England toiled to a 1-1 draw in North Macedonia as their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign came to a lacklustre close.

Gareth Southgate’s side secured qualification to next summer’s finals in Germany last month and a forgettable draw in Skopje was at least enough to confirm them among the top seeds for December’s draw.

Debutant Rico Lewis endured a night to forget at the Tose Proeski Arena as he conceded a controversial first-half penalty which Jordan Pickford saved before Enis Bardhi turned home the rebound.

Captain Harry Kane came off the bench and played a part in the leveller as Jani Atanasov scored an own goal but England failed to find a winner.

England showed six changes from the team that limped to a 2-0 win over Malta on Friday night as Kyle Walker captained his country for the first time – but it was another disjointed display from a team Southgate is aiming to lead to the top of the world rankings.

Declan Rice was among those to come back into the starting line-up but, having called on England to conclude their unbeaten 2023 with a “bang” it instead ended with a whimper.

England were as toothless in the first half as they had been in the drab victory over Malta on Friday night, although Rice did come close to opening the scoring with a low strike that cannoned off the base of the post.

A tame header from Ollie Watkins followed before the hosts started to get a foothold, mainly due to England’s own poor defending.

Midway through the half and Harry Maguire gifted possession to Bojan Miovski, who slipped in Eljif Elmas.

Manchester United defender Maguire then seemed to barge Elmas off the ball inside the box but no penalty was forthcoming despite the protestations of the home side.

However, Macedonia would be awarded a penalty 10 minutes before the break, Lewis’ stray hand catching Miovski as he attempted to head clear, with referee Filip Glova pointing to the spot after consulting his pitchside VAR monitor.

Pickford made a fine stop to keep out Bardhi’s spot-kick but the Macedonia skipper was alive enough to turn home the rebound.

England had been as blunt as the side that toiled against Malta three days ago and it took until first-half stoppage time for the visitors to have a shot on target, albeit a tame effort from Lewis.

Trent Alexander-Arnold then stung the palms of Stole Dimitrievski and, in the last action of the half, England were left calling for a penalty of their own as Maguire stooped to meet the resulting corner and was caught by Elmas’ boot – this time, though, Glova was unmoved.

England thought they were level less than two minutes after the restart but Jack Grealish saw a close-range finish ruled out for offside following another lengthy VAR check.

Watkins, given a chance to once again show he has the capabilities to be the back-up to Kane at the Euros, had an ineffectual evening and was replaced by the skipper for the final quarter of the contest.

Kane – who was missing from the starting XI of a competitive England game for the first time in over two years – was immediately involved, his run to meet Phil Foden’s corner saw him tracked by Atanasov, who inadvertently deflected the set-piece into his own goal.

Southgate shuffled his pack as Marcus Rashford, Cole Palmer and Kalvin Phillips came on in the closing stages but, other than a wayward free-kick from the former, there were no real chances for England to seal victory.

Macedonia head coach Blagoja Milevski had said on the eve of the contest that his side would show a “new face” from the one thrashed 7-0 at Old Trafford in June and they certainly put England’s nose out of joint here.

Southgate will call for an improved performance in the two March friendlies when Brazil and Belgium visit Wembley but it was ultimately another successful, and unbeaten, qualification campaign under the 53-year-old.

Northern Ireland saved their best until last as they ended a miserable Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on a high note with a 2-0 win over Group H winners Denmark.

Second-half goals from Isaac Price and Dion Charles got Windsor Park roaring again as Northern Ireland recorded only their third win of the year, and the first against anyone other than San Marino.

The match was effectively a dead rubber – Northern Ireland’s hopes of progressing to next summer’s finals were over by the summer while Denmark booked their ticket with a 2-1 win over Slovenia on Friday night – but this was a much-needed win for Michael O’Neill’s men after a testing few months.

The injury problems that have plagued them from the very start continued to the bitter end with Daniel Ballard ruled out of this one, but the young players O’Neill has had to lean on so heavily should take great encouragement from a win over the top-ranked nation in Group H.

Victory came thanks to two fine goals. On the hour, Jamal Lewis spun away from his man and ran down the left, playing the ball inside to Dion Charles who shuffled it on to Shea Charles. The Southampton man then saw the run of Price, whose shot beat Kasper Schmeichel at his near post.

Then with nine minutes left Conor McMenamin, just on as a substitute, burst down the left, beat Crystal Palace’s Joachim Andersen and played a low ball across goal for Dion Charles to sweep home.

At the other end, it was a good night too for Conor Hazard. O’Neill had been unhappy with how the Plymouth goalkeeper had conceded the second goal in Friday’s 4-0 loss to Finland, but the stand-in stopper came up with two big saves in the first half here, then another in stoppage time.

O’Neill had made three changes from Friday’s heavy defeat. Ciaron Brown replaced the injured Ballard, Dale Taylor came in for Ross McCausland and Shea Charles returned from suspension at the expense of Jordan Thompson.

As they did in Helsinki, Northern Ireland began well, and they were gifted a golden opportunity eight minutes in when Rasmus Kristensen’s poor header fell into the path of Dion Charles only for the Bolton striker to see his shot rattle the far post.

Eoin Toal then headed wide from a deep cross, but gradually Denmark, sporting seven changes from Friday’s win as Kasper Hjulmand assessed some of his squad players, began to exert control and the spark went out of Northern Ireland’s performance.

Hazard watched Morten Hjulmand’s half-volley fly over the crossbar before Mohamed Daramy cut in from the left to hit a shot which perhaps struck Paddy McNair on the arm although the Middlesbrough man, wearing the captain’s armband, had his hands across his chest.

Hazard made a reaction save to deny Andersen from a corner, and then used less orthodox methods to keep out a long-range effort from ex-Chelsea man Andreas Christiansen, diving to his right and then kicking it clear after it took a deflection off Toal.

The crowd had gone quiet as Denmark bossed play, but it all changed in the second half.

Toal had headed narrowly wide from a Lewis cross just before Price finished off Northern Ireland’s best move of the night, perhaps of the entire campaign, to wake Windsor Park from its slumbers.

Denmark substitute Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg blasted a shot wide soon after, but McMenamin then came off the bench to tee up the decisive second.

After Hazard made another good save to deny Jonas Wind, the match-winner in Copenhagen back in June, in stoppage time the final whistle was greeted with a huge cheer as the frustrations of a long campaign were expunged.

Tim Boyle will be the New York Jets’ starting quarterback Friday against the Miami Dolphins in place of the benched Zach Wilson, multiple media outlets reported Monday.

The move comes a day after the Jets’ 32-6 loss to the Buffalo Bills, in which Boyle replaced Wilson late in the third quarter.

New York continues to flounder since Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn left Achilles in the season opener and fell to 4-6 after Sunday’s loss.

Wilson was 7 for 15 for 81 yards with a touchdown and an interception Sunday in nearly three quarters. He was sacked five times.

“When things aren’t getting done, change has got to be made,” the former No. 2 overall pick said after the game. “And I understand that.”

Boyle was 7 of 14 for 33 yards with an interception in mop-up duty.

A former teammate of Rodgers’ in Green Bay, has made three career starts – all with the Detroit Lions in 2021 – and has three career touchdown passes and nine interceptions.

Meanwhile, Rodgers has hinted at returning with unprecedented speed from his injury late this season, but the Jets will need to stay in the play-off hunt to make it worthwhile.

Falcons plan to start Ridder for rest of season

The Atlanta Falcons are turning back to Desmond Ridder at quarterback after giving Taylor Heinicke a two-game stint as the starter.

The 4-6 Falcons return from a bye this week to face the NFC South-leading New Orleans Saints (5-5), and Atlanta coach Arthur Smith announced that Ridder will be the starting quarterback the rest of the season.

Heinicke was 0-2 as the starter and suffered a hamstring injury in the Falcons’ Week 10 loss at Arizona.

Smith was adamant that Ridder would be the starter going forward, regardless of Heinicke’s injury status.

“We have a lot of confidence in Des and think the last couple of weeks he has handled it really well with a lot of things going on,” Smith said. “I think the reset has been very beneficial for him.”

Flacco to remain on Browns’ practice squad – for now

Cleveland Browns fans will need to wait at least one more week for their new starting quarterback after the newly signed Joe Flacco was placed on the team’s practice squad.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday that rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson will start Sunday in Denver, but the expectation remains that he will take over as the starter at some point.

“Joe’s role is to support this team coming in here,” Stefanski said on a video call with reporters. "We were able to add a guy with a ton of experience. He’ll be great for that room. He’ll be great for this team.”

After Deshaun Watson was lost for the season with a shoulder injury, the Browns tried to move forward with Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker, who have combined to throw one touchdown and nine interceptions.

Despite season-ending injuries to Watson and four-time Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb, a top-tier defense has helped the Browns build a three-game winning streak and has them in contention for the AFC North.

Phil Taylor has announced the World Senior Darts Tour in 2024 will be his final year on the circuit.

The 16-time world champion initially walked away from the sport in 2018 after making the final of the PDC World Championship, but returned to competitive darts last year.

Taylor, known as ‘The Power’, has now confirmed his glittering trophy-laden career on the oche is about to enter its final 12 months, but he will continue to be a World Senior Darts Tour global ambassador after his retirement.

He said: “I’ll always love performing to the best of my ability, but time waits for no man and I know now is the right time to step away from the Tour.

“It’s been an unbelievable journey over the past 35 years and I’ve loved every minute of it.

“I’d like to thank Target and the World Seniors Darts Tour for their support in recent years and I’m looking forward to playing in front of darts fans across the country next year.

“I’m going to be working just as hard as I always have to make sure I give the fans what they want and go out on top.”

The World Senior Darts Tour consists of 11 events, including the World Senior Darts Championship at the Circus Tavern in February.

Taylor has made the quarter-finals during the last two years, but will aim to go out on a high in 2024.

Billy Lovell of World Senior Darts Tour added: “Phil is one of the greatest sports people the UK has ever produced and we would like to place on record how grateful we are that he decided to come out of retirement at the beginning of our project.

“We have absolutely loved having him around and we’re sure his final year on tour with us will be great fun.”

Cade Cunningham painted a clear picture after the Detroit Pistons lost an 11th straight game.

The Pistons sit rock bottom of the NBA, having suffered a 142-113 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

Detroit are 2-12 for the season, with a .143 win percentage.

Point guard Cunningham delivered a blunt assessment of the situation.

"We've got to be realistic about the situation," Cunningham said.

"It's hard to just be like, 'Oh we're good, we're good,' because we're bad. We've got to address that.

"We're the youngest team in the league, scrapping and clawing for everything.

"That should be the last thing that needs to be asked of us or talked about, how hard we're competing. That should be a given."

Monty Williams, the 2022 NBA Coach of the Year, is in his first season in charge of the Pistons after four years with the Phoenix Suns.

"I think a few of our guys are dealing with how hard the league is," Williams said. 

"When you're dealing with it, the one thing you can control is your competition level. I didn't see that across the board [against Toronto]."

A long-held plan came to fruition for Mick Appleby when Roberto Escobarr strode to victory in the Italian St Leger.

The Galileo gelding was previously trained to Group Three success by William Haggas before being sold to new connections for 40,000 guineas.

The Premio St Leger Italiano, the Italian St Leger, was the plan from the outset and Marco Ghiani headed to his homeland to ride in the Group Three San Siro contest on Saturday.

It was light work for the bay in a field of seven as he made all of the running and then pulled away to an easy eight-and-a-quarter-length victory.

“He did it very well, we were very impressed with him,” said Appleby.

“From the start, when we bought him (in September), that was always going to be the aim.

“That’s mainly what we bought him for, we thought we’d have a good chance in it provided the ground was going to be decent and it was.

“The plan came off, and it’s not very often that happens!

“I said to Marco that there weren’t any obvious front runners, a couple of German horses had led before and had a decent chance, but if he could pinch it from the front then just bowl along and go with it.”

All-Weather Finals Day could now be the target, with further travels to the Middle East also under consideration for the six-year-old.

Appleby said: “He’s nearly paid for himself now, we’ll have to sit down and make a plan for him. I’d like to get him qualified for Good Friday and then maybe Super Saturday could be an option in Dubai.”

Everton’s 10-point penalty for breaching Premier League financial rules should be suspended until an independent regulator can examine the case, a Liverpool MP has said.

Ian Byrne, the Labour member of parliament for Liverpool West Derby, has tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons concerning the club’s plight.

Everton were found by the independent commission which imposed the sanction to have acted “irresponsibly” in exceeding permitted losses over a three-year period by £19.5million.

Byrne’s motion criticises the commission’s “cavalier approach to points deductions” and argues that the Premier League “can no longer fairly govern top-flight football without independent scrutiny and legislation”.

The motion’s text describes the sanction as “grossly unjust” and as a “punishment lacking any legal or equitable foundation or justification for the level of sanction”.

Byrne’s motion also notes that financial rather than sporting penalties were handed down to the clubs who sought to join the European Super League in 2021.

The motion urges the Government to immediately establish an independent regulator and “requests the suspension of all proceedings and sanctions made by the commission until the regulator makes its own determinations”.

An independent regulator for the top five tiers of the English game moved a step closer earlier this month, with the inclusion of the Football Governance Bill in the King’s Speech.

Everton have already indicated their intention to appeal against the commission’s sanction, with the appeal expected to be heard during the course of the current season.

The club could face compensation claims from other teams in relation to the case, although no other club has yet confirmed an intention to do so.

The Mayor of Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, wrote to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters on Monday to highlight what he felt was the “excessive” nature of the sanction imposed.

“The decision to deduct 10 points from Everton is excessive considering the club’s willingness and proactivity in collaborating with the Premier League to ensure all dealings were FFP compliant when it was clear they were close to breaching the rules,” Rotheram wrote.

“There are a number of mitigating factors in Everton’s transgression in relation to debt ceilings that are in effect geo-political and therefore outside of their control.

“As many people have pointed out, the punishment imposed appears severe for the charge in question and sets a new precedent.

“I completely support the club’s appeal and would urge you to take a more balanced approach and consider alternative forms of punishment that do not unfairly penalise the club’s players and supporters.

“As a founding member of both the Football League and the Premier League, Everton are an important part of the fabric of English football. They deserve to be treated with respect.”

Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero’s highly promising Iroko will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a foot injury.

The JP McManus-owned gelding won the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March and made a strong start to his novice chasing career when winning at Warwick.

It was a success that looked likely to lead to much greater things throughout this term, but plans are now on hold until next year as the injury will see him sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Greenall said: “He has just got a foot problem and it should be absolutely fine and he will be back next season. It is what it is, unfortunately.

“For a smaller yard with not loads of really nice horses, it’s a massive blow for anyone, but it’s hard to take.”

Rob Page says Wales are not entertaining any play-off talk with their full focus on beating Turkey and qualifying automatically for Euro 2024.

Wales must overcome Turkey in their final qualifier on Tuesday and hope Croatia do not beat Armenia in order to secure a top-two spot in Group D.

The Dragons are guaranteed a play-off place in March but it is not a route Wales want to tread, with Page and Ian Mitchell, head of performance psychology, addressing the topic with the players ahead of the sell-out Cardiff City Stadium clash.

Page said: “We’re having no talk of play-offs. If we’re talking play-offs, we may as well call the game off on Tuesday. That’s our mentality and attitude.

“We’re fully focused on the job we’ve got and we don’t want any regrets when that final whistle goes.

“We were aware that (play-offs) would be the talking point because of the disappointment of the Armenia game.

“I addressed that at a meeting with the players and I got Mitch to speak about it as well.

“We’re not admitting defeat and thinking ‘why not?’ because potentially we can qualify if the other result goes our way.

“What I don’t want to do is walk off at the end of the game, the result’s gone for us, and we could have taken charge of it.”

Wales had automatic qualification in their own hands before Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Armenia when Page’s side were perhaps fortunate to return home with a point.

Croatia took advantage by winning 2-0 in Latvia to move into second spot behind already-qualified Turkey.

Page suggested that he would be kept informed of events in the Croatia game in Zagreb on Tuesday as Wales seek to bounce back from their disappointing weekend performance.

Luton defender Tom Lockyer is expected to replace the suspended Chris Mepham and make his first competitive appearance since September 2021.

Brennan Johnson and Daniel James could also return to sharpen up the attack against opponents who beat Wales 2-0 in June and warmed up for their trip to Cardiff by beating Germany 3-2 in a Berlin friendly on Saturday.

Page said: “What we do need, from minute one, is energy.

“Off the back of (Turkey’s) result against Germany and the threat they pose, we have to have energy in that team.

“This is the first time in a while that we’ve had two competitive games in quick succession.

“We’re not blessed with a pool of players coming in that are not playing too much domestically.

“There potentially could be changes, or at least coming off the bench and having an impact.”

Wales are attempting to make a fourth major tournament in five and qualified for the last two – Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup – on emotion-charged nights at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Skipper Ben Davies said: “We’ve put in some amazing performances in Cardiff over the years, and we’ve had some special nights there.

“We’re not panicking as a group, we still have a chance. Our job is pretty simple, we have to win our game.

“Playing in major tournaments for your country is the pinnacle and that dream is still there.”

American Mike will bid to follow in the footsteps of Gerri Colombe when he heads to Limerick on Boxing Day for the Greenmount Park Novices’ Chase.

Gerri Colombe won the first of his three Grade One novice chases in Limerick’s Christmas showpiece and American Mike appears poised for an immediate step up to the highest level having accounted for Champion Bumper runner-up Fact To File with an impressive chasing display at Navan on Sunday.

Elliott is keen to stay at two-and-a-half miles for the time being with the six-year-old, who lost his way slightly over hurdles last season, but pleased his handler in his first start over the larger obstacles.

“I was delighted,” said Elliott. “In fairness, it was easy to say he was disappointing in his novice hurdles, but I thought he was good at Navan.

“I don’t know if I want to come back to two (miles) and I don’t know if I want to go up to three (miles) either so Limerick would look the race to go for.

“I was hoping (he would always be a better chaser than hurdler), but the way he jumped as a novice hurdler you would be worried.

“We’ve done plenty of schooling and Jack (Kennedy) has done a lot of work with him, schooling him. We haven’t done an awful lot different to be honest. He worked in Tipperary a few weeks ago and worked well and we were very happy.”

American Mike is owned by Noel and Valerie Moran and the same colours of their Beactive Stud will be sported by Found A Fifty when he captains Elliott’s team for Fairyhouse’s Bar One Racing Drinmore Novice Chase on December 3.

The six-year-old impressed his handler with a clear-cut eight-length success over Colonel Mustard at Down Royal and could be joined in the Grade One event by Imagine, who won nicely in a beginners chase at Fairyhouse earlier this month.

“He was exciting and I liked the way he hit the line in Down Royal,” said Elliott of Found A Fifty.

“I wasn’t surprised. I went to the well a little bit too often with him last year and he blew his top, I shouldn’t have gone to Aintree with him. He looks a nice horse.

“I imagine he will go to the Drinmore and I was very impressed with him.”

On Imagine, he added: “He was good (at Fairyhouse) and jumped brilliant and could go for the Drinmore as well I would say. I think stepping up in trip will suit him no bother.

“It wasn’t a bad race and he is tough. It looks like he is a better chaser than hurdler.”

Also backed to take high-rank amongst Elliott’s team of novice chasers this term is Three Card Brag, who was sent off 4-1 second favourite for the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival earlier in the year, but could now find his true calling tackling fences.

“He is going chasing and he will go to Fairyhouse, not this weekend but next weekend,” continued Elliott.

“He jumps very well and I was tempted to run him this weekend. I worked him I think Tuesday or Wednesday and he just had a little blow so I thought I would wait another couple of weeks.

“He’s a fair horse and he’s not a flashy horse at home, but he’s a good horse. He always looked like he would be a chaser.”

Glenn Maxwell's unbeaten 201 in Australia's win over Afghanistan should be considered as the "greatest ever" ODI innings.

Earlier in November, Maxwell dragged Australia – who were chasing a target of 292 – to victory from 91-7 despite battling a back injury that was hugely limiting him.

On Sunday, it was fittingly Maxwell who struck the winning runs as Australia overcame hosts India by six wickets in the final.

And former England bowler Sidebottom thinks Maxwell's knock against Afghanistan will likely go down as the best in 50-over cricket.

"As an ODI innings, I've been lucky enough to watch and see many great ODI innings, but that has to be one of the best ever," Sidebottom told Stats Perform.

"It was just some serious hitting and display. I was in awe, it was seriously one of the best things I've ever seen.

"And again, I've got to say, Afghanistan were brilliant throughout this tournament.

"Afghanistan could have quite easily qualified [for the semi-finals]. It was a truly wonderful innings and to see how he played was just something very, very special."

Asked to consider other great innings, Sidebottom pointed to Ben Stokes' heroics for England in 2019, but thinks Maxwell's tally, which came off 128 balls and included 21 fours and 10 sixes, is the greatest.

"There's been so many from so many greats," he added.

"Stokes in the 2019 World Cup final because of the situation and England were struggling a little bit at the time.

"I look at how they go about the innings when their teams are under pressure. But Maxwell was under pressure to score 200 on his own to win that – it has to be probably the greatest innings ever."

Gerri Colombe will have Leopardstown or Cheltenham next on the agenda as Gordon Elliott eyes one more run before a shot at the Gold Cup in March.

Beaten only once in six starts over the larger obstacles, the stamina of Gordon Elliott’s seven-year-old came to the fore when making a winning return at Down Royal earlier this month.

Now he has either the Savills Chase – the traditional Christmas destination for Ireland’s top staying chasers – or the Cotswold Chase on Festival Trials Day on January 27 as his big-race options in preparation for his main March objective.

Elliott said: “He’s in the Savills and that will be depending on ground. If the ground is safe he would go there, but if not he could go to Cheltenham at the end of January. We have all those options.

“He doesn’t actually mind nice ground, but you wouldn’t want to be chancing it at that time of year.”

On his Down Royal comeback, Elliott added: “He will have come on an awful lot for Down Royal. He’s only been back cantering since the middle of September and Jack (Kennedy) said he was proper blowing. There will be loads of improvement in him.

“I was impressed with him by the line, but my heart was in my mouth. Speaking to Jack after you would have to be happy. I suppose the one thing he has is the will to win. He wants to win and that is a great attribute to have, you know.”

Gerri Colombe finds himself as short of 7-2 for the Cheltenham blue riband with, a race where he could come up against Charlie Hall Chase winner Gentlemansgame who is also owned by Brian Acheson’s Robcour operation.

Although available at much bigger odds than Gerri Colombe, Elliott believes Mouse Morris’ charge warrants plenty of respect having claimed the scalp of Paul Nicholls’ Bravemansgame at Wetherby.

“I will worry about Gerri and Mouse will worry about Gentlemansgame,” added Elliott.

“He’s a good horse and I don’t think he’s getting the credit he deserves at the moment. For what he’s done on his third or fourth run over fences, I was impressed with him anyway.”

It is still to be decided if Gerri Colombe will be joined by last year’s third Conflated in the Gold Cup in March, with Elliott toying with the idea of switching the Gigginstown House Stud-owned nine-year-old to the cross-country sphere.

“I imagine he will go Leopardstown (Savills Chase) and then we will decide whether we go Gold Cup or cross-country at Cheltenham,” said Elliott.

“We’ve schooled him to go cross-country. It didn’t surprise me (when third at Down Royal behind Gerri Colombe) and I knew there was more improvement to come from Punchestown, so it didn’t shock me. He’s a good horse, he was third in the Gold Cup last year.”

If heading down the cross-country route, Conflated would be adding to a strong hand Elliott possesses in a race he has dominated in recent years at the Cheltenham Festival.

He won it last year with Delta Work, with Galvin another of Elliott’s string poised to navigate the twists and turns of the cross-country track in March. However, the defending champion Delta Work finished lame when when reappearing at Prestbury Park last Friday.

“He’s lame, it’s nothing serious, but you can see that half way through the race his jumping went to pot,” said Elliott.

“We’ll get him back and train him for Cheltenham. He will probably go for a hurdle race in February and then onto Cheltenham for the cross-country race off level weights.”

Gordon Elliott has defended the number of runners he had in Navan’s Troytown Chase on Sunday after reiterating his desire to one day be crowned Ireland’s champion trainer.

Elliott ended up seeing 14 of his Cullentra House battalion face the starter for the  €100,000 handicap and saddled four of the first five home with 20-1 shot Coko Beach scooping the big pot for Gigginstown House Stud.

It is a contest Elliott has enjoyed great success in down the years and having been responsible for nearly three-quarters of the final field of 20, he simply believes he is doing what is best for both the horses in his yard and their owners by targeting the race.

“I started with nothing and didn’t get handed anything, I’ve worked for everything I’ve got,” explained Elliott.

“We didn’t stop any horse running in the race, the race didn’t fill and I think if I only run one or two horses then there might only be eight or nine in the race.

“I think for a €100,000 race, for Bar One who are sponsoring the race and for Navan, it would be embarrassing if there is only eight or nine runners in it.

“All my owners are paying training fees and entry fees and they want to run, so I don’t think I have anyone to answer to. All I want to do is do my best for every horse and every owner.”

Coko Beach brought up winner 115 for the season for Elliott with American Mike’s impressive chasing debut quickly taking that total to 116.

He currently stands €500,000 ahead of his great rival Willie Mullins at the head of the standings in Ireland and although still dreaming of a first title, concedes his priorities have changed since his well-documented ban in 2021, with his focus firmly on training as many winners as possible..

“If you had asked me about that two or three years ago, it was all I would have thought about,” he said about the title.

“If you ask me my ambition in life, it is to be champion trainer, but I probably look at life a little different now to how I did before what happened (the ban).

“It’s what I want to do and what I would love to do and my aim in life, but you look at things and people a lot different.”

When asked about his current motivation, he added: “Winners. I’m probably selfish and all I care about is training winners. It’s not ideal sometimes but I love what I do.

“I love training winners. I worked for a man called Martin Pipe and he loved it and I’m probably unfortunate that I was born in the same era as a man called Willie Mullins.

“Willie makes us all better and hungrier and I just like to do my best and keep him honest.”

Although realistic about his own title ambitions, Cullentra House number one Jack Kennedy has a real chance of getting his hands on a first title having partnered 60 winners so far this term.

That puts him 18 clear of nearest rival Paul Townend and Elliott believes he is in a great position to remain on top spot until the end of the season.

“I would love to see Jack Kennedy be champion jockey and I think it’s going to happen some day,” said Elliott.

“Whether that is this year, next year or the year after I don’t know. Just looking he has 60 winners already and I think last year when he had the fall he had 77 winners during the first week in January.

“It looks like he is ahead of last year and it looks like he is in a better position than last year to be honest.

“Last time he always had to worry about Davy Russell and now he is first jockey and has the pick of everything. I’m sure it will be something he would love to do anyway.”