Oh, no, please say it's not true! Jockey Frankie Dettori has apparently failed a drugs test and may now face a worldwide ban. Frankie it is who marks his winning rides in exuberant style
by leaping from the saddle - so turning himself into many a housewife's betting choice. I'm hoping there's a rational explanation...
I'm always sad for cheats. Don't they
realise that even if they manage to fool other people, they will never be able to fool themselves. What satisfaction can you possibly take from knowing that the only way you could beat your rivals was by cheating?
I remember reading a newspaper article by a long-time fan of disgraced sportsman, Lance Armstrong. The writer had followed Armstrong's cycling career every step of the way, celebrating his every victory - and now bitterly bewailed the fact that
all the thrills, all the excitement, all the sheer joy he had felt in those victories had been shown to be based on a shameful sham. He felt, quite simply, cheated.
Cheats leave us
all feeling a little the poorer for being taken in. May they never prosper.