Nil points for Phillips after Hanmer horror; The talk of racing.

Byline: THE DIKLER

JOHN HANMER, for so many years a fixture of the BBC's racing team and a long-standing member of its Grand National commentary squad, may no longer be in the public limelight, but he remains very much with us - although not everyone appears to agree.

Hanmer, whose distinctive tones are much missed, formed a valuable part of Richard Phillips' team at last week's West Berkshire Racing Club quiz, helping the trainer's foursome to win the first prize in the event's second-division contest.

"He knows everything, although he can't remember anything from after he started commentating," noted a proud Phillips, who had earlier done Hanmer a scandalous disservice when introducing his star turn.

"And on my immediate left," he said, "is the late John Hanmer."

Et tu, Brute.

Kipper on a string

TRAINERS usually have no luck trying to pull strings with BHB handicapper Martin Greenwood, but he is pretty good at plucking a few himself as "bass guitarist and sometimes vocalist" for the Fish Dam Lane rock band (www.myspace.com/fishdamlane who quickly reached the heights o being the 13th best-loved rockers in Barnsley.

Their fame continued to spread and when an email arrived from Newmarket's Lisa Hancock, the group were ecstatic as it seemed they were in competition with Jools Holland, Bryan Adams and UB40 to top the bill in front of a 20,000-plus crowd at one of the course's Friday night concerts.

But while tuning up his guitar make sure it would be all right on the night, something prompted Greenwood to take a second look at the final paragraph of the missive, which included the line "so we would love to tuck you up into a suitable date".

"He has done us up like a kipper," said Greenwood, realisin that colleague Phil Tuck was the instigator of the spoof, before adding: "We don't have any free dates in the summer anyway!"

Will layers be carbon copies

THE big question rippling through the betting industry is: how many of the bookmakers who have normal people as customers will follow the lead of Fitzdares, layers to the well heeled and well connected, who have become the first in the business to go 'carbon-neutral'?

While humbly pointing out that most of Fitzdares' clients are probably pumping out carbon like there's no tomorrow via long-haul flights and Chelsea tractors, the ever environmentally aware Dikler applauds the firm's actions and suggests that former Ladbrokes man and co-founder Balthazar Fabricius does his bit by cycling to work every morning.