Breeders’ Cup fourth Midnight Mile and Fillies’ Mile runner-up Novakai head a strong Yorkshire-trained challenge for the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes at York.

Richard Fahey trains Midnight Mile, who lost her unbeaten record but still ran with credit in the Juvenile Fillies Turf having been slowly away, after previously landing the Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket.

From the family of Quarter Moon and Yesterday, who were both second in the Oaks, Midnight Mile does not hold an entry for the Classic but given her connections, it would not be a surprise if she was added to the Epsom field should she run well.

“We are very pleased with her. She has wintered extremely well and we are very happy with her,” said Fahey.

“She has filled out and I should imagine this trip will probably suit her well. But this is a good Musidora, a very good race and it will be a good filly who wins it.

“She started late last year and she took a little time to come to herself, so I haven’t rushed her this year.

“We skipped the Guineas and all that carry on and decided this was the route to go.

“She got some nice experience last year and we’ve always felt she would make a better three-year-old, so fingers crossed.

“I’ll tell you after the race where we think she’ll get to!”

Novakai, who was also second in the May Hill Stakes, is much the highest-rated filly in the field.

Trained by Karl Burke, the daughter of Lope De Vega chased home the now-retired Commissioning in the Fillies’ Mile and is bred to improve for middle distances this season being out of a Nathaniel mare.

While the two aforementioned fillies bring plenty of Pattern form to the table, the favourite is Sir Michael Stoute’s Infinite Cosmos, a Newmarket maiden winner.

Andrew Balding’s Sea Of Roses has also only won a maiden, but she beat Infinite Cosmos on that occasion and has finished second in a French Group Three already this term.

Jack Channon’s Gather Ye Rosebuds won her only start to date by nine and a half lengths on soft ground at Newbury.

The form has not been tested as yet, but she could not have created a better impression.

“It was a great result first time and she put in what looks like an outstanding performance. She’s comfortably beaten a well-touted field, albeit on softer ground than she’ll encounter on Wednesday. But she couldn’t have been more impressive,” said Channon.

“I feel like, mentally and physically, she’s improved from that run. And if she can replicate that sort of level of form, then you’d like to think that she goes there with a great chance.

“She’s a big filly that’s maturing day in, day out. She hadn’t quite lost her coat at Newbury, but she’s really shining now. She’s started to flourish in the last three weeks and I couldn’t be happier with the way all her work and everything like that’s gone.

“She hasn’t proven she’s stakes class yet, albeit it being a very impressive maiden win. So she’s got a lot of questions to answer – but hopefully she’s got the answers.

“Whether she’s good enough or not, it’s exciting to at least have a horse that you feel like you might be able to compete a bit with the big boys. It’s just nice to hopefully have something good enough to highlight the fact, given the opportunity with the right stock, that you can produce the goods.”

John and Thady Gosden’s Soul Sister finished last of 12 in the Fred Darling at Newbury and is expected to appreciate the better surface on the Knavesmire.

“She won well first time at Doncaster on her debut at the back end of last season and obviously the ground at the Greenham meeting at Newbury was very, very testing indeed,” said Thady Gosden.

“She didn’t handle the ground, as many didn’t. We’ve always thought she is a filly with plenty of class and obviously it is a very competitive race, but she should like the track.

“We certainly think she’ll take a step forward.”

Lambada represents Aidan O’Brien, winner one of her three starts so far and a relatively rare Dubawi runner for the Ballydoyle team.

“I have a lot of time for a few of these, and obviously I rode Infinite Cosmos to win her maiden in decisive fashion at Newmarket earlier in the month and she is a filly I rate, but hopefully Lambada can hold her own,” her jockey Ryan Moore told Betfair.

“I haven’t ridden her in a race before but she won a decent maiden over an extended nine furlongs at Gowran Park in good style on her reappearance and the further they went, the better she looked there.

“We are obviously dealing with a lot of unexposed fillies here, so it is hard to be anything other than hopeful, but the trip certainly looks as if it will suit.”

David Simcock’s once-raced Empress Wu completes the field.

A subdued Rory McIlroy admitted he has been working on lowering his expectations ahead of the 105th US PGA Championship following his miserable Masters experience.

McIlroy spoke confidently of having all the ingredients to win a green jacket and complete the career grand slam ahead of the year’s first major at Augusta National, with Tiger Woods even claiming it was just a matter of time.

Yet while Woods played through the pain barrier to make a record-equalling 23rd consecutive cut before being forced to withdraw, McIlroy made an early exit without speaking to reporters following a second round of 77.

The world number three then withdrew from the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, meaning he missed his second ‘designated event’ of the year on the PGA Tour and lost 25 per cent of his Player Impact Program bonus (£2.4million).

McIlroy felt the break was necessary for his “mental and emotional wellbeing” after a taxing 12 months in which he juggled on-course competition with his role as an unofficial spokesman for the PGA Tour in its battle against LIV Golf.

And he tellingly revealed that he had allowed himself to think about becoming just the sixth player to have won all four major titles after shooting five under par on the back nine of his Wednesday practice round at Augusta.

It was a complete contrast on Tuesday at Oak Hill, where questions related to LIV Golf received short shrift but he tellingly revealed what he was working on with regards to the mental side of the game.

“Less expectations,” McIlroy said. “Just sort of trying to be in a good spot with taking what comes and not thinking about things too much, not getting ahead of myself.

“Just trying to go out there, play a good first hole of the tournament, and then once I do that, try to play a good second hole and just sort of go from there.

“Golf is golf, and it happens and you’re going to have bad days. It wasn’t really the performance of Augusta that’s hard to get over, it’s just more mental aspect and the deflation of it and sort of trying to get your mind in the right place to start going forward again, I guess.

“I think I’m close. I think I’ve made some good strides even from Quail Hollow a couple weeks ago.

“I’m seeing some better things, better start lines, certainly just some better golf shots. A little more sure of where I’m going to start the ball and sort of a more consistent shot pattern.

“But yeah, we’ll get out there and see and play. If I can execute the way that I feel like I can, then I still believe that I’m one of the best players in the world and I can produce good golf to have a chance of winning this week.”

McIlroy is a two-time US PGA champion and finished eighth in defence of his title at Oak Hill in 2013, since when he married Rochester native Erica Stoll and became a member of the golf club.

The 34-year-old is also a fan of the recent renovation of the East Course and believes discipline will be the key to success as he bids to end a major drought stretching back to the 2014 US PGA at Valhalla.

“You’ve got to keep it out of those fairway bunkers. They’re very, very penal,” McIlroy added.

“It’s a long golf course, and power and length is going to be an advantage. But I think even more of an advantage is making sure that you’re hitting into these greens from the fairways.

“It’s a combination of everything, but I think discipline is going to be a huge factor this week.”

Kyle Walker feels Manchester City owe it to club owner Sheikh Mansour to win the Champions League.

City are eyeing up European club football’s top prize once again after years of near misses in their quest to land the trophy for the first time.

Losing to Chelsea in the final two years ago is the closest they have come, but Wednesday brings another opportunity to reach the showpiece fixture as they host Real Madrid in the second leg of their semi-final.

The tie is delicately poised after a 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital last week.

City have won the Premier League six times since the sheikh bought the club in 2008 – and are on the brink of a seventh domestic title – but the Champions League has long been viewed as their ‘holy grail’.

Right-back Walker said: “The club is missing that one and, (with) the owners and the amount of money they have pumped into this club and the investment they have done, we owe that to them.

“To get to the Champions League final against Chelsea and not perform as well as we can, we owe that to ourselves and get some revenge for ourselves because we know that was below par on that day.

“But we have a tough opponent to get past to get to the Champions League final. It’s a ‘final’, anything can happen. The first thing is getting past Real Madrid and then let’s see about the final.”

City dominated the first leg at the Bernabeu in terms of possession, but Real were incisive on the counter-attack and created more clear-cut opportunities.

Walker was involved in a tough battle with the pacey Vinicius Junior, who scored Real’s goal, and the City defender is relishing another encounter with the Brazilian.

The pair embraced in a sign of respect after last week’s meeting, but Walker has revealed there was also extra significance in the gesture.

He said: “I went to hug him because he tried to rainbow flick me, so it was kind of like, ‘Please don’t try that again – I don’t want to be a meme’.

“But boxers fight, have a good battle, and then they shake hands after, and that is the level of respect I do have for him.

“It’s the same with any other player, when it is a good game, you go and give them that level of respect because they deserve it.

“I will give him the respect he deserves (after the final whistle), but before then it is dog eat dog.

“It is a personal battle where you are coming up against one of the best players in the world.

“I have faced many over the years who have been just as good as him, but I think he is in the best form of his life, so whoever is picked to play in that position to defend against him it is going to be a great battle.”

It could be a memorable week for City, who will also retain the Premier League title if they beat Chelsea on Sunday.

Walker said: “I think it is big to everyone in that dressing room. We know the goals at the end of it – it is a massive week for the club.”

Novak Djokovic accused Cameron Norrie of unsportsmanlike behaviour after a frosty encounter in the fourth round of the Italian Open.

The world number one ultimately eased to 6-3 6-4 victory but there was a flashpoint where Norrie hit Djokovic with a smash, and the handshake at the net lacked any warmth.

The main talking point came in the fourth game of the second set as Norrie sought to retrieve an early break.

Djokovic turned his back on the play after presenting his opponent with an easy overhead, only for Norrie, seemingly unintentionally, to drill the ball into the Serbian’s legs, who responded with an extremely hard stare.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Djokovic was less bothered by that incident than Norrie’s overall demeanour coupled with a medical timeout he took prior to the final game.

“I did watch the replay when he hit me,” said the six-time champion. “Maybe you could say he didn’t hit me deliberately. I don’t know if he saw me.

“I mean, (in your peripheral vision) you can always see where the player is positioned on the court. The ball was super slow and super close to the net. I just turned around because the point was over for me.

“It was not so much maybe about that, but it was a combination of things. From the very beginning, he was doing all the things that were allowed. He’s allowed to take a medical timeout. He’s allowed to hit a player. He’s allowed to say ‘C’mon’ in the face more or less every single point.

“Those are the things that we players know in the locker room it’s not fair play, it’s not how we treat each other.

“I got along with Cameron really well all these years that he’s been on the tour. Practised with each other. He’s a very nice guy off the court, so I don’t understand this kind of attitude on the court, to be honest.

“But it is what it is. He brought the fire, and I responded to that. I’m not going to allow someone behaving like this just bending my head. I’m going to respond to that. That’s all it is. What happens on the court, we leave it on the court, and we move on.”

Norrie, who had lost both his previous meetings with Djokovic, dropped serve at the start of the contest and was kept at arm’s length through the rest of the opening set, with the Serbian putting on a tactical masterclass.

Norrie withstood pressure after the smash incident to hold his serve until 4-4, when Djokovic, who has never failed to make the quarter-finals in Rome, made the decisive move.

The 35-year-old was serving noticeably slower than usual but he was coy on the reason for a visit to the treatment room that delayed the start of the match.

“Every day is something,” he said. “Thankfully I was able to play and finish the match, so hopefully tomorrow I will feel even better.”

Djokovic next faces a quarter-final clash with seventh seed Holger Rune, who defeated Alexei Popyrin in three sets, while fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas completed a delayed 6-3 7-6 (3) victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

John Quinn feels Highfield Princess faces a “tough enough” test in her bid for back-to-back victories in the 1895 Duke of York Clipper Stakes.

The six-year-old was fit from a winter campaign on the all-weather when landing the Group Two prize 12 months ago, a victory which proved a springboard to a fantastic campaign.

Highfield Princess completed a hat-trick of Group One wins, landing the Prix Maurice de Gheest, the Nunthorpe and the Flying Five Stakes in little over a month before rounding off 2022 with an honourable fourth at the Breeders’ Cup.

Quinn is pleased with how his stable star is training ahead of her reappearance, but is more hopeful than confident about her chances of registering a comeback victory due to the fact she lacks race sharpness and must concede weight all round.

He said: “She’s in good shape, I’m pleased with her. She thrives on racing and I would have liked to have got a run into her, but that wasn’t possible because there wasn’t a race there.

“All her life she’s been getting the mares’ allowance off these horses. You look at a horse like Creative Force, he finished in front of us in America and finished in front of us at Royal Ascot last year when we were getting the mares’ allowance, whereas now she’s got the Group One penalty to carry.

“She deserves it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not going to be simple.”

Win, lose or draw, Quinn hopes his star mare’s outing on the Knavesmire will put her right for a trip to Royal Ascot, where she has the option of running in the King’s Stand and/or the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

“We’ll get her going, I’m sure she’ll run well and whatever she does we’ll move on,” he added.

“Every year it has taken her a run or two and now she’s swimming in deeper waters.

“She’s in very good nick and I’m not being negative, but when one looks at it, it’s tough enough.”

Chief among her rivals is Creative Force, who suffered a short-priced defeat on his seasonal debut in Newmarket’s Abernant Stakes, but bolted up in a four-runner conditions race at Haydock on Saturday.

The Dubawi gelding’s trainer Charlie Appleby is happy to send him back into battle quickly.

“Creative Force enjoyed himself at Haydock in a race that rode like a piece of work for him,” the Moulton Paddocks handler told www.godolphin.com.

“He was bucking and kicking on Monday morning, while we feel conditions at York could suit him again.

“We will keep an eye on him ahead of the race and, if we continue to be happy with him, he will be good to go.”

Australian sprinters invariably do well on British soil and hopes are high for another Antipodean challenger in The Astrologist.

Beaten just a head when runner-up to Danyah in the Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night at Meydan, the Newmarket-based six-year-old will be ridden by Ryan Moore in his warm-up for the Royal meeting.

Troy Corstens, who trains the Zoustar gelding in partnership with his father, Leon, said: “I’m really looking forward to seeing him run at York. I think he’ll run a super race if we get conditions to suit. It’s always been on my bucket list to have a runner over there and I’m very excited.

“Originally the UK trip was sort of pie-in-the-sky stuff and we booked in to go to Dubai for World Cup night. And he ran so well at World Cup night, Nick Smith (director of racing at Ascot) was speaking to us and just said, ‘Would you be interested in coming over?’

“We talked about it and after he ran so well, we thought let’s hit the ‘go’ button and head over. He’s a very good traveller – he travelled a little bit in Australia and really adapted well.

“We were very keen to get a run into him before the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee and the race at York is just an absolute perfect one for him.”

Michael Dods fires a twin assault, with recent Newmarket Listed race winner Azure Blue joined by dual Stewards’ Cup hero Commanche Falls, who finished third behind Creative Force last weekend.

“Azure Blue came out of Newmarket well and obviously likes plenty of cut in the ground. It’s a big step up in class, but she deserves the chance,” he said.

“The problem Commanche Falls has got is he’s too high in the ratings to get in handicaps and he’s probably not quite good enough for a race like this, but we’ve got to run and see how he can cope.

“Ideally he’d be better off in big handicaps like the Wokingham and the Stewards’ Cup, but he can’t get in those off 112.

“He’s in good form and the race was run a bit slow for him on Saturday. He’s come out of it well, so we’ll let him take his chance again.”

Karl Burke’s Gimcrack runner-up Marshman adds extra spice, coming here instead of waiting for Haydock on Saturday week.

“We could have gone for the Sandy Lane, but I just thought those three horses that ran in the Guineas – Sakheer, Little Big Bear and Noble Style – they all might decide to go for the Sandy Lane, so I thought this could be a better place for Marshman,” said Nick Bradley of the owning Nick Bradley Racing syndicate.

“He’s ready to go and we’re keen to see where we are. He’s run really well at York before and it’s a race a lot of my owners would love to win, so I thought we’d give it a go and see what happens.”

Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun has switched allegiance from England to the United States, FIFA has confirmed.

The New York-born 21-year-old, who is currently on loan at French club Reims, has represented England at Under-21s level but has opted to play his senior international football for the country of his birth.

A FIFA spokesperson told the PA news agency said: “The change of association of the player Folarin Jolaoluwa Balogun from England to the USA has been approved.”

The news comes just weeks before England are due to launch their European Under-21 Championship finals campaign in Georgia and Romania.

Balogun has made 13 appearances for Lee Carsley’s side, but withdrew from the squad in March due to injury.

Having been born in America, Balogun moved to England when he was two years old and also qualifies for Nigeria through his parents.

Qualifying players are allowed to switch associations before they have played a competitive match for a nation’s senior team.

Balogun has made 10 first-team appearances and scored two goals for the Gunners, and spent the second half of the 2021-22 season on loan at Sky Bet Championship Middlesbrough.

However, he has made a name for himself in Ligue 1 this season with 19 goals in 34 appearances to date.

Roger Varian has indicated Sakheer is likely to head straight to the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot after finishing sixth in the 2000 Guineas.

Although beaten on debut at Windsor, the Zoffany colt proved himself to be a high-class two-year-old – shedding his maiden in style at Haydock on his second start before putting in a most impressive display to claim the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury.

Despite racing over no further than six furlongs as a juvenile, Sakheer was upped to a mile for his return in the opening Classic of the season and while making promising progress at one stage, the testing conditions at Newmarket ultimately seemed to take a toll in the closing stages as he finished seven lengths adrift of Chaldean.

Having recovered well from his Rowley Mile exertions, Sakheer’s handler has now taken the decision to revert back to the distance he made his name over at the Royal meeting and a race for which he is currently at the top of the ante-post lists at a best price of 11-2.

“He’s come out of the race well and most likely he will go straight to the Commonwealth Cup,” said Varian.

“It was such a messy race the 2000 Guineas, it was almost a non-event for us. He made quite an eyecatching move in the race, but it was all happening away from him and maybe he just didn’t get home the final 100 yards.

“We imagine a stiff six furlongs at Ascot is tailor-made for him.”

Proud And Regal is set to come back in trip for the Irish 2,000 Guineas, with trainer Donnacha O’Brien looking to the Betfred Derby with Dee Stakes runner-up Alder.

A son of Galileo, Proud And Regal won three of his five starts as a juvenile – which included the Group One Criterium International at Saint-Cloud – and was third to Sprewell in the Derby Trial at Leopardstown on his return.

A general 33-1 chance for the Derby, his Ballyroe handler felt Proud And Regal showed enough speed for the mile of the Tattersalls-sponsored Irish Guineas on Saturday week.

“I thought the winner won very well,” said O’Brien. “It was kind of a hard race to read. I came away scratching my head a little bit, but the more I saw it, I think we’re going to step him back down in trip for the Irish Guineas.

“I thought he travelled really well. There’s definitely a chance that he will get 10 furlongs and we could be going back there after the Guineas, but the plan is to go to the Curragh for the Irish Guineas.”

Given his pedigree, by champion three-year-old Galileo, who was a dual Derby and King George winner, Proud And Regal is bred to get a mile and a half.

He won on heavy ground at Saint-Cloud over a mile, but O’Brien is uncertain whether the 10-furlong trip at Leopardstown suited.

He said: “I wasn’t sure.

“There is a chance he will definitely be going back up in trip, but two-year-old races are a lot different than older horse races. You can get away with an inadequate distance a lot more at two than you can at three.

“We’ll see how he comes out of the race, but the plan is to go to the Curragh.”

Alder, who was beaten a length and three-quarters by the Aidan O’Brien-trained San Antonio, will be heading to Epsom.

The son of Australia is a 25-1 chance with Betfred for Epsom glory.

O’Brien confirmed: “We’re aiming at the Epsom Derby. I think it is an open race. I think he got in a poor position at Chester off a very slow pace, on ground he wouldn’t like, and he just hung in behind the winner in the last furlong.

“But I think it was a very decent run from him. We think he’s a good horse and he’s going to be a much better horse on better ground over a mile and a half.”

Piz Badile, who was runner-up in last season’s Irish Derby before a somewhat disappointing run when seven lengths behind Onesto in the Grand Prix de Paris at ParisLongchamp, will bid to break his Group One duck at the Curragh on Sunday week.

He made his return from a 10-month absence when a three-length third to Visualisation in the Group Two Mooresbridge at the Curragh two weeks ago.

“The plan is to go to the Tattersalls Gold Cup on Guineas weekend,” O’Brien added. “Again, I thought it was a very adequate comeback from him.

“It was a mess of a race. They went very slow, so the plan is to go to there and there’s a chance he could be going back to a mile and a half after that, but we’ll see.

“He was probably a little bit backward at two and three. He ran very well in the Irish Derby and then he went to France, which was another case of a typical French race that didn’t suit him.

“I thought his comeback was a good run. When things do go right for him, then I think we’ll get a feel for whether he is going to be proper Group One horse, but I just don’t think he has had the chance to show if he is.”

West Ham will not entertain any bids for Declan Rice until the season is over, the PA news agency understands.

Reports emerged on Monday that Arsenal want to open talks with the Hammers over a £90million move for the England midfielder.

West Ham are understood to be resigned to losing their captain this summer and are braced for a bidding war, with Chelsea and Manchester United also in the mix.

But the club, and Rice, are focused solely on ending the season on a positive note, both domestically and in Europe.

The Hammers are all but safe from relegation and face AZ Alkmaar in the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final in the Netherlands on Thursday, leading 2-1 from the first leg.

Rice, 24, knows his final act in a West Ham shirt could be lifting a European trophy in Prague on June 7, sealing his place in club folklore.

He would become only the third West Ham captain to collect a trophy, along with Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds, who lifted their last piece of silverware, the FA Cup, in 1980.

Curtis Jones insisted he never lost faith he would earn a Liverpool revival after coming through a “tough time” to establish himself as a first-team regular.

The 22-year-old midfielder’s quickfire double helped the in-form Reds to a comfortable 3-0 win at relegation-threatened Leicester on Monday.

Jones has now started the Reds’ last nine Premier League games having previously only made two starts all season, with a shin injury sidelining him until mid-October.

He has also scored three goals in his last four appearances – ending an 18-month drought – to help Liverpool in their late Champions League charge with Jurgen Klopp’s side fifth and a point behind the top four.

The England Under-21 international told the club’s official site: “In terms of confidence, I’ve always been the same lad. I’ve always had the belief in myself but it’s been a tough time, I’ve had the injuries and stuff so I’ve not really had a full run of games in the past.

“But I came in against Chelsea and I kept my shirt and I’ve still got the shirt now. I’m enjoying it, I’m being humble and keeping my feet on the ground and I know what it takes, so that’s what I’m doing.

“Being a kid in the academy days I’ve always scored goals and I wouldn’t say I’ve been the star kid but I’ve always been the kid who has jumped up the age groups.

“Then I came around the first team and it was kind of a shock where the whole of the game changes, so I’ve had to make a change to the whole of my game. But I’m adapting well and I think it’s the best run I’ve had for a while.”

Jones struck twice in three first-half minutes against Leicester before Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 25-yard effort added the gloss.

It left Leicester two points from safety with two games left and Jamie Vardy admitted they need to win at Newcastle on Monday and in the final-day visit of West Ham to stand a chance of surviving.

“We’ve got to put it straight to the back of our minds now,” the striker told the club’s official site. “We’ve got to focus on the next two games and we’ve got to pick two wins up. It’ll be tough but we know we’ve got the talent in that dressing room. It needs to click.

“We’ve got two games left and the minimum we can have is two wins just to give ourselves a chance.

“So, we’ll get back on that training pitch, spend all week looking at Newcastle, how we can exploit the weaknesses and how we stop, obviously, their strengths.

“We’ve got to make sure that we put the 90-minute effort in next week to pick up a win.”

Connections of Anmaat are toying with the idea of running in France if he does not take up his intended engagement in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on Sunday week.

The hugely-consistent Owen Burrows-trained five-year-old, who won the Group Two Prix Dollar at ParisLongchamp in October, opened this season with a runner-up effort behind 2021 Derby winner Adayar in the Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket earlier this month.

The son of Awtaad, who stayed on well under Jim Crowley to get within two and a half lengths of the classy winner, has won six of his 11 starts and placed on the other five occasions.

Now Anmaat could take the step into Group One company for the first time.

Angus Gold, racing manager for the gelding’s owners Shadwell Estates, said: “He has come out of the Gordon Richards well.

“The original plan was always to look at the Tattersalls Gold Cup in Ireland at the end of next week.

“Either that, or the Prix d’Ispahan (May 29). We will look at those, as long as he is in good shape.”

Plans are similarly fluid for the William Haggas-trained Mujtaba, who was beaten a neck by Point Lonsdale in last week’s Huxley Stakes at Chester.

“I don’t know what the plans are as yet,” said Gold. “I thought he ran a good race. Jim (Crowley) was a bit annoyed with himself. He said if he sat right up Ryan’s backside, he thought he would have won it.

“I think that is being a bit harsh. That was only his first run of the season and he is a big, galloping horse.

“I know he has won at Chester, but he’s also run badly there before. I don’t think it suits him. He wants a more galloping track ideally.

“For me, at least it showed he belongs in that sort of company and I thought he ran a very good race.

“He’ll go anywhere where there is a bit of decent ground. He wouldn’t want quick ground.”

Cameron Norrie left his mark on Novak Djokovic but saw his Italian Open run end in the fourth round.

The world number one was simply too solid for Norrie in a 6-3 6-4 victory that maintains his record of never having lost before the quarter-finals in Rome.

The main talking point came in the fourth game of the second set as Norrie sought to retrieve an early break.

Djokovic turned his back on the play after presenting his opponent with an easy smash, only for Norrie, seemingly unintentionally, to drill the ball into the Serbian’s legs.

Djokovic gave the British number one an extremely frosty stare and there was an edge to the contest thereafter, but Norrie never really threatened to land more than a glancing blow.

The 27-year-old, who had lost both his previous meetings with Djokovic, dropped serve at the start of the contest and was kept at arm’s length through the rest of the opening set, with the six-time champion putting on a tactical masterclass.

Norrie withstood pressure after the smash incident to hold his serve until 4-4, when Djokovic made the decisive move to reach the last eight.

“It was an early start today, strange conditions,” Djokovic said on Amazon Prime Video.

“I finished my warm-up 10 minutes before I went on court so I was rushing a bit with everything. I’m just glad to overcome today’s challenge in straight sets and move on.”

The 35-year-old was serving noticeably slower than usual but he was coy on the reason for an early morning visit to the treatment room.

“Every day is something,” he said. “Thankfully I was able to play and finish the match so hopefully tomorrow I will feel even better.”