Hold the back page:His retirement was confirmed back in October, after a rather glistening career that saw him win 23 of his 41 races, including two Cheltenham Gold Cups and five King George VI Chases, and next Friday Kauto Star will return to Cheltenham having been given the honour of leading the parade of runners for the 2013 Gold Cup.

A difference of opinion on how he should spend his post-retirement days contributed to the ending of the working relationship between owner Clive Smith and trainer Paul Nicholls, the horse leaving Nicholls’ yard in December where he had spent his previous nine years.

Of course, Smith’s plans for Kauto Star involved him moving in to the world of dressage, which left some racing fans scratching their heads, them not being fans of “horse ballet”, as the sport is oft dubbed.

Last weekend Kauto Star made his dressage bow at Newbury, not quite pirouetting around the arena, but rider Laura Collett was happy. “He was excited by the crowd, but managed to contain himself,” she said, which is what many manage to do, to be honest, when watching dressage.

One of our colleagues in the Irish Times sports department also remains unconvinced by the switch-over, it would seem: “Kauto Star made his dressage debut today. It’s like Bob Dylan joining One Direction,” he tweeted. Oh, harsh.

Yorkshire Vikings are no puddings

Quite what the late Yorkshire legend Fred Trueman would have made of it all, but if he was still of this earth and playing for his county, he’d be lining out for the “Yorkshire Vikings” soon. That’s the name the club has chosen for its limited overs team. Danny Reuben, head of marketing at Yorkshire, told ESPN “Vikings” was chosen because the rowdies settled in the county “1,300 years ago and shaped the look and the language of the region”. Initially the club had asked supporters to suggest a name.

“We had to ignore the results because it was high-jacked by Lancashire supporters,” he said. “Had it been up to them, we would have been called the Yorkshire Puddings.”