

After the best part of four months away from the game, Tiger Woods has announced his comeback. It has been quite a ride since he had that argument with a fire hydrant outside his Florida home at the end of last year and here, through the words of the man himself, The Spike Bar looks back at the way events have unfolded.
November 15, 2009
On winning the JBWere Masters in Melbourne:
"I'm very, very thankful to come here and play in front of such great people and put together some good rounds. My friends and family came down and everyone had a great time."
Elin, his wife, was at home. But among those friends was one Rachel Uchitel, party hostess and catalyst for everything that was about to follow.
November 17, 2009
In an interview for New Zealand television, it was put to Woods: “Family first and golf second. Always been that way?”
Tiger's reply: “Always. Always."
Ten days later, his world came crashing down. Literally.
November 27, 2009
Statement on Tiger's website:
"Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night. He was admitted [to hospital], treated and released today in good condition. We appreciate very much everyone's thoughts and well wishes."
... and now go away.
November 29, 2009
Statement on Tiger's website:
"Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible."
And which false, unfounded and malicious rumours might they be?
December 2, 2009
Statement on Tiger's website:
"I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves."
Transgressions? With 12 mistresses and counting, I suppose that's one way of putting it.
December 11, 2009
Statement on Tiger's website:
"After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father and person."
And with that, it was time to head off for a touch of therapy - the rich man's get-out.
February 19, 2010
That apology in front of family, friends and associates ... and millions of television viewers worldwide:
"I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules ...
"I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be. I don't rule out that it will be this year."
... all said with hand on heart (or was it wallet?) and, in truth, toe-curlingly awful. The one thing that made everybody sit up was the announcement that he had no idea when he might play again. Reduced to a husk of his former self, the world No 1 did not look like a man who could return to competition any time soon.
And then, 25 days later ...
March 16, 2010
Statement on Tiger's website:
"After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta." (The Masters, April 8-11).

"I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy and I am continuing my treatment. Although I'm returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life."
And so the soap opera moves on to Augusta next month. One thing is for certain. It will not be dull.
Anti pro-am
Desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose, which probably explains why the European Tour's Trophée Hassan II golf tournament in Morocco this week is in that most dreaded of formats - the pro-am. You would not send Joe Public on to the pitch with Wayne Rooney would you? And yet for some reason, professional golf seems content to let the happy hackers get in the way of their star performers. Put it down to money, sponsors' money.
At least in this instance the tour has seen sense in discarding the amateurs after 36 holes and letting the professionals get on with their real jobs over the final two days. It is something that should be considered for the Dunhill Links Championship that takes place at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns each October. Why not let the amateurs play the three courses and then clear the decks when the pros go for the line at St Andrews on the final day? With big money and world ranking points at stake things suddenly become very serious. And by this stage, the amateurs are getting in the way - and they know it.
McGinley back in the fray
On the subject of Morocco, it is good to see that Paul McGinley is playing again after four months recuperating from a sixth operation on a knee he damaged while playing Gaelic football as a teenager. One of the most articulate and engaging of golfers, McGinley still harbours hopes of qualifying for the Ryder Cup team that will take on the United States at Celtic Manor, Newport, in October. If he fails in his quest - and even he would admit that he is up against it - then the Irishman is expected to become one of Colin Montgomerie's vice-captains. And rest assured, with the Ryder Cup coursing through his veins, McGinley would be a great addition to the team.
Money talks when it comes to the World Cup
I see the World Cup, that most unloved of golfing events, will become a biennial competition from next year. It was dropped from the calendar this year, but will resurface at the Mission Hills Resort, on Hainan Island, China, in November 2011.
In 2009 much criticism was levelled against the Americans, who could barely get together a two-man team to represent their country. But do the organisers really believe that by increasing the prize fund by $2 million, golf's spoilt and pampered stars are going to jump on their private jets and head to the other side of the world? When the Molinari brothers won in 2009, they shared a first prize of $1.4 million. How much more do these guys need?
Hansen's taxing problem
One man who might be only too pleased to play for such riches is Soren Hansen. The Dane finds himself in court in Denmark this week on a charge of tax evasion. The Ryder Cup player has been accused of misreporting his earnings in the six years up to 2006, claiming that he lived most of that time in Monaco and not Denmark. The taxman is seeking 9.6 million kroner (about $1.75 million) and up to an additional 10 million kroner as a penalty payment if he were to be found guilty.
Source:The Times

Bernie Ecclestone wants boffins to steer clear of rulebook

Formula One supremo pondering the wisdom of allowing engineers and scientists to devise the sport's regulations.
Bernie Ecclestone wants to stop Formula One’s boffins writing the rules after criticism over a dull season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix poured into his office yesterday.
The first race of 2010 was one of the most eagerly awaited in years with four world champions on the track. But the race was a flop as new regulations, including a ban on refuelling, led to a procession with almost no overtaking.
Ecclestone, Formula One’s commercial rights-holder, believes that allowing the engineers and scientists who work for the teams to write the technical regulations has led to a sport in which staring at computers and worrying about tyre pressures have become more important than the spectacle. But he does not want a radical overhaul of the new rules yet.
“There is no panic, no crisis for F1,” he said. “I think there is nothing we can do immediately and we should not just knee-jerk into changes.

“I had a meeting with the teams and tried to explain to them what our business is about — racing and entertaining the public, not about playing with computers and going fast over one lap. The problem is that you cannot really have teams in any shape or form having a part in the sporting or technical regulations. You cannot have the inmates writing the regulations.”
Ecclestone wants to hand the job to a team of outside experts but that is a long-term objective and the question is whether Formula One needs a rapid change now. Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, wants the immediate introduction of two mandatory pitstops to break up the field.
That is likely to be rejected by Jean Todt, the new president of the FIA, the sport’s governing body. He will want to see what happens at the next three races, in Australia, Malaysia and China, before being pushed into making any sweeping alterations.
Ecclestone believes that the rules need to be given time, while Ferrari, for whom Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa took a 1-2 finish in Bahrain, will veto any proposals to add to pitstops.
Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, also believes that the new regulations need time to work.
“The rules are fine,” the Canadian said. “One race doesn’t mean anything. The worst thing would be for sudden changes before everybody is sure what they want.”
Source:The Times

Angus Fraser: Eoin Morgan can step up to Test cricket

England may be forced to "take a punt" on Eoin Morgan to discover if he is cut out for Test cricket, according to Angus Fraser, Middlesex managing director.
The Irish left-hander has emerged as one of England's most dynamic limited-overs batsmen, scoring a match-winning century in the second one-day international against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
However, his participation in England's short-format squads and in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will leave him with little Championship cricket ahead of the Test series this summer. He did not make England's Test squad to play Bangladesh.
But Fraser says Morgan should still be considered for the summer series against Bangladesh. "The fixture list doesn't allow him to play a great deal of championship cricket," Fraser said.
"He's got the skill and ability to adapt to the longest form of the game. It may come down to whether England will be prepared to take a punt on him. Maybe the Bangladesh series would have been a good time."
Morgan went immediately from Bangladesh to join up with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.
The Dubliner's startling impact in Twenty20, capped by a match-winning 67 not out for England against Pakistan in Dubai last month, means he should be a shoo-in for England's final 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 in May.
But if Morgan were to be considered for England's first Test against Bangladesh at Lord's later that month, it is likely he would not have played a single LV County Championship match to prepare.
"The biggest thing for Eoin is to compartmentalise," Fraser said. "He's got a game in one-day cricket that works very well for him and he's confident with. He might have to make a few adjustments to be as effective in the longer format. The skill is to able to change from one to the other without them affecting each other."
Source:The Times

Glazers hope to cut down Red Knights in battle for Manchester United

The Glazer family are considering a second round of refinancing in an effort to remove Manchester United’s huge debt burden.
The American owners also hope that the move would help to stave off a planned takeover by the Red Knights.
Initial talks have taken place within the Glazers’ inner circle about how to get rid of their payment in kind (PIK) loans that could total £588 million by the time they are due to be repaid in 2017, The Times has learnt.
No final decision has been taken and a deal could be many months away, but a second refinancing would represent an about-turn for the Glazers, who, publicly at least, have shown little concern about the PIK loans until now.
The debt, which stood at £202.1 million according to the latest accounts, is rolling up at an astonishing annual interest rate of 14.25 per cent.
The club’s £716.5 million total debt has been cited by the Red Knights, a group of City financiers-cum-United fans, as the key driver behind their plans to organise a takeover.
It also emerged yesterday that the multimillionaire boss of one of the UK’s biggest hedge funds is one of dozens of rich United fans considering joining the Red Knights. Jon Aisbitt, the Man Group chairman, has held talks with Nomura, the Knights’ investment bank, about signing up.
Despite the debt, United’s commercial revenues are soaring, with the club expected to announce today a sponsorship agreement with a mobile telecommunications company in southern Africa, their third such deal in a week.
The Glazers have yet to appoint a bank to oversee the planned refinancing, although it is likely that they will turn to J.P. Morgan, their trusted financial adviser, which drove through the recent £504 million bond issue.
There are a number of ways in which the Glazers could refinance the PIK debt. A source close to the Americans said they had already had several approaches from investors who would want to buy a stake in the club.
A well-placed banker told The Times: “The Glazers have been approached by lots of groups about a deal.” Rather than sell a stake, however, the Glazers would prefer to refinance the PIK at a more favourable rate of interest.
“Crazier things have been done than this,” the banker said. “What you will see in periods of buoyant global markets like this is that investors become anxious to get their hands on new bond issues.”
Because the interest rate could rise to 16.25 per cent if a debt threshold outlined in the PIK notes is exceeded by August 16, there is good reason for the Glazers to secure a refinancing package as quickly as possible.
Under the terms of United’s bond, the Americans will be able to use up to £70 million of the £117 million of cash on the club’s balance sheet to start repaying the PIK notes, for which they are personally responsible.
A spokesman for the owners declined to comment.
Source:The Times

Elena Baltacha offers British tennis an antidote

The antidote to the ills pervading British tennis was discovered in a far-off desert oasis last night. Elena Baltacha, who has been through so much and endured it all with a determination to make the most of her career, defeated a top ten player for the first time in her life.

Baltacha's 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 victory over Li Na of China, a semi-finalist at the Australian Open five weeks ago, was the finest she has produced and marked a moment for all of the game to cherish. Six days from the debacle of Lithuania, when the Davis Cup team was beaten and chastened, the British No 1 woman player produced a performance in keeping with the blue skies all around.

Into the third round of the BNP Paribas Masters, where she now meets the unseeded Alicia Molik of Australia who is putting her own career back together, Baltacha was rightly thrilled with her performance. From 5-1 down in the final set tie-break, she survived three match points to the No 7 seed and on Baltacha's first, the Chinese player laced a backhand into the sidelines. At no time did defeat cross Baltacha's mind; she never took a backward step. This was a victory that resonated with heart, determination and unquenchable belief. It was Li who double-faulted on her third match point; the nerves tightened, she struck a forehand into the net and then missed that last backhand.

One doubts that victory ever tasted sweeter for the 26-year-old Baltacha. From the moment she stepped out to play this year, at No 87 in the world, she has refused to look back and feel sorry for all the times when she might have been forced to stop playing altogether. She knows the list better than anyone - the severe illnesses, the aches and strains, the ankle and the back problems and it is as if the gifts she has deserved are being showered in her direction all at onceHaving qualified for this championship, she has gone on to win two matches in three sets, to become the first British player in 15 years to win back-to-back main draw matches in an event of this magnitude. The last time a British woman had beaten a top ten opponent was at Wimbledon in 1998 when Sam Smith defeated the 1994 champion Conchita Martinez in the third round (Martinez was in attendance at the tournament here yesterday, just to add a further touch of piquancy).

Li could have won the first set, but missed backhands on her two set points in the twelfth game and made two errors off the same flank in the tie-break that surrendered the initiative. At the end of the first set, Baltacha took the opportunity to call Nino Severino, her coach, onto court for a few words of wisdom. Li declined the chance to summon Thomas Hogstedt, the Swede, and when he shouted out a few words to her as she walked back to re-start, the umpire warned Li for coaching. You could not make it up.

When she stumbled her way through the second set, it did not look particularly encouraging for the British No 1 and, having lost her first service game in the third, a swift departure appeared the likeliest outcome. But Baltacha is a battler - she immediately recovered that break and gave as good as she got from the back of the court in a final set of real intensity and classic hitting as the sun dipped over the horizon and the lights flickered on.

The tie-break was Li's to win when she struck a couple of glorious backhand winners down the line to lead 5-1. Baltacha willed herself to hang in, she struck two passes herself and on Li's first match point, the depth she found, her refusal to take a step back, brought her back from the brink. It was a stunning victory, and her embrace with Severino at its end spoke volumes for the work he has done to help piece her career back together.

Baltacha said: "When I broke into the world's top 100 in September last year, I felt like I really belong, and that was a defining moment. I'm not struggling with anything major, I'm practising hard, I'm feeling confident and that all helps. When you are playing the better girls more often, you are seeing a more consistent, faster ball and unless you adapt to that, you aren't going to survive. I have stuck in there, I think playing three matches already in the event helped but I felt from 4-4 in the final set that I was the one in charge of the match. It took abut ten seconds for me to realise she had missed that last backhand but of course I'm elated. I'm playing as well as I've ever played and I'm really excited about my prospects."

Source:The Times

Superb Wigan give Hull and Long severe reality check

Any pretentions that Hull and Sean Long had of leapfrogging Wigan at the top of the Engage Super League were ruthlessly dashed by the unstoppable Warriors at the DW Stadium on Friday night.

Long, the former St Helens scrum half, whom Wigan had courted before Hull made him a two-year offer, was roundly booed each time he touched the ball; in truth, that was not often. Hull were denuded of possession through their indiscipline and Wigan inflicted the away side’s second defeat of the campaign with an eight-try romp.

Victory stretched Wigan’s lead in the table to two points and handsomely bolstered their scoring difference, thanks to two tries apiece by Darrell Goulding and Sam Tomkins, leaving Long to nurse wounded pride, as well as a head cut that necessitated the bizarre bandaging of his dreadlocks.

Wigan built on a 26-4 lead at the break, mindful that they let slip a 20-point half-time advantage against Bradford Bulls the previous FridayDesperation to atone for that first defeat of the season was characterised by the barnstorming contributions of Stuart Fielden and Mark Riddell. Hull’s difficulty containing Wigan’s front row was exacerbated by their vulnerability to the home team’s pace and precision out wide.

Pat Richards took his try tally to nine in six matches in collecting the ubiquitous Sean O’Loughlin’s looping pass for the first of Wigan’s four first-half tries. Darrell Goulding, one of the homegrown youngsters a more enlightened regime at the club is building the side around, turned on a sixpence in scooping up a loose pass and outmanoeuvring the Hull cover.

The “Black and Whites” struck back through Richard Whiting, who took advantage of Richard Horne’s break for a try, which the centre would have supplemented had he been expecting Craig Hall’s inside pass on the Wigan line. Instead, Hull succumbed twice in six minutes, first to Martin Gleeson’s exploitation of a sizeable gap, then to Amos Roberts seizing O’Loughlin’s intelligent kick into space.

Any chance of last week’s implosion being repeated was scotched by Wigan taking advantage of three successive penalties conceded by Hull for Goulding’s second try after more incisive work by O’Loughlin. The Warriors ensured no let-up, and when Sam Tomkins slipped Whiting’s leash, the England stand-off carved his way beneath the posts for the first of his tries, which Cameron Phelps added to.

Long scored in a belated three-try Hull revival but this was never going to be his night.

Scorers: Wigan Warriors: Tries: Richards, Goulding 2, Gleeson, Roberts, S Tomkins 2, Phelps. Goals: Richards 8. Hull: Tries:Whiting, Hall, Long, Horne. Goals: Tickle 4.
Wigan Warriors: C Phelps; A Roberts, M Gleeson, D Goulding, P Richards; S Tomkins, T Leuluai; S Fielden, M Riddell, A Coley, H Hansen, J Tomkins, S O’Loughlin. Interchange: P Prescott, P Bailey, E O’Carroll, L Mossop.
Hull: J Tansey; C Hall, R Whiting, K Yeaman, T Briscoe; R Horne, S Long; M O’Meley, S Berrigan, E Dowes, D Tickle, W Manu, C Fitzgibbon. Interchange: E Lauaki, P Cusack, L Radford, D Houghton.
Referee: T Alibert.

Source:The Times

Leading owner finds success par for the course on racetrack

Clive Smith, who owns outstanding chasers Kauto Star and Master Minded, talks to Alan Lee about life, horses and love.

A précis of Clive Smith's lifestyle could have every man in the land drooling with envy. He lives on an exclusive golf course and has the time and money to enjoy it. He has two vintage Lagondas in the garage. And for good measure he owns the two finest steeplechasers seen for a generation.

Misogynists might also delight that there is no wife intruding on this male hedonism but Smith, 67, is a reluctant bachelor. “I regret never marrying,” he admitted. “I was always trying to find the right one.”

It is probably why he found racing as an alternative focus, and why he bought Kauto Star - though that so nearly did not happen.

Whatever his other horses achieve - and Master Minded, the dual two-mile champion, has achieved plenty - Kauto Star will be Smith's racing legacy. On Friday, if he can conquer Denman, his stablemate, once more, he will emulate Arkle and Best Mate with a third Cheltenham Gold Cup. Yet Smith almost paid twice as much for an infinitely inferior horsePerched on a sofa in his ten-bedroom mansion on the Wentworth estate, Smith recalled the May day in 2004 when life could have taken a different course. Having had horses with Jenny Pitman, David Elsworth and Martin Pipe, he had switched to Paul Nicholls, who had gone to the Doncaster sales with the type of instructions trainers relish. “I told him I wanted fun out of racing. Rather than buy another house, or a boat, I would invest £1m in horses.”

Smith was in Cambridgeshire, supervising the Lagonda Classic golf tournament that he created in 1975, when Nicholls called. He was trying to buy a horse called Garde Champetre. “I stayed on the mobile and kept bidding. My last bid was 490,000 guineas before J.P.McManus came in with the knockout.”

Garde Champetre will be at Cheltenham defending a title, but in the niche sphere of cross-country chasing. As a Gold Cup prospect, he flopped. Two weeks after narrowly failing to spend half his budget, Smith paid £280,000 for a promising French horse. The rest is history.

Smith seems an outrageously lucky owner. Even his first horse, Hawthorn Hill Lad, bolted up by 20 lengths on his debut in 1987, then won at Cheltenham. “A journalist came to me that day and said it would be all downhill from then on,” he recalled. “Whatever you pay for a horse, there has to be a big element of luck. But I've always felt something guiding me to do the right things.”

This might fancifully be ascribed to his birth in Jerusalem, where his father, an Army officer, “swam out to the middle of the river Jordan to fetch the waters to have me baptised”. Still, he took a few diversions before discovering his lifetime path.

There was the young love of an Irish nurse that “interrupted my studies”, and the year spent “dabbling in stockbroking”. Then, after accountancy training, a business degree at Loughborough and a spell with Chrysler, Smith was ready. “I decided I didn't like company life and I was more of an entrepreneur,” he said.

Golf had been his game since caddying on the Surrey circuit - he still has a carefully compiled book of his clients and their payments - and Smith now had a vision. “I felt there was a gap in the market for ordinary chaps to play, so I advertised in Farmers' Weekly for 50 acres of land to build a public course,” he said.

This was groundbreaking in the mid-1970s. It was also brave. “I sold my house, my car and some shares and borrowed money from the bank,” he said. “I was £70,000 in debt. But we opened a nine-hole course near Woking in May 1978. I had a caravan as the clubhouse and I sat there taking the green fees. It was extraordinary how it took off.”

Two more courses followed, one on a disused racecourse near Maidenhead, and he has since sold both fruitfully. His pride is justified. “My parents didn't have any money and all I had was a bit of drive,” he said. “I'm a grammar school boy who saw a lot of snobbishness in golf. I felt I cracked it open.”

A snap decision in August 2003 has brought fame to go with his fortune. “I just decided to drop in on Paul Nicholls,” he said. “I didn't know him but I saw him as the man on the way up. I walked into a deserted yard that Sunday morning and called out, ‘Is anyone home?' Paul put his head out of the office window and, in the next hour, I sensed he had an enthusiasm to match mine. He's streets ahead of other trainers.”

On the day Kauto Star won his first race at Newbury, Nicholls told Smith that someone was willing to give him a 100 per cent profit to take the horse. He refused. “I often wondered if it was J.P.McManus, or even Paul Barber. But I knew Paul wouldn't tell me,” he said.

Thanks to that decision, Smith will be surrounded by 108 friends in a private marquee on Friday, a single man in his element. “Last year, we had a dinner after Kauto won and three of the ladies told me it was the greatest day of their lives,” he said. “I said they must rank it behind their wedding days but they said, 'Oh no, it was much better than that.'”

Source:The Times

Paramedics suspected Tiger Woods’s wife had beaten him up, new records suggest

Paramedics barred Tiger Woods’ wife from riding in the ambulance with him on the night of his car crash because they suspected she had beaten him up, it emerged last night.

Newly released records from the Florida Highway Patrol show that when paramedics collected Woods “one of the crew stated that (his) wife could not go in the ambulance because this was a domestic”.

The early morning incident in November in which Woods hit a hedge, fire hydrant and tree while leaving his mansion triggered a series of revelations of affairs by the world’s No 1 golfer.

Last month, in his first public appearance since his fall from grace, Woods apologised to family and fans for cheating on his wife, Elin Nordegren, and said that he was undergoing therapy. But he denied there had been any physical violence between him and his wife“It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. She never hit me that night or any other night. There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage. Ever.”

The police records also confirmed previous media reports that Woods had been on prescription drugs at the time of the incident. They record that his wife handed paramedics two pill bottles before they drove her husband away, telling them that he had taken some of them. One of the bottles contained the painkiller Vicodin.

They also show that state troopers immediately set about looking for evidence that Woods was drunk at the time of the accident.

The golfer was later charged with careless driving and fined $164.

The police records show that they found no evidence of domestic violence but reveal that their inquiries into whether Woods was sober were thwarted by workers at Health Central Hospital in nearby Ocoee, who found excuses not to provide them with medical paperwork.

Source:The Times

Michael Schumacher put in the shade by young pretender

So first blood to the young pretender. On a day when all eyes were on Michael Schumacher’s comeback to Formula One after three years in retirement, it was his team-mate who stole the show in practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg emerged from Schumacher’s shadow to post the fastest time of the day in what is becoming an intriguing national contest between England and Germany. Rosberg, with Schumacher in third place, in their Mercedes cars ahead of the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton, in second and 0.445 seconds off Rosberg’s pace, and Jenson Button, who was fourth.

Schumacher admitted he had felt rusty on his return to the grid and conceded he needed to "raise his game" if he was to compete with Rosberg. "The car felt much better in the second session although I've got to raise my game a bit and I'm sure I'm able to," he said. "I certainly feel a little bit rusty, certainly on the one-lap issue I can do better. On long runs and consistent runs things are pretty good, I'm quite happy. I will just use the rest of the weekend in order to tweak out the little bits."

Sebastian Vettel rounded off the top five for Red Bull, but there was little sign during the day of the twin Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. They could be playing a waiting game but it was strange to see the expected big names gradually rise to the top of the timesheets as the two practice sessions progressed while Massa, who finished seventh, and Alonso, ninth, showed no signs of the pre-season pace that had them marked down as title favourites.

Alonso admitted Ferrari needed to make some changes before tomorrow's qualifying session but said he was still hopeful of getting on pole. "It's still completely unknown," he said. "For sure, out of the four big teams, any can be on pole. And there could be a surprise like Force India, who seem very quick on this type of circuit. We are in a position to attack 100 per cent. We are confident with the car - we need to make changes to improve the grip but there is nothing wrong."

Inevitably, on the first day of any Formula One season, there was one technical issue to cause some minor explosions among the teams. This time it was McLaren’s controversial new wing assembly, said to be controlled by the drivers altering the airflow through the car cockpit, which is then directed onto the rear wing. That means they can control the amount of drag over the wing and potentially lift the speed of the car by up to six mph on the straights.

The FIA, the governing body, has declared the wing design legal and the sound and fury was dying out last night with teams resigned to having to replicate the McLaren innovation.

That is unlikely to apply to the three new teams on the grid, who had a mixed start to their careers in Formula One. The Lotus Cosworths of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli look as though they have a chance of improving, but Virgin Racing’s two cars could be struggling, while HRT, the new Spanish team, were so far off the pace, they might be quicker calling a taxi for qualifying tomorrow.

Only Bruno Senna managed to get in some running, finishing a mighty 11.559 seconds off Rosberg’s fastest time, while Kanun Chandhok, the rookie who has never driven a Formula One car, will have to wait a little longer for his big moment. Mechanics had still not finished building his car by the end of practice, raising the prospect that the Indian will have to do his first runs in qualifying on Saturday afternoon – if he is allowed to run at all this weekend.

Bahrain Grand Prix: Second free practice session
1 Rosberg Mercedes 1m55.409s
2 Hamilton Mclaren 1m55.854s
3 Schumacher Mercedes 1m55.903s
4 Button Mclaren 1m56.076s
5 Vettel Red Bull 1m56.459s
6 Hulkenberg Williams 1m56.501s
7 Massa Ferrari 1m56.555s
8 Petrov Renault 1m56.750s
9 Alonso Ferrari 1m57.140s
10 De La Rosa Sauber 1m57.255s
11 Kobayashi Sauber 1m57.352s
12 Sutil Force India 1m57.361s
13 Barrichello Williams 1m57.452s
14 Liuzzi Force India 1m57.833s
15 Kubica Renault 1m58.155s
16 Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1m59.799s
17 Webber Red Bull 2m00.444s
18 Kovalainen Lotus 2m00.873s
19 Trulli Lotus 2m00.990s
20 Glock Virgin 2m02.037s
21 Di Grassi Virgin 2m02.188s
22 Senna Hrt 2m06.968s
23 Buemi Toro Rosso No Time
24 Chandhok Hrt No Time

Source:The Times

England power ahead against Bangladesh

Paul Collingwood followed captain Alastair Cook's example with an untroubled century as England declared on 599 for six on the second afternoon of the first Test against Bangladesh.

Cook's was the only wicket to fall in the morning session, departing for a career-best 173, then Collingwood scored 145 to register his tenth Test century.

His fifth-wicket partner Ian Bell came close to a hundred himself, but was caught out for 84, and the declaration followed immediately afterwards.

Despite earlier questions over his fitness, Stuart Broad proved that he is certainly strong enough to be in the side, removing Kayes and Siddique in the seven overs Bangladesh had at the crease before teaGraeme Swann came on at the start of the evening session and continued his uncanny habit of striking in his first over, removing Aftab Ahmed, who was caught by Bell at short leg for one.

Yet Mahmudullah was going well in support of the opener Tamim Iqbal and hit one of the shots of the day to heave Swann back over his head for six, and clubbed Tim Bresnan for successive boundaries as the fourth-wicket pair scored at pace.

But Swann had him for 51, with a suggestion of glove as the ball floated to Collingwood at slip.

Shakib looked set to reach stumps alongside Tamim but lost his off stump to Swann attempting a rash shot.

Nightwatchman Shahadat almost followed but the third umpire turned down England's appeal for caught at silly point.

Bangladesh: first innings
Iqbal not out 81
Kayes c Prior b Broad 4
Siddique c & b Broad 7
Aftab Ahmed c Bell b Swann 1
Shakib Al Hasan b Swann 1
Shahadat Hossain not out 0
Extras (lb7 w1 nb1) 9
Total 5 wkts (39 overs) 154
Fall of wickets: 1-13 2-27 3-51 4-145 5-149
Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain to bat
Bowling: Broad 10-1-30-2; Bresnan 10-1-47-0; Swann 14-5-40-3; Finn 5-1-30-0.

England: first innings (overnight 374-3)
Alastair Cook c and b Mahmudullah 173
Michael Carberry lbw b Mahmudullah 30
Jonathan Trott c Rahim b Rubel 39
Kevin Pietersen b Razzak 99
Paul Collingwood c Tamim b Razzak 145
Ian Bell c Rubel b Shakib 84
Matt Prior not out 0
Extras (b6, lb9, nb11, w3) 29
Total (for 6 wickets decl; 138.3 overs) 599
Fall of wickets: 1-72 (Carberry), 2-149 (Trott), 3-319 (Pietersen), 4-412 (Cook), 5-596 (Collingwood), 6-599 (Bell).
Bowling: Shahadat 17-2-73-0 (nb4, w2), Rubel 19-0-97-1 (nb6), Shakib 34.3-4-133-1, Naeem 12-1-42-0, Mahmudullah 23-1-78-2 (nb1, w1), Razzak 31-1-157-2, Ahmed 1-0-2-0, Tamim 1-0-2-0.

Source:The Times

A seven-point plan to rescue British tennis

After the debacle of Great Britain’s Davis Cup defeat in Lithuania at the weekend, which is almost certain to cost John Lloyd, the captain, his job, the LTA promised a review of the tie and where it could have done better.

Here, The Times becomes the governing body’s chief executive for a day and says what it would do in seven steps to turn the sport around.

1, Scrap the National Tennis Centre

The Roehampton renaissance building in southwest London is a £40 million cradle of elitism, too opulent and cosy and not fit for purpose. It is everything that the sport has no right to think that it is. There are six indoor courts and more than 60 people staring into computers. There are not enough players of sufficient quality to make the figures stack upAndy Murray was asked if he would vacate a court last week to make way for a mini-tennis tournament, so he went to practise in nearby Chiswick. One young player who used the NTC for the first time wrote to his parents saying that “everyone in there thinks they are God”.

Use it as a reference point for sports science and competitions, but abandon the pretence that it should be a high-performance centre.

2, Disband national training and support independent centres

When Judy Murray said that, rather than building one £40 million centre, the LTA should have funded forty £1 million centres across the country, she was spot on. Independence is the way forward, with competitive squads across Britain that are funded centrally but run on strict licensing guidelines. We must free the regions to do their own thing, invest in young British coaches, give them the freedom to flourish from under the iron hand of national interference. Make sure that all the courts in these centres have free access to children under the age of 16 from 6.30 to 8.30am every day.

3, End the love affair with foreigners

What do Belgians know about British tennis that British people do not? Do we really need a Belgian as player director, a 26-year-old Belgian as head of coach education and a Belgian as head of research (what is that?), as well as Belgian coaches? Yes, Belgium struck gold in Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, but what has it achieved since? How much does this insistence on bringing foreign people into key positions in the sport motivate the young coaches in Britain?

4, Breathe new life into a moribund club system

The whole environment of British clubs, the way they are run, staffed and organised, needs to be changed if ever we are going to inspire young people to play there. We have to invest more in places to play, but also youngsters need to be able to play at the same time as their parents or grandparents, not fobbed off as outcasts A ten-year-old can learn more about strategy by facing a 70-year-old who slices and dices the ball than he ever could with a soft red ball on a half-sized red court with a cut-down racket. This absorption with mini-tennis is a scourge on the game.

Do they play mini-tennis at the Bollettieri or Casal-Sánchez academies, two of the best in the world? Of course they don’t.

5, Hand over the responsibility of wild cards into Wimbledon

Rather than have to spend countless days explaining why the performances of British players who cannot get into the Championships by right are so poor, let the All England Club decide who should fill their eight wild-card places. If it wants to give them to British players, so be it, but the LTA should leave the reckoning up to them and not be involved in the process at all.

6, Make tennis live and make it relevant

Give the coach the stature in a tennis club that a golf professional has in his. Rather than crush him with daft targets and box-ticking, let him live the dream and pass it on to his protégés. Offer free tennis equipment to every primary school in the country.

7, Be inspirational, be honest and, most important, be realistic

There is an inherent weakness at the top and tennis requires a leader of courage, wisdom and experience who stands up for his sport with concise words and strong character.

I would stop making outrageous claims, stop raising expectation to levels that cannot be realised and be prepared to take responsibility when things did not work out, not just say that I would. So if I made mistakes I would own up to them and if I made too many and the game was going down the plughole, I would resign.

Source:The Times

Paul Cooke set to be reunited with John Kear at Wakefield Wildcats

Paul Cooke is set to leave Hull Kingston Rovers, three years after his controversial cross-city move from Hull, and join Wakefield Wildcats on loan for the rest of the season.

Whether the deal will be completed in time for Cooke to play against his parent club in Friday’s Engage Super League fixture at Craven Park is unclear.

Cooke, who has been dropped for Rovers’ past two matches, confirmed to team-mates yesterday that he was moving to link up with John Kear, for whom Cooke, 28, played at Hull.

The stand-off will also be reunited at Belle Vue with Danny Brough, his former half-back partner at Hull, where the pair were instrumental in the 2005 Challenge Cup final defeat of Leeds Rhinos under Kear. The Wakefield head coach retained his admiration for Cooke, who scored a late try from loose forward against Leeds at the Millennium Stadium five years ago before Brough kicked the winning conversionCooke’s switch from Hull to their fierce rivals, which earned him a four-month suspension for an illegal approach to Rovers while still a contracted Hull player, caused uproar in the city. At Craven Park, he never scaled the heights he did playing for the “Black and Whites” and Hull KR had told him that he would not receive a new contract beyond this season.

While negotiations continue, Wakefield, still smarting from Saturday’s 52-0 loss at home to Huddersfield Giants, did confirm the signing of Ben Gledhill, 20, a former England Under-18 prop, who joined the Wildcats part-time over the winter.

Richard Silverwood is to referee Leeds’s league fixture away to Huddersfield on Sunday, two weeks after he was labelled “arrogant” by Keith Senior, the Rhinos centre, whose criticism of Silverwood after the World Club Challenge defeat by Melbourne Storm at Elland Road ten days ago has resulted in his appearance before an RFL tribunal tonight.

Senior, who later issued an apology for his outburst over what he saw as a failure by the referee to clamp down on Melbourne’s spoiling tactics, is charged with breaching operational rules. If found guilty, he could be suspended, but he is more likely to be fined.

Gareth Thomas, the former Wales rugby union captain, trained with Crusaders’ first-team squad for the first time yesterday. The 35-year-old remains pencilled in to make his debut against Catalans Dragons in Wrexham on Friday week. “Obviously, I’m going to start out wide because that’s where I can learn but also be involved in the game,” he said. “We’re taking things one step at a time, but I realise I have got to earn my position here.

“I’ve got to get into how the team play and that’s what I’ve got to learn first. I’m probably working harder than I have at any other stage of my career, learning something new in such a short space of time.”

Source:The Times