Relief Rally will bid to give trainer William Haggas his third success in the Weatherbys Super Sprint when she takes on 20 rivals in the valuable five-furlong dash at Newbury.

Haggas, who struck with Superstar Leo in 2000 and Jargelle eight years later, feels the daughter of Kodiac has plenty going for her – and so do the bookmakers, who make her a warm favourite for the prize which is worth £122,925 to the winner.

Royal Ascot’s Queen Mary has been a good pointer to the Newbury sprint and having finished runner-up to American raider Crimson Advocate, who ended Relief Rally’s unbeaten run and foiled a hat-trick bid, Haggas feels she is the one to beat.

The last nine winners have come from stall 13 or higher and Tom Marquand’s mount is handily placed in stall 18, with Eve Johnson Houghton’s fancied pair Bobsleigh and Juniper Berries berthed in stalls 16 and four respectively.

“She’s a good filly and she’s very well,” said Haggas. “She won’t mind any rain. I don’t know about the draw.

“She is drawn with Bobsleigh and away from Juniper Berries, but there’s not much we can do about that. She has a good chance.”

The weight carried by a horse in the Super Sprint is determined by its sale price and as such, Juniper Berries, who finished fourth, four lengths behind Relief Rally at Ascot, is in receipt of 7lb this time.

Johnson Houghton said: “I was absolutely thrilled with Juniper Berries in the Queen Mary – she ran a blinder – and fourth at Royal Ascot is quite a feather in your cap.

“Relief Rally is obviously the main danger but we have a huge weight turnaround, so I am hoping that will be enough to change the placings.

“Bobsleigh has come out of the Coventry in very good form, I am very happy with him. He ran a storming race (at Ascot, beaten three lengths by River Tiber), which has turned out to be very strong form.

“That (five furlongs) would be my main worry. He has won over five and a half, but he looks like he gets the six furlongs well. They normally go very fast in the Super Sprint, so I am hoping that he we will be picking them up at the end.”

Irish raider Son Of Corballis has won two of his three starts for County Laois handler Kieran Cotter, latterly talking the scalp of the well-regarded Coolmore-owned colt Alabama in a Listed sprint at Tipperary.

Though he won on yielding ground on debut, Cotter is hoping the unsettled weather forecast is wrong.

He said: “We actually would want quickish good ground. He won on quick ground twice and I’m hoping it doesn’t rain to be honest.

“The way I look at it, if Alabama was in the race, he’d be hot favourite after previously running well at Ascot (fifth in the Windsor Castle) on the wrong side of the track. We’ve beat him twice this year with two different horses. He’s a fair horse.

“Before he won, he’d been working really well and we really fancied him. But since then, he’s been really laid back in his work, he just couldn’t be bothered.

“He has gone very relaxed altogether. So, when we were going for the Listed sprint, we thought cheekpieces would be needed, as these sprints are won by short heads.

“He is one of these horses who just pulls it out on the day, which is good, as we’ve had too many horses who will fly up the gallops and then you go to the track and they let you down a bit.

“He’s drawn 13 and that was our one big worry. The lads were saying if he was drawn one or two, you might just turn round the box.

“If you’d have given me the 13 stall yesterday I would have taken it. He’ll jump and go and we’ll see how far he gets.”

Roger Teal was also delighted with the 20 berth that Ffos Las debut winner Rosario has been accorded.

A son of Harry Angel, he had the reopposing Heed The Call and Relentless Warrior behind when scoring by a length and a quarter under George Rooke, who retains the ride.

Teal said: “He did it nicely on his first day at school. It all went very nicely and hopefully he will have improved for that, so fingers crossed.

“He is owned by my wife and we think a bit of him. He’s got a good draw, but the only worry would be the rain that is supposed to come on Saturday.”

He went on: “That could just mess us up a bit – he’s quite a good-moving horse and he wouldn’t want the ground too soft.

“Other than that, he’s pretty straightforward and he did the job nicely, so we’re looking forward to it.

“I’ve had bad draws all year, so it’s about time we got a good one. I don’t know what I’ve done right – they must have got my name mixed up in the computer somewhere!”

Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi hopes to brush off fitness issues and enjoy a homecoming appearance against Gamba Osaka on Saturday.

Scotland’s player of the year was restricted to a substitute appearance in Wednesday’s 6-4 defeat to Yokohama F Marinos after being troubled by a shoulder injury.

Quoted on Celtic’s official website, Furuhashi said: “Gamba Osaka is a very great team with so many good players and they have played well in the last few games in the league.

“We both have the same attacking football philosophy, so I hope it will be a great game and we can entertain the fans who are coming to watch.

‘Personally, I want to have a presence in the game if I have a chance to play.

“I went to high school in Osaka and played against Gamba Osaka many times when I was with Vissel Kobe.

“So I want to enjoy this opportunity and have a good game against them.

“Obviously we want to win because it is a game, but at the same time we want to play great football and we want to entertain our fans.”

Furuhashi, who recently signed a new four-year deal, added: “There are lots of people here who believe in me and love me and need me.

“I was very happy when I was offered a contract extension and I want to continue to repay the favour with results.”

The mayors of Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire have pleaded with the England and Wales Cricket Board to reconsider its northern snub for the 2027 men’s Ashes.

England captain Ben Stokes admitted earlier this week he was “devastated” by the allocation for the five-Test series in four years’ time, with both Headingley and Emirates Old Trafford missing out.

It means that the most northerly of the grounds will be Trent Bridge, which has not staged a men’s Ashes Test since 2015, while Edgbaston, Lord’s, the Kia Oval and the Ageas Bowl are also host venues.

An uneven geographical split has been labelled “disappointing” and “remarkable” by Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham and West Yorkshire’s Tracy Brabin in an open letter to ECB chair Richard Thompson.

“We are writing to express our disappointment at the English Cricket Board’s announcement of match venues for the Men’s Ashes in 2027,” wrote the mayors.

“Headingley and Old Trafford are two of England’s most iconic cricket grounds, and home to historic Ashes moments from Ian Botham’s heroics in 1981 to Ben Stokes’ own ‘Miracle of Headingley’ in 2019.

“Very few grounds attract support as passionate or indeed as diverse as Headingley and Old Trafford – as a number of England players themselves have acknowledged in recent days.

“It feels even more remarkable therefore that an area so passionate about cricket, with a population of over 15 million people, misses out on a Men’s Ashes Test in 2027 while the South hosts three.”

This last point has drawn scrutiny, with traditional London venues Lord’s and the Kia Oval joined by the Ageas Bowl, which will stage its first men’s Ashes Test in 2027.

Headingley will play host to the women’s Ashes Test in four years’ time while the Yorkshire ground and Old Trafford both return to the men’s programme for the 2031 series between the old rivals.

“It does not feel right at a time when cricket needs to do more to spread interest in the game around the country that London consistently hosts three Tests every summer,” Burnham and Brabin added.

“Next year for example, Lord’s hosts one third of England’s Men’s Tests whilst Headingley doesn’t get any.

“The rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire within cricket is legendary, but this is an issue that unites both sides of the Pennines.

“We urge you to think again and ensure people in the North of England get the opportunity to witness more iconic Ashes moments in 2027.”

Peter Bowen’s Francky Du Berlais will bid for a third successive victory in the Unibet Summer Plate Handicap Chase at Market Rasen on Saturday.

The 10-year-old has landed the contest for the past two years, prevailing by seven and a half lengths in 2021 and by a neck in 2022.

His successes have continued Bowen’s exceptional record in the race, a contest he has won eight times since its inception in 1995.

Francky Du Berlais became the first horse to land the valuable chase twice when triumphant last year and he returns to Lincolnshire in good form as he goes for the hat-trick.

“He’s had his prep run and everything’s gone fine, everything’s ready for him now,” Bowen said.

“He’s won it twice and whether he can do it a third time, I don’t know, but he’s in great form anyway.”

When asked if the Summer Plate is a specific target for the yard, the trainer said: “Not particularly, but it just seems to happen for us in this race. It’s about seven hours from here but he’s made it worth it.”

Francky Du Berlais will not make the journey from Pembrokeshire alone as Bowen also has Courtland in the Summer Plate.

The eight-year-old has won his past three starts, including a course-and-distance victory by five and a half lengths last time out.

“Sean (Bowen, son) rides him (Francky Du Berlais) and Gavin Sheehan will ride Courtland, he’s in good form and he’s up and coming so he could be well in.”

Success in the race would be another win to add to Sean Bowen’s impressive tally so far this season, with the trainer’s son the current favourite be crowned champion jockey at the conclusion of the term.

Bowen snr said: “He’s had a brilliant start. As long as he can stay injury-free and have a bit of luck, he should stand a good chance.”

Elsewhere in the Summer Plate is Jonjo O’Neill’s La Domaniale and Sarah Humphrey’s Gloire D’athon, with Emma Lavelle saddling two entrants in both Killer Clown and Hang In There.

Gavin Cromwell also brings a pair of runners over from Ireland in Railway Hurricane and Broken Ice, while Laura Morgan is also double handed with And The New and Tardree.

Sergio Perez’s torrid run of form continued at the Hungarian Grand Prix after he crashed out of a rain-hit opening practice.

George Russell led the way in the wet conditions for Mercedes at the Hungaroring, 0.359 seconds clear of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll third and Lando Norris fourth.

Only 13 of the 20-strong field posted a competitive lap, with championship leader Max Verstappen and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton not risking the possibility of damage.

The first one-hour running of the weekend was still dry, and barely a few minutes old, when Perez lost control of his Red Bull and ended up in the wall.

The Mexican put two wheels on the grass under braking for the fifth corner, sending him into a pirouette and into the tyre barrier.

Perez was unharmed in the accident but he sustained significant damage to the front of his machine.

Perez is under increasing pressure at Red Bull following five consecutive qualifying sessions in which he has failed to make it into Q3. On each of those occasions, Verstappen has scored pole position in the other Red Bull.

Indeed, Verstappen, who has won eight of the opening 10 rounds and six in succession, has already moved 99 points clear of his struggling team-mate.

Daniel Ricciardo’s comeback at Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri is also likely to be playing on Perez’s mind, with the Australian admitting he is daring to dream about the possibility of a return to the grid’s all-conquering team.

For now, Ricciardo has a dozen races to prove his credentials. However, the eight-time grand prix winner was among those who elected not to set a timed lap on Friday.

The red flags were deployed to deal with Perez’s stricken car and then the rain arrived. The slippery conditions caught out Carlos Sainz after he lost control of his Ferrari on the exit of turn three.

The Spaniard spun across the track and grazed the wall on the opposite side of the circuit before becoming stuck in the grass.

A second red flag was required as marshals assisted in helping Sainz return to the pits with front-wing damage on his scarlet machine.

Friday’s concluding session takes place at 5pm local time (4pm BST).

Harry Brook and Ben Stokes made half-centuries as England advanced their lead to 189 on the third morning of the fourth Ashes Test.

Starting 67 in front after the thrills and spills of Zak Crawley’s dashing century, the hosts continued to stretch their advantage at Emirates Old Trafford.

Captain Stokes reached 51 before being bowled off the inside edge by opposite number Pat Cummins, with Brook making 61 before a mis-hit hook off Josh Hazlewood picked out fine-leg.

At the lunch break they had moved to 506 for eight, with 122 runs and four wickets in two hours of rapid-fire entertainment.

Resuming on 384 for four, England began positively with 38 runs from the first six overs. Stokes and Brook had both played carefully on the second evening but showed early intent.

Stokes was swinging from the hip almost immediately, missing his first couple of attempts before nailing a couple of unforgiving blows through mid-wicket.

Brook came to life in Mitchell Starc’s sixth over, lacing a pair of cover drives then staying on the back foot to guide a third boundary to wide of gully.

Australia’s best chance of parting the pair looked to be a run out, with half-chances opening up as they looked to snatch every available scoring option.

Stokes laid another blow on Hazlewood as he reached a third fifty of the series in 72 balls but did not get the chance to stick around, playing Cummins into his stumps as he continued to attack.

Brook followed his skipper to a half-century, chasing ones and twos as Australia finally found a way to dry up the fours, but came unstuck when the tourists took the new ball.

It was the first time in the series they have done so and the move paid off when Brook top-edged a Hazlewood bouncer to Starc as he marshalled the ropes at fine-leg.

Jonny Bairstow ensured England had enough in the tank to breach the 500-mark, racing to 41no in just 31 balls including 15 off his last five balls of the session.

But Hazlewood was whittling away at the other end, Chris Woakes caught behind for a duck and Mark Wood cleaned up off the last ball of the session.

Evgeniy Zukin says the only way to ensure tennis' future in Ukraine is by stopping the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia, with Belarus' assistance, invaded Ukraine in February 2022. 

The war still rages on, but in sport, Ukrainian athletes are carrying on, with Elina Svitolina becoming something of a figurehead with an exceptional run to the semi-finals at Wimbledon this month.

Zukin, the chief of the Ukraine Tennis Federation (UTF), is proud of the achievements of his compatriots, but warned that the "golden age" of Ukrainian tennis could ultimately lead to nothing down the line.

"This is the hard work of all the players themselves and the federation, the clubs, who put in those efforts in the last 10 years – the results are following just now," he told Stats Perform.

"We are truly happy, so many players in the top 50 and the way they play is inspirational and they have chances of beating the top players all the time. It's great.

"But could you imagine if this moment had come in a peaceful situation, in a good economical situation, because our main focus as the federation in the peaceful times was to promote our sports so that the parent would decide which sport their child would take up.

"They might go to tennis because it has tradition, good results, good coaches, so that’s why we need results on top, to grow the mass participation, to involve more people at grassroots. From those grassroots, there’d be more players, and from there more talents who become professionals if they work hard enough.

"Unfortunately now this is not the case and the problem is not many will be able to afford tennis for quite a big period of time.

"This is a golden age for [Ukrainian] women's tennis, for sure, but I'm really worried what's going to be there when this generation stops playing, and for the next generation."

Zukin says there is little the sporting community can do. Instead, the onus must be on the war coming to an end.

"We need to stop the war. This is the most important thing," he said.

"We cannot do anything in tennis when there are bombings in Kyiv, not even at the frontline, even in western Ukraine. We need to stop the war.

"Tennis is dependent on the economic situation of normal people, who can invest in their child until at least 13, 14, when we can understand if the kid can be a professional.

"Then we could support them, find an investor or a club. Those first five, six, seven years, it's the parents who are taking on most of the expenses.

"We need to stop the war, get back our normal economy and get it even better, with all the infrastructure that we lost already – it's not going to be easy, this is what we see as the biggest challenge, the economic resurrection.

"It's not about how many [tennis] courts were destroyed, the parents need to invest in their kids and be able to do this."

American golfer Billy Horschel intervened to help remove protesters who invaded the 17th green at Royal Liverpool on the second day of the Open Championship.

The 36-year-old escorted a woman wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt covered in orange paint off the green of the Hoylake links and into the custody of a police officer.

Both her and two other people wearing similar T-shirts were handcuffed and marched off the course by several police officers.

Just Stop Oil confirmed three people in total were involved in the protest.

“At around 12.20pm three Just Stop Oil supporters ran onto hole 17 at The Open in Royal Liverpool,” said a statement given to the PA news agency.

“They set off a smoke flare and threw orange powder paint on the green before being removed by security.”

Greenkeeping staff were dispatched to the hole and removed the powdered paint with leaf-blowers.

The environmental group have targeted a number of high-profile sporting events this summer, including the second Ashes Test at Lords – where England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow physically manhandled one pitch invader to the boundary – and Wimbledon, where three people ran onto the court throwing orange paper and jigsaw pieces.

Open organisers were prepared for a protest and stressed they had put in extra security precautions.

They did advise players not to engage with anyone who entered the course but Horschel decided against that.

This week the R&A revealed they had received a credible threat regarding Just Stop Oil protesters targeting last year’s Open at St Andrews but any action failed to materialise after security was stepped up.

It is understood police have now deployed one officer to each green on the course.

The R&A and Merseyside Police have been contacted for comment. Horschel declined to speak after his round.

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou admits he is “not relaxed” by the uncertainty over the future of Harry Kane and wants the issue sorted as soon as possible.

England captain Kane has emerged as a prime transfer target for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich this summer.

The 29-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season but, while Bayern continue to push to secure his services and have reportedly lodged two bids for the forward, Spurs’ stance remains the same, they have no intention of selling Kane.

Tottenham’s record goalscorer has also been offered a new contract that is a significant increase on his current £200,000-a-week terms, the PA news agency understands, although reports claim
Kane will not sign a fresh deal this summer.

Postecoglou, who was appointed as new Spurs boss ahead of the new campaign, conceded the situation is not a welcome one. He told reporters, via football.london: “Fair to say I am not relaxed about it!

“It’s not something you go: ‘Ah, well, you know if it does or doesn’t happen!’ I mean it’s a very important part of this football club, not just the team, but the football club.

“So, you’ve got to deal with it, and I think, for everyone concerned, we don’t want to be doing it for too long. I don’t think that is good for anyone. I don’t think it is good for Harry, I don’t think it is good for the club, because as laser focused as we want to be, you end up sort of repeating yourself along the way.

“But the flip side of that is I don’t want to put a deadline on it, because that adds even more pressure. You want these things to happen for the right reasons. The reality of it is he’s still a contracted player at our football club, so that’s the way I see him.

“It’s not like his contract is ending on the 12th [of August] and he’s got to make a decision, he’s got another year.”

Stay Alert looks set to head to France in a bid to gain some form of compensation for her unfortunate runner-up effort in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.

The Group One contest produced a somewhat messy conclusion as the George Boughey-trained winner Via Sistina drifted across the track in the final furlong, impeding the placed horses in winning by two lengths under Jamie Spencer, who was suspended for six days.

Ben and Sir Martyn Arbib, who own Hughie Morrison’s second-placed Stay Alert, appealed against the decision not to revise the placings, but to no avail.

Though Stay Alert holds an entry in the Yorkshire Oaks on August 24, Morrison is favouring a trip to the Group One Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville four days earlier.

He said: “Ideally, I would go to France for the Romanet, over a mile and a quarter.

“The Yorkshire Oaks is afterwards and we can go there if we were not happy with something going to France. The Yorkshire Oaks is Plan B.”

One For Bobby is another talented filly at the Summerdown yard and she landed her biggest career success to date in the Group Three Grand Prix de Vichy on Wednesday evening.

Formerly trained by Johnny Murtagh, One For Bobby defeated Bolthole by three-quarters of a length in the 10-furlong contest.

Morrison will try to keep his two talented fillies apart and has not completely ruled out heading to Munich for the Group One Bayerisches Zuchtrennen, over a similar distance, on Sunday week.

“If we can keep them apart we will,” said Morrison. “One goes better on softer ground and one is better on faster ground, but they both go on good ground.

“I will talk to the owners and try to keep them apart.

“Actually, One For Bobby is in a Group One in Munich on Sunday week, because we were keeping our options open.

“If it was in three weeks after that (run), I would probably be going to Munich.

“I haven’t had a long chat to the owner yet, but prior to having won a Group race, (we felt) a Group One place would be at least as good as a Group Two win, so be brave and aim high.

“I think she won in conditions where you’d think she might be better in softer ground. She could win a weak Group One.

“She had been Group Two-placed last year and she is rated 104, so if they take the form at face value, she will go up to 109. The runner-up was rated 111.

“I think Munich is unlikely, but we’ll keep options open. You could go for the Prix Vermeille (at ParisLongchamp in September) and it might suit her, a mile and a half in France, we’ll see.”

Meanwhile, crack stayer Quickthorn, who bounced back to form when making most of the running to beat subsequent Group Two Princess of Wales’s Stakes scorer Israr in a Listed race at York last month, remains on course for the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup.

Morrison was primed to send the Lady Blyth-owned six-year-old to ParisLongchamp in a bid to win the Group Two Prix Maurice de Nieuil for a second successive season.

However, connections instead favoured a trip to the Sussex Downs for the two-mile Group One contest, for which he is a 10-1 shot with Coral.

“We were going to go to France, but the owners want to have a go at the Goodwood Cup, so that’s where we’re going,” said Morrison. “He’s in good form and that York form worked out pretty well didn’t it?”