Matrika confirmed herself out as filly of considerable talent when returning to home soil to claim the Airlie Stud Stakes in convincing fashion at the Curragh.

Aidan O’Brien’s daughter of No Nay Never was a course and distance winner on debut in late May and went on to be narrowly denied by Donnacha O’Brien’s Porta Fortuna when second in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot on just her second start.

Despite this coming only eight days after her huge Ascot effort, Matrika was sent off the 2-5 favourite and proved she was a cut above her opposition in this Group Two contest.

She led those who raced on the far side with the field splitting into two groups, before stretching clear in the hands of Ryan Moore inside the final furlong, as she registered a one-and-three-quarter length victory over the keeping-on Gunzburg.

“She has a great constitution and we were very happy with her,” said O’Brien.

“The first day she ran we were surprised because she’s very lazy at home, we didn’t really know what to expect but she won.

“Then she went to Ascot and ran a lovely race, but was a little green and babyish. Obviously she learned plenty from it again.

“She came out of the race, lost no weight. She doesn’t blow at all, it takes nothing out of her – she’s very natural. Ryan gave her a lovely ride.

“She’s not slow, she has plenty of speed. Obviously you’d hope that she might get seven, because she is very relaxed, but she is No Nay Never and they have a lot of natural speed and find it very easy to go very fast.”

Matrika was cut to 14-1 from 16s by Coral for next year’s 1000 Guineas with Betfair going even further and making her an 8-1 chance for the fillies’ Classic, but O’Brien is no rush to step her up in trip.

“We’ll stay at six for a while and if we have to step up to seven we will,” continued the Ballydoyle handler.

“I don’t want to be too easy on her because she has a big backside on her and I don’t want her to get too big. We’ll have to keep her going to a point.

“She’s a Group Two winner now and there are probably not too many places we’ll be able to go with her. You’d be hoping she’s going to be a Cheveley Park filly.”

Calling The Wind finally got his moment in the spotlight when swooping to take the JenningsBet Northumberland Plate glory at Newcastle.

Richard Hughes’ consistent seven-year-old has been an ever-present in staying contests – but the big prizes had proved elusive, placing at Royal Ascot for the third year in a row when second in the Ascot Stakes most recently.

Ridden by Neil Callan in the Gosforth Park feature, the in-form rider had his mount travelling kindly in midfield early on and the 14-1 shot showed he was none the worse for his Royal meeting exertions only 11 days ago when picking his way to the front with a furlong to run.

He was quickly joined at the head of affairs by ante-post gamble Golden Rules, but the Calling The Wind always had enough in reserve to hold off the 9-2 joint-favourite, coming home half a length clear to secure the victory connections have craved in a breezy north east.

Iga Swiatek has made a swift recovery from illness and is optimistic she will find her feet on the Wimbledon grass.

The world number one claimed her third French Open title in four years in Paris three weeks ago and is looking to complete the set of grand slam surfaces having also won the US Open on hard courts last year.

She sparked alarms by pulling out of her scheduled semi-final at the grass-court event in Bad Homburg on Friday with a fever and possible food poisoning but was at Wimbledon on Saturday and feeling positive.

“I had a really bad night (on Thursday),” she said. “We did with my conditioning coach measurements in the morning. They didn’t really look good because I barely slept.

“I had a stomach ache, but I don’t know if there was something wrong or not. Later in the day I felt OK so I’m pretty sure it’s going to be fine.

“I really feel like I used my time in Bad Homburg to practise and get used to the grass court. I feel every year that I’m getting into the rhythm a little bit faster. So I feel like I’m ready and I’m pretty excited for the tournament.”

Swiatek arrived in SW19 last year on a long winning run but that was brought to an end after 37 matches by a third-round loss to Alize Cornet.

The Pole, who faces China’s Zhu Lin in the first round on Monday, is a former junior champion at the All England Club and sees no reason why she cannot excel in the senior game as well.

“Some years I felt really good on grass, like when I was a junior, then I had some tournaments that I was hoping to play a little bit better,” she said.

“For sure getting used to the grass was always a tricky part because when you play well at Roland Garros, then you have less time to prepare for Wimbledon.

“Last year when I didn’t play any matches before Wimbledon, it was hard to use my intuition because there was pressure. I felt like I’m playing a grand slam and I played so well at Roland Garros that I should play well here as well. But it’s different.

“Your brain kind of has to feel the ball is bouncing lower. You can’t think about things like that during the match. So I think this year it’s going to be a little bit easier for me to use my intuition a little bit more.

“Deeply I believe the best players, they can play on all surfaces. I want to become that kind of player who can play well on grass, as well, and feel comfortable there.

“Last year I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job with my coach in terms of my touch and getting back slices and also playing slice sometimes. This year I feel like we had more time to focus on the basics, more time to also play matches. I’m using that time as much as possible.

“I was actually thinking last year that maybe it would be good doing part of the pre-season on grass. I heard that Roger (Federer) once did the pre-season at Roland Garros, I think, because he wanted to win Roland Garros later in the season.

“If I would have more time to play on grass, I’m pretty sure that I would be able to play better and better.”

John and Thady Gosden produced a nice training performance at Newmarket, as Audience caused a small shock at 14-1 in the Cavani Menswear Fashion Face-Off Frenzy Criterion Stakes.

Only Sam Maximus was sent off a bigger price than the Cheveley Park Stud-owned four-year-old for the Group Three contest, and he arrived at the July course following 263 days off the track.

Ridden by Robert Havlin, the son of Iffraaj led Berkshire Shadow and the 5-2 favourite Aldaary on the far side as the field of six split into two, with defending champion Pogo taking along Sam Maximus and recent John of Gaunt Stakes scorer Jumby on the near side.

The runners fanned out across the track as the business end of the race approached and it was Havlin aboard Audience who seized the initiative and kept the momentum up as he set about putting the race to bed out on his own in splendid isolation.

Audience never stopped as he kept on well inside the final furlong, with little separating Jumby and Pogo who were unable to reel in the winner and finished second and third respectively when making their challenge on the near side.

John Gosden said: “It is all down to Leah Mapston, who looks after him and rides him every day. She understands the horse and she is more to do with this horse winning than the trainer – and the jockey, of course. But she has done a wonderful job.

“He has got a lot of talent, he was not right in the spring, he went off behind and we couldn’t get him quite where we wanted him, but he’s come right for a lovely race like this.

“The hood helps him a lot. It is very useful for a horse like this, as he can live a little on the edge.

“He is in a race like the Lennox (Stakes, Goodwood), but I think he enjoyed this race today on a straight track. We’ll see. We will give him a couple of nice engagements. Ryan (Moore) rode him at Ascot last year and he said this horse has really got something, but he will need a little working out.

“Rab went up that far side this morning and it is completely fresh ground. That’s a little bit of knowing your track.

“Seven furlongs is very much his trip.”

John and Thady Gosden produced a nice training performance at Newmarket, as Audience caused a small shock at 14-1 in the Cavani Menswear Fashion Face-Off Frenzy Criterion Stakes.

Only Sam Maximus was sent off a bigger price than the Cheveley Park Stud-owned four-year-old for the Group Three contest, and he arrived at the July course following 263 days off the track.

Ridden by Robert Havlin, the son of Iffraaj led Berkshire Shadow and the 5-2 favourite Aldaary on the far side as the field of six split into two, with defending champion Pogo taking along Sam Maximus and recent John of Gaunt Stakes scorer Jumby on the near side.

The runners fanned out across the track as the business end of the race approached and it was Havlin aboard Audience who seized the initiative and kept the momentum up as he set about putting the race to bed out on his own in splendid isolation.

Audience never stopped as he kept on well inside the final furlong, with little separating Jumby and Pogo who were unable to reel in the winner and finished second and third respectively when making their challenge on the near side.

John Gosden said: “It is all down to Leah Mapston, who looks after him and rides him every day. She understands the horse and she is more to do with this horse winning than the trainer – and the jockey, of course. But she has done a wonderful job.

“He has got a lot of talent, he was not right in the spring, he went off behind and we couldn’t get him quite where we wanted him, but he’s come right for a lovely race like this.

“The hood helps him a lot. It is very useful for a horse like this, as he can live a little on the edge.

“He is in a race like the Lennox (Stakes, Goodwood), but I think he enjoyed this race today on a straight track. We’ll see. We will give him a couple of nice engagements. Ryan (Moore) rode him at Ascot last year and he said this horse has really got something, but he will need a little working out.

“Rab went up that far side this morning and it is completely fresh ground. That’s a little bit of knowing your track.

“Seven furlongs is very much his trip.”

City Of Troy could have an exciting future having made an impressive debut at the Curragh on Saturday.

The Aidan O’Brien-trained two-year-old is a son of Justify out of a Group One-winning Coolmore mare and produced a performance befitting of his regal breeding when sent off the 6-4 favourite for the seven-furlong Barronstown Stud Irish EBF (C & G) Maiden.

Always close to the pace in the hands of Ryan Moore, he extended clear to register a two-and-a-half-length victory in an extremely professional manner when asked by his rider, with the nature of the success enough to see the colt introduced into next year’s 2000 Guineas market at 16-1 by Coral and Betfair.

O’Brien said: “Ryan was delighted with him. He said he was very frightened going past the winning post – he said it’s the first time he’s ever rode a two-year-old that he thought wasn’t going to pull up.

“He said going to the winning post he just started to get longer and longer in his stride and galloped down to the boards. He gave him a lovely ride.

“He has a big ,long stride and he’s relentless really. I’m delighted with him.

“He has great presence. We had his brother last year, Bertinelli, and he was a very big horse who we thought was going to be a three- or four-year-old, but this horse is made like a two- or three-year-old.

“He’s a medium-sized horse with a giant stride. He’s very unusual, his stride is kind of twice the length of his body. When he started to extend inside the furlong marker, his stride is getting longer and longer – that’s very rare.

“That’s what Justify had as well, his stride was so long and it made him very different. That’s what they (his progeny) have as well and that’s why the big ones take a bit of time.

“They are very good movers and Justify had speed as well as stamina. He’s matching great with the European mares.”

He added: “Ryan said you can go anywhere you want with him and go as far as you want.

“Obviously we have other horses to consider, but he’ll go into one of those seven-furlong races next and it depends on how far the lads want to go with him, whether they want to go up to a mile with him this year or not.”

Kemari went one better than 12 months ago to give Charlie Appleby back-to-back victories in the Cavani Menswear Sartorial Sprint Fred Archer Stakes at Newmarket.

Without a win since the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot in 2021, the son of Dubawi had to settle for second behind stablemate Rebel’s Romance last year and was again donning the white hat reserved for the Godolphin second string as fellow Moulton Paddocks challenger New London was sent off the 11-10 favourite.

James Doyle had Kemari hot on the tail of the pace-setting 2021 winner Outbox throughout the early stages of the 12-furlong contest and made his move aboard the 7-1 chance to join Outbox passing the four-furlong pole, just as William Buick was beginning to get busy aboard the returning St Leger runner-up New London.

Although New London refused to lie down and was staying on all the way to the line, it was quickly clear Outbox and Kemari had this race to fight out between them and having edged to the lead inside the final furlong, the five-year-old kept on gamely in the closing stages as he came home half a length clear, with New London a further neck adrift in third.

Appleby said: “It is nice to see him get his head back in front for the first time in two years. Bless this horse. He has not missed a beat all year – he’s led them all.

“I said to James, he is a horse who has been forward-going anyway, ride your own race but don’t forget you are on a fit horse. James gave him a great ride and he has got that sort of race in him – that’s his level, Listed or Group Three.

“With New London, I’m pleased with that run. He’s had a good blow and he will come forward from that. William said it is nice ground out there, but he’d like a bit more juice in the ground. He’s a Manduro and we know the family want cut in the ground.

“It has always been our plan to have a second-half of the season campaign, so that’s why we purposely didn’t go down the Hardwicke route, because I thought that is a tough race to go into, you are taking on Group One horses there.

“We saw it last year when I campaigned Hurricane Lane that way. As I say, you learn by your mistakes! That’s what I am doing.”

England battled back from the brink with three important wickets on the fourth morning of the second Ashes Test.

After taking control on day three, Australia had the chance to bat the home side out of the game at Lord’s, resuming 221 ahead with eight wickets in hand.

But England’s seamers scrapped away valiantly, taking out Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith and Travis Head to keep themselves just about in the hunt.

Australia will still feel well on top, leading by 313 at lunch as they moved from 130 for two to 222 for five.

England already require the second highest chase at the home of cricket, with the West Indies making 344 in 1984, but England have made a habit of hunting formidable targets in the ‘Bazball’ era.

They memorably made 378 for three to beat India at Edgbaston last summer and assistant coach Jeetan Patel spoke on Friday night about his side’s hunger to break records.

Having lost a handful of their own batters to short-pitched bowling, England mimicked the tactic with a sustained bouncer barrage of their own and enjoyed similar rewards.

After a messy opening hour that cast neither team in their best light, Stuart Broad removed stalwart opener Khawaja for 77 with a perfectly-directed bumper.

Khawaja has excelled in the series by showing endless concentration and, after initially refusing to engage, he opened up to hook and picked out substitute fielder Matthew Potts at fine-leg.

Having already seen a half-chance clear wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow a few minutes earlier, there was no escape for the left-hander this time.

Head should have followed for a golden duck, slashing the impressive Josh Tongue straight to James Anderson at short point.

The 40-year-old let the chance burst through his hands, his second drop of the innings, and took an age to pick himself back up.

Tongue did not allow the disappointment to show, tearing straight back in after the batters crossed ends and dismissing Smith with the very next delivery.

Smith (34) was the latest player to get sucked into the hook, aiming for the stands but finding the hands of Zak Crawley prowling at deep backward square.

Tongue raced away in celebration, marking his third success over Smith in as many attempts this summer, starting for Worcestershire against Sussex and continuing in the first innings here.

The surge continued when Head fended a lifter from Broad towards short-leg, where Joe Root leapt to claim a fine one-handed catch.

The wind was in England’s sails now, but Cameron Green and Alex Carey shut things down to reach the interval, putting on an unbeaten stand of 25.

Tiber Flow provided trainer William Haggas and jockey Tom Marquand with back-to-back victories in the JenningsBet Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle.

Sense Of Duty notched her fourth successive victory with a brilliant display in the Group Three contest 12 months ago, but it was significantly harder work for her stablemate.

Tiber Flow, already a dual course winner and narrowly beaten on All-Weather Championships Finals Day last year, was the 5-2 favourite to make a triumphant return to Gosforth Park following a couple of sound efforts in defeat earlier this season at Newmarket and Haydock.

Always travelling strongly in midfield, the grey responded to Marquand’s urgings to run down Spycatcher inside the last of the six furlongs, with a neck separating them at the line.

“He’s a cracking little horse with loads of ability, he just needs things to go his way,” said Marquand.

“We didn’t go overly quick there, but there’s a headwind and the surface is bit slower than it looked like it was yesterday. He is a horse that has won over seven furlongs before, so if they go a nice tempo and you’ve got one to aim at you’re confident you’re going to be the strongest finisher.

“I think he’s still progressing. He’s a strong little horse and has probably become become more effective at sprinting this year. He was fast before, but he almost didn’t realise how quick he was.”

Maureen Haggas, assistant to her husband, said: “It’s hard work (the surface) today and he just ground it out really.

“He’s a sweet horse with a great temperament. He won a Listed race at Newbury last year so to win a Group Three is really nice.

“We’ll see how he is and see what the ground is like. William will work out where to go.”

Haggas also provided an update on Sense Of Duty, who has not been seen since blitzing her rivals here last year.

She does hold an entry in the July Cup, but appears unlikely to make her comeback at Newmarket.

She added: “We’re trying (to get her back). She’s such a good filly, she’s just delicate and has front legs that go in four different directions.

“Yes she’s coming back, but it’s a slow process and we’re now looking at the Sprint Cup at Haydock (in September).

“We were sort of hoping for Royal Ascot, but that didn’t happen and she wants soft ground, so we’d have been struggling anyway.”

Star Of Mystery ran out an ultra-impressive winner of the Maureen Brittain Memorial Empress Fillies’ Stakes, as Charlie Appleby made a welcome return to the big-race winner’s enclosure at Newmarket.

Appleby has endured a quiet time of late, drawing a blank at Royal Ascot, but the performance of the hugely promising daughter of Kodiac gave the Moulton Paddocks handler plenty to smile about.

Second to the well-regarded Carla’s Way on debut, Star Of Mystery wasted little time opening her account in tremendous fashion at Haydock on her second start, which saw her sent off the 4-5 favourite for this Listed contest.

And she gave favourite-backers barely a moment’s worry, quickening smartly from a forward position in the hands of William Buick to blow the opposition away in fine style, registering a visually taking four-length success from Cry Fiction in the process.

It was Appleby’s second win in the six-furlong contest, following the success of Summer Romance in 2019. However, Appleby does not think she will become a Classic filly next season.

“She is a filly we know pedigree-wise, she is a from a speed-on-speed family,” he said.

“We came here today confident that she would come forward from that run at Haydock.

“We knew at the time when she got beaten at Lingfield that the winner that day was strongly fancied. It was a big ask to go to Ascot and it didn’t materialise unfortunately. We then went to Haydock and and obviously thought we hadn’t beaten a great deal, but when you win by 11 lengths, it is still a very impressive performance and physically she has done well since then.

“The natural route would be to work back from a Cheveley Park realistically. That’s the likelihood. I’m not going to say where we go next, but that will be our target.

“I think she is a six-furlong filly. People have asked if she is a Guineas filly. No, I don’t think she’ll get a Guineas, unless they shorten it by a couple of furlongs. No, realistically, she is not a Guineas filly and it will be wrong to train her like that.

“She is a set little model and we’ll keep cracking on as we are and hopefully she will do what we hope she can achieve in the Cheveley Park and we’ll be delighted.

“We will be positive with her this year.”

Chelsea have announced the signing of Portugal Under-21 international Diego Moreira from Benfica.

Moreira, 18, joined Benfica from Standard Liege in 2020 and was part of the side which won the 2022 UEFA Youth League.

Having made his senior debut in May 2022, Moreira featured regularly for Benfica B last season.

The teenage winger is part of Portugal’s squad at the European Under-21 Championship, where they will face England in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

Moreira’s arrival on a free transfer follows on from the signings of forwards Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal and Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek has completed a permanent move to AC Milan.

Loftus-Cheek’s departure is one of several recent outgoings as new Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino reshapes his squad ahead of the start of the season.

Arsenal completed the signing of midfielder Kai Havertz, while N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy all headed for Saudi Arabia.

The PA news agency understands that midfielder Mason Mount is also set to depart after Manchester United agreed to sign the England international for an initial £55million.

Lewis Hamilton will start today’s sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix from a lowly 18th as Max Verstappen took pole position.

Defending champion Verstappen raced to top spot for the second day in succession following his qualifying triumph for Sunday’s 71-lap Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez joins team-mate Verstappen on the front row for today’s 23-lap dash round the Red Bull Ring, with McLaren’s Lando Norris an impressive third.

Norris, who finished nearly six tenths back from Verstappen, lines up one place ahead of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg.

The winner of today’s race will be awarded eight points, but the result has no bearing on Sunday’s main event.

Hamilton was eliminated in the opening phase after he had three laps deleted for exceeding track limits.

“That was really bad time usage,” said Hamilton over the radio. “Am I out?”

“Yes we are,” replied his race engineer Pete Bonnington.

Hamilton had been leading the way in Q1 before he had a hat-trick of laps chalked off by race director Niels Wittich for running all four wheels of his Mercedes over the white line at the final bend.

Hamilton tumbled down the order and was knocked out at the first hurdle of qualifying for only the second time in the last six years.

In Friday’s qualifying session, which determined the grid for Sunday’s main event, Verstappen said Wittich made the drivers look like “amateurs” with his over-zealous refereeing.

But Wittich did not hold back in the second qualifying running of the weekend, with Hamilton not the only driver penalised. Verstappen also had multiple laps scrubbed off.

Following his early exit, Hamilton said: “It is for a sprint race so it does not really matter.

“I wish I was still out there. But there is nothing really to say. We focus on what we can do and we could easily have been much further up. Today I will have some fun from the back.”

Hamilton was soon followed out of qualifying by team-mate George Russell after he suffered a hydraulic failure. Russell’s Mercedes mechanics were forced to change his steering rack meaning that he was unable to post a lap in Q2. He starts 15th.

Today’s sprint race takes place at 4:30pm local time (3:30 BST).