Abrasive is a colt by the multiple Group 1 winner Rock of Gibraltar, out of a Selkirk mare who has already produced two seriously talented middle-distance performers in Coral Eclipse winner Mount Nelson (full brother) and last year’s Great Voltigeur hero Monitor Closely. He is trained by William Haggas, the man who sent out Shaamit to land the Derby in 1996, and is owned by Tony Bloom, one of the most prominent gamblers in the world of international horse racing. He could easily be a horse of some significant ability.

Point North was purchased by Sir Robert Ogden at Tattersalls in October 2008 for 500,000 guineas and is in training with the highly successful Jeremy Noseda. By Danehill Dancer, he is out of the Sadlers Wells mare Briolette, a Listed winner in Ireland and half sister to many Group class horses, most notably the mighty Pilsudski, winner of the Breeders Cup Turf, Japan Cup, Coral Eclipse, Irish Champion Stakes and Dubai Champion Stakes, amongst 10 top class victories.

Point North has a tremendous pedigree and connections will surely be keen to test their charge early if they are seriously to go for The Derby on June 5.

The third dark horse is the Aga Khan’s Sidpour, trained in France by the record breaking Jean-Claude Rouget. By the Aga Khan’s 2000 Derby winner Sinndarr, out of a mare who has produced six classy performers, most notably Slickly, winner of 10 of his 16 races, including four at Group 1 level, Sidpour has the ideal pedigree for a potential Derby candidate. It will be very interesting to see where he appears first and how he fares.

Three unraced horses all bred to be Derby winners. With Grand National 2010 just around the corner, could one of them possibly become a racing superstar?

dwain chambers

Great Britain’s 60metre sprinter Dwain Chambers hopes of a gold medal in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha will have been raised following the suspension of the American Ivory Williams, who was seen as the ultimate favourite going into the weekend.

Williams, who tested positive for a THC product has been handed a three month suspension, boosting Chambers chances of winning the event.

Williams had posted the fastest time of the year with 6.49 seconds, but Chambers has also been in seriously good form with a seasons best of 6.50 seconds.

Chambers, who himself was banned for two years for doping offences in 2003 is keen to make amends for his mistake having been given a second chance by the GB selectors.

Chambers said;

“A lot has happened in the past and I want to just use this opportunity to put all that behind me, use this as a fresh start for everybody.  So for me to be accepted here is a great feeling. It’s great to be here talking about the prospects for 2010 and to start in Doha. Hopefully my experience will pull me into the final and get the win.”

Williams proved positive in a test at the US Indoor Championships in Albuquerque on February 28th, and has accepted the results of the first test.

Although Marijuana and Cannibinoids are on the list of banned substances it is unlikely that they would be considered as ‘performance boosting’ , allowing the standard two year ban to be reduced to three months by the g0verning body.

The IAAF World Indoor Championships start on March 12th and run until March 14th. The full Great Britain team selected for the event is as follows:

Men
60m Dwain Chambers, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey
400m Richard Buck, Dale Garland
800m Andrew Osagie, Ed Aston
1500m Tim Bayley
3,000m Scott Overall
4×400m Richard Buck, Dale Garland, Chris Clarke, Nigel Levine, Conrad Williams, Luke Lennon-Ford
High jump Samson Oni, Tom Parsons
Pole vault Steve Lewis
Long jump Greg Rutherford, Chris Tomlinson
Triple jump Phillips Idowu
Shot Carl Myerscough

Women
60m Joice Maduaka
800m Jenny Meadows, Vicky Griffiths
1500m Helen Clitheroe, Charlotte Best
3,000m Gemma Turtle, Barbara Parker
60m hurdles Gemma Bennett
4×400m Victoria Barr, Hayley Jones, Dawn Hunt, Lee McConnell, Perri Shakes-Drayton, Kim Wall
High jump Vikki Hubbard
Pole vault Kate Dennison
Pentathlon Jessica Ennis

Marc Lièvremont, the new coach of France is looking to lead his team to their first hat-trick with three back-to-back victories and along with England they have made a prefect start.

France and England top the table with four points.  Ireland and Wales may feel they are still in the chase with two points. While Scotland and Italy already look like they are going to be fighting over the wooden spoon.

There are no games this weekend.  The next round of matches will be played on 26^th and 27^th of February.

Friday 26^th March
Wales v France

Saturday 27^th March
Italy v Scotland
England v Ireland

The big showdown may well be the final game of this year’s RBS Six Nations tournament when France play hosts to England at the Stade De France on 20^th March 2010.

Viagogo is offering rugby fans an opportunity to watch their team at the six nations for free. Customers who purchase tickets to see England v Ireland at Twickenham will receive a full refund in the event that the number 10 scores a full house (try, conversion, penalty, drop goal)

Fans who purchase tickets for Wales v France at the Millennium stadium will receive a full refund if three different Jones’ score a try!

Rugby fans who purchase tickets for France v Ireland at the Stade de France will get a full refund if Ireland’s captain Brian O’Driscoll repeats his 2000 triumph and scores a hat-trick of tries in Paris.

Viagogo is the trusted online ticket exchange for a wide range of sports tickets.

British Olympic Gold Medallist Rebecca Adlington, and Hannah Miley who won both Gold and Bronze medals at last weekend’s European Short Course Championships, will also be competing on home soil.

Hear the excitement building up as the UK swimming stars prepare for the competition which takes place on December 18th and 19th. Rebecca Adlington and Liam Tancock share their views and personal goals ahead of the upcoming event.