Scotland suffered a demoralising start to their World Cup campaign as world champions South Africa squeezed the life out of them in Marseille.

The Boks kicked off their defence of the Webb Ellis Cup with an 18-3 victory on Sunday evening after two tries from Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse in the third quarter took the game away from the Scots following a tightly-contested first half.

The defeat leaves Gregor Townsend’s side with no margin for error in their remaining three matches against Tonga, Romania and Ireland if they are to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The two sides went into the tournament in confident mood following encouraging summer campaigns which left the Boks ranked second and the Scots fifth in the world, but with Ireland – the top-ranked team – also in Pool B, the pressure was on both nations to start with a victory.

The Springboks started in more assured fashion and had a chance to get the scoreboard up and running in the 11th minute when the Scots were deemed to have collapsed the scrum, but Manie Libbok hooked his penalty wide from 40 metres.

The South African stand-off made no such mistake, however, when presented with another opportunity two minutes later after Finn Russell was penalised for a deliberate knock-on as he sent his kick soaring between the posts from a central position 35 metres out.

Tempers flared on the side of the pitch just after the midway point in the first half after Damian de Allende was slammed into touch but referee Angus Gardner – after reviewing the skirmish – spoke to four players, but decided no further action was required.

Libbok doubled the Boks’ lead to six points shortly afterwards with another penalty after Sione Tuipulotu failed to release.

After South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth limped off to be replaced by RG Snyman, Scotland, who had been struggling to get their attacking game going, carved out a brilliant chance to score, but Darcy Graham opted to go himself and ran into trouble when fellow wing Duhan van der Merwe, on his outside, was crying out for a pass and appeared to have a free run to the line.

Despite being unable to impose their game on the Boks, the Scots were generally standing up well to the physical challenge of their opponents and they cut their deficit to three points in the last action of the first half when Finn Russell – who had earlier needed treatment following a bang to the ribs – kicked a penalty from 45 metres right on half-time.

Two minutes after the restart Libbok attempted to kick a penalty from almost five metres inside his own half, but he failed to get enough distance on it and the Scots were able to gather.

South Africa got their first try of the match in the 47th minute when Du Toit pushed over on the left after a sustained spell of pressure. Libbok was off target with his conversion attempt.

Thing got worse for the Scots four minutes later when Arendse ran in to touch down in the right corner after a lovely cross-field kick from Libbok set him free. With the stand-off having missed three of his five attempts at goal, scrum-half Faf De Klerk took over kicking duties and duly pinged the conversion between the posts.

Scotland have made a habit in recent times of mounting impressive fightbacks, but this time they were unable to find a way of breaching the obdurate Boks.

Coco Gauff says Serena and Venus Williams are the reason she has won the US Open.

American teenager Gauff picked up her first grand slam title at her home major, coming from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2.

Gauff’s father Corey used to take his young daughter to Flushing Meadows to watch the Williams sisters in action.

And the gilded duo, with eight US Open titles between them, inspired an eight-year-old Gauff, filmed dancing in the stands inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, to follow in their footsteps.

“It’s crazy. I mean, they’re the reason why I have this trophy, to be honest,” said Gauff.

“They have allowed me to believe in this dream, you know, growing up. You know, there wasn’t too many black tennis players dominating the sport.

“It was literally, at that time when I was younger, it was just them that I can remember.

“Obviously more came because of their legacy. So it made the dream more believable. But all the things that they had to go through, they made it easier for someone like me to do this.

“I mean, you look back at the history with Indian Wells with Serena (when she was booed in 2001), all she had to go through, Venus fighting for equal pay.

“Yeah, it’s just, like, it’s crazy and it’s an honour to be in that same kind of line-up as them.”

Gauff’s day of destiny saw her became the first American teenager to triumph at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.

The latter’s final farewell to tennis at the same championships last year left a colossal void in tennis in the US.

So it felt entirely appropriate that Gauff, the heir apparent to the 23-time grand slam winner, stepped into her shoes 12 months later.

Gauff used her acceptance speech to thank “the people who didn’t believe in me”.

The 19-year-old was at a low ebb after losing in the first round at Wimbledon, but she has since won 18 of her past 19 matches and picked up three titles, including the big one in the Big Apple.

“I would say for sure a little bit after the Wimbledon loss, honestly I just felt people were like, ‘oh, she’s hit her peak and she’s done’. It was all hype,” she added.

“I see the comments. People don’t think I see it but I see it. I’m very aware of tennis Twitter.

“Honestly after that, I was like, OK, I have a lot of work to do. So I think this means a lot to me. I wish I could give this trophy to my past self so she can be, like, all those tears are for this moment.”

A trip to the Breeders’ Cup looks to be on the agenda for Auguste Rodin following his thrilling return to form in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes.

On the weekend Aidan O’Brien became just the third Irish trainer to reach the 4,000 career winners landmark, the dual Derby winner provided the Ballydoyle handler his fifth straight victory in the 10-furlong Group One contest, denying stablemate Luxembourg back-to-back wins in the Leopardstown feature.

The success was made all the remarkable as it was the second time this season O’Brien and his team had conjured up a piece of magic on the training grounds as the son of Deep Impact once again proved his doubters wrong to bounce back from a bitterly disappointing display in Ascot’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

With a preference for a sound surface, the high-class colt could now have booked his ticket to Santa Anita in early November, with O’Brien believing that could be the perfect spot for the apple of his eye.

He said: The lads love the Breeders’ Cup and he’s a lovely horse for it. They will decide, but he’d love that ground.

“He’s a beautiful mover. He won in Doncaster on heavy and we couldn’t believe that he did it, but it was probably just sheer ability.

“We’ll take our time and see how he is, but I’d imagine it will be something like that (Breeders’ Cup).”

Luxembourg, meanwhile, could bid to better last year’s seventh in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

O’Brien added: “He could go to the Arc. He wouldn’t mind as long as the ground is not heavy, and over a mile and a half we know to ride him like a horse that just gets a mile and a half.

“He doesn’t want to go any further, but we are learning about him all the time. It was a massive run yesterday.”

Michael O’Neill admitted Northern Ireland’s miserable Euro 2024 qualifying campaign was starting to feel like Groundhog Day as he urged fans to look at the bigger picture while he tries to mould a new team.

After Thursday’s 4-2 defeat to Slovenia on Thursday, it was back the old familiar feeling of a 1-0 defeat in Kazakhstan on Sunday – a fifth consecutive defeat in this campaign and the fourth 1-0 reverse during that run.

The build-up to the match was dominated by talk of injuries – Northern Ireland have been without as many as 18 different players during this campaign to date – and yet again the talk after was of a game decided by narrow margins.

Maxim Samorodov’s 27th minute strike settled it, but Northern Ireland missed a golden first-half chance when Kazakhstan’s goalscorer tracked back to stop Conor McMenamin prodding home when Matty Kennedy’s mis-hit shot was rolling towards the goal line.

Although they did not produce anything like the attacking display they showed in Ljubljana on Thursday, O’Neill’s side still ended the game with more possession and more shots than Kazakhstan, but on the wrong side of the result.

“I think it followed quite a similar pattern for us,” O’Neill said. “Obviously the goal in the game is the only defining moment. We started the game well, we were dominating but our play in the final third let us down, we’re lacking a little bit in that area at the minute obviously.”

The absence of Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans and Shane Ferguson has been a constant since before the campaign even started, but on top of that, Northern Ireland have suffered a succession of injuries, with Craig Cathcart and Ciaron Brown the latest to join the list.

That has forced O’Neill to blood young players more quickly than planned, and meant a campaign which started with such optimism has turned into a recurring nightmare, the only thing missing being the sound of Sonny and Cher’s ‘I Got You, Babe’ heralding the start of each international window.

“It has been a little bit (like Groundhog Day),” O’Neill said. “This is our third time together as a group in terms of my time back in charge so there is a process we’re having to go through a little bit, which is painful.

“For a lot of those lads, it’s always nicer to come into international football for the first time and you’re winning games, it’s always easier to come into a team that’s doing well.

“I reflect back to the lead-in to Euro 2016 and you had the likes of Stuart Dallas and Paddy McNair come into the team and we were always going well. It’s always an easier process.

“Now we’re trying to introduce players into a team when the results are not so good so it’s more challenging for the players.”

The hope is that those younger players benefit further down the line, particularly when the day comes that the senior players Northern Ireland have leaned on for so long are no longer around – a time that may well arrive by the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign in March 2025.

“We just have to play through this period,” O’Neill added. “I think the team in many ways is developing. People may argue against that based on the results, but I have to look at the bigger picture in terms of where the team has to go in the next 12 to 18 months.

“We just have to persevere with what we’re doing. I think a lot of what we’re doing with the team is the right way to approach, but in this campaign we’ve had four 1-0 defeats and the margins in all the games have been very narrow.”

Richard Fahey’s Native American demonstrated a great deal of promise when coming out on top in the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale Stakes at the Curragh.

The juvenile had not been seen since his debut at York in May, a novice race he won by a facile five and a half lengths over six furlongs.

Partnered by Colin Keane this time around, the colt was the 4-5 favourite and made light work of the task in hand, streaking away from 11 rivals to cross the line two and a half lengths ahead of the runner-up.

Fahey said of his Wathnan Racing-owned youngster: “He was workmanlike, I thought, but he did it well in the end to be fair.

“He grew and just wasn’t scoping great so I couldn’t get stuck into him, but he’s done plenty of cantering and we were pleased with him. I’m sure he will improve again.

“He’s quite a nice horse, we do like him but he’s a work in progress.

“We won some sales races with Wootton Bassett and he ended up winning the Lagardere. That was in my mind before the race so we’ll see how he is and decide whether he goes or not.

“The jockey felt the ground was just dead enough for him and felt he wanted better ground.”

Charles O’Brien’s Big Gossey won for the first time this season when taking the Irish Stallion Farms EBF “Bold Lad” Sprint Handicap under teenage apprentice Robert Whearty.

The six-year-old, who claimed the same race in 2021, is a regular over sprint trips at the Curragh and was third over the same course and distance under Whearty last time out.

With a slicker exit from the stalls this time the pair were victorious, striking at 16-1 to land a valuable prize for owners the Allegro Syndicate.

Whearty said: “He was a bit unlucky the last day. He went up in the gates a small bit and I missed the break. I had a bit of ground to make up and probably used him up at the wrong time.

“I had a lovely position today and he travelled into it lovely. He had a bit of a look when he got there but thankfully he stayed going.

“It’s brilliant to be riding (this weekend), never mind have a winner.”

The final race of the meeting, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF “Northfields” Handicap, was claimed by the Irish Cambridgeshire third Crystal Black.

Ridden by Colin Keane for his father, Gerard, the gelding came home the winner having started as the 5-1 joint-favourite.

Fantastic Moon entered the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe picture as he flew the flag for German trainer Sarah Steinberg when a decisive winner of the Qatar Prix Niel at ParisLongchamp.

The son of Sea The Moon emulated his sire when taking the German Derby earlier in the year, after which he was second to Nations Pride in the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis at Munich – another Group One.

He was an intended runner in the Grosser Preis von Baden last weekend, a race that led the German-trained Torquator Tasso to Arc success in 2021.

The going scuppered that Baden-Baden entry and Plan B was deployed when Fantastic Moon rerouted to Paris for the Group Two Prix Niel, a long-time pointer to the Arc.

The decision proved a wise one as Fantastic Moon carried Arc-winning rider Rene Piechulek to a convincing two-and-a-half-length victory, cruising around the final bend to reel in the front-running King Of Records and hold off his well-regarded stablemate Feed The Flame.

Fantastic Moon is not among the Arc entries at present and would therefore need to be supplemented, with the ground a key factor in the decision as the Breeders’ Cup and the Japan Cup are on the table also.

“He is fantastic, what a horse, what a day,” said Lars-Wilhelm Baumgarten of owners Liberty Racing.

“Arc, yes or no? We are not sure, we will decide. The Arc is an option, the Breeders’ Cup is an option and the Japan Cup is an option.

“We will discuss when the horse is back in Munich, he is a wonderful horse.

“Everybody saw that today and he is untapped at the moment, nobody knows how good he is.

“We will decide in the next days what we do but we need good ground, that’s important for him – no soft ground.

“That is the question for the Arc, what will the weather be in Paris for the next two weeks?”

Pascal Bary was not too downhearted at defeat for Grand Prix de Paris winner Feed The Flame, saying: “He wasn’t quite as ready as I thought. With the heat, Feed The Flame asked for a breather during the race. He picked up well, even if the last 100 metres perhaps seemed a bit of an eternity for him.

“Christophe Soumillon made sure of the fact that the colt was given a lesson when it came to racing between horses, which is a good form of preparation. Furthermore, he wasn’t hard on him. Of course, it’s always better to win than to be second.

“That said, the winner, Fantastic Moon, has every right to be considered a good colt. Feed The Flame will line up in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. If the ground were to ease that would be even better.”

Andre Fabre’s Place Du Carrousel may also have earned herself a spot in the Arc after landing the Qatar Prix Foy, again over course and distance.

The Lope De Vega filly, who is owned by Al Shaqab Racing and Ballylinch Stud, was partnered by Mickael Barzalona for the Group Two that Waldgeist won for Fabre in 2019 before flooring Enable in her bid to win the Arc for the third time.

Place Du Carrousel now looks likely to follow the same path after a neck success over a worthy opponent in Iresine – twice a Group One winner himself.

Rupert Pritchard-Gordon of Al Shaqab Racing said: “The filly showed that she’s in good form. She’s still fresh because she hasn’t run much this year, due to a slight setback in the spring.

“The weather conditions are exceptional today, and Monsieur Fabre preferred to go for the Qatar Prix Foy rather than the Qatar Prix Vermeille, anticipating that there would be less pace in the Foy.

“When we decided to keep her in training at four, after her success in the Prix de l’Opera Longines last year, the idea was to aim her at the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

“If all goes well between now and then, we’ll be heading to the race of dreams!”

Liam Livingstone’s 95 not out from 78 balls bailed England out against New Zealand after Trent Boult marked his first ODI in a year by inducing a top-order collapse at the Ageas Bowl.

Boult exploited helpful bowling conditions by snaring Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Ben Stokes to leave England, seeking to level the series after a heavy defeat in Cardiff, reeling on eight for three.

England then lurched to 55 for five but Livingstone’s majestic counter-attack, clubbing nine fours and one six, helped the hosts to 226 for seven in a contest reduced to 34 overs per side because of rain.

The big-hitting all-rounder, whose ODI best was the first time he batted 50 or more balls in an England innings, shared a stand of 112 in 77 balls with Sam Curran – who returned to the XI alongside Bairstow and Moeen Ali – in this second of four World Cup warm-ups.

Jason Roy’s back spasm meant he once again missed out while Adil Rashid, who struggled with cramp at Sophia Gardens, missed out although England insist they are merely taking a precaution over the pair with the World Cup in India just three and a half weeks away.

After England were asked to bat first, Boult wreaked havoc in his second over, squaring up Bairstow, whose squirted leading edge might have landed safely on another day but a leaping Mitch Santner took a superb one-handed catch at cover.

Root was lbw second ball, eschewing a review as replays showed a delivery swinging back in would have clattered leg stump, with the Yorkshireman out for his fourth duck in his last 10 ODI knocks.

After a double wicket maiden, Boult had his third in the space of eight balls after an advancing Stokes backed away and clothed to mid-off while Harry Brook spooned Matt Henry to a backpedalling mid-on, with England’s top four mustering just nine runs between them in 32 deliveries.

Jos Buttler sought to upset Boult’s rhythm and though he mistimed a couple of drives, the tactic worked as a more convincing stroke brought up a third four in an over which yielded 15 runs.

Buttler’s eyes lit up at a rare Santner long hop but was on the shot too early and, perhaps undone by the ball sticking in the surface, dragged on to his leg stump, having made 30 of England’s 55 for five.

Moeen Ali drove Henry then Tim Southee lustily through the covers as he rebuilt alongside Livingstone, who settled into his stride by rocking back and cutting Southee away for four.

Livingstone was strong all around the wicket while Moeen slog swept Rachin Ravindra for six before clipping Southee wide of Tom Latham for four to bring up England’s 100. But from the next ball, Moeen was cramped for room and aimed an ungainly slash for Glenn Phillips to take a fine low catch.

Livingstone flayed three fours in a Southee over as he brought up a second successive fifty in 47 balls while he was ably supported by Curran, who launched Santner over cow corner for six.

Livingstone took his four count against Southee to six with back-to-back boundaries – an unconvincing mow before a more authoritative drive – before hammering Henry into the stands for his lone six.

Curran departed for 42 off 35 balls in the last over while Willey thumped his first ball for six but Livingstone, despite facing the last two balls, was left stranded five adrift of a maiden ODI ton.

Eldar Eldarov made a successful raid on the Comer Group International Irish St Leger at the Curragh, as Kyprios finished a brave second in his eagerly-awaited return to the track.

Aidan O’Brien’s five-year-old dominated the staying scene last season, but had been off since his staggering 20-length success in last year’s Prix du Cadran.

But despite Kyprios being sent off the 4-6 favourite in his quest for back-to-back Irish St Leger victories, the afternoon belonged to Eldar Eldarov as Roger Varian’s charge served a reminder of his own class.

David Egan’s mount was bidding to add the Irish equivalent to the Doncaster Classic he secured 12 months ago and having travelled powerfully throughout, he ran on strongly for a three-and-a-half-length triumph.

It was a welcome upturn in fortunes for Varian who saddled King Of Steel to finish fourth in Saturday’s Irish Champion Stakes, while Eldar Eldarov was back in front for the first time since his finest hour on Town Moor.

Betfair shortened Eldar Eldarov to 7-1 from 14s for the Long Distance Cup on Qipco British Champions Day, with Kyprios unchanged at 6-1.

Hansi Flick has been sacked as manager of Germany in the wake of Saturday’s 4-1 home friendly defeat to Japan.

It comes after the former Bayern Munich coach won just 12 of his 25 matches in charge of the national team following his appointment in August 2021.

Germany will host the European Championship next summer but form had grown increasingly erratic under Flick, with a second successive group-stage exit at the World Cup last year part of a run that has seen just three victories in the last 12 months.

The 58-year-old, who replaced World Cup-winner Joachim Low when he stood down following Euro 2020, becomes the first person to be sacked as Germany manager.

Rudi Voller will take charge of the team for their friendly against France in Dortmund on Tuesday.

German Football Federation (DFB) president Bernd Neuendorf said in a statement: “The committees agreed that the men’s senior national team needs new impetus after the recent disappointing results.

“We need, in facing the European Championship, a spirit of optimism and confidence in our own country.

“For me personally, it is one of the most difficult decisions of my time in office so far, because I appreciate Hansi Flick and his assistant coaches as football experts and people.

“But sporting success is the top priority for the DFB. So the decision was inevitable.”

Voller, who as well as taking over as caretaker also holds the role of director of the national team, added: “Hansi Flick has worn himself out over the past few months; together with his coaching team, he has given everything to get back on track after leaving the World Cup in Qatar to make the turn for the better.

“Unfortunately, we have to realise today that it was not successful. The Japan game has clearly shown us that we can no longer make any progress in this situation.”

Flick’s assistants Marcus Sorg and Danny Rohl have also left their roles.

The defeat against Japan in Wolfsburg came despite a goal in the 19th minute from Leroy Sane to equalise Junya Ito’s early opener, with Ayase Ueda restoring the visitors’ lead moments later.

Takuma Asano and Ao Tanaka struck in the closing stages to compound Germany’s misery in what transpired to be the manager’s final game in charge.

Henry Longfellow brushed aside his rivals to give trainer Aidan O’Brien his 4,000th career winner with an imperious display in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes at the Curragh.

The master of Ballydoyle was on the brink of the milestone following a fantastic four-timer on the opening day of the Irish Champions Festival, but was made to wait until the two-year-old showpiece on day two of the showpiece weekend to reach the landmark figure.

The race had looked like being a surprise showdown between Henry Longfellow and stablemate City Of Troy – who not only dominated the ante-post lists for this Group One event, but also next year’s Classics.

However, Henry Longfellow is also a talented operator in his own right and after the late defection of City Of Troy on account of the ground, Ryan Moore wasted little time switching mounts as the son of Dubawi demonstrated his class with a bloodless demolition.

Sent off the 10-11 favourite, the Futurity Stakes scorer travelled with supreme ease as outsider Cuban Thunder led along his Adrian Murray-trained stablemate Bucanero Fuerte on the front end.

As the field approached the two-furlong pole, Kevin Stott was already asking the Phoenix Stakes winner for maximum effort, whereas Moore and his high-class partner were only just warming up and with Bucanero Fuerte soon left in his wake, Henry Longfellow was allowed to give a glimpse of what is lurking under the bonnet as he sailed home to a five-length success over a running-on Islandsinthestream.

Paddy Power and Betfair make the winner 7-2 from 5s for next year’s 2000 Guineas, with both also going 6-1 from 8s for the Derby.

Northern Ireland’s Euro 2024 qualifying misery continued as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Kazakhstan after the long trip to Astana.

It was a fifth consecutive defeat in this campaign, and the fourth time in the last five Michael O’Neill’s injury-ravaged side have been unable to muster a goal.

Kazakhstan put the first nail in the coffin of Northern Ireland’s qualifying hopes with their smash-and-grab 1-0 win in Belfast in June, and added another here with Maxim Samorodov’s 27th-minute strike enough to take three points.

Northern Ireland can only envy the progress of a side ranked 40 places below them, with this Kazakhstan’s fourth win in Group H, keeping them in the thick of the qualification fight.

O’Neill has more than enough capital – both within the dressing room and beyond it – to avoid coming under pressure, but this losing run and the injury crisis which has contributed to it are becoming a real test of Northern Ireland’s resolve.

The qualifying campaign has gone so wrong the Green and White Army might even be looking forward to next year’s Nations League – a competition which has rarely warmed Northern Irish hearts.

This was another match where little separated the sides – with Northern Ireland having more of the ball and more shots – but O’Neill’s men did not get the rub of the green on the Astana Arena’s artificial surface.

O’Neill promised adjustments to make his side more compact after Thursday’s 4-2 loss to Slovenia but as they tightened up Kazakhstan were able to frustrate the visitors, with nothing like the same attacking vigour seen against Slovenia on show.

George Saville’s ambitious second-minute strike was as close as Northern Ireland got to goal in the opening half-hour as Conor McMenamin, the star of the show on Thursday, found Besiktas left-back Nuraly Alip a much more difficult customer than Slovenia’s Erik Janza.

Kazakhstan looked the more threatening, with Baktiyor Zainutdinov hitting a low drive narrowly wide before Trai Hume was required to make a strong block to keep out Yerkin Tapalov’s shot.

But moments later the hosts led as Samorodov skipped away from the returning Dan Ballard, creating space to arrow a shot into the bottom corner of the net from 20 yards out, prompting a prolonged inquiry between Saville and Jonny Evans.

Kazakhstan threatened again. Bailey Peacock-Farrell failed to gather a high ball under pressure from Abzal Beysebekov before Paddy McNair cleared the danger, then Ballard made a vital block to prevent Samorodov going clean through.

Having survived the danger, Northern Ireland contrived to miss the best chance of the night before half-time.

Conor Washington flicked the ball perfectly into the path of Matty Kennedy but the Kilmarnock man struggled to get it out of his feet, rolling a tame cross-shot beyond goalkeeper Igor Shatskiy.

McMenamin came racing in to try to prod home, but goalscorer Samorodov beat him to the ball before Alip hooked it away, leaving Northern Ireland scratching their heads.

O’Neill sent on Jordan Thompson and Paul Smyth to replace McMenamin and Saville at the break, and Northern Ireland soon threatened again with Shatskiy doing well to deny Washington as he got a flick on Shea Charles’s shot.

Jordan Jones replaced Kennedy and Northern Ireland began to build pressure after the hour. Charles won a foot race to win the ball in the corner of the box and teed up Washington, but his shot was charged down.

Northern Ireland kept Kazakhstan pegged back for most of the final 20 minutes, but as has been the case too many times, the clear chance they needed to equalise proved elusive.

Fallen Angel stayed on strongly to land the Moyglare Stud Stakes in impressive fashion at the Curragh, as Aidan O’Brien’s Ylang Ylang folded tamely to give up her unbeaten record.

Ylang Ylang went into the race as the ante-post favourite for next year’s Classics following two impressive displays and was sent off the 6-5 market leader in a bid to give the master of Ballydoyle his 10th success in the Group One event.

Ryan Moore sent the daughter of Frankel to the front where she was joined by Danny Tudhope aboard the eventual 9-2 winner and the duo matched strides until Ylang Ylang began to falter approaching the final furlong.

Despite Ylang Ylang falling quickly to the back of the field, the race was far from over and Willie McCreary’s Vespertilio was soon alongside Fallen Angel launching her challenge, with the duo embroiled in a real tussle to the line.

It was Karl Burke’s filly who pulled out extra when it mattered most to provide both the North Yorkshire trainer and owners Clipper Logistics with their second winner of the Irish Champions Festival following Flight Plan’s Dullingham Park Stakes success at Leopardstown on Saturday.

The winner now enters the equation for next year’s 1000 Guineas, with Coral going 8-1 and Betfair 7-1 from 25s.

Moss Tucker stayed on strongly to land a decisive blow for the home team in the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Flying Five Stakes.

The Curragh Group One was stacked with British talent, but it was Ken Condon’s unheralded five-year-old who scooped the €236,000 first prize at odds of 16-1.

Although now an eight-time winner, it was just the second time Moss Tucker was appearing at the highest level and while all eyes were on the near-side group where Art Power was being closely attended by Bradsell and Highfield Princess, Moss Tucker was getting the ideal tow through the race by Charlie Hills’ Equality.

The two groups merged with two furlongs to run, but whereas distress signals were being displayed by the fancied runners, the Billy Lee-ridden Moss Tucker still had plenty in the tank and he proved his stamina to deny Clive Cox’s Get Ahead in the closing stages with the front-running Equality going down bravely in third.

England flanker Tom Curry will learn the length of his suspension for his red card in Saturday’s World Cup win over Argentina on Tuesday.

Curry was sent off in the third minute after a dangerous challenge on Juan Cruz Mallia that resulted in his yellow card being upgraded to red by the bunker review system.

England overcame their adversity to produce an impressive 27-10 victory, with George Ford kicking all 27 points, and next face Japan in Nice on Sunday, but will be without Curry, who will attend a disciplinary hearing in Paris on Tuesday evening.

A statement from World Rugby said: “England’s Tom Curry will appear before an independent Judicial Committee in Paris having received a red card, following a review by the Foul Play Review Officer, in England’s Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool D match against Argentina in Marseille on Saturday, 9 September for an offence contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous tackle).

“At the player’s request, the hearing will take place on Tuesday evening, 12 September.

“The independent Judicial Committee that will hear the matter will be chaired by Adam Casselden SC (Australia), joined by former players John Langford (Australia) and Jamie Corsi (Wales).”

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.