Centamin Egypt; Netplay TV

Trying to coax another bid at 250,000 guineas, the auctioneer here yesterday made the preposterous claim that the colt before him would "look very cheap when he wins his maiden first time out". But if it is easy to overstate the value of a debut success, then nor should anyone be deceived that defeat first time out spells the end of the dream. That was when Sea The Stars suffered the only reverse of his career, after all, and at least one trainer would almost prefer his debutants to remain eligible for a second maiden.

Inside Track

Though his own professional prospects seem increasingly restricted by the passing of time – whether through injury, or a boss who is giving youth its chance – Michael Owen showed yesterday that experience still counts for plenty in another field of athletic endeavour. The Manchester United striker authorised a decision that even Sir Alex Ferguson might admire as hard-nosed in the replacement of Richard Kingscote by Kieren Fallon when Brown Panther lines up for the sport's oldest Classic at Doncaster on Saturday.

Bwin.party Digital Entertainment; Cape

So here they all were again, the agents and trainers and pin-hookers, appraising adolescent horses against their own, sober budgets and the deranged monologue of the auctioneers. While some had already been skirmishing overseas, in France or America, for many British and Irish professionals yesterday marked the resumption of a cycle as perennial and perplexing as migration: the yearling sales, this gruelling, addictive ritual, where over the coming weeks millions of pounds will ferment in the interstices of romance and commerce.

Paddy Power; Cupid

Ireland's premier all-aged championship on Saturday so perilously resembles a lap of honour for So You Think, who counts two stablemates among just five potential opponents, that people already seem more interested in his next race. And there was a strong hint yesterday that a return to Australia for a third Cox Plate might be abandoned so that he can replace Coolmore's retired Derby winner, Pour Moi, in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Teenage centre only rated 50/50 to be fit to face odds-on favourites Wigan in Challenge Cup final

A fairly pedestrian programme on British soil should prompt even the most insular into a brief glance across the Atlantic this weekend, where no fewer than seven Grade One races will establish the lie of the land for the European raiders at the Breeders' Cup this autumn. As things stand, the consensus remains that the American three-year-olds have failed to achieve a vintage standard – and that it could prove a very good year to take on the home team at their own game, on dirt in the Classic.

It is, presumably, in the genes. On Saturday afternoon and evening, Barry Hills signed off from his 42 years as a trainer by saddling two winners, including his last runner, One Lucky Lady. Yesterday afternoon and evening, his son Charlie, his successor at Faringdon Stables near Lambourn, made the change of hands on the reins absolutely seamless by saddling two winners, including his first runner, Blaise Chorus.

A 70-year-old man was the oldest person to be arrested in connection with recent rioting, it has emerged.

A 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a pensioner during the London riots was refused bail today.

A 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a pensioner while on a looting rampage at the London riots will be tried at the Old Bailey, a court heard today.