DIGEST/EQUESTRIAN:Carling King, the horse ridden to team gold at the 2001 European championships by Kevin Babington, was officially retired at the American Nations Cup show in Wellington, Florida, last night, writes Grania Willis.

The 16-year-old Irish-bred gelding was a regular member of Ireland's Nations Cup teams and just missed out on the individual medals at the Athens Olympics.

But there are plenty of talented young horses already flying the flag for Ireland, including the five-year-old Variant, which Kilkenny jockey Ivan Dalton has steered to an impressive six wins on the Spanish Sunshine Tour.

Dalton, who is himself still a young talent at just 20, has also picked up three wins with Lucky du Noble, which was bred in Kilkenny by Irish team member Marion Hughes.