IT’S official, folks: we are not alone in the universe.
At least, according to the Mexicans, who on Wednesday unveiled to the world a couple of shrivelled-up old ‘alien’ corpses.
They looked suspiciously like they were made out of papier-mâché to me but, that minor detail aside, it’s a big moment for all the UFO believers out there.
And the last week in horse racing has been out of this world, too. See what I did there?
Mind you, the sacking of jockey Kevin Stott by Kia Joorabchian was about as predictable as the ending of Independence Day.
If you believe the rumours, this split has been on the cards for a while, and Stott’s ride on King Of Steel at Leopardstown was the final nail in the coffin.
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Onlookers were shocked when Joorabchian gave him a very public dressing down and there was talk he would be jocked off Bucanero Fuerte in the National Stakes at the Curragh the next day.
That didn’t happen, but the inevitable dumping by text message came just hours later.
Who would dare take the Amo Racing job now? The answer is, plenty of jockeys.
I'm sure they’d go into it with their eyes wide open and it's still a very lucrative gig – even if it is short-term.
For what it's worth, I reckon Amo will hire Silvestre De Sousa, whose tenure in Hong Kong is over after he was banned for a betting rule breach.
SDS's wife revealed earlier in the year that he has already been contacted about potential job offers in the UK, while his suspension ends in March, just in time for the new season.
Kia has been agent to several Brazilian footballers and has a close professional relationship with some Brazilian racehorse pre-trainers. Fair to say, he loves a Brazilian.
You heard it here first.
Back to the discovery of ET’s crusty remains, it occurred to me we shouldn’t actually have been shocked, given an alien has walked among us for decades.
I’m talking about Aidan O’Brien, who, time and again, shows us earthlings that his talent is otherworldly.
Auguste Rodin resembled little more than a corpse himself at Ascot in the King George, but Aidan brought him back from the dead to win the Irish Champion.
It was an incredible training feat – though it does help when you have the ultimate company man on your side.
There is nothing Seamie Heffernan won’t do for the Coolmore ‘lads’, and he wasn’t exactly action-packed on runner-up Luxembourg.
He held every chance of victory but only gave his horse two love-taps with the whip, compared to Ryan Moore’s eight, in a close finish.
It’s the second time Seamie has unfortunately lost the use of his arms when Auguste Rodin has drawn alongside – the first being in the Irish Derby. He should get that looked at.
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Elsewhere, Irish racing bigwigs banned billionaire property mogul and racehorse trainer Luke Comer for three years after a DOZEN of his horses tested positive for anabolic steroids.
Comer – who trained a record 300-1 winner a few years back – denies he doped them and says it was caused by environmental contamination.
Maybe it was some little green men wot did it, when they came down to make their crop circles?
They have been unable to prove precisely how the drugs got into the horses’ systems which is why he only got three years – but that is not long enough in my view.
And what planet are the BHA’s disciplinarians living on?
Young jockey Harry Burns has Crohn’s disease and was given new meds by his GP earlier this year, but he didn’t tell the BHA.
That meant he tested positive for a drug on their banned list – so they suspended him for TWO bloody months. Talk about overkill.
I’m told Burns decided to defend himself while the BHA came tooled up with a lawyer at this week’s hearing – he never stood a chance.
The poor guy must have wished aliens would beam him up when his sentence was handed down – I know the feeling.
It's Leger – not Ledger
IT’S exactly 50 years since one of the most infamous days in Doncaster’s long history.
Well, infamous if you are a stickler for spelling and grammar, like me.
Whenever this meeting rolls around, there are a hardy few who keep watch each September for any St 'Ledger’ – instead of Leger – howlers.
And top sports journo Angus Loughran – who many of you may remember as 'Statto' from Fantasy Football League back in the day – is the most eagle-eyed of the lot.
He spotted the front of the official Donny racecard from 1973 had spelt the name of their biggest race and final Classic of the season INCORRECTLY.
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The race was won by 28-1 shot Peleid in a big upset – which probably distracted everyone from this massive cock-up.
If you see anyone spelling Leger wrong, do your duty and call them out. Nothing gets under my skin quite like bad seplling.
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