Farmers, as we all know, have been having a hard time of it in Britain, and have been turning to new ways of earning income from their land. This involves not only p 81 new kinds of crops, but some strange ways of making money, the most u 82 of which has got to be sheep racing. Yes, you heard me correctly! A farmer in the West of England now holds sheep races on a regular basis, and d 83 the past year over 100,000 people have turned up to w 84 the proceedings. “I was passing the farm on my way to the sea for a holiday,”one punter told me, “and I thought I’d have a look. I didn’t believe it was serious, to tell you the truth.” A 85 to a regular visitor, betting on sheep is more interesting than betting on horses. “At proper horse races everyone has already studied the form of the horses in advance, and there are clear f 86 . But nobody has heard anything about these sheep! Most people find it d 87 to tell one from another in any case. ”I stayed to watch the races, and I must admit that I found it quite exciting. In a typical race, half a dozen sheep race downhill o 88 a course of about half a mile. Food is waiting for them at the other end of the track, I ought to add! The sheep run s 89 fast, although presumably they haven’t eaten for a while just to give them some m 90 . At any rate, the crowd around me were obviously enjoying their day out at the races, judging by their happy faces and the sense of excitement.