The hare is given a 100-yard start and the hounds are marked for speed and agility. There are no extra points for killing a hare and no attempt is made to stop hares escaping. Nine out of ten always do.The hare has two advantages over the greyhound. First, its bulging eyes enable it to see what is going on behind it A hare does almost have eyes in the back of its head Second, a hare can turn well within its own length. So often, it would seem that the hare was almost in the greyhound's jaws. In a flash, the hare had turned and jinked while the greyhound, 20 yards in its wake, was struggling to keep its footing and regain its momentum.Moreover, greyhounds are not natural-born killers. It often seemed as if they were reluctant to go for the quietus.

He has also made an important contribution to the environment and to sport His sport is not a fashionable one. There is no lavish sponsorship and no question of Lottery money. Nasser Ahmed has got where he is by hard work and dedication; by devoting all his spare time plus all his spare cash, and more. Yet his efforts and his inclusiveness will avail him nothing. Instead of honouring him, New Labour is about to suppress his sport Nasser Ahmed is a hare courser.

This week, his greyhound Undergraduate reached the semi-final of the Waterloo Cup.That cup, the blue riband of the coursing calendar, took place at Altcar, in Lancashire Greyhounds show their paces by chasing hares. Nasser Ahmed should be an ideal candidate for a New Labour honours list. Forty two, the son of immigrants, he has built up a private hire business and is a respected figure in his own locality. We want to stay within the new law but I think it will end up with more foxes being killed.We will flush out some foxes, which we will be able to do within the new law, and shoot them. We will then drag their bodies through the countryside so that the dogs have some scent to chase. Normally our kill rate with the dogs is about one in five but like this we will have a near 100 per cent kill rate.The hounds are trained to follow the scent of foxes We cannot stop 400 years of history in one day.