THERE IS not much vegetation on Newmarket Heath but for at least six weeks what little there is has

THERE IS not much vegetation on Newmarket Heath, but for at least six weeks, what little there is has generally had at least one pair of binoculars poking out from between its branches. Flat racing on turf is about to return, and the dozens of quack tipsters who clog up Channel 4’s Teletext pages are preparing for their most profitable month. “Unraced juvenile – this catches pigeons,” the adverts will run, or “unexposed three-year-old – handicap snip”, and for once, punters who should know better might just be ready to believe them. Daring News was awarded the race.n Go Ballistic was the most notable absentee among 51 horses left in at yesterday’s forfeit stage for the Grand National.Grand National (10 April) Acceptors: Suny Bay, General Wolfe, Earth Summit, Lord Gyllene, Coome Hill, Cyborgo, Eudipe, Double Thriller, Senor el Betrutti, Belmont King, Addington Boy, Rough Quest, Tamarindo, Fiddling The Facts, Baronet, Papillon, Call It A Day, Bells Life, Avro Anson, Kendal Cavalier, Nahthen Lad, Philip’s Woody, Mudahim, Anabatic, Samlee, Bobbyjo, Linden’s Lotto, Betty’s Boy, Brave Highlander, Time For A Run, Blue Charm, Commercial Artist, Frazer Island, Another Excuse, Hollybank Buck, Strong Chairman, Merry People, Camelot Knight, Emerald Statement, Cavalero, Druid’s Brook, Miss Diskin, Damas, Decyborg, Castle Coin, Choisty, Waterloo King, Tell The Nipper, Feels Like Gold, St Mellion Fairway, Back Bar..

The effect on the off-course market was not immediately clear, though the William Hill organisation believed most backers of Rusk, the 2-1 second favourite, had been paid out.
Hutsby, 22, passed the post in front of 50-1 shot Daring News but on weighing in, the clerk of the scales noted that Hutsby was 11/2lb below the 11st 12lb he should have carried. Hutsby failed to draw the correct weight after riding Rusk to win the selling hurdle. His mount was disqualified but not before a breakdown in communication between the clerk of the scales and the course announcer that led to the weigh-in being announced before the changed result was made public. One on-course bookmaker claimed the incident had cost him pounds 3,000. Either way, the song and the videos are bound to get people talking and foot tapping. Along with the World Cup and a new cricket coach, that is just what English cricket most needs..

BOOKMAKERS complained loudly at Towcester yesterday over a fiasco which began when amateur jockey Fred Hutsby answered a call of nature. Caprice, the wonderbra model used to launch the England kit last October, was also there, though it was the song that ultimately stole the show.”All over the World”, as the tune is known, comes with two video versions. The first, made by Stewart himself, borrows heavily from the film One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and depicts white-coated lunatics – some felt they must be umpires or the Barmy Army, others the ECB – breaking out of the asylum and joining kids playing a cricket match.The second video, the official one that will be widely used by TV coverage of the World Cup (the BBC will still use the Booker T & the MG’s song “Soul Limbo” to open their final broadcasts for four years), shows more typical cricket action from the teams competing. Once an individual has been singled out he has to be endorsed by the England management committee [EMAC], presumably after consultation with the England captain.But if that was all rather dull and humdrum, the indoor school at Lord’s was a riot of colour and activity as a bevy of celebrities – for some reason known as ambassadors – donned pads and coloured shirts to bat against Darren Gough or bowl at Neil Fairbrother.

Yet if Woolmer was implying that a long rest would rule him out, Lamb scotched the notion that immediate availability was a prerequisite.”If we have to make an interim appointment for the Test series against New Zealand we will,” said Lamb. “Obviously we’d prefer continuity but, if we have to, we’ll take as much time as is needed to make the right decision for English cricket.” According to Lamb the net for candidates will be cast wide and will not be restricted to British nationals.The method for vetting them will not be quite as obliging though, and a shortlist will be compiled by the international teams department of the ECB, headed by former Nato man, Simon Pack. It’s one of those decisions where you are damned if you do make it and damned if you don’t.”However, in the murky world of sport, one decision tends to beget another and it will not be long before a replacement for Lloyd will have to be announced. Coincidence or not, early speculation has centered on South Africa’s outgoing coach Bob Woolmer, who later played down the rumours.Speaking yesterday morning on Radio 5, Woolmer said that, although possibly tempted by the England job, he was looking forward to a long rest once the World Cup had been concluded.

AMIDST THE confusion created by the imminent departure of David Lloyd, the England coach, the World Cup song was launched at Lord’s yesterday by its creator Dave Stewart, formerly one half of the Eurythmics. But if the catchy tune is seen primarily as a way of trying to get young people hooked on cricket the England captain, Alec Stewart (no relation apparently), was hoping that it would not be the coach’s swansong after all. “Whether Bumble [Lloyd's nickname] was packing in or not after the World Cup, we’ll still be doing our best to win,” Stewart said. “If we do win it, hopefully someone can change his mind about carrying on.