Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is “optimistic” his side’s charge for European football next season will prove successful.

Villa’s 2-1 win against Tottenham last week lifted them level with the Londoners, who sit seventh in the Europa Conference League play-off place, and to within a point of Brighton, who occupy the last Europa League spot.

Emery, whose side play at Liverpool on Saturday, told a press conference: “After the match against Tottenham, I am optimistic. It’s not in our hands, but we are going to play and try to win.”

Villa responded to recent back-to-back league defeats with victory against struggling Tottenham, their 14th top-flight win in 23 games since Emery took charge last October.

That run has seen the former Arsenal boss nominated for Premier League manager of the season.

Two games remain for Emery’s side – they are at home to Brighton on the final day – and their transformation under the Spaniard has brought a possible top-seven finish into sharp focus.

“I love Europe,” Emery said: “I really want to play Europe because after 15 years, spending a lot of time playing amazing matches, amazing performances and amazing matches, I am here to try and do the same with Aston Villa.”

The 51-year-old is the Europa League’s most successful manager, winning the competition three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal, while he was a runner-up with Arsenal when they lost to Chelsea in the 2019 final.

“My focus, my passion, is to play here feeling strong emotions together, firstly in the Premier League, secondly trying to be close to trophies and then playing in Europe,” Emery said.

“That is my motivation every day. It’s the reason we have to be focused and, involving the people around us, thinking about football and the possibilities in our life.”

Emery revealed midfielder Philippe Coutinho will play no part in Villa’s last two games after sustaining an unspecified injury in training before the Tottenham match.

Emery added: “I talked with him this week. He’s a little bit unlucky with his month because I didn’t see him play matches like I want.

“But, of course, with the injuries coming, we have to be patient as well, now we are going to wait for his recovery.

“This year, he’s not going to play again until the end of this season because we are finishing in two weeks.”

Defender Calum Chambers missed training on Thursday due to illness, but is expected to be included in the squad for the trip to Anfield.

Lucas Moura will leave Tottenham at the end of the season.

The Brazilian forward has struggled for fitness and form this campaign with no goals in his 17 appearances.

Moura missed a large chunk of the first half of the campaign with a tendon injury and since his return after the World Cup has been involved in several difficult moments for Spurs, being sent off in a 1-1 draw at Everton before his error resulted in Liverpool scoring a stoppage-time winner last month.

Arguably his best moment in a Spurs shirt was when he netted a hat-trick in 2019 at Ajax that sent Tottenham through to a first Champions League final in the most dramatic fashion.

Spurs have now confirmed this term will be Moura’s last and he will get the chance to bid farewell to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium faithful in Saturday’s home match with Brentford.

“Wherever I am, my heart will always be here. You are my club,” Moura said on Tottenham’s official Twitter feed.

“It has been the greatest honour to defend this badge. Every flick, every tackle, every leap, every goal.

“From the highest of highs to the lowest lows, from the beginning to the end, you sung my name. This has been my dream.

“This will always be my home. Some nights we will never forget, writing history together. I will always love you no matter where I go. We will meet again.”

Moura has scored 38 goals in 219 appearances since he moved to Tottenham in the winter transfer window of 2018.

“We would like to thank Lucas for his tremendous service to our club and wish him the very best for the future,” an official club statement read.

“We shall provide a further update on our wider released and retained player list following the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign.”

Cuban Thunder looks another Royal Ascot-bound juvenile for Amo Racing having won the Frank Whittle Partnership EBFstallions.com Maiden Stakes at York.

The Profitable colt was second on his debut at the Craven meeting to James Tate’s Blue Storm and the third, Hugo Palmer’s Hackman, came out and won well at Chester.

Sent off a heavily backed 5-4 favourite, Dominic Ffrench Davis’ youngster had to battle hard to gain the upper hand but eventually saw off a pair of newcomers in Charlie Appleby’s Impressive Act and Kevin Ryan’s We Never Stop by two lengths and a head.

The winner earned a 25-1 quote for the Coventry Stakes with Paddy Power, a race for which Kevin Stott looks likely to have the choice of a few.

Ffrench Davis said: “He ran a blinder at Newmarket and he’s such a laid back individual he was half-asleep that day.

“Today he was very different and I did think York might do that to him as they have to walk over the track and can get a little bit on their toes. I knew he’d cope with it, but he got a little bit warm.

“He was very professional in the race. Halfway through he switched off and Kevin wondered how well he was going, but he asked him to quicken and he was straight back on the bridle.

“He’ll get seven furlongs and he’s a lovely horse going forward. The team will have to decide about Royal Ascot, but he’d have to be in mind for the Coventry if there was bit of juice in the ground.”

Croupier (7-1) will head for the Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot after putting a disappointing effort in the Lincoln well behind him when clinging on to win the Sky Bet Hambleton Handicap.

Simon and Ed Crisford’s four-year-old had got bogged down at Doncaster but was much more at home on ground which was quickening up all the time.

William Buick arrived on the inside travelling well at the two-furlong marker but was all out in the end to hold off Point Lynas and Thirsk Hunt Cup winner Northern Express by a head and a nose.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained favourite Assessment burst through the stalls and had to be withdrawn.

Ed Crisford said: “It’s nice to see him bounce back as we ran him in the Lincoln on terrible ground. We probably shouldn’t have done that, but he’s bounced back today in good style.

“He’s a lovely horse. They went quite hard up front and William sat just off the pace and I thought he rode a very nice race.

“He travelled into it so well. I thought they were coming after him, but he kept finding more.

“We can head to the Hunt Cup now – that’s the plan. It should be a good race for him as a strong pace and a big field should suit.”

The Crisfords doubled up when 3-1 favourite Chesspiece won the Collective Green Energy Handicap under Ryan Moore.

“He did it very well. It was just the third race of his life and we always felt he wanted a step up in trip,” said Ed Crisford.

“We were a little worried about the ground but he went on a fine and he’s got a big future. I’d say the Queen’s Vase would be the plan as an extra two furlongs would suit him well.”

Regional continued trainer Ed Bethell’s excellent run of form with victory in the Lindum York Handicap.

The Middleham-based trainer had enjoyed winners at Nottingham, Haydock and Leicester in the past seven days and Regional was a 5-1 shot to add to his tally on his seasonal reappearance.

Ridden by Callum Rodriguez, the five-year-old was in front racing inside the final furlong and had enough up his sleeve to repel the slow starting but fast finishing Korker by half a length.

Bethell said: “It wasn’t the plan to make the running, but he’s a decent horse and always has been ever since we’ve had him.

“He came third in the Stewards’ Cup and has been unlucky in other handicaps. I’m just delighted for the guys that own him and he’s a fun horse for the summer.

“He ran off 100 in the Stewards’ Cup, I think that’s his mark in handicaps and I would think he will go to 104 or 105 after today. That makes life difficult, but there is the City Walls back here (a Listed race in August) and he’s shown me he’s electric today, which is something I didn’t think he was.

“I thought he would miss the break and finish, but he’s not missed the break, he’s made the running and shown me that he’s quick enough and talented enough to do it.”

Rory McIlroy was unable to hide his frustration after making a slow start to the 105th US PGA Championship.

Following a delay of almost two hours due to overnight frost, Oak Hill member McIlroy failed to register a birdie as he covered his opening nine holes in three over par.

Starting from the 10th, McIlroy began his bid for a first major title since the 2014 US PGA with five straight pars before badly mishitting his tee shot on the par-three 15th to find a bunker 30 yards short of the pin.

McIlroy hit a good bunker shot to nine feet but was unable to convert the par putt and also failed to get up and down from sand on the 17th, before taking a swipe at the tee marker on the 18th following another errant drive.

A third bogey of the day dropped McIlroy six shots off the early lead shared by 2011 US PGA champion Keegan Bradley, Sahith Theegala and Japan’s Kazuki Higa, who had earlier carded four birdies in a row from the 11th.

Play had been scheduled to get under way at 7am local time (1200 BST), but predictions of cold conditions overnight were accurate.

Tournament organisers released a statement early on Thursday morning which read: “Due to frost, all Oak Hill Country Club practice facilities and the golf course are currently closed.

“To protect playing surfaces, everyone on-site must stay off any grass and gates will not open until the frost clears.”

With the temperature slowly rising, officials announced the first group would tee off at 0850 from the first and five minutes later from the 10th, a total delay of one hour and 50 minutes.

The possibility of weather delays had been on the cards since the US PGA was moved from August to May in 2019, with Oak Hill having already been selected as this year’s venue.

Speaking on Tuesday, the PGA of America’s chief championships officer Kerry Haigh said: “Wherever the championship is (in May) appears as though it will bring some more variety to the weather than we’re used to having when we played in August.

“There is the possibility of a frost again on Thursday morning. We had a frost Tuesday morning. We had a couple of frosts last week. That may delay the start. Hopefully it won’t. But if it does, we’ll adapt.

“We’ve got the chance of rain on Saturday and hopefully clear on Sunday. That’s sort of the fun of golf. It’s an outdoor game and we can’t wait to see what Mother Nature brings as well.”

Iga Swiatek is optimistic of being fit to defend her title at the French Open.

On the day her fellow champion Rafael Nadal announced he would not be in Paris this year, Swiatek gave a more upbeat assessment of her own prospects after withdrawing during her Italian Open quarter-final.

The Pole sustained a right thigh problem during her clash with Elena Rybakina and called it a day at 2-2 in the deciding set in Rome.

Writing on Twitter on Thursday, Swiatek said: “Quick update. A couple of days off for sure. And booking my flight to Paris, so… fingers crossed, please! Hopefully, see you soon.”

The world number one was on a 14-match winning streak in Rome having won the title the previous two years.

Fitness permitting, she will still go into the French Open as the title favourite but her lead over the rest of the women’s field has narrowed, with Aryna Sabalenka and Rybakina both ahead of her in the 2023 standings.

Sabalenka, who beat Swiatek to win the Madrid Open earlier this month, has never been beyond the third round in Paris but winning the title could see her overtake her rival to become world number one.

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has signed a new contract with the club.

The England international has established himself as a key figure at the Emirates since he joined from Sheffield United in 2021.

Ramsdale’s previous terms were due to expire in 2025 and this new deal is set to run until 2026 with Arsenal holding the option to extend it by a further year, the PA news agency understands.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: “We’re all so happy that Aaron has signed a new contract.

“The way Aaron has developed over the past two years has been exceptional, with his performances, contribution and overall adaptation to the club.

“It’s great that we’re continuing to build our future with our biggest talents in our young squad. We’re all looking forward to enjoying many more years of Aaron the player and the person at the football club.”

Ramsdale has made 39 appearances for Arsenal this season and kept 15 clean sheets in all competitions.

Sporting Director Edu added: “It’s great that we’ve agreed and completed a new contract with Aaron.

“We have enjoyed so many positive moments from Aaron’s performances in his two years with us and are looking forward to many more.

“We must also remember that Aaron is still very young, so there is still a lot more to come from him, as we continue to build with our young foundations.”

Jurgen Klopp’s poor disciplinary record and his failure to heed previous conduct warnings were aggravating factors which led to the Liverpool manager receiving a two-match touchline ban for implying bias by referee Paul Tierney.

Klopp was fined £75,000 and will not be in the technical area for their final Premier League home game of the campaign against Aston Villa on Saturday but the second match of his punishment has been suspended until the end of next season.

The German admitted a charge of improper conduct in that his comments about Tierney implied bias, questioned the integrity of the referee and brought the game into disrepute.

Klopp, who was booked for celebrating in the face of fourth official John Brooks after Diogo Jota’s added-time goal in the 4-3 win over Tottenham last month, suggested in post-match interviews what Tierney had said to him in issuing the caution was “not OK” and went on to add “we have our story, history, with Mr Tierney. I really don’t know what this man has with us”.

The independent disciplinary commission, in its written reasons, said the Professional Game Match Officials Limited viewed Klopp’s comments as an “unwarranted attack on Mr Tierney’s integrity” and so immediately issued a statement in defence of the official.

Klopp later apologised, clarifying his words and denying he had questioned Tierney’s integrity and while that, and his letter to the commission, were deemed “considerable mitigation” it was his history which counted against him.

“Mr Klopp has a poor record for disciplinary offences, having appeared before commissions on three occasions in the past five years,” said the commission in its written reasons.

“In November 2022 in an appeal in which two members of the present commission sat, Mr Klopp received a touchline ban, a fine and a warning.

“Those sanctions plainly failed to deter Mr Klopp from committing nine similar breaches of the rules. Mr Klopp is a high-profile individual in the football world. He must have known that what he said would attract widespread publicity.

“He should have realised that it was incumbent on him to restrain himself and to behave properly.

“The statements that Mr Klopp made/adopted were not limited to comments on the immediate match, but extended to allegations of persistent bias against a blameless referee.

“The intense media interest that followed Mr Klopp’s remarks was highly damaging.”

Klopp created a problem for himself when he charged down the touchline following Jota’s goal after Tottenham’s 90th-minute equaliser had cancelled out Liverpool’s earlier 3-0 lead.

From evidence obtained from the officials’ audio, Brooks told Tierney “Jurgen Klopp has just run and celebrated in my face. I think it’s a yellow card mate, minimum”.

VAR backed up Brooks’ opinion and in booking Klopp, Tierney said: “I have to show you yellow… it could be red, but I am going to show you yellow. We will give you the benefit of the doubt, don’t do anything more.”

Those were the comments Klopp deemed “not OK” but it was not his behaviour on the pitch which produced the disciplinary charge but the aspersions he cast at Tierney, which he subsequently withdrew in a press conference a couple of days later and in a letter of apology to the commission.

Liverpool, in their own letter, stressed Klopp may have misunderstood Tierney and “they do not believe that Mr Tierney purposely gives decisions against LFC and that any suggestion that Mr Tierney was biased or not wholly impartial was totally unintended.

“Mr Klopp did not wish to suggest that Mr Tierney was dishonest, just that there were a long list of key decisions which he felt aggrieved by that have involved Mr Tierney.

“Both LFC and Jurgen Klopp regret that his comments have become a story in themselves and that there has been any question mark cast over Mr Tierney’s impartiality – that was not intended.”

Klopp spelled out his regret in his own letter, saying: “Although it was not my intention I accept now it appears that I was questioning Mr Tierney’s integrity. I take ownership of this. On reflection, the words I used were inappropriate.

“To be absolutely clear, I know that Mr Tierney, along with all other officials, do their work without any pre-conceived bias or prejudice.

“Although not an excuse, I believe we have made up a high percentage of Mr Tierney’s matches this season? Something in the region of 20 per cent of the matches he has officiated have involved my team.

“I do not offer this as a defence, rather it is an observation and could be a reason for both the build-up of frustration governed by an inadvertent accumulation of incidents over an extended period.”

Great State completed a hat-trick in fine style under Oisin Murphy to lift the laurels in the Listed British EBF 40th Anniversary Westow Stakes at York.

Michaela’s Boy set a furious clip under Freddie Larson, having broke smartly from the stalls in the five-furlong contest.

He was still in front with a furlong to race and despite drifting right, he stuck on well but had no answer to the Richard Fahey-trained winner (13-2), who picked up smartly on the stands rail.

The three-year-old grey, who had won at Southwell and Thirsk on his previous two starts, powered home to score by two and a half lengths from Pillow Talk, who pipped the long-time leader for third.

Fahey said: “We had a long discussion whether we kept this horse back for the sprint at Ascot (the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes) because we do like the horse and it’s not very often you have a horse rated in the 90s that you think is well handicapped.

“He won’t be well handicapped any longer, but I’m delighted for Sheikh Sultan.

“He’s a real dude, very laid back and easy to deal with, he’s a pleasure to train and I’m delighted to have him.

“I was a little bit worried because he’d been running on the all-weather and won on very soft ground last time and it was quick ground today, so I had the excuse ready if he did get beat.

“He’s a talented horse, I’ll talk to Sheikh Sultan and decide where to go.”

Murphy was on board due to a suspension being served by Fahey’s stable jockey, Oisin Orr.

“Oisin Orr would have usually ridden him but unfortunately he’s suspended today, so I stepped in,” said Murphy.

“He’s a horse that I’m sure everyone at Musley Bank is very excited about. He’s an improver and he’s a lovely horse.

“He probably would enjoy more juice in the ground and he’d stay a little bit further as he was on his head in the middle part of the race, but he got going when they slowed down.

“He’s definitely a horse on the up.”

Germany’s Nico Denz won stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia in Rivoli after outsprinting Latvia’s Toms Skujins to the finish line as Geraint Thomas remained as overall leader.

Denz had too much power for his rival at the end of the mainly flat 185-kilometre stage, which started in Bra, after the pair formed part of a five-man breakaway with 92km to go.

BORA-hansgrohe rider Denz, Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) and Australia’s Sebastian Berwick, who finished third, had pulled clear of the leading group, together with Italy’s Alessandro Tonelli (Green Project Bardiani).

Tonelli fell away with 32km to go but held on to finish fourth, while Giro leader Thomas came home safely in the peloton to maintain his two-second lead over Primoz Roglic in the general classification.

Denz said after his first Grand Tour stage win: “It’s really big for me. I’m super proud. I was not supposed to be in the break. It was up to Patrick Konrad and Bob Jungels.

“But Bob said he wasn’t at his best and he preferred to save energy to help Lennard Kamna (on Friday) so I had to replace him at the front.

“When I looked around me in the breakaway there were only monsters. Cooperation in the breakaway was very bad, then I found myself at the front on the last climb. Then I knew the finale. I had it in my mind. So I could sprint the way I wanted.”

Thomas took the leaders’ pink jersey after the withdrawal of race leader Remco Evenepoel due to a positive Covid-19 test on Sunday.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider made no bid to impact on the breakaway group, which did not include any general classification contenders, and was grateful for the support of his team-mates.

Thomas said: “Obviously Pavel Sivakov rode very well today despite his crash yesterday.

“He’s definitely in a good shape. Hopefully it’s all good tomorrow in Switzerland and I can defend the Maglia Rosa the same way I won the Tour de Suisse before.”

Wasps must begin rebuilding from the bottom of the league pyramid after the Rugby Football Union revoked their licence to play in next season’s Championship.

Hopes that new owners HALO22 Limited could relaunch Wasps in the second tier have been dashed due to their failure to meet an RFU deadline for proving the club could still operate at the required level.

Among the commitments that have not been kept are the provision of evidence that creditors have been paid and the creation of a suitable governance structure.

The RFU has also been told by Wasps that they are unable to recruit staff or players until additional finance has been secured and cannot recommit to playing in the Championship.

Rafael Nadal admitted he is staring at the end of his tennis career after announcing he will miss the French Open and the majority of the season ahead of what he expects to be a farewell tour in 2024.

The 22-time grand-slam champion has not played since his second-round exit at the Australian Open in January.

Nadal struggled with a hip injury during the straight-sets defeat to Mackenzie McDonald and the ongoing issue has failed to recover sufficiently in order for the 36-year-old to chase a 15th title at Roland Garros.

It means the Spaniard, who has only lost three matches on the Parisian clay, will miss the tournament for the first time since 2004 but he admitted during a press conference at his academy in Manacor that it feels the only option.

The 14-time French Open champion now plans to rest for the coming months with the aim to recover so he can play at “important tournaments” in 2024 during what will be his final year on the ATP Tour.

“My goal and my ambition is to try and stop and give myself an opportunity to enjoy the next year that will probably be my last year in the professional tour,” Nadal told reporters.

“That is my idea but I can’t say 100 per cent it will be like this, but my idea and my motivation is to try to enjoy and say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important for me.

“To enjoy being competitive and something that today is not possible. I believe, if I keep going now, I will not be able to make it happen.”

On next week’s French Open, Nadal explained: “First thing, I’m not going to be able to play in Roland Garros.

“I was even working as much as possible every single day for the last four months, they have been very difficult months because we were not able to find a solution to the problems I had in Australia.

“Today I’m still in a position where I am not able to feel myself ready to compete at the standards I need to be to play Roland Garros.

“I am not the guy who will be at Roland Garros just to play.”

Nadal claimed brilliant victories at the Australian Open and French Open last year but was fighting his body, with a chronic foot problem, fractured rib and an abdominal strain that forced him out of Wimbledon keeping him off the court for spells prior to this latest injury.

His withdrawal from the French Open had appeared increasingly inevitable but the news he will also sit out Wimbledon, and almost certainly the US Open as well, is a major blow to the sport, which must now prepare to say goodbye to the Spaniard having seen his great rival Roger Federer bow out last autumn.

Nadal suggested he might try to turn out for Spain at the Davis Cup later this year, while a major target in 2024 will be the Olympic Games in Paris, with the tennis events being played at Roland Garros next summer.

“After a couple of years that in terms of results have been positive because I was able to win a couple of grand slams and important tournaments, the real situation is I was not able to enjoy my diary work,” Nadal said.

“Since after the pandemic, my body was not able to do the practice or diary work in a good way so I was not able to enjoy the practice and competition because too many problems, too many times having to stop for physical conditions and too many days off not practising because of too much pain.

“I need to stop for a while. My position is to stop and I don’t know when I can come back to the practice court.

“I will stop for a while, maybe one month, maybe two months, maybe three months. I am a guy who doesn’t like to predict too much the future. I am following what I believe is the right thing to do for my body and my personal happiness.

“I don’t want to say one thing and do the other. It is better to hold the options open and see what is the best calendar possible.

“I would like to play the things that are important for me and of course the Olympic Games is an important competition and one I hope to play. Will it be my last or not? I cannot say.”

Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who will be the top seed for the French Open, sent his best wishes on Twitter, saying: “Good luck Rafael! Very painful and sad for everyone that you can’t be at Roland Garros or play more this year, but I hope that 2024 will be a great season for you and that you can say goodbye like the great champion you are.”

Alcaraz will now lead the favourites at Roland Garros along with Novak Djokovic, who can claim the outright men’s record for slam singles titles if he wins a 23rd.

Speaking on Amazon Prime Video, former British number one Tim Henman said: “I think the real positive is that he is prepared to give it one last effort, and that’s what Rafa’s always been about, giving 100 per cent to everything he’s doing.

“And fingers crossed he can find that physical wellbeing to be back out on tour. If 2024 is his last year then I really hope that he can enjoy it and I hope we can enjoy it and the fans can enjoy it because he deserves that send-off.”

Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui has challenged his team to finish well in front of a home crowd at Molineux against Everton on Saturday.

Lopetegui has steered the club to Premier League safety with three games to spare after they won four home games in a row without conceding.

And the Wolves boss has called on his side to keep their run going in their final home game of the season.

Lopetegui told a pre-match press conference: “In this part of the season, fortunately we achieved our first aim, our most important aim and a very difficult aim, that is to be out of the relegation battle three matches from the end of the season.

“Of course, we want more, and we have to take the game on Saturday looking at the challenge and a chance for us to finish the season well in front of our fans.

“We want to be able to compete until the rest of the season for the respect of the league and for the rest of the teams. If we were still fighting to get out of the relegation, we would want the same from other teams, so it’s the same demand for ourselves.”

Although Wolves are out of the relegation battle, Saturday’s visitors Everton are still firmly in the mix, sat 17th in the table.

The Toffees gave their chances of survival a boost with a dominant 5-1 victory against Brighton before losing 3-0 to Manchester City at the weekend.

And Lopetegui will not allow Wolves to take things easy this weekend.

He said: “We have worked with good commitment this week, thinking of course Saturday is the last match in front of our fans so of course it’s important for us.

“In the same way we know we have one very good opponent with very good players, a good coach.

“They have had one very clear way in the last two or three months and they showed they have very good players and are a very good team.

“They are fighting, of course, to survive in the Premier League, they have shown the level in the last match against Brighton.

“So we know the kind of match we’re going to have to compete with them because, of course, we are professional, we are fighting and we know that other teams are fighting for different aims in the Premier League and we have to do our best.”

Passenger may yet throw his hat into the Derby ring after running with immense promise in defeat in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes at York.

It was hard to know what the Ulysses colt had achieved in beating a field of fellow newcomers in the Wood Ditton at Newmarket, but it appeared significant connections decided him to supplement him for a Derby trial Sir Michael Stoute had already won on a record seven occasions, with Desert Crown doing the double just last season.

Punters on the Knavesmire ultimately agreed, with Passenger the 9-2 favourite by the time the gates opened. But what followed was a tale of woe for his supporters.

Ridden by Richard Kingscote, the Niarchos family-owned runner appeared to be travelling all over his rivals halfway up the home straight, but he could not find a gap for love nor money.

By the time Passenger did get a run, it was all too late, but there was much to like about the way he stayed on to dead-heat for third with Aidan O’Brien’s Continuous, beaten just a couple of lengths by eventual winner The Foxes.

While brief in his assessment of the performance, Kingscote immediately blamed himself, saying: “It was my fault, I couldn’t get him a run. It’s very frustrating.”

A decision on whether Stoute and the Niarchos family will roll the dice at Epsom on June 3 is made more complicated by the fact Passenger is not entered, meaning the owners will again have to stump up a supplementary fee, with the price for adding him to the Derby set at £85,000.

Paddy Power were impressed enough by his performance to make him an 8-1 shot like The Foxes, though, and connections ultimately have a couple of weeks to mull it over.

Stoute was not on the Knavesmire, but his assistant James Savage said: “It was a bit of a hard-luck story.

“He was in the stalls a long time, he jumped well and did everything brilliantly for a horse having only his second start after running on a straight mile at Newmarket.

“There’s a lot of positives to be taken out of the race. It didn’t happen for Richard up the straight, but that’s just one of those things.”

Interestingly, the only previous horse to be beaten in the Dante and win the Derby was the Stoute-trained Workforce in 2010.

When asked whether Passenger could bid to emulate the subsequent Arc hero, Savage added: “That is going to be a decision for Sir Michael and the Niarchos family. All I can say is that we’ve learnt he’s able to compete at a very high level with the best three-year-olds.

“I’m not so sure experience got him beat because if the gap had come he would have gone through it.

“He’s took a massive step forward from Newmarket to here and we’ll just see how he is.”

Alan Cooper, racing manager for the owners, said: “I’m afraid he didn’t have the clearest of runs, but it was a great improvement from his first start, so let’s get home and see what Sir Michael would like to do.

“He’s shown that he’s a good horse on only his second start. Let’s regroup.

“The family will follow Sir Michael’s advice.”

Splitting The Foxes and the third-placed pair of Passenger and Continuous was John Murphy’s Irish raider White Birch.

Winner of a heavy ground Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown on his seasonal bow, the grey proved he is equally effective on quicker conditions, charging home from the rear to be beaten only a neck.

Another son of Ulysses, White Birch does hold a Derby entry and appears bound for Epsom. He is 20-1 with Coral.

George Murphy, assistant to his father, said: “He ran a super race, quickened up really well and just bumped into one on the day, but we couldn’t be happier with the run.

“I think the horse himself thought he had it won and the winner just came from out of his vision, but we’re delighted.

“He’s a super mover and a big, powerful horse – ground doesn’t seem to bother him.

“We’ll take him home and see how he comes out of it, but I think he’s more entitled to take his chance in the Derby now. If the owners are happy to go there and he comes out of it well, I think he definitely deserves a crack at it.”