In human terms, almost exclusively associated with punishment and pain. The Sadler’s Wells four-year-old was thought to be unsuited by the Sussex track’s undulations and should be more at home on the flat expanses of Deauville. The filly, a daughter of 1991 winner Arazi, impressed enough when she rocketed home on her debut four days ago to be supplemented for this tougher test.The Ascot Gold Cup winner Kayf Tara will try to redeem the reputation slightly dented by defeat in the Goodwood Cup in the Prix Kergorlay. John thought he was going to win hands and heels, but then he had to give him a couple of smacks. He stays well and handles the ground and now we will have to step him up in class.”Kissogram, from the same Meon Valley Stud family that produced One So Wonderful, had little more than an exercise canter to take the Atalanta Stakes.

Racing with her tongue hanging out, the bay Caerleon filly – whose great grand-dam One In A Million is One So Wonderful’s grand-dam – made all the running and quickened clear of her rivals up the Sandown hill. The winning margin of six lengths was two lengths less than that recorded by One So Wonderful, her Juddmonte International-winning contemporary, also trained by Luca Cumani, last year.With the post-York lull in Britain this weekend’s quality racing is to be found in Deauville, where yesterday the Aga Khan’s French Oaks winner Zainta took her unbeaten record to six with a cosy length and a half victory in the Prix de la Nonette.This afternoon the seaside course’s feature is the Prix Morny, the second Group One two-year-old contest of the European season. The six- furlong race has been won thrice in the past four years by British-trained horses and has again attracted a strong raiding party. Paul Cole’s charge Red Sea, impressive winner of the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot on his last outing, is likely to start favourite and will not be inconvenienced by the fact that the ground has been eased by heavy rain yesterday.His challenge is backed up by Exeat, a son of Dayjur who won a Haydock maiden by eight lengths, from John Gosden’s yard, and Caballero (Clive Brittain), Indiana Legend (Brian Meehan) and the filly Golden Silca (Mick Channon).The joker in the French pack is Danzari, representing the Andre Fabre- Khaled Abdullah team. Fantastic Light, whose subsequently disappointing stablemate Kilimanjaro went into a few Classic notebooks when he won the 1997 running of the mile race, tackled front-running Aesops a quarter of a mile out, but the leader proved hard enough to pass and it was only inside the final furlong that the American-bred Fantastic Light, a son of Rahy, asserted his authority to win by three-quarters of a length with the leggy, babyish-looking Adnaan third.
Bruce Raymond, representing the winning trainer Sir Michael Stoute, commented: “He’s a very relaxed horse and he idled in front. The two-year-old Fantastic Light stamped himself a promising young stayer as he made it two from two in the Sun Stakes and the four-year-old Kissogram took another step in her relative One So Wonderful’s hoofprints in the Atalanta Stakes. JOHN REID rode a Sandown double on potentially the two best horses in action in Britain yesterday.

We will probably have to run close to our record to beat them.” Jonathan Edwards established himself in today’s triple jump final with an effort of 16.97m, the third best of the qualifying distances, although he was cautious in his self assessment “I didn’t feel comfortable out there,’ he said “I had a few minor problems with my ankle in warm-up.”. “Colin can get his brain out of gear now and stop being scared of the Americans,” Arnold said.The importance of this competition to him was emphasised by his decision to take two weeks off for preparation, missing the lucrative Golden League meetings at Monaco and Zurich, and on the eve of competition he spoke of his ambition of going below 13 seconds once again.That will now have to wait until he returns to the grand prix circuit to take on the likes of Allen Johnson, the man who succeeded him as world champion in 1995.Having taken seven of the available nine individual medals at 100, 200 and 400 metres, the British team relied for the 4×100 final upon the quartet which had earned victory in the European Cup at St Petersburg two months ago.Doug Walker and Julian Golding, gold and bronze medallists in the 200m, came into the team at the expense of Marlon Devonish and Dwain Chambers to finish off the early work done by Allyn Condon and individual gold medallist Darren Campbell.The change-overs were as smooth as expected from this tested combination, and when Walker yelled at Golding to “go, go!” the 23-year-old had a five metres advantage which he maintained to the line, with France taking silver in 38.90 and Poland the bronze in 39.16.It was some consolation for Golding, who anchored the team to the world bronze medal in Athens last summer, after his showing in the previous night’s 200m final, where he was unable to rediscover the form he had shown in winning his heat and had to settle for bronze.The 400 quartet, missing both individual medallists, progressed safely to today’s final, winning their heat in 3min 02.37sec as Jamie Baulch, recovered now from the virus which undermined his performance in the trials, accepted a 12-metres lead from the third-placed runner, Solomon Wariso, and extended it to 20 by the finish.The Poles, expected to present the main threat to Britain, won their semi-final in 3.03.59 “We are not underestimating them,” Thomas said “They are determined little buggers. A combination of injury and a bitter dispute with the British Athletic Federation meant that he did not defend his world title in 1995, and he was still hampered by injury to his knee when he placed fourth in the 1996 Olympics.But a silver at last year’s World Championships signalled a return to his old self, and this season, having had a successful operation on his troublesome knee and re-established himself with his former coach, Malcolm Arnold, he has looked a different athlete. But by that point he had the race as good as won after an impressive start and a fluent pick-up. He finished a good metre clear of Falk Balzer of Germany, who took silver in 13.12, and the Dutchman Robin Korving, who recorded 13.20.

Britain’s Tony Jarrett was fifth in 13.32.
Jackson, who had recorded the same time in the semi-final, has served notice of his intention to challenge the Americans who have dominated the event over the last four years.”It was important for me to get back to performing at my highest level,” Jackson said. “I had to show I’m still around and alive and ready to compete at the World Championships next year. It’s been a long time since people were looking at me like they have here.”Before the start I looked at the others and they were getting tense and nervous. I just told myself to stay clear to stand back from all of that.”It was Jackson’s first major title since the Commonwealth Games four years ago, since when he has seen his form dip to the point when he questioned his own commitment to the sport. To appreciate his disappointment, one needs to grasp the commitment he has shown to this one race, turning. his back on the the big-money marathons of the spring – and anything upwards of $100,000 in prize and appearance money.MIKE ROWBOTTOM. BRITAIN’S SPRINTING superiority at these European Championships was re- emphasised here yesterday as their 4×100 relay team finished five metres clear of the opposition to win gold in 38.52sec, and Colin Jackson claimed his third consecutive 110m hurdles title in a championship record of 13.02sec.

The 31-year-old Welshman who set the world record of 12.91sec in winning the 1993 world title, might have achieved his secondary aim here of dipping under 13 seconds for the first time in four years had he not hit the eighth hurdle. In Helsinki, at the last European Championships four years ago, he finished fourth behind a trio of Spaniards; a year later, at the World Championships, he was seventh; at the Atlanta Olympics, fifth.”I’m just very disappointed that I was wasn’t good enough to be European champion,” Nerurkar said. Britain’s other runners, Dave Buzza (28th, 2:19:58) and Mark Hudspith (30th, 2:19:58), had an even harder time of things.The frustration for Nerurkar was evident afterwards, when he tried to put a brave face on what is, for him, by now a familiar story. Yesterday, it was three Italians who enjoyed a clean sweep of the medals, led by Stefano Baldini, who finished in 2hr 12min 01sec, and was so fresh from his stroll along the Danube that he was chatting and smiling as he signed autographs five minutes later. Spaniards filled places four, five and six, then another Italian, Giovanni Rugiero, was seventh, cruelly passing Nerurkar on the final lap of the track, as the Briton completed the course in 2:14:02. Not suprisingly, they found their way on to the pages of Britain’s newspapers. Now her image will find its way there again, this time clad in a red, white and blue flag.This victory vindicated her decision to seek coaching help from the Dutch head of multi-events, Charles van Commonee, last year after deciding that she needed one-on-one attention which her British coach Darryl Bunn, who has a training group, could not give her.Lewis, whose prepartions this season have been hampered by an ankle injury, has spent much of the past year training in Amsterdam, while still liaising with Bunn.