Bravo to Greg Wood - today's Guardian

Yes,well done to Wood.No surprise that 1st class season ticket holder on the gravy train below holds a different viewpoint:



Alan Lee The Times Racing Correspondent





According to those who know him best, the manifestation of anger in Sheikh Mohammed is a prolonged period of silence. It is said he was quiet for a considerable time after the revelations of steroid use in his stables, back in the spring, but any silence around the Sheikh yesterday will have had less to do with self-recrimination than bewilderment.

Just when he might have thought the worst was past and that the reputation of his equine empire might yet be restored, one national newspaper devoted the first three pages of its sports section to “the latest blow in grim year for racing monarch”.

This focused on the seizure of a shipment of drugs from Dubai and a subsequent raid by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate on a farm in Newmarket owned by the sheikh’s Darley company. Though these developments had been widely reported three weeks ago, such arresting presentation will have persuaded many casual readers that this was a new scandal.

The sheikh’s wife, Princess Haya, is reportedly leading an inquiry into the seizures in her role as president of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. Conflict of interest springs to mind here.

The essential facts, though, remained unchanged. There were no steroids involved in the seizure. The drugs were all commonplace equine treatments rendered illegal only by their import. No racehorses are thought to be involved.

A statement from the British Horseracing Authority was dismissive. “We are surprised the article has been given such prominence as it contains no notable developments beyond those which have already been widely reported,” Robin Mounsey, the media manager, said.

The Sheikh may now be familiar with the saying about slinging enough mud and some will stick. If nothing else, however, repetition concentrates the mind. Beyond question, the sheikh’s equine businesses have been exposed as careless or arrogant, maybe both.

There is a perception that Sheikh Mohammed considers himself above the law and recent media coverage, however re-hashed, will have prolonged his sense of embarrassment. There may have been some long silences around him yesterday.

The Sheikh has been running Godolphin and his racing empire like a personal fiefdom for decades - he's making all the decisions, his dancing minions repeatedly tell us.

Even so, you can be sure that Princess Haya will find that he knows nothing at all about the fact that his horses were being injected with steroids, and banned substances were being imported from Dubai to his premises, imo...

sheikh mo now known as the pharmacist among his inner circle

As a total aside,I'm surprised that The Guardian continues with a horse racing journalist.I cancelled my paper subscription when they stopped printing the day's race-cards.Nowadays,they only print the day's feature race and the televised races on Saturday.Richard Baerlein,who was instrumental in getting The Guardian to sponsor the Classic trial at Sandown(won by Shergar, and in those days a more influential race than the Dante) must be turning in his grave.

Anyway,I complained about this by email but never got a reply.Read it on-line for free nowadays.Also,spend a fiver in Waitrose and you get a free copy.

One of the few real journalists out there. He should be applauded for going where most of the others would not dream of commenting.

Agree.  Good and new stuff from the Telegraph today too.  See my post on the other "scandal" thread.