Moo-ving the goalposts

TWO-LAP RACE: WOMEN JOCKEYS SADDLE UP FOR SWISS COW GRAND PRIX

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And they're off! To the thunder of hooves, a chorus of moos and the clanking of bells, nine cows hurtle away in one of the oddest events in the Swiss Alps: the Cow Grand Prix, contested exclusively by women jockeys.

The prize on offer: a 40kg bag of feed for the winner, a traditional Alpine cowbell, a bouquet of flowers, and a whole lot of local pride.

The race is held in Flumserberg, a village more than 1 300m up in the mountains above the picturesque Wahlensee lake, close to Switzerland's eastern border with tiny Liechtenstein.

The event began in 2006 and is the highlight of autumn festivities in Flumserberg, held alongside a cheese market in the final weeks before snow turns the ski station's green pastures white.

The cows' foreheads are decorated with flowers.