Age Of Kings bounced back from his run in the Irish 2,000 Guineas to win the Jersey Stakes for Aidan O’Brien at Royal Ascot.

Down the field behind stablemate Paddington at the Curragh, he was the second string in this Group Three with Ryan Moore preferring the claims of The Antarctic, who never got involved.

Wayne Lordan was the man on board and he was never far from the early pace, set by Frankie Dettori on the favourite Covey.

With two furlongs to run Covey’s stride began to shorten and that left Age Of Kings in front and it became a question of what he had left in the tank.

Challengers emerged from out of the pack, the best of which was James Ferguson’s Zoology, while Streets Of Gold also made good late headway.

But Age Of Kings was able to hold on by a length and win at 22-1 to give O’Brien a fourth winner of the week.

O’Brien said: “He had a very good run in the Irish Guineas if you look back at it and it was his first run of the year. He’s made great progress from it. He’s worked a length or two off The Antarctic who we were worried about the trip, but we were sure this fellow would enjoy it.

“The form was there and Wayne kept things uncomplicated. He said the horse tried very hard and would get a mile.”

Lordan said: “He had a run in the Guineas because he was a long time off the track, and finished eight lengths behind Paddington, so for the first run of the year to do that is not too bad.

“It’s great to be coming over here for rides, especially for Aidan and to get a winner is fabulous. Any day here is special.”

Former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova will return to the top 10 after reaching her first grass-court final at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.

The Czech claimed her maiden singles grand slam title in 2021 but missed a chunk of last season with an elbow injury and dropped down the rankings.

Now the 27-year-old is back on the up and she is yet to drop a set so far at Edgbaston Priory, easing to a 6-3 6-2 victory over China’s Zhu Lin in the semi-finals.

Krejcikova said: “I’m really happy. Today was another difficult match, I felt it was really tough to play against my opponent today, so I’m really happy how I went through and I was really focused all the games.

“I played well. It’s really nice that I’m back (in the top 10) but it’s just a number, I want to keep going.”

It will be a battle of the top two seeds in the final, but second seed Jelena Ostapenko has had a contrasting path.

The powerful Latvian survived her third close three-setter in as many days, seeing off Russian Anastasia Potapova 5-7 6-2 6-4.

“Honestly I don’t know how I did it,” said Ostapenko. “Every match was a really tough match. It’s never easy and I always play a little bit up and down but in general I’m really happy.

“I think it’s important to win these kind of matches when you’re sometimes not playing your best and you just fight for every point. I will try to recover as good as I can and be ready for tomorrow.”

Age Of Kings bounced back from a disappointing run in the Irish 2,000 Guineas to win the Jersey Stakes for Aidan O’Brien at Royal Ascot.

Down the field behind stablemate Paddington at the Curragh, he was the second string in this Group Three with Ryan Moore preferring the claims of The Antarctic, who never got involved.

Wayne Lordan was the man on board and he was never far from the early pace, set by Frankie Dettori on the favourite Covey.

With two furlongs to run Covey’s stride began to shorten and that left Age Of Kings in front and it became a question of what he had left in the tank.

Challengers emerged from out of the pack, the best of which was James Ferguson’s Zoology, while Streets Of Gold also made good late headway.

But Age Of Kings was able to hold on by a length and win at 22-1 to give O’Brien a fourth winner of the week.

Alex De Minaur reached his first final at Queen’s Club after a grass-court masterclass against Holger Rune at the cinch Championships.

The 24-year-old ‘Demon’ roared to a 6-3 7-6 (2) victory to become the first Australian to make the final since Lleyton Hewitt won his fourth title in 2006.

De Minaur, the boyfriend of Britain’s Katie Boulter, is a proven performer on the grass; he is a former Eastbourne champion and also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

Danish rising star Rune, by contrast, remains a work in progress on grass. His win over Maxime Cressy on Tuesday was the first of his career on the surface.

De Minaur broke the Rune serve in the very first game and repeated the trick in the ninth to wrap up the opening set.

Rune, 20, fashioned a first break point at the start of the second, but De Minaur slammed the door shut with two consecutive winners and an ace.

De Minaur had a break point for 5-3 to take a stranglehold on the match, but he netted a simple forehand to let his opponent off the hook.

However, he totally dominated the tie-break, dropping just two points, on his way to victory in an hour and 40 minutes.

De Minaur, who beat Andy Murray in the first round, said: “I play pretty decent on grass and I’m having an amazing week.

“That was my best match so far, so happy days. One more to go. It’s a pretty special tournament so let’s hope I can go one better tomorrow. I’ll do my best.”

The semi-final was played in sweltering heat and twice interrupted by spectators needing medical treatment in the stands.

“I want to make sure the people who seeked medical assistance are all right,” added De Minaur. “Keep hydrated, it’s a hot one out there!”

Brendan Rodgers is adamant Celtic are getting a better manager this time round than the one that won all seven domestic trophies available to him during his previous spell in Scotland.

The Northern Irishman returned to Parkhead on Monday, almost four and a half years after he left to take charge of Leicester.

In his time at the Foxes, he oversaw FA Cup glory in 2021 and back-to-back fifth-place finishes in the Premier League before things unravelled in his closing season, culminating in his sacking in April as they spiralled towards relegation.

Rodgers explained that his football philosophy remains largely unchanged since he was previously at Celtic but he feels he is returning as a more astute operator overall.

“In terms of how we play my teams always play with an attacking philosophy,” he said. “We always set out to win. That’s never changed. When my teams are at their best that’s what they do.

“I am a better manager than when I sat here seven years ago (at the start of his first spell) and certainly than four years ago.

“Experiences good and bad always help you, and that was the beauty of coming back here. It’s an amazing club and hopefully we can continue moving forward.”

Rodgers is excited about immersing himself back into the Scottish football scene and living in the country once more, even though his home near Glasgow was broken into shortly after his departure for Leicester.

Asked if he was looking forward getting to grips with the cinch Premiership and battling for the title once more, he laughed: “Yes, and battling with the media, that was always good fun!

“I have to say, Scotland brought me a lot of happiness on and off the pitch when I was here. Obviously the joy at Celtic was amazing and how successful we were.

“Off the pitch I had a lot of respect for the city and country as a whole, hence why when we were thinking of coming back, it was not just about the football side.

“Even though the last moments here were difficult off the field, it still didn’t change for us the feelings we had here at Celtic.

“I’m delighted to be here from a professional perspective taking on all the teams, and also from a family perspective.”

Rodgers will find himself going up against an old colleague from his Chelsea and Liverpool days in the shape of Michael Beale, who is now the manager of Celtic’s city rivals Rangers.

The Gers are widely deemed to be stronger now than when they finished third – behind Aberdeen – in both of Rodgers’ first two seasons at Celtic.

“All you can do is beat the opposition in front of you,” he said when asked about the challenge he expects from Rangers. “When I arrived seven years ago, Rangers were just getting promoted.

“They had just beaten Celtic and had a feeling they could win the league. Obviously in the next number of years we were able to focus on ourselves and that allowed us to win trophies and have success. It’ll be exactly the same here.

“Michael is a coach I knew from my Chelsea days, and then he came to Liverpool when I was manager there, I have known him over a period of time.

“He is an excellent coach. But my focus will be purely on Celtic and improving us as a team and that will be my thought process every day.”

Snellen just held off the late lunge of favourite Pearls And Rubies to provide Champion Hurdle-winning trainer Gavin Cromwell with a second Royal Ascot winner.

Sent off at 12-1 having won on her only previous outing at Limerick, she was produced with a well-timed challenge by Gary Carroll.

With a furlong to run there were any amount still in with a chance, but Carroll’s mount took a length out of the field.

That should have put the race to bed but Snellen began to drift to her left, allowing Pearls And Rubies and Ryan Moore a chance to close the gap. Unfortunately for favourite-backers, though, there was still a head between them when the line came.

Golden Mind and 125-1 shot Oddyssey dead-heated for third.

Cromwell said: “She’s been nice from the word go and is just progressing all the time.

“Her dam won over a mile and a half so I think she’ll stay further. I haven’t thought about Classics, we’ll enjoy today first.”

Nat Sciver-Brunt fell for 78 but Tammy Beaumont helped England surge past 300 to eat into Australia’s lead on the third morning of the lone Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.

Beaumont advanced her overnight 100 to 144 not out as England went to lunch on 308 for three to trail by 165, although Sciver-Brunt was unable to join her team-mate into three figures as she nicked off.

However, the pair’s stand was worth 137 in just 187 balls as Australia struggled to make inroads on a flat pitch despite rotating their options – having used eight bowlers in this England innings.

They resolutely stuck with seam for more than the first hour of the day before off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner made Australia’s sole breakthrough of the session after drawing a mistake from Sciver-Brunt.

She might have been dismissed without adding to her overnight 41 after missing a flick and being rapped on the front pad by Darcie Brown but England’s star all-rounder reviewed the lbw decision and was vindicated as Hawk-Eye showed the ball would have gone on to drift past leg stump.

It was a chancy start from Sciver-Brunt, who also edged Kim Garth just out of the reach of the slips on 42 after England had added just one run to their overnight 218 for two in the first three overs.

In the next over, Beaumont settled by driving, steering then pulling Brown for three fours in an over while Sciver-Brunt was soon into her stride with three successive fours off Annabel Sutherland.

Beaumont and Sciver-Brunt were rarely troubled by Australia’s seamers so it was a surprise the tourists waited 75 minutes to turn to spin – and their folly was exposed as Gardner struck with her ninth ball.

Backing away for an attempted cut, Sciver-Brunt, who showed no sign of a minor knee injury which restricted her to bowling just fiver overs in Australia’s innings, got a thick edge to a flatter delivery and Alyssa Healy held on.

Seamer Tahlia McGrath offered some control with her tight lines, conceding just 13 runs in seven overs, while in the over before lunch leg-spinner Alana King found prodigious turn with one delivery, which may offer Australia some cheer heading into the next session.

Frankie Dettori will arrive for his final day at Royal Ascot in the grandest possible fashion as part of the royal procession.

The 52-year-old has bounced back from a disappointing first day when he went winless and picked up a nine-day suspension – which he is appealing – to enjoy some spectacular successes, including the Gold Cup aboard Courage Mon Ami.

Dettori and his wife, Catherine, are in carriage four with Jamie Snowden and his wife, Lucy.

His book of rides on Saturday sees Covey as favourite for the Jersey Stakes, Free Wind a short price in the Hardwicke, Kinross fancied in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and Knockbrex the market leader in the Golden Gates Handicap. He also rides Mums Tipple in the Wokingham.

Steve Smith says he felt like he had drunk “a dozen beers” last time he played at Lord’s, as he prepares to return to the venue for the second Ashes Test.

The Australia batsman became the first cricketer to be formally substituted out of a Test match with concussion when he withdrew from the second Test at Lord’s in 2019.

Smith initially passed concussion testing before returning having been struck on the neck by England pace bowler Jofra Archer on day four.

Yet he was ruled out on the final day – with the match drawn – and also missed the following Test at Headingley.

Smith recalled the incident ahead of the second Test, which starts on Wednesday. Australia lead the series following their two-wicket victory in the opener at Edgbaston.

The 34-year-old explained: “It was just a day that I wasn’t quite seeing the ball as well as I would have liked from that end.

“Archer was bowling 93 to 96 miles an hour at stages. And the wicket felt like it was a little bit up and down. So it certainly wasn’t easy.

“It was a very difficult period to get through, and obviously I caught one on the arm, got away with a few pull shots that are top edge and a couple in the gaps. And then I caught one in the back of the head, which hurt a fair bit.

“At that stage, I didn’t realise I was getting concussed. I went off and did all the tests, passed all the tests.

“It wasn’t until I came back out and half an hour after, when the adrenaline sort of went out of my system and I started to feel quite groggy, probably like I’d had a dozen beers to be honest. That lasted for a little bit. It was a difficult period and he bowled really nicely.”

Smith scored 92 in the first innings, which had been delayed due to rain, before he was dismissed lbw by Chris Woakes.

“I remember spending a lot of time in the nets and even the day before the game, I think I had a really long net, I just couldn’t find a rhythm. And then finally, something just clicked and I started to feel good,” he said.

“That was probably after two and a half hours in the net. So I’d say after that I was probably a little bit mentally fatigued from having such a long hit the day before the game, but I also felt like I was prepared and ready to go. And then it was just about going out in the middle and playing.

“We were losing a lot of wickets at the other end throughout that innings. I was just trying to stay in the present as much as possible, probably up until we’re about eight down, which was when I started to probably play a few more shots.”

::Legends of The Ashes is a new 10-part Global Original podcast series on Global Player and all major audio platforms.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has denied comments he made about Nick Kyrgios following last year’s heated Wimbledon battle were racist in nature.

The Greek has been criticised on social media for saying during the Netflix documentary series Break Point that Kyrgios’ approach to tennis was “uneducated” and that he brought an “NBA basketball attitude” to the sport.

Writing on his Facebook page, Tsitsipas said: “Today, I want to address a matter that has been weighing heavily on my heart; an unfortunate misunderstanding that has a distorted picture of my intentions.

“It has come to my attention that some individuals have misinterpreted my comments regarding Nick Kyrgios, labelling him as uneducated and accusing him of bringing a basketball mentality into tennis, insinuating racism where none exists.

“Let me take this opportunity to provide clarity and rectify any misconceptions that may have arisen.

“Firstly, I want to emphasise that I harbour no prejudice towards anyone based on their background, ethnicity, or interests. I deeply regret if my words were misinterpreted or caused offence, as that was never my intention.

“My previous remarks regarding Nick Kyrgios were not meant to undermine his intelligence or abilities. Instead, I simply intended to express my perspective on certain aspects of his playing style, drawing comparisons to the passion and intensity often associated with basketball.

“It was an attempt to highlight the dynamic and captivating nature of his approach to the game, not a criticism of his character or capabilities.”

The pair clashed in the third round at the All England Club, with Kyrgios engaged in a running dialogue with the umpire and calling for Tsitsipas to be defaulted after he swiped a ball into the crowd.

The Greek lost his cool and received a point penalty for recklessly hitting the ball before appearing to aim a shot straight at Kyrgios, who eventually won in four sets.

Kyrgios accepted Tsitsipas’ apology, writing on Twitter: “It was a very heated battle sometimes as players we go into these press conferences without digesting the match…. We’ve had some crazy battles and I know deep down you like my brand of tennis we are all good @steftsitsipas”

Rory McIlroy gave back the shots he made by holing in one on the eighth as he was left trailing the record-breaking halfway leaders at the Travelers Championship.

McIlroy aced the par three in the first round, but could only find the water second time around as he double bogeyed the hole en route to a six-under-par 64.

“I hit a pretty good shot, I just misjudged the wind a little bit and it came up short in the one place you couldn’t miss today,” said McIlroy, who is tied for 10th on eight-under-par – seven behind leaders Keegan Bradley and Denny McCarthy at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.

“Other than that, it was a really good round of golf.”

McCarthy followed his opening round of 60 with a 65 to set a commanding clubhouse target which only Bradley, who fired a second round 63, could match – their 15-under-par total of 125 setting a tournament record.

“It’s nice, but golf tournaments aren’t 36 holes unfortunately,” said McCarthy. “I know there’s still a lot of golf left and I’m playing some really nice golf, so I’m looking forward to having fun this weekend.”

Chez Reavie, who won the title in 2019, moved within two of the lead with a 63 with Eric Cole a further two strokes back.

Defending champion Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland are among those in a large group alongside McIlroy on eight-under, one better than a group containing England’s Aaron Rai, Ireland’s former Open champion Shane Lowry and world number one Scottie Scheffler.

Matt Fitzpatrick was a shot further back while his successor as US Open champion Wyndham Clark shot a 67 to move to five under – Masters champion Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood missing the cut.

Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz became the first Reds player to hit for a cycle in 34 years and Cincinnati outslugged the Atlanta Braves 11-10 for their 12th straight victory.

De La Cruz led off the second inning with a double, hit a two-run homer in the third, had a run-scoring single in the fifth and completed the cycle with a triple in the sixth for his fourth RBI of the game.

The cycle is the seventh overall in Reds’ history and the first since Eric Davis on June 2, 1989. The 21-year-old De La Cruz achieved the feat in just his 15th game – the third fewest since 1900.

Cincinnati matched the 1939 and 1957 teams for the franchise’s longest single season winning streak since 1900.

Atlanta, which had an eight-game winning streak stopped, scored five runs in the first off Luke Weaver, with Travis d’Arnaud’s three-run homer the big blow.

Cincinnati got two runs back in the second inning on Jake Fraley’s home run and pulled within 5-4 an inning later on De La Cruz’s two-run blast.

Joey Votto’s first home run of the game in the fourth inning tied it, but the Braves went back on top in the fifth as Matt Olson’s homer scored Austin Riley.

The Reds went ahead for good with four runs in their half of the fifth. De La Cruz singled in a run and Votto delivered a three-run homer.

Atlanta got solo home runs from Ronald Acuna, Jr., Riley and Olson again in the eighth but was unable to push across the tying run in just its third loss in 18 games.

Ohtani hits MLB-best 25th home run in Angels’ loss

Shohei Ohtani extended his major league lead with his 25th home run and fell a triple shy of the cycle in the Los Angles Angels’ 7-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Ohtani homered off starter Kyle Freeland in the fifth inning and Mike Trout followed with his 16th home run to give the Angels a 4-2 lead.

Ohtani has at least one extra-base hit in 10 straight road games, a franchise record and the longest such streak in the majors since 2009.

Colorado, which had lost eight in a row, went ahead in the eighth on Elias Diaz’s grand slam.

Conforto leads Giants past Diamondbacks in NL West matchup

Michael Conforto had three hits and four RBIs to lead the San Francisco Giants to an 8-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a battle between the top teams in the NL West.

Conforto had a two-run double in San Francisco’s three-run third inning and came through with another two-run double as part of a four-run fifth. Patrick Bailey capped the uprising with a two-run homer.

The Giants have won 11 of 12 to get within 2 ½ games of NL West-leading Arizona.

Allianz Premier 15s chief executive Belinda Moore believes that women’s sport is beginning to “stand alone” as interest continues to grow.

The RFU announced in June 2022 that up to £220m would be invested into the professional women’s game over 10 years and Moore was announced as CEO of the Premier 15s last October.

It comes as part of an exciting time of growth in women’s sport which will be seen this summer with England’s cricketers and netballers in action alongside the Lionesses, who will be aiming to build on last year’s Euro win at the World Cup.

There has also been success in rugby as the Red Roses reached the World Cup final last November before scooping a fifth successive Six Nations title in front of a record-breaking crowd of 58,498 at Twickenham in April, and Moore insists women’s sport is now providing entertainment in its own right.

“We all know what an amazing job the Lionesses did and the growth that’s come off the back of that,” she told the PA news agency.

“One of the things they proved very eloquently was that women’s sport now is starting to stand alone.

“It’s recognised for what it is, so it’s not regarded as men’s sport – there’s a women’s brand of football, a women’s brand of rugby and they’re really entertaining games in their own right.”

Women’s domestic rugby is set to take centre stage on Saturday when Exeter Chiefs face Gloucester-Hartpury in the Premier 15s final at the renamed “Queensholm” Stadium.

Neither team has previously won the competition and so far 8,000 tickets have been sold for the West Country clash.

“I’m hugely looking forward to Saturday, I think the two semi-finals set a really good benchmark for what we can expect this weekend,” Moore said.

“It’s been amazing to see the growth of women’s rugby, even in the short time since the World Cup last year and that crowd last year, and the crowd at Twickenham for the England-France game.

“They’ve sold over 7,000 tickets for this match this weekend, which is a huge uptake on last year.

“The great news is we can see the interest in the sport is growing and I’m looking forward to a cracking final at Queensholm, as they’ve aptly renamed it this weekend!”

Alongside plans to grow the Premier 15s competition, England are also set to host the World Cup in 2025.

Last year’s World Cup final saw hosts New Zealand beat the Red Roses in front of 42,579 in Auckland and Moore believes a home tournament is an ideal opportunity to keep generating interest.

She said: “The number of people who got up at daft o’clock in the morning, myself included, was a really big thing.

“It was a great one, the challenge always is when you play rugby of any description down on the southern hemisphere, it’s harder to get that wider attention in a busy, crowded sports market.

“So I think what you got primarily was rugby fans, which is brilliant, but what we also want to do is expand the game out to those who maybe don’t know it so well, sports fans or more general fans of women’s sport.

“The great news is we’ve got a strong base to build on, but we definitely need to build on it and 2025 I think will be that big springboard that puts women’s rugby in people’s living rooms at primetime and starts to change that narrative.”