Harry Cobden’s hopes of winning the 2023-24 champion jump jockey title were boosted after he successfully appealed a three-day suspension imposed at the Cheltenham Festival.

The ban was initially handed out by the raceday stewards at the meeting when they deemed Cobden to have ridden carelessly aboard Handstands in the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle.

The horse finished sixth and was judged to have interfered with the progress of Ile Atlantique and Predators Gold, both trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Patrick and Danny Mullins respectively.

That finding was contested at the appeal and the panel, chaired by James O’Mahony, found in Cobden’s favour and overturned the suspension.

Those three days he is now free to ride could prove pivotal for the jockey, who is locked in a title race with Sean Bowen and was 12 winners ahead at the end of the action on Friday.

New Orleans Pelicans star forward Brandon Ingram will miss at least two weeks with a left knee injury he sustained in the team's loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday.

The Pelicans announced Friday that Ingram has been diagnosed with a bone contusion following the results of an MRI and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Ingram, New Orleans' second-leading scorer at 20.9 points per game, exited Thursday's 121-106 loss to the Magic early in the second half with what the team initially described as a hyperextended left knee. 

Though subsequent testing showed he avoided a serious, long-term injury, Ingram still figures to miss a good portion of the Pelicans' remaining games of the regular season, which concludes April 14.

New Orleans currently sits in fifth place in the Western Conference and is trying to avoid a spot in the play-in tournament, which would contain the teams that finish between seventh and 10th. The Pelicans are just 1 1/2 games ahead of the seventh-place Phoenix Suns. 

Ingram, the 2019-20 NBA Most Improved Player, has been mostly healthy this season after missing significant time in each of the previous two campaigns. A left toe contusion sidelined him for 29 games last season, while various injuries limited him to 55 games in 2021-22.

The eight-year veteran is on track to average over 20 points per game for a fifth straight season and is averaging 5.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists through 63 games in 2023-24.

Defending champion Judd Trump set up a last-four clash with 22-year-old Welshman Jackson Page at the World Open, while home favourite Ding Junhui will face Neil Robertson in the other semi-final.

Trump, who won the last edition of the tournament – held in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic, overcame Kyren Wilson 5-2 on Friday in Yushan.

With the quarter-final level at 2-2, the world number two clinched frame five on the black after benefiting from a couple of flukes before completing the job thanks to half-century breaks of 59 and 63.

“It is nice to get a run here and I feel a lot more excited to play snooker than the last three or four seasons,” Trump told the World Snooker Tour.

World number 52 Page, who eliminated former world champions John Higgins and Mark Selby en route to the last eight, made a break of 140 during his 5-2 success over Elliot Slessor.

“I think Jackson has played brilliantly well, he’s scored heavily,” said Trump.

“From what I’ve seen, him and Ding have been the players of the tournament.

“When you are young and playing well in this kind of scenario there is no better feeling. I’m the grumpy old man now trying to stop him.”

Ding delighted the Chinese crowd by firing in breaks of 73, 74, 135 and 102 during a 5-0 whitewash of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s conqueror Hossein Vafaei.

Hundreds of fans gathered on the streets of Yushan to watch their hero in action against Iranian Vafaei, with the match broadcast on a big screen.

Robertson, the 2010 world champion, awaits Ding after breaks of 127 and 115, plus two 87s and a 79, saw him defeat Barry Hawkins 5-2.

If the Australian goes on to win the event, he will retain his top-16 ranking and avoid a trip to World Championship qualifying.

“My game is absolutely back to where it should be now and that is really exciting heading into the back end of the season,” he said.

“It is a blockbuster match tomorrow. If you can’t enjoy playing Ding in a semi-final in China then there’s something wrong.”

Porta Fortuna is pencilled in to make her seasonal bow in the Ballylinch Stud ‘Priory Belle’ 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes at Leopardstown in early April.

The Caravaggio filly landed the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot last year before going on to place in both the Phoenix and Moyglare, before striking Group One gold in the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket.

Trainer Donnacha O’Brien then headed to America where Porta Fortuna was only narrowly denied in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, beaten just half a length by Hard To Justify.

O’Brien admits her juvenile brilliance raises some doubts ahead of her Classic campaign, with a trial run dependent on conditions suiting at Leopardstown.

In a stable tour for Attheraces.com, he said: “She was brilliant for us last season. When they are so good as two-year-olds, you can never be sure how well they’ll train on, but she seems to have wintered particularly well and her recent work has been very good.

“I’d like to run her in the 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown on April 7, but if the ground is bad, I’ll be happy enough to give her a racecourse gallop instead and go straight to the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.”

Porta Fortuna is a best-priced 25-1 with Paddy Power for the 1000 Guineas on May 5.

Flooring Porter will attempt to finally get his hands on the Jrl Group Liverpool Hurdle following his brave second in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The dual Prestbury Park champion had been plying his trade over fences prior to reverting to timber at the Festival, where he showed plenty of his old zest to chase home Teahupoo in the day three feature.

He will now continue to operate over the smaller obstacles, with trainer Gavin Cromwell pointing the nine-year-old towards Aintree next month and the three-mile Grade One in which he has finished second and third to Gordon Elliott’s Sire Du Berlais.

“He’s come out of Cheltenham really well and the plan is to go back to Aintree, we’re really happy with him and looking forward to it,” said Cromwell.

“He was good over fences, but is probably better over hurdles, they certainly lit him up again.

“He acts round Aintree and we’re looking forward to it. A similar performance at Aintree should put him very much in the mix.”

Meanwhile, it appears handicaps are off the agenda for highly impressive Kim Muir winner Inothewayurthinkin, who received a significant rise for his easy eight-length Cheltenham Festival success.

Owned by JP McManus, the exciting six-year-old will be forced into trying his hand in graded company if he runs again this season, with top-table targets both at home and in England possible options.

“He’s a nice horse to have going forward, he’s a young horse with hopefully a bright future,” continued Cromwell.

“He’s gone up considerably in the handicap so we will probably just have to look at the graded novice route (if he is to run again). The obvious options are Aintree or Punchestown and there is a race at Limerick as well. He’s not certain to run again before the end of the season, but if he does he will probably go for one of them.

“Hopefully the handicapper is right, and if so, he will be an exciting horse to have.”

The Football Association is standing by the controversial design of the new England shirt despite criticism from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

The shirt’s manufacturer Nike has altered the appearance of the St George’s Cross using purple and blue horizontal stripes in what it called a “playful update” to the shirt ahead of Euro 2024.

Sunak warned Nike “should not mess” with the flag while Starmer urged Nike to “reconsider” the design.

The FA said it was “very proud” of the red and white St George’s Cross but gave its support to the new design.

“The new England 2024 home kit has a number of design elements which were meant as a tribute to the 1966 World Cup-winning team,” a spokesperson said.

“The coloured trim on the cuffs is inspired by the training gear worn by England’s 1966 heroes, and the same colours also feature on the design on the back of the collar. It is not the first time that different coloured St George’s Cross-inspired designs have been used on England shirts.

“We are very proud of the red and white St George’s cross – the England flag. We understand what it means to our fans, and how it unites and inspires, and it will be displayed prominently at Wembley tomorrow – as it always is – when England play Brazil.”

Chazzesmee is out to complete an historic double in the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster on Saturday.

Just five days after plundering the €100,000 Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh, the six-year-old is sent back into battle by trainer Fozzy Stack for the British Flat season’s traditional curtain-raiser.

Sweet Lightning is the only horse to have won both races, scoring at Doncaster in 2011 when trained by Michael Dods before striking gold the Irish equivalent in 2013 for Tommy Carmody.

Not only is Chazzesmee looking to become the first to win the two prestigious handicaps in the same season, but he also bids to become the first Irish-trained winner of the Lincoln on Town Moor since Dermot Weld’s Saving Mercy 40 years ago.

“It’s kind of a shot to nothing, he’ll either be there or thereabouts or they’ll be sending out a search party for him,” said Stack.

“It’s hard to know with the short turnaround, but it’s a good pot, so it’s worth a chance.

“He’s always been a horse that has had plenty of talent, he’s just been a bit unfortunate through his life.

“He handles soft ground, obviously, so we’ll see what happens.”

One of the chief hopes for the home team is Karl Burke’s Liberty Lane, a narrow winner over the course and distance in September before failing to fire in the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket a fortnight later.

Burke is looking forward to stepping the four-year-old up in trip later in the year, but is happy to start off over the straight mile on testing conditions.

“A mile is the minimum trip for him, he should be staying a mile and a quarter, but you need that (stamina) for that type of race,” said the Spigot Lodge handler.

“If he can keep tabs on the leaders, he loves that soft ground and fingers crossed he can run a big race, but we’re going there hopeful rather than confident.

“I think I’d rather be drawn high (stall 20) than low and I think they’ll probably arrowhead up the middle. Most of the fancied horses are drawn low, so it will be interesting.”

Charlie Johnston fields two contenders, with Qipco Champions Day winner The Gatekeeper joined by stablemate Dutch Decoy.

The Gatekeeper has not been seen in competitive action since his lucrative Balmoral Handicap victory at Ascot in October, while Dutch Decoy makes his first appearance since finishing a close-up sixth in the Cambridgeshire.

Johnston said: “The Gatekeeper is in very, very good shape, I couldn’t be happier with him in that regard. He’s proven with some cut in the ground and goes well fresh, so he’s got lots in his favour.

“Life’s going to be a bit tougher for him as he’s rated 100 now. The handicapper rightly didn’t miss him for his Balmoral win, but that’s the only negative I think. Other than that he’s got all conditions in his favour. He’s a solid contender and this has been the target for a long time.

“If there’s any ambition for this season, one is that Dutch Decoy gets his day in the sunshine because he’s often been the bridesmaid and he’s been a real stalwart with us in the top handicaps, but generally running well in defeat.

“He was just behind The Gatekeeper in the Golden Mile at Goodwood last summer on soft ground, so he has got some soft ground form, but generally I don’t think he would want the extremes and I think he’s a little bit better on slightly better ground.

“That would be a slight concern with him, but he’s fit and well and there’s not a lot else for him for a while, so we thought we’d take our chance.”

Simon and Ed Crisford’s Awaal, the Julie Camacho-trained Lattam and Jack Channon’s 2022 Lincoln hero Johan also feature in a fiercely-competitive field.

Channon said: “He’s just a very good horse and 100 per cent a great servant. He’s not got any black type but he’s a black-type horse. Those big-field mile races just seem to really suit his running style.

“He’s won two big ones already and hopefully he can add another to that.”

Interim boss John O’Shea will send the Republic of Ireland into friendly battle with Belgium on Saturday after being placed in temporary charge of the team he represented with such distinction.

The former Ireland defender has stepped into the shoes vacated by Stephen Kenny in November for the clash with FIFA’s fourth-ranked team and Switzerland’s visit to the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the talking points surrounding the clash with the Belgians.

Who’s the boss?

Kenny’s departure in the wake of a desperately disappointing Euro 2024 qualifying campaign left the Football Association of Ireland with a void to fill and, four months on, it remains unfilled. The FAI has promised an announcement in early April but, in the meantime, the 118-times-capped O’Shea has been handed an audition which could stand him in good stead for the future, if not this time around.

Headache number one

Southampton’s Gavin Bazunu established himself as Kenny’s first-choice goalkeeper after being thrown in at the deep end for a World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg in March 2021 at the age of 19. Of the 30 games Ireland have played since, Bazunu has started 20 and Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher 10, with 16 of the former’s appearances coming in 20 competitive fixtures. However, 25-year-old Kelleher, a two-time Carabao Cup winner, is currently playing his part in Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge as the injured Alisson Becker’s deputy to illustrate his quality and leave O’Shea with a decision to make.

Seamus it ever was

Seamus Coleman has not played for his country since March last year, but after working his way back from a knee injury he feared might end his career, is back in the squad and raring to go. At 35, the Everton full-back knows his days in the green shirt may be drawing to a close, but a man who has captained his country under successive managers remains committed to serving in whatever way he can.

Patience is a virtue

Sammie Szmodics will keep his fingers crossed as he edges ever close to a senior international debut. The 28-year-old Blackburn frontman has twice had to pull out of previous squads, but has returned in top form with 27 club goals to his name to date this season to eloquently stake his claim once again.

False dawn

Kenny ultimately left his post with his much re-vamped Ireland team having won just six of the 29 competitive games they played under his charge. However, there was a point when it looked as though his plans were starting to come to fruition, no more so than after a 2-2 friendly draw with Belgium in March 2022. Admittedly the Belgians, then ranked one in the world, were without some of their star men for the Football Association of Ireland centenary fixture, but the hosts gave as good as they got as goals from Chiedozie Ogbene and substitute Alan Browne cancelled out Michy Batshuayi’s opener and Hans Vanaken’s strike.

Lukaku who’s missing

Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco headed for Dublin without some of his biggest names, with Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and Chelsea’s on-loan Roma striker Romelu Lukaku sidelined by injury. Real Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois is a long-term absentee as he recovers from a knee problem, while Thorgan Hazard and Yannick Carrasco are also missing.

Andrew Flintoff has been tipped as a future England head coach by director of men’s cricket Rob Key.

Key has been integral in offering the 2005 Ashes hero a path back from showbusiness to elite sport after the former captain suffered serious facial injuries in a car crash while filming Top Gear.

Flintoff accepted his friend’s invitation to anonymously attend games at last year’s Ashes series and has since accepted mentoring roles with England’s white-ball side as well as the England Lions and Under-19s.

He will further build his CV by leading Northern Superchargers in The Hundred this summer and has been inked in to assist Matthew Mott at the T20 World Cup in June.

With fans and players alike welcoming the return of one of the country’s most popular figures of recent times, he is already being spoken about as a possible successor and Key can see why.

“Without question, I think he would be an excellent head coach,” Key told the Daily Telegraph.

“He will be a worthy candidate going forward. When that time comes and whoever is in this job, and it might be outside of my time, they would be stupid not to look at him.

“For all the things he has done, cricket is always the thing he goes back to. Like all of us, it is the thing we know better than anything else and the thing we love.

“It is almost like he has no choice. It is what he thinks about the most after his family.”

Key praised Flintoff’s ability to understand the highs and lows of international cricket and sees him as a natural working with the the current crop.

“Flintoff is a leader like (Ben) Stokes. He is not going to need to learn leadership qualities,” said Key.

“He has those in abundance, which is what you need at the top level. He has that empathy that Stokes has as well as being a great player.

“He knows what it is like to nick off and to struggle. All these things as a leader, your interactions with people, mean you can impact people in a positive or negative way with everything you do. Fred is aware of that, and not many are aware of that, and he understands how to use that gift with people.”

John O’Shea will not allow the emotion of his journey from Under-15s player to Republic of Ireland manager to distract him as he prepares to guide his country into friendly battle with Belgium.

The 42-year-old former defender won 118 senior caps for Ireland during a distinguished playing career which brought him five Premier League titles, an FA Cup, three League Cups and a Champions League in his 12-year spell at Manchester United.

Having been placed in temporary charge of the national team as the Football Association of Ireland prepares to unveil Stephen Kenny’s successor early next month, O’Shea, who grew up as a footballer under the watchful eye of Sir Alex Ferguson, will head into Saturday’s clash with the Belgians concentrating only on the 90 minutes in front of him.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, he said: “It’s an incredible honour to be manager of your country, to get the chance to represent Ireland from U-15 onwards and all the levels, captain your country.

“The chance to be involved coaching with the Under-21s and the senior team and now being manager, it’s amazing, one that myself and my family are really proud of.

“When you first get the players together and chatting to them the first time as well, that’s the key part and sets the tone for the week ahead. That’s where I just kept it in my head very simple in terms of the staff that I brought in.

“I will be able to touch into those connections afterwards, as well in terms of the learnings from the two games and how you progress.

“That will be a big thing, too, but ultimately, I just want to focus on the staff, myself and the players and not be worried about too much outside noise.”

O’Shea, who worked with the senior team under Kenny after stepping up from the Under-21 ranks and will serve as head coach for Saturday’s game and Tuesday’s friendly against Switzerland, plans to inform the players of his team selection on Friday, and then take a low-key approach ahead of kick-off.

He said: “I’ve worked under many managers that have played at different levels, and it’s just a case of you’re trying to get a connection as soon as you can with the players to make them feel relaxed because, ultimately – as I’ve stressed before – they’re the key to everything.

“They’re the key to performing to winning matches and you just have to try and get that connection with the group. And whatever team is selected, they’re backing each other up no matter what.”

O’Shea could hand senior debuts to in-form Blackburn forward Sammie Szmodics, Lyon defender Jake O’Brien and Middlesbrough midfielder Finn Azaz, while Southampton defender Ryan Manning has joined up with the squad after recovering from injury.

He said: “The good thing is there are good players in form and it’s a nice problem to have in a good few positions.”

Belgium, who are ranked fourth in the world by FIFA, will be without injured superstars Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku as they defend an 11-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

George Boughey’s Baradar bids to start his season on the right note when he lines up at his favourite track for the William Hill Cammidge Trophy Stakes.

The six-year-old was twice a winner last term, taking a Doncaster handicap over a slightly longer trip at the peak of his form in the autumn.

His Town Moor form in general is impressive, and he was a good third on heavy ground in the Lincoln at this meeting last year.

Now dropping back in trip to six furlongs, Boughey is hopeful he will relish a return to his favoured course at Listed level.

“Baradar was good back at six and a half furlongs at Doncaster in the autumn, before probably just finding it one too many runs at Ascot at the end of last year,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing him at six (furlongs) for the first time. He loves it at Doncaster, he’s done lots of work and is very straight. He’s in a super shape, he’s an absolute legend.

“In four runs at Doncaster he’s won twice, been 1-3 in the Lincoln in-running and placed in the Futurity Trophy.

“It’s his first run in stakes company for a long time and he goes there with a good chance.”

Nick Bradley Racing have three chances in the race, chief among them being the Karl Burke-trained Marshman.

Second in the Gimcrack as a two-year-old, the bay started his season well when winning the Prix Sigy on debut last year and was then fifth in the Duke of York when beaten three lengths.

He was subsequently a close third in the Prix du Gros-Chene, before finishing unplaced in both the King’s Stand and the Coral Charge.

The latter three runs were over five furlongs, and the talented colt will now step back up to six as he wears a tongue tie for the first time.

Burke said: “He’s a nice horse, I’m not sure he wants the ground as testing as it’s going to be but he’s in good form.

“It’s his first run of the year obviously and he’ll come on for it, but hopefully he’ll run very well.”

Bradley added: “He came back from Sandown with a pelvic injury last year but he’d started the season off well when winning the Prix Sigy.

“If we were selecting what ground we’d want we’d choose good ground, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he were a little bit fresh.

“As a two-year-old he wasn’t a tearaway but he wasn’t far off, we’re excited to get him back on the track.

“We’ve got three in the race and we hope to come home in the first three.”

Bradley’s other two chances are both trained by Grant Tuer, the four-year-old fillies Sophia’s Starlight and Glorious Angel.

William Haggas will saddle Montassib, a six-year-old who was fifth in the Ayr Gold Cup last term before winning the Coral Sprint Trophy at York.

“He was a bit unfortunate at Ayr, he had been running over seven furlongs for a while and I dropped him back in trip for the Ayr Gold Cup and they went fast and he came home well,” said the trainer.

“He finished well at York when he won as well.

“I think this is his trip and I think he likes the cut in the ground and he will be as fit as we can have him.

“Most of the Exceed And Excels we have had have wanted fast ground, but we think he definitely doesn’t. Maybe it’s because he has got hold and prefers a bit of dig in the ground, but he definitely wants cut.

“He always runs a good race, but he has never run off 108 before. Handicaps are now a bit out for him and it’s races like this and the Abernant Stakes and see where we are.”

Charlie Hills’ Orazio and Rod Millman’s Adaay In Devon complete the field of seven.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says kit manufacturers “should not mess” with the St George’s Cross as he waded into a row over the new England shirt.

Nike has altered the cross using purple and blue horizontal stripes in what it called a “playful update” to the shirt ahead of Euro 2024. The US firm said the colours were inspired by the training kit worn by England’s 1966 World Cup winners.

Former England winger John Barnes told the PA news agency the row over the flag was “much ado about nothing”, but Sunak said on Friday: “Obviously I prefer the original, and my general view is that when it comes to our national flags, we shouldn’t mess with them.

“Because they are a source of pride, identity, who we are, and they’re perfect as they are.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called on Nike to reconsider, and told The Sun: “I’m a big football fan, I go to England games, men and women’s games, and the flag is used by everybody. It is a unifier. It doesn’t need to be changed. We just need to be proud of it.

“So, I think they should just reconsider this and change it back. I’m not even sure they can properly explain why they thought they needed to change it in the first place.”

A petition on Change.org calling for a design change had already attracted more than 21,000 signatures by noon on Friday.

However, former national team star Barnes could not understand what all the fuss was about.

“I don’t get involved in culture wars any more but this whole furore…I didn’t even know there was a St George’s cross,” he said at a Forever Reds golf day ahead of the Liverpool Legends’ game against Ajax on Saturday, which is expected to raise over £1million for the LFC Foundation.

“If they were going to change the three lions then that’s a debate to be had. I don’t see what the fuss is. I think it’s a much ado about nothing.

“They are not changing the colour of the shirt, the lions are still there. If they were going to change the national flag for England and change the colours then that’s a proper debate to have.”

The kit pricing has also been criticised.

An “authentic” version costs £124.99 for adults and £119.99 for children while a “stadium” version is £84.99 and £64.99 for children.