However, neither one is certain to take part.Arthur’s Minstrel’s trainer David Nicholson said he had not yet made a decision, while the Irish trainer Arthur Moore was more definite, saying Scribbler would be absent from Liverpool. When I had a fall on Captain Tandy in the first race, I thought that the bubble had burst. I knew this horse jumped well and stayed but I was amazed at the way he got away from the back of the fences so easily. When I still had plenty of horse under me at the fourth last fence I thought we could win.”Hobbs, who won this race back in 1989 with Gallic Prince, was on duty at Hereford, so his wife Sarah greeted Lucky Lane into the winner’s enclosure.Lucky Lane is not entered for the Grand National, because the race is restricted to horses rated 115 or more by the British Horseracing Board’s Handicapper and he only figures on 108, but connections will be looking for any long-distance races.Both the second and third, Arthur’s Minstrel and Scribbler, are entered for Aintree and were quoted at 50-1 by William Hill’s spokesman David Hood after the race.

Williamson, who was still basking in the glory of his successes in the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup at Cheltenham, gave the Philip Hobbs-trained horse a vigorous ride before coming home one and three-quarter lengths ahead of Arthur’s Minstrel.
After dismounting, the Irishman exclaimed: “This is unbelievable. NORMAN WILLIAMSON’S extraordinary week was capped when he landed the Midlands National on the 12-1 shot Lucky Lane at Uttoxeter yesterday. Then, with beer in one hand and remote in the other, you can join that new elite, the Bombay couch potato, and watch the cricket Masters.. That is no way to ensure docility from a bunch of old warhorses nursing aching limbs and gigantic thirsts. As one noted, the dry days proved an even bigger handicap than the weather.As ever in India, the daily minutiae of this teeming country enthrall the visitor – unless you are wealthy enough to own a satellite dish. However, the competition was sandwiched by alcohol-free weekends: the first when the local elections were held, the second when the results were announced. Not so the batters, and Graeme Pollock, at 51 one of the few South Africans in Bombay to have played Test cricket before their international ban in 1970, smote the ball with power and precision.Apart from a sublime century by Barry Richards against England, which saw South Africa (average age 44.5) take third place, Pollock scored the bulk of their runs.

As Sunil Gavaskar marvelled: “If this is what he’s like in his fifties, he must have been some player in his twenties.”The hospitality would have been acceptable to royalty. In their first game, the West Indies pulverised their bowlers for 311 off the allotted 45 overs; and in the second we turned them over despite the presence of those Pommie destroyers of yesteryear, Alderman, Lawson and Thomson.West Indies aside, the bowlers showed the most obvious signs of time’s ravages. They seemed to have taken things rather too seriously, practising for over a week before others arrived It proved of little use. It never came, and with only 135 against the West Indies, England registered the lowest score of the competition. ‘Twas ever thus.We did manage one notable victory, however, against Australia. We may have had only five players on the injury list, but our greatest asset on paper – six current county cricketers – turned swiftly to liability, as they decided to dust off winter cobwebs and treat the exercise as a pre-season net.Where others pulverised the mainly gentle attacks – even your correspondent managed a hearty 64 off 47 balls against the might of South Africa – our admirable pros played the game properly, biding their time and waiting for the moment to accelerate. Half-way through the week, almost every team had approached double figures bar one, which had only three ticks against it.

Many reckoned the West Indies would run their present Test team close in a one-day series.England (average age 40.9) should have fared better, and a perfect opportunity to upset the samosa cart and beat India in the first semi-final was squandered after we had the home side reeling at 88 for five. Confirmation came on a chart pinned to the wall of the physio’s room, comfortably the busiest cul-de-sac in the ample pavilion. On the chart, big, bold ticks were placed against all the players who had received treatment. Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge struck the ball with majestic power,while Sylvester Clarke and Ezra Mosely were at least a warp factor above the other pace bowlers.
Even from early on, their dominance had looked assured. The West Indies were deserved winners, despite a flirtation with the rules, after it was discovered that Gus Logie was six months light of his 35th birthday, the minimum age stipulated for being a “Master”. On the field, no other team could match their firepower with bat or ball, and their fielding was quite brilliant.