John Oxx's filly was fortified by a phial of Lourdes' water tipped into her bucket and the refreshment worked. In the event, US$2.7m (£1.92m) was raised, US$2.5m of it from the Maktoums alone.It transpired that the Dubaian family missed a bittersweet day (a theme which seems to run through Belmont Park Breeders' Cups) as Tempera and Imperial Gesture provided a 1-2 for Godolphin in the Juvenile Fillies, Fantastic Light won the turf before Sakhee was dramatically touched off by Piznow in the Classic.Johannesburg won the Juvenile for Aidan O'Brien that day and, six years earlier in the same surrounds, Ireland had captured the Mile with Ridgewood Pearl Little was left to chance. The Breeders' Cup was the first international sporting event in the area since the atrocities of September 11. The Maktoum brothers, indeed all the Arab owners, deemed it sensible not to attend. But Sheikh Mohammed and the boys had promised that all their prize money would be diverted to the New York disaster fund Others made similar undertakings. It is, at this time of the year, quite appropriate that we regularly witness fireworks, but nowhere seems to do the pyrotechnics quite as brilliantly as Belmont Park, the New York setting of the series for the fourth time. The last time we were here, in 2001, the Big Apple had just been poisoned. The Breeders' Cup, which annually throws together the best of Europe against America's finest, gets its 22nd airing on Saturday.
The team's owner, Tom Benson, is reported to be looking at making the move permanent.Wherever they play, however, the Saints continue to lose. They fell again on Sunday, beaten 28-17 by the St Louis Rams.. With the city's Superdome in no condition to open this season, the team have set up a temporary base in San Antonio, Texas. The New York Giants also registered a narrow win, with Eli Manning's touchdown to Amani Toomer with five seconds remaining securing a 24-23 victory over the Denver Broncos.However, time may already have run out on New Orleans as an NFL franchise. Earlier this month, 17 players were accused of involvement in acts of drunkenness and lewd behaviour when a pleasure cruise got out of hand.
The Vikings were making fools of themselves on the pitch too, losing four of their first five games. Another defeat seemed inevitable as they trailed the Green Bay Packers 17-0 at half-time on Sunday. However, the quarterback Daunte Culpepper then threw a pair of touchdown passes to Marcus Robinson and Mewelde Moore, and an unlikely comeback was completed when Paul Edinger converted a 56-yard field goal to give his side a 23-20 victory. The Vikings remain in play-off contention, as do the Seattle Seahawks ,who beat Dallas 13-10. * The EU is the biggest importer of birds caught in the wild - almost 1 million come in each yea * The UK is the biggest importer of parrots in Europe.
