A picture of Desert Orchid is prominent in a number of the papers today,the champion race horse dying at the age of 27.

The Mirror leads the way with its front page declaring

FAREWELL OLD LAD - DESERT ORCHID: 1979-2006

And recounting his greatest triumph

"With an ecstatic crowd of 60,000 cheering him on, the dashing grey was in the lead at the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup when the mud began to take its toll. On the gruelling uphill run to the finishing line, he was overtaken by rival Yahoo who revelled in the heavy ground.
Yet somehow Dessie, with jockey Simon Sherwood in the saddle, found an inner strength and forced his way back in front.
With the crowd whipping themselves into a frenzy and the snow whirling round on a suitably grey day, the horse romped home to win by a length and a half.

The Independent’s front page concentrates on Tony Blair’s speech to the Lord Mayor’s banquet last night

Our new friends in the Middle East

"The Prime minister set out his thoughts on the way forward in Iraq,the same ideas that he will portray in his conference call to James Baker today"

“Tony Blair has urged George Bush to make a dramatic U-turn by drawing Iran and Syria into efforts to bring stability to Iraq and forge a long-term peace in the wider Middle East. “

The Times headlines
Iran and Syria can be Blair's 'partners for peace'

“THE first cracks in the united front over Iraq between Tony Blair and President Bush appeared last night as the Prime Minister offered Iran and Syria the prospect of dialogue over the future of Iraq and the Middle East.

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Mr Blair said that there could be a new “partnership” with Iran if it stopped supporting terrorism in Iraq and gave up its nuclear ambitions. Syria and Iran could choose partnership or “isolation”.

However a report in today’s telegraph may questions the validity of Blair’s argument

Iran plotting to groom bin Laden's successor

“Iran is trying to form an unholy alliance with al-Qa'eda by grooming a new generation of leaders to take over from Osama bin Laden, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
Western intelligence officials say the Iranians are determined to take advantage of bin Laden's declining health to promote senior officials who are known to be friendly to Teheran.”

The Guardian leads on a health service story claiming that American drug companies are lobbying the government to be allowed to compete in the Nhs market

Open up NHS to our drug firms, White House demands

“The drug companies claim that they are being held back by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and have separately lobbied for it to be reformed.”

Amongst the Middle market papers immigration features heavily this morning

The Front page of the Express has the lead

Come to Britain and get rich

“A GUIDE telling Bulgarians how to get rich working here illegally has exposed Britain’s shambolic border controls.It shows how easily black market workers can land a job with fake documents.And it tells where to find employers willing to pay as much for a day’s work as they would earn in a month at home.”

The same story is featured in the Mail

Bulgarians given get-rich-quick guide to Britain

But its lead reveals that

“Parents could be forced to go to special classes to learn to sing their children nursery rhymes, a minister said.
Those who fail to read stories or sing to their youngsters threaten their children's future and the state must put them right, Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said.”

The Sun headlines with a story featured across a number of the tabloids

Hey Hey We’re the Junkies


“GLEEFUL ex-drug dealer Mark Phillips told last night how he planned a spending spree with his £3,800 payout.
The air conditioning fitter — who is out of a job and living on benefits — grinned: “I’m going to spend a big portion of it on Christmas presents for the kids, maybe a new PlayStation.
“I’m moving house, so the money is going to come in handy for the moving costs.” He added: “I have received a letter saying I should get my money in 28 days.
“I suppose you can say going inside did me a favour!”
Phillips, 38, of Chatham in Kent, was jailed for two years for supplying class A drugs in March 2004. Undercover police found the junkie with a stash of heroin.”

The Mirror has another drug exclusive

'CHARLIE' CHAPLAIN: VICAR ADMITS SMOKING CRACK

A JAIL chaplain was suspended last night after admitting he smokes crack cocaine
Church of England priest Robert Pearson, 54, visits a seedy crack den near Pentonville prison where he is paid to minister to drug-addict criminals and befriended junkie rocker Pete Doherty.
Confronted with damning video evidence showing him heating the highly addictive drug - known as "charlie" - before inhaling it from a pipe, the married dad-of-two said: "It's true. I can't make any excuses.
"It's a stupid sodding thing to do. I just want to say sorry to my family. They know nothing about this. My wife will go crazy. She's within her rights to chuck me out."


The Star keeps us informed of the latest news from the jungle
Stroppy Gest is a pest!

"I’M A CELEBRITY drama queen David Gest has been given a dressing down after a series of tantrums and rows. Shocked show bosses and fellow stars watched in amazement as the freaky-looking concert promoter . . .Threw a wobbler after one day because he couldn’t have chocolate and tried to bribe a cameraman £40,000 to get him some treats."

It also reports on the latest premiership football scandals

Joe Cole's £20,000 boys-only bender

CHELSEA star Joe Cole threw a booze-laden £20,000 bash to celebrate his 25th birthday – for the boys only. Cole was joined by team-mates including England aces Frank Lampard, 28, and Shaun Wright-Phillips, 25, at the secret bash.But he ruled the night a WAG-free zone, saying he wanted to "enjoy a boys’ night out" on his birthday.

Adding that

We can reveal that Joe and his 50 pals guzzled their way through 60 bottles of Laurent Perrier champagne at £50 a time, 700 bottles of Becks beer at £5 each and 70 bottles of Grey Goose vodka at a whopping £130 a go.

The Procul Harem court case gives the broadsheets a license to play with words

“They skipped the light fandango and are turning cartwheels in the courts”

Says the Times

Skipping the fandango in court 56

Says the Guardian which continues in the same vane

“The Yamaha keyboard was set up and there was standing room only when the gig begun. All that was missing were shifty men in sheepskin jackets muttering "Tickets? tickets?" out of the corner of their mouths and the usual chancers saying they were "with the band". Procol Harum had arrived and we were about to hear some of the most famous opening bars in the history of popular music.”
As the music started to play
“Within moments, members of the small and select audience were transported from a November day back to the summer of love. As Fisher's fingers slipped across the keys, some members of the press were clearly biting their tongues to stop themselves from mouthing: "He skipped the light fandango and ..." - ah, but if we were to continue about vestal virgins leaving for the coast or millers telling tales we might find ourselves back in court on a completely different copyright issue.”