WE may be at the peak of the National Hunt season but there was an interesting piece of news making the headlines this week that could have serious repercussions for the future of Flat racing.

Leading trainers Mark Johnston, Luca Cumani, and Barry Hills were left wondering what they had done wrong as they were told not to expect to be sent any two-year-olds by Sheikh Mohammed in 1999.

They are not alone in being snubbed by the Sheikh, who at one time had horses spread around 20 handlers in France, Britain, and Ireland. Now the only men to train horses carrying the famous maroon-and-white silks are Newmarket-based John Gosden and Sir Michael Stoute, French wizard Andre Fabre, and John Oxx in Ireland.

The word is that Sheikh Mohammed wants to concentrate more on his Godolphin operation, which is famed for wintering horses under the warm Dubai sun before bringing them back to our shores in the late spring/early summer.

However, many people wonder if he is gradually moving out of British racing, remembering that, in his eye-opening 1997 Gimcrack speech, he warned that the Maktoums would massively reduce their interests here unless our racing's finances received a huge overhaul. To be fair, the prize-money issue has been addressed in recent times - the powers that be admit that a problem exists - and, who knows, maybe even the controversial betting ring reforms will result in even more money filtering back through the system.

Godolphin, fronted by genial trainer Saeed Bin Suroor, has been hugely successful in the few years of its existence and, given this latest revelation, it can only become more powerful. Money is certainly no object for the sport's leading owner, who is not short of a bob or two.

Their horses are out of the very top drawer although, invariably, several are poached from other trainers who have done well with them as two-year-olds for Sheikh Mohammed, while others are simply bought off owners who are unable to turn down an offer of a small fortune.

Although Johnston, Cumani, and Hills will not be training for Sheikh Mohammed, they will continue to have substantial Arab patronage from other members of the Maktoum family, who, to be fair, do not send their finely-bred bloodstock to any Tom, Dick, or Harry.

Johnston, who has worked wonders with his previous quota of Maktoum horses, including those belonging the Sheikh, has the consolation of knowing that he will be given a total of 24 horses owned by Sheikh Maktoum Al Maktoum from his showpiece Gainsborough Stud.

Two of the best horses to sport the blue-and-white colours last term and in 1997 were Land Of Dreams and Lend A Hand, a top-class filly and colt respectively.

Aberfoyle-born Johnston has nothing to prove to anyone but he has been philosophical about the situation. He had only one horse owned by Sheikh Mohammed last year and, with two dozen Maktoum horses expected in his Kingsley House yard in Middleham, his numbers representing the ruling family of Dubai will actually be up.

''From an industry point of view, this is a message for those people who said Sheikh Mohammed couldn't move his horses away from Britain,'' Johnston said. ''Everybody should know now that the message is loud and clear - he can do exactly what he wants.

''He is quite capable and organised enough to move them anywhere he likes and we have seen him move a 100 to France, and could move more if he chooses to. We have got to keep trying to keep him happy in Britain and make sure he continues to enjoy it here.''

Part of that last remark referred to the fact that Sheikh Mohammed has already made his intentions clear by setting up David Loder at Evry racecourse, from where the bulk of his juveniles will be trained this year, and his part exodus may well be followed by his brothers.

Racing managed to survive before the oil-rich Arabs arrived on the scene in the late 70s. However, when you have tasted cream, who wants to go back to plain old milk?

q Richard Johnson, who starts a 14-day whip ban next week, landed a 144-1 treble on Mithak, Noisy Miner, and Picket Piece for his guv'nor David Nicholson at Ludlow.

The rider, currently second behind Tony McCoy in the jockeys' table, reckons that the lengthy suspension could cost him dearly, as he will miss big meetings at Ascot, Haydock, and Kempton because of the ban.

However, he took the matter philosophically, saying: ''I have had nearly 900 rides since I had my first ban, which led to this a year ago, and around 45 to 50% of them have finished in the first three.

''The problem for me and Tony McCoy is the competitive way we ride, as we are always trying to win, and with so many of our rides involved in finishes, we are always going to be under the microscope.''