First the sex. Horse racing, which has not produced a good, meaty story since Lester Piggott was jailed for tax evasion, found itself in the spotlight when leading trainer Henry Cecil sacked top jockey Kieren Fallon just days after Cecil's wife admitted an affair with a married rider.

It has yet to be confirmed by the parties involved if indeed it was Fallon who romped in the shower with Natalie Cecil, but there is not a bookmaker in the country who would give you odds.

Given the success of the Cecil-Fallon partnership - Fallon has won three of the four British Classic races for Cecil - the parting of the ways came as a huge shock to the racing world. And Cecil did nothing to dampen speculation that Fallon was involved in the love triangle when he said that the Irish rider had been sacked for 'personal' reasons.

Fallon and his wife have been hounded by the media in Britain and it seems certain that he will head for Hong Kong in November 'for an extended stay'.

Fallon has previously ridden in Hong Kong with a fair degree of success and the offer of a 4.5-month contract could be a heaven-sent opportunity for the stable star turned job seeker.

And then the drugs. European 200-metre champion Dougie Walker was given a welcome gift for his 26th birthday when he was cleared of taking the banned substance Nandrolone despite failing a dope test.

Walker has been out of action for seven months, losing upwards of US$200,000 in the process, while trying to clear his name.

A disciplinary committee formed by UK Athletics found Nandrolone could have entered Walker's body other than by injection - food supplements might have been the source - and concluded there was not enough evidence to impose a ban.

That there can be such doubt puts into question the entire drug testing system and Walker could virtually bankrupt UK Athletics if he goes ahead and sues them.

And few in the sport would criticise him for doing just that.

He has lost money and prestige - the World Championships in Seville are out for the talented sprinter - because of a flawed procedure.

Lastly the videotapes. The tabloid Sun newspaper thought that it had the scoop of the century when it caught former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar on camera accepting a packet containing GBP2,000 and agreeing to fix a match.

But the eccentric keeper convinced a jury at his criminal trial that he was taking part in a one-man sting operation to expose a gang intent on arranging the results of Premiership matches. A libel jury at the High Court last week also believed this defence and awarded Grobbelaar damages of GBP85,000.

'Today ends the slur on football, the game that I love,' he said. Wishful thinking, that, from a fanciful fellow.

It's into this sordid environment that Kate Hoey took over from the quirky Tony Banks as Britain's Minister for Sport.

Whether she tackles such weighty issues as drugs in sport and match-fixing, or sticks to vote winners like Manchester United's participation in the FA Cup and England's 2006 World Cup bid, remains to be seen.