The best way to defend Mulaomerovic is to keep the ball out of his hands

The best way to defend Mulaomerovic is to keep the ball out of his hands. He has averaged a modest 9.7 points in wins over Hungary, Slovakia and Switzerland, but distributes the ball to the tune of five assists per game Defensively he is coming up with almost two steals per game. Mulaomerovic is the driving force for Turkish side Efes Pilsen in the EuroLeague, averaging 14.3 points, four assists and shooting better than 40% from three-point range.Nikola Prkacin – The 6ft 8in forward is pouring in 12 points, grabbing five rebounds and shooting better than 68% from the field in the semi-final round. ‘Prka’, 24, did not take a three-point shot in the first three games. He is almost coming up with three steals per game for Cibona in the EuroLeague, Europe’s premier club competition.Nikola Vujcic – England captain Steve Bucknall knows all too well the danger the 6ft 6in forward poses. The Croatia Split star scored 27 points in his side’s 88-84 Saporta Cup win in London, making 11 of 13 shots. The 28-year-old has made 75% of his shots and has hauled down eight rebounds in Croatia’s three qualifying wins..

The lure of a £20,000 prize has done nothing to attract numbers to today’s revamped National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell, where the winner will receive a further £20,000 if reaching a place in a Grade One hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. The lure of a £20,000 prize has done nothing to attract numbers to today’s revamped National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell, where the winner will receive a further £20,000 if reaching a place in a Grade One hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Only four horses have been declared for today’s two-and-a- half-mile event, with last year’s Triumph Hurdle winner, Katarino, being taken on by Master Beveled, Count Campioni and Male-Ana-Mou.Relkeel was among seven initial entries to be withdrawn yesterday and Alan King, his trainer, said: “We decided that Fontwell, as a very sharp track, might not be ideal for him. He will go to Kempton instead for the Rendlesham Hurdle.”Nicky Henderson, who runs Katarino in the Fontwell race, will be represented by Sharpical in Thursday’s televised Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton, in which he will face the François Doumen-trained Hors La Loi III and a fellow Champion Hurdle entry in the Micky Hammond-trained Deep Water.Jonjo O’Neill’s rising star Legal Right has been entered for the Jim Ford Chase on the same Wincanton card, but is more likely to head straight to Cheltenham for a tilt at the Cathcart Chase or Gold Cup.. There will be plenty of Irish dark horses whose arrival will be heralded by word rather than deed when the Cheltenham Festival starts three weeks tomorrow, but Limestone Lad is the solid alternative to all the hyperbole. Yesterday he took his tally for the season to nine victories and proved that his relentless galloping is even more formidable over three miles than over shorter trips. There will be plenty of Irish dark horses whose arrival will be heralded by word rather than deed when the Cheltenham Festival starts three weeks tomorrow, but Limestone Lad is the solid alternative to all the hyperbole. Yesterday he took his tally for the season to nine victories and proved that his relentless galloping is even more formidable over three miles than over shorter trips.
His success in yesterday’s Boyne Hurdle at Navan also ensured that Limestone Lad will indeed make his first excursion out of Ireland for the Stayers’ Hurdle on the last day of the Festival.

Despite carrying 12st in testing ground and not having run since the end of January – a ridiculously long period of relaxation for this workaholic – Limestone Lad and Shane McGovern dominated throughout the three-mile event yesterday to beat the previous year’s winner, Sallie’s Girl, by 20 lengths with Dorans Pride 13 lengths further adrift in third.Now the winner of 18 races, Limestone Lad was sent off the 2-7 favourite and, after dictating the pace throughout, fairly sprinted up the climb to the post when McGovern allowed him to stretch going to the last.The only horse in the stable of Jim Bowe, his owner/trainer/breeder, he has remained in top form despite having had 11 races during the campaign.”He loves his job,” Bowe said. “We are hoping for cut in the ground at Cheltenham because he seems to be at his best when it is soft.”Ladbrokes were impressed by the ease of the success and have trimmed Limestone Lad to 4-1 from 9-2 for the Stayers’ Hurdle, with only Anzum and Lady Rebecca, the 3-1 joint-favourites, ahead of him in the market.Dorans Pride was second for most of the way until tiring between the last two flights and his trainer, Michael Hourigan, has made up his mind now about the horse’s Cheltenham target. “That rules Dorans Pride out of the Stayers’ Hurdle and he will run in the Gold Cup instead,” the Limerick trainer said.Paul Carberry was lucky to escape more serious injury when he took a heavy fall and a kicking in the opening race at Navan Missing out on a later winner, Arctic Copper, will hurt too. Carberry’s helmet was split when he was struck a blow by an oncoming horse after coming down a mile out on Third Agenda in the novice chase.One rider who has a PhD in painful falls, Brendan Powell, at last has something to celebrate in the loyalty of the trainer Peter Beaumont and the owner Gareth Read, who have kept the ride on the Grand National favourite, Young Kenny, open for the battered veteran.Powell, 39, last rode Young Kenny when the pair landed the Scottish Grand National at Ayr 10 months ago, but will be reunited with the gelding when they attempt a repeat win in Saturday’s £100,000 De Vere Gold Cup (formerly Greenalls Gold Cup) at Haydock Park in which Beaumont may also run Niki Dee.Injury has prevented Powell from renewing the partnership in the gelding’s three races this season. The Irishman stopped off at Beaumont’s stable en route to racing at Newcastle on Saturday to ride work on the nine-year-old and he said: “He worked with Niki Dee.

They both worked well and he gave me the feel that he was back to his best.”Hopes increased yesterday that Rockforce, who finished lame when winning the Ascot Chase on Saturday, may race again. However, the gelding faces a long spell on the easy list after sustaining a very bad tendon injury when beating Celibate by a length and a half in the Ascot feature.Paul Nicholls, his trainer, said: “There’s a very strong possibility he will race again. He’s out for the rest of the season and next season, but he is only eight years old and he could be back after that.”It’s a case of giving him plenty of time and the best care as he’s not got that many miles on the clock He’s a horse that’s talented enough to persevere with.”. At the end of a week in which Andy Farrell became the first rugby league player to sign a contract worth £1m, his younger brother experienced life at the other end of the scale yesterday. At the end of a week in which Andy Farrell became the first rugby league player to sign a contract worth £1m, his younger brother experienced life at the other end of the scale yesterday.
Phil Farrell hit rock bottom with the Lancashire Lynx side to which he has been on loan from Wigan as they slumped to the foot of the Northern Ford Premiership, comprehensively beaten by Workington, previously without a win this season.The Workington coach, Gary Murdock, responded to their losing streak by picking himself at scrum-half for the first time.