England’s injury-ravaged side suffered another crushing blow yesterday when a shin injury forced Stephen Harmison to withdraw from tomorrow’s third and final Test against India here. On Tuesday Knight unveiled a statue of Best Mate, who so suddenly and shockingly expired on the track at Exeter in November, following an emotional address by his owner, Jim Lewis.. Meanwhile, her most celebrated horse surveys the track only in bronze. But Knight has no runners at Cheltenham this afternoon, and it has been a disappointing Festival for her, with the much fancied Racing Demon nowhere in the Arkle, and joint favourite Impek failing to hold on in yesterday’s Ryanair Chase. Today is Gold Cup day at Cheltenham, a day engraved on the heart of trainer Henrietta Knight just as her name is engraved in the record books, following Best Mate’s marvellous trio of victories in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Paul Manning, Rob Hayles and Stephen Cummings, respectively gold, silver and bronze medallists in the individual pursuit, were almost knocked over by a car as they cycled to the arena from the Athletes’ Village.. England’s track cyclists had to negotiate a near-accident in a city centre street before earning their first-ever clean sweep of Commonwealth medals on the opening day of competition. Ovett, in particular, has been notoriously reluctant to discuss their rivalry down the years.. So it was something of a relief when both showed up as per the programme here yesterday – no collisions with church railings (Ovett), no untimely bouts of toxoplasmosis (Coe) – to reminisce for the first time about their glorious years of tit-for-tat before co-hosting a seminar for young Australian runners. Historically, getting Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett together has never been easy. The two great middle distance rivals of the late Seventies and early Eighties actually raced each other just seven times in 15 years – and one of those events was a schoolboy cross-country. Trailing Lenton and England’s Melanie Marshall in the opening half of the race, McClatchey produced a storming finish in a Games record of 1min 57.25sec..

Scotland surprisingly ended the first day of the swimming competition on top of the medals table as Caitlin McClatchey and David Carry took gold yesterday. McClatchey won the 200m freestyle to ruin an attempt at a record seven golds by the Australian Libby Lenton, and Carry triumphed in the 400m freestyle just minutes later. Foly Pleasant’s jumping was ring-rusty when third on his reappearance at Bangor but he was back to something like his old self at Warwick next time.. Foly Pleasant and the jockey Richard Burton are the combination to have on your side in today’s Christie’s Foxhunter Chase. A three-quarter-length second to Sleeping Night in last year’s race, Foly Pleasant excelled over the Prestbury Park fences when trained by Henrietta Knight and was giving yesterday’s Ryanair Chase winner, Fondmort, 12lb when runner-up in the 2002 Tripleprint Chase.

Paul Carberry has chosen him ahead of the stable’s two other runners, and can be relied upon to produce him late off the usual frantic gallop.. But he had shown high-class form on the Flat in the meantime and his superb record when fresh, under both codes, suggests that he has been kept aside for this since. He looked an ideal type for this race when finishing well from off a slow pace in the Tote Gold Trophy at Newbury last year, but met with a setback after that and was very disappointing in his only subsequent hurdle race, back in November. A saver is recommended on Studmaster, who could well return here next year for the Smurfit Champion Hurdle itself, but twice the odds are available against Power Elite (next best 5.20). But two of the 30 runners have outstanding credentials to round off a famous week for the Irish. “I wasn’t sure it was Johnny coming at me,” he said, “but I thought it might be. And after all, there was the honour of our weighing-room to uphold.”.

The Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle offers a treacherous path out of trouble for anyone unfortunate enough still to need a winner after 23 of the 24 races at the Festival. And the proximity of the Flat jockey made Robert Thornton, on the winner, the more delighted to succeed. On the runner-up, Johnny Murtagh came so close to his dream of adding a Grade One jumping contest to his Derby wins. In the closest finish of the week, the Alan King-trained six-year-old held Golden Cross at bay by a head in the World Hurdle. For a change, the flag carried aloft into the hallowed winners’ circle here yesterday was the cross of St George, figuratively for five out of the six winners and literally in the case of the new marathon monarch, My Way De Solzen.