Third-choice jockey Johnny Murtagh targets literary double in Arc, having already won it on Dylan Thomas

Racing was given a real jolt yesterday when Ballydoyle announced the bad news that St Nicholas Abbey, one of the best horses in the world, had suffered an injury so serious that it has not only resulted in his immediate retirement from the track, it has also put his life in jeopardy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was spotted yesterday descending into the briny depths below to inspect a sunken Russian sailing frigate.

Hannon swayed by pressure to appeal against controversial Falmouth Stakes ruling

Laura Collett remains under sedation in hospital after suffering a serious fall in the British Eventing Horse Trials at Tweseldown on Monday.

The Borderlescott fairy tale gains a  remarkable epilogue on Saturday when he comes out of retirement at the age of 11. Having already stretched credulity by winning consecutive runnings of the Nunthorpe Stakes for a tiny local stable, in 2008 and 2009, he will be sent back to York for a comeback spin that could yet set up another crack at the big one next month.

Two beaten favourites at Wolverhampton on Monday made it 18 days without a winner for Frankie Dettori. Even so, it unmistakably felt like his first afternoon back in the big time. For both parties, the news that he has signed a retainer for Sheikh Joaan al-Thani – one of the Qatari investors suddenly taking on the superpowers of the Turf – represents a clarion statement of intent.

The victory of 8-1 shot Tominator in the Northumberland Plate, by a short-head after a steely-nerved ride from Graham Lee, neatly ticked some statistical boxes.

No less than any other walk of life, it is pretty rare in racing for anyone to profess indignation when credited with a stroke of genius. Such was the case at Epsom last month, however, when Aidan O’Brien and his patrons at Coolmore maintained a scrupulous show of bemusement about a theory that their horses had collectively undermined the prospects of the hot favourite, Dawn Approach, by setting an unexpectedly slow pace in the Investec Derby.

1,000 Guineas heroine gains spectacular win in Coronation Stakes under trademark ride

2,000 Guineas winner redeems reputation after Derby in titanic battle with Toronado

Keeping Track: In her first column, the middle-distance runner looks forward to competing for Britain at European Team Championships on Sunday

Just as his final fight was sustained by Frankel, so the malign destiny that finally claimed Sir Henry Cecil on Tuesday also seems to have reserved a degree of solace for those he has left behind. As though shamed by its own cruelty, it granted Cecil's grieving widow and employees two winners within barely 10 minutes – and the first of them, as a half-brother to Frankel, could not have been more fitting.

Five Warren Place horses run on Thursday, with Frankel's half-brother Morpheus in a maiden at Nottingham