Horse-racing based metaphors abounded when Mark Wallinger unveiled his British Council commissioned life-size sculpture of a white horse on the Mall outside the British Council's London offices. Looking dazzling in yesterday's spring sunshine, the marble and resin racing thoroughbred is a scale version of Wallinger's winning entry for the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project which, standing at a stupendous 50 metres tall, is still awaiting full funding before it can be realised. The unveiling took place as part of a British Council press briefing during which it was announced that a further £7m would be invested in global arts projects in each of the next two years.

And for anyone wondering what's happened to the statue of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, which was installed on the same site in July 2011, he hasn't blasted back off into space but will be closer to the stars when he takes up residence on Friday at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.