The flagship of the Godolphin camp this year with victories in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and Prix Jacques le Marois, Dubawi had been 5-1 to sign of for the season with success in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Belmont Park later this month. His final appearance came when finishing runner-up to Starcraft in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Newmarket last month under a controversial ride form Frankie Dettori.His trainer, Saeed bin Suroor, said: "We are going to miss him at Godolphin He was the best three-year-old we had. Medical teams were going to administer flu vaccines for residents.. John Magnier will soon have another of Sheikh Mohammed's stallions to avoid patronising, as Dubawi has been retired after suffering an injury to a hind ligament. The movement of people in and out of the village has been restricted and the transport of animals banned. The lab did not have the capability to determine the exact strain of the virus and sent the samples to Britain, where results are expected in the next few days.Officials have killed nearly all the domestic fowl in Ceamurlia killed and banned hunting in the Danube delta. Three domestic ducks have died of bird flu in eastern Romania, sparking fears that the Asian virus has hit Europe. Officials suspect that tests under way in Britain will confirm that the birds were infected with H5N1, the strain of avian flu which experts are tracking for fear it could mutate and spawn a human flu pandemic. The dead birds were found in the village of Ceamurlia near the Black Sea late last month.

Samples were sent to a laboratory in Bucharest, where bird flu antibodies were found. That would have the dual benefit of increasing the franchise and reducing the rate of re-offending at a stroke.BRIAN MCCANNCARDIFF. In any case, pheasants are rarely accomodating enough to keep their heads still.ROY ASSERPETTAUGH, SUFFOLK Cruel punishment Sir: Not only should prisoners be allowed to vote, as the European Court of Human Rights has ruled, it should be made compulsory. An obligatory prerequisite should be to watch every party political broadcast made during their period of incarceration. It would take an expert marksman to achieve a head shot guaranteeing a clean kill.

The suggestion may have been meant as a joke, but let us hope that no one tries it. If it is offensive to term anyone "coloured", could someone also explain what this means for the future of that august American organisation, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People?ROGER NOBBSLONDON N8 Missing the target Sir: Sam Little's letter (7 October) recommending the use of an air rifle to kill a pheasant is more than a little alarming. Battery efficiency is 60 to 70 per cent, so each unit of night-stored electricity will "cost" an extra third in CO2 emission.DR JOHN ETHERINGTONLLANHOWELL PEMBROKESHIRE Colourful language Sir: Would someone like to explain why being called "coloured" is now offensive ("Phillips's challenge to ethnic minorities", 5 October)? Of all the racist names I was called at school that was not one of them. Children have little difficulty spelling Thierry, Eriksson or Mourinho, because they read these names often. Wrongly-spelled words simply look wrong to the experienced reader, however irregular their spelling may be. Let's concentrate on turning our children into keen readers, and good spelling will follow.SIMON RAYNERNEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME, STAFFORDSHIRE Eco-unfriendly batteries Sir: Steven Ford (letter, 6 October) suggests saving cheap overnight power with storage batteries to reduce the cost of electricity (Letters, 6 October).