Harry Fry is poised to let Boothill take a shot at the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, despite his star chaser heading into the Cheltenham Festival on the back of two falls.

A winner of seven of his 17 starts, the nine-year-old has claimed Grade Two honours over fences and started the current campaign in blistering form, winning two valuable Ascot handicaps at two miles.

Testing conditions saw him miss out on a run in the Tingle Creek at Sandown, but he has returned to graded company the last twice where he has failed to complete in both the Desert Orchid at Kempton and Newbury’s Game Spirit Chase earlier this month.

However, Fry has few concerns about Boothill’s jumping and rather than face the burden of top-weight in the Grand Annual, is preferring to let his charge take his chance in the feature of Wednesday’s Festival action, where his rivals are likely to include the mighty duo of El Fabiolo and Jonbon.

“He’s fine and come out of the race at Newbury well and we’re still working towards Cheltenham, albeit it’s not an ideal prep coming down the last twice,” said Fry.

“Fundamentally he jumps well, he has just made two mistakes and fallen on the two occasions he has made a mistake. He’s fine in himself and it’s got to be onwards and upwards.”

He went on: “At Newbury we knew the ground had gone against him, but having fallen at Kempton, we knew it was our last opportunity to run and we just thought we would use it to get a clear round under his belt.

“Unfortunately the heavy ground just finds his wind out and that was exactly what Johnny (Burke, jockey) said – going to the second last his wind just gave out on him and he just made a tired lunge at the fence rather than a genuine mistake. He’s normally very surefooted.

“It’s either the Champion Chase or carry top-weight in the Grand Annual and we’re inclined to let him take his chance (in the Champion Chase) on hopefully a bit better ground.

“Wee’re not saying we’ll go there and win, but if he was to run a good race then you never know.”

Thursday’s meeting at Huntingdon has been called off due to a waterlogged track.

The venue was due to host a six-race National Hunt card but the course is not fit for action, with areas of standing water and further rain forecast ahead of the fixture.

Clerk of the course Roderick Duncan inspected the track on Tuesday morning and had little option but to abandon.

He said: “We flooded again on Sunday and while the water levels have dropped, there are still areas of standing water on various parts of the track.

“While the river levels are dropping, the forecast for more rain on Wednesday and Thursday is just not helpful.”

The British Horseracing Authority has already announced an additional meeting on Thursday at Chelmsford.

What the papers say

The Sun reports that Gareth Southgate has his eye on three uncapped midfield players – Manchester United teen Kobbie Mainoo, Everton’s James Garner and Fulham’s Harrison Reed – as concern grows over the form of Kalvin Phillips.

Coach David Moyes’ future with West Ham looks fraught as the club is understood to be sounding out Julen Lopetegui, Steve Cooper and Graham Potter to lead the Hammers, writes the Daily Mail.

Steve Bruce is keen to move abroad, with the ex-Newcastle boss looking to become the next manager for South Korea, writes the Daily Mirror.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Kylian Mbappe: The  Paris Saint-Germain star put pen to paper with Real Madrid weeks ago, reports the Daily Mail.

Liel Abada: According to the Daily Record, Celtic will speak to the winger’s agent this week to sort out his future.

Yann M’Vila: West Bromwich Albion has signed the former France international, but only until the end of the season, says the BBC.

Amy Williams tamed Canada’s notorious Whistler track on this day in 2010 to claim skeleton gold and become Britain’s first individual Winter Olympic gold medallist in 30 years.

On a course where Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili tragically died the previous week, Williams steered four near-perfect runs to claim victory by over half a second.

Kerstin Szymkowiak took silver a full 0.56 seconds behind Williams, while her Germany team-mate Anja Huber earned the remaining podium place with bronze.

Williams set a track record of 53.83 on her first run and shattered it by going 53.68 on her first of two final runs, she then led from start to finish to follow figure skater Robin Cousins in the British Winter Games hall of fame.

Speaking about the course, situated to the north of Vancouver, Williams said: “I love this track. Once you get over the fear factor you learn to love it and the speed is your friend.

“You’ve got to work with it and relax and if you do that it’s a great track to slide.”

Her record-breaking run helped her set a 0.3 second lead overnight and despite fears that nerves could play a part when she returned to the track, the 27-year-old insisted she had never let her position play on her mind.

“I surprised myself because I wasn’t really nervous,” added Williams, who won Team GB’s only gold medal at the Vancouver Games on what was her Olympic debut.

“I slept absolutely perfectly and I was quite excited. It doesn’t feel like an Olympic Games – it just feels like a normal World Cup race except with more people shouting for me.

“I’m not very good at statistics so I didn’t realise I’m the first gold medallist for a long time. But I think it shows that if you have the determination any country can be good at any sport and you just have to concentrate and do your best.”

Cameron Norrie hit the ground running at the Rio Open on Monday, defeating Bolivian player Hugo Dellien 6-3 6-2 in Brazil.

The world number 23 saved the only break point he faced as he breezed into the second round in one hour and 21 minutes.

In his on-court interview after the match, Norrie said he was happy with how he bounced back after a first-round exit in Argentina last week.

He said: “I served much better than last week, and I was a bit more patient and knew I had to play point for point and really make the rallies a bit longer.

“I think I learned from last week with that, and just happy to be back in Brazil.”

He will face off with Chilean player Tomas Barrios Vera next, after the world number 120 knocked out Brazilian wild card Gustavo Heide 7-5 6-3.

Norrie won the top prize at last year’s Rio Open, defeating world number two Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek each recorded three goals and three assists to lead a record-setting day for the Minnesota Wild, who set a franchise single-game high for goals in Monday's frantic 10-7 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello delivered a goal and three assists each for Minnesota, which overcame a three-goal second-period deficit by lighting the lamp seven times during the third to set a team record for goals in a period as well.

The Wild's offensive outburst also overshadowed a three-goal, one-assist performance from Vancouver's J.T. Miller. The game was the first to have three players record hat tricks since the Los Angeles Kings accomplished the feat in an 11-4 win over the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 8, 1992.

After Zuccarello's power-play goal with 33 seconds left in the second period cut the Canucks' lead to 5-3, the Wild scored five straight times in the first 5:12 of the third. Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov each struck twice during the flurry, which also included a goal from Marco Rossi.

The six goals in a span of 5:45 made the Wild the first team to score six times in that short a time frame since the Washington Capitals did so in a 4:47 stretch in a 10-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 3, 1999.

The Pacific Division-leading Canucks fought back, though, as goals from Nikita Zadorov and Brock Boeser got them within 8-7 with 2:08 left to play. Minnesota's Jonas Brodin scored into an empty net 61 seconds later, however, before Kaprizov completed his fourth career hat trick and second this season with an empty-netter in the final stages.

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek matched the @mnwild record for points in a game while combining for a feat not witnessed in more than three decades.#NHLStats: https://t.co/wuATxuTB8f pic.twitter.com/Ga6OXyAPpY

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 19, 2024

Marc-Andre Fleury was credited with the victory after the Wild veteran stopped six of eight shots after replacing starter Filip Gustavsson to begin the third period. Minnesota extended its point streak to six games (5-0-1) despite Gustavsson yielding five goals on 16 shots.

The Canucks, meanwhile, have dropped two straight following a forgettable afternoon for netminder Casey DeSmith, who let in eight goals on just 25 shots.

Matthews' 49th goal helps Maple Leafs top Blues

Auston Matthews continued his recent goal-scoring tear by recording his league-leading 49th of the season, which helped the Toronto Maple Leafs stay hot as well with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Matthews' seventh goal in three games snapped a 1–1 tie 45 seconds into the third period, and the 2021-22 Hart Trophy recipient had an assist earlier to spark Toronto to a fourth consecutive win.

Mitchell Marner had three assists for Toronto, which also got a key short-handed goal from William Nylander that extended the Leafs' lead to 3-1 with 12:31 left to play.

After a scoreless first period, the Maple Leafs struck quickly in the second as Matthews set up Matthew Knies for a close-range shot that the rookie rocketed past St. Louis goaltender Joel Hofer just 22 seconds into the period.

Brandon Saad's power-play goal late in the second drew the Blues even, though the tie was short-lived as Matthews deposited a feed from Marner into the Blues' net in the opening minute of the third.

The Blues cut the deficit to 3-2 on Pavel Buchnevich's goal with 1:08 to play, but Bobby McMann sealed the win for Toronto with an empty-net score with 38 seconds left.

Hofer stopped 25 of 28 shots for St. Louis, which has lost two straight following an 8-2-0 stretch from Jan. 20-Feb. 15. Ilya Samsonov finished with 19 saves for Toronto.

Bruins stop four-game slide with shootout win over Stars

Charlie McAvoy scored in the ninth round of the shootout as the Boston Bruins rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars to halt their four-game losing streak.

McAvoy added two assists in regulation for Boston, which forced overtime on David Pastrnak's goal with 1:45 left in the third period. 

The Bruins later extended the game further when Brad Marchand beat Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger in the third round of the shootout to tie the deciding phase at 1-1.

Both Oettinger and Boston's Jeremy Swayman turned aside the next five skaters each faced before McAvoy converted his chance. Swayman then denied Craig Smith to end the game and hand Dallas a second straight defeat, though the Western Conference contenders did extend their point streak to five games (3-0-2).

Swayman finished with a career-high 43 saves before stopping eight of nine opponents in the shootout.

Goals from Boston's Jesper Boqvist and Dallas' Wyatt Johnston sent the teams into the first intermission tied at 1-1, and the Stars' Ryan Suter and the Bruins' Justin Brazeau scored 28 seconds apart less than two minutes into the second period.

Dallas went back ahead when Esa Lindell scored on a 2-on-1 rush with 9:16 left in the third, but Pastrnak later one-timed a feed from McAvoy past Oettinger with Swayman pulled for an extra attacker to tie the game at 3-3.

Oettinger finished with 27 saves.

Crystal Palace caretaker manager Paddy McCarthy believes new boss Oliver Glasner will have seen plenty to excite him in the Eagles’ battling 1-1 draw at Everton.

Hours after being confirmed as the successor to veteran Roy Hodgson, who stood down earlier in the day, Glasner was watching from the stand at Goodison Park as Palace claimed a point on Monday night.

McCarthy, who took charge of the side along with fellow assistant Ray Lewington after Hodgson was taken ill last week, feels the team being handed over is in fine shape.

McCarthy said: “He’s seen a team with spirit and commitment to the cause. It’s a good point in the right direction at a difficult place to come.

“I’m sure he will take a lot of positives from the game and I bet he can’t wait to come and work with the lads.”

Glasner, 49, inherits a side 15th in the Premier League and hoping to avoid being pulled into a relegation battle after a poor run of form.

The Austrian led Eintracht Frankfurt to Europa League glory in 2022 and McCarthy feels he is a strong appointment.

The Irishman said: “He is a manager with great pedigree, a European winner. He is coming into a group that I’m sure he will enjoy working with.

“It is a positive move for the football club and one I’m sure will excite the fans.”

McCarthy revealed he had not yet had the chance to meet Glasner and admitted he did not know if he himself had a future at Selhurst Park.

He said: “It was just announced as we arrived for our pre-match meal. I’ve not had chance to meet him.

“It has been a whirlwind couple of days. I’ve had no communication about myself and my future.”

In terms of the game, a dull encounter was lit up when Jordan Ayew broke the deadlock with a superb long-range strike after 66 minutes.

Everton responded well and their pressure eventually paid off when Amadou Onana headed an equaliser six minutes from time.

McCarthy said: “We created some great situations, Jordan took his goal well. We knew the questions that would be asked coming here.

“I thought we defended resolutely for the majority of the game but unfortunately we couldn’t hang on.”

Everton manager Sean Dyche bemoaned the number of chances the hosts wasted but nevertheless felt the point, which lifted the Toffees out of the bottom three, was a valuable one.

Dyche said: “First half it looked like we were off and they were a side where the new manager was sitting in the stand. They had a bit of edge about them and they played well.

“We weren’t miles off but we weren’t brave enough in possession, were too timid, played backwards too much.

“They scored a good goal, a clean strike, but I thought the mentality then was good to get on the front foot. We certainly did enough to get a point and it was a fine delivery and a fine finish.

“It’s another point on the board and we’ve just popped out of the relegation zone but there were chances – we’ve got to start taking them. There were a couple of golden chances we didn’t take.”

James Tavernier believes Philippe Clement is facing selection headaches after returning Rangers to the top of the cinch Premiership on Sunday.

Amid a busy fixture schedule, the Belgian boss again reshuffled his pack for the tense trip to St Johnstone, this time with five changes.

The 32-year-old Gers skipper scored two late penalties to add to Mohamed Diomande’s first-half opener in the 3-0 win.

Victory moved the Light Blues above Celtic at the top of the table, after being seven points behind their Old Firm rivals when Clement took over from Michael Beale in October.

Substitutes Dujon Sterling and Tom Lawrence won the spot-kicks to allow Tavernier to score his 18th and 19th goals of the season, 120 in total since arriving in Govan in 2015.

With the league, the Scottish Cup and Europa League still available – and the Viaplay Cup already in the Ibrox trophy room – Tavernier spoke about the strength in depth of the Rangers squad.

The full-back said: “It gives us huge confidence because what people don’t see is on the training ground we are all pushing each other and everyone is asking to be in the starting 11 and anybody who is asked to come on the pitch is putting in really good performances.

“So it is a headache for the gaffer to select the XI but anyone he selects is doing a really good job for the team and that is the main thing.

“As the gaffer said, we are creating a story together and we need everyone to chip in until the end of the season.

“It is a great place for the fans and the club.

“We feed off our performances and how well we are playing as a team, not letting teams get a shot on target against us.

“That’s what we aim for – the clean sheets and the variety of chances we are creating now is really pleasing, we are always asking questions.

“The scoreline could have been more and I am delighted it was 3-0, clean sheet and on to the next one. We always had belief in our team, the players that we have.

“The gaffer came in and upped the bar with the way we are playing, the demand that he wants for us all.

“We need to continue, not become complacent and keep demanding because there is still a long way to go in the competitions we are in and we just want to make the fans happy and us happy with our performances.”

Clement talked positively about the leaders he has in the dressing room and Tavernier agrees.

“We have great leaders in the squad,” he added. “We all feed off each other and the manager believes in the leadership and we continue to amplify his message towards the lads.

“It starts every day at training, really pushing our standards but there is no place for being complacent. We need to keep pushing ourselves to be better.”

Tavernier admitted that his goals tally was unthinkable when he arrived from Wigan almost nine years ago.

“Especially as I had only eight or nine goals before I joined Rangers,” he said.

“It’s obviously a great achievement. I just want to keep helping the team and pushing myself and see where it ends when I eventually hang up my boots one day.

“I was delighted with the three points we got on Sunday as well as the clean sheet. They didn’t have a shot on goal, which is the most important thing.”

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips for saying publicly that he had returned from the Qatar World Cup overweight.

Guardiola made the comment in a press conference in December 2022 having left the City and England midfielder out of a Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool.

Phillips, who joined West Ham on loan in January, earlier this month told the Observer that “after the World Cup was probably the toughest, when Pep came out and said I was overweight”, adding: “I did not disagree with him but obviously I took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City.”

Guardiola was asked at a press conference on Monday if he regretted going public about Phillips’ weight, and he said: “Yeah, I’m sorry.

“Once in eight years is not bad. But I’m so sorry. I apologise to him. I do apologise. I’m sorry.”

Phillips said there had been a misunderstanding as to when he was expected to report back and that rather than speaking to Guardiola about that, he “just took it on the chin”.

Guardiola emphasised that he had spoken to Phillips before making the public comment about his weight, saying: “I never, never before I said something here did not speak with the players in that case.”

The manager was talking ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League home clash with Brentford, who City came from behind to beat 3-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium on February 5.

That match saw City defender Kyle Walker respond angrily to something Neal Maupay, the forward on loan with the Bees from Everton, had said to him in the closing stages.

Guardiola said: “I don’t want it but sometimes there is emotions and it happens, and you know that. But this (incident) is forgotten. It happened, I think they talked and that’s all.”

Asked how he dealt with players verbally winding him up during his days on the pitch, the former Barcelona midfielder said: “It depended on my mood!

“Listen, in my period in Barcelona I am in the history for having the record of the most yellow cards conceded. All the time it was for talk, talk, talk.

“So it depends, sometimes I controlled (myself), sometimes (I was) being crazy. People say ‘ah, he cannot control’. As a football player I was the same.”

Tuesday’s fixture is a game in hand for third-placed City over leaders Liverpool and second-placed Arsenal, who the defending champions are four and two points behind respectively.

Guardiola’s treble-winners saw an 11-match winning run in all competitions come to an end with Saturday’s 1-1 league draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium.

New Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner watched from the stand as substitute Amadou Onana grabbed Everton a crucial late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.

Jordan Ayew’s 66th-minute goal was greeted with a beaming smile from the former Eintracht Frankfurt coach, who was sandwiched between Eagles chairman Steve Parish and ex-striker Mark Bright in the directors’ box.

The 2022 Europa League winner had no input into the game, having only been announced as Roy Hodgson’s successor less than three hours’ before kick-off, but the change looked to have had the desired effect.

However, Onana came off the bench to nod home from an 84th-minute corner to snatch the point which lifted the Toffees out of the bottom three.

Defeat would have been calamitous for Sean Dyche’s side but the draw at least ensured Palace, with just two league wins in their last 14 matches, were denied a victory which would have pulled them eight points clear of the relegation zone.

Glasner said he was looking forward to working with a talented squad and this display, without the stardust provided by the injured duo of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, will have given him some encouragement.

Assistant managers Paddy McCarthy and Ray Lewington took charge for the game after Hodgson, who was hospitalised after falling ill at training on Thursday, confirmed his decision to step down earlier in the day.

Their futures have yet to be decided as no announcement has been made on Glasner’s backroom staff but if this was their last involvement they at least did their former boss proud with an organised performance after days of uncertainty.

Everton will feel this was a missed opportunity but they were far from their best and the returning Abdoulaye Doucoure, making only his second appearance in 12 matches after injury, looked rusty – none more so than when he somehow failed to convert from six yards.

But in terms of missed opportunities, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, in particular, was culpable with headers in either half which he would have buried at the height of his powers but a lack of confidence saw his goalless run stretch to 19 games.

A nondescript first half ended with the home side being booed off after failing to register a shot on target, with Doucoure’s volley wide and Calvert-Lewin’s header from Dwight McNeil’s cross off target.

The visitors’ Odsonne Edouard had shot straight at Jordan Pickford and Jean-Philippe Mateta’s header was cleared off the line by Ashley Young.

Things improved slightly after the break and it required Pickford to charge down a Tyrick Mitchell effort with his chest and opposite number Sam Johnstone to parry James Tarkowski’s goalbound header.

The mess Doucoure made of trying to divert Idrissa Gana Gueye’s miscued drive from the loose ball suggested it was not to be Everton’s night.

And that seemed to be the case when Mateta held off Jarrad Branthwaite to tee up Ayew to strike an angled drive past Pickford for only his third goal of the season.

Another Calvert-Lewin header went wide and James Garner’s shot was parried before Onana rose above Johnstone to head home McNeil’s corner, but Everton’s winless run was extended to eight league matches and they remain in trouble pending the imminent outcome of their appeal against a 10-point deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules.

New Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner watched from the stand as substitute Amadou Onana grabbed Everton a crucial late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.

Jordan Ayew’s 66th-minute goal was greeted with a beaming smile from the former Eintracht Frankfurt coach, who was sandwiched between Eagles chairman Steve Parish and ex-striker Mark Bright in the directors’ box.

The 2022 Europa League winner had no input into the game, having only been announced as Roy Hodgson’s successor less than three hours’ before kick-off, but the change looked to have had the desired effect.

However, Onana came off the bench to nod home from an 84th-minute corner to snatch the point which lifted the Toffees out of the bottom three.

Defeat would have been calamitous for Sean Dyche’s side but the draw at least ensured Palace, with just two league wins in their last 14 matches, were denied a victory which would have pulled them eight points clear of the relegation zone.

Glasner said he was looking forward to working with a talented squad and this display, without the stardust provided by the injured duo of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, will have given him some encouragement.

Assistant managers Paddy McCarthy and Ray Lewington took charge for the game after Hodgson, who was hospitalised after falling ill at training on Thursday, confirmed his decision to step down earlier in the day.

Their futures have yet to be decided as no announcement has been made on Glasner’s backroom staff but if this was their last involvement they at least did their former boss proud with an organised performance after days of uncertainty.

Everton will feel this was a missed opportunity but they were far from their best and the returning Abdoulaye Doucoure, making only his second appearance in 12 matches after injury, looked rusty – none more so than when he somehow failed to convert from six yards.

But in terms of missed opportunities, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, in particular, was culpable with headers in either half which he would have buried at the height of his powers but a lack of confidence saw his goalless run stretch to 19 games.

A nondescript first half ended with the home side being booed off after failing to register a shot on target, with Doucoure’s volley wide and Calvert-Lewin’s header from Dwight McNeil’s cross off target.

The visitors’ Odsonne Edouard had shot straight at Jordan Pickford and Jean-Philippe Mateta’s header was cleared off the line by Ashley Young.

Things improved slightly after the break and it required Pickford to charge down a Tyrick Mitchell effort with his chest and opposite number Sam Johnstone to parry James Tarkowski’s goalbound header.

The mess Doucoure made of trying to divert Idrissa Gana Gueye’s miscued drive from the loose ball suggested it was not to be Everton’s night.

And that seemed to be the case when Mateta held off Jarrad Branthwaite to tee up Ayew to strike an angled drive past Pickford for only his third goal of the season.

Another Calvert-Lewin header went wide and James Garner’s shot was parried before Onana rose above Johnstone to head home McNeil’s corner, but Everton’s winless run was extended to eight league matches and they remain in trouble pending the imminent outcome of their appeal against a 10-point deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules.