David Egan’s new role as retained rider for Amo Racing got off to the best possible start when Mr Professor came home clear in the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster, with the jockey hoping it signals the beginning of a fruitful partnership.
Many were surprised when Egan left the relatively secure role of riding the majority of Roger Varian’s string to take up the number one position with Kia Joorabchian’s increasingly prominent operation.
Several leading riders have already gained and lost what is now a high-profile job, but the prospect of riding the likes of King Of Steel, Ornellaia, Bucanero Fuerte and a whole host of expensive juveniles was a tempting one.
Having spent the winter riding abroad, Egan was at the Curragh on Monday to win the first juvenile race of 2023 on Arizona Blaze, and by adding the first major handicap of the season on Dominic Ffrench Davis’ five-year-old it could not have been a better start.
“It’s a fantastic start to the year. I’m not going to lie, it was a surprise to me how easy he took me into the race at the two-pole,” he said of his 33-1 winner.
“It was an outstanding performance really, I know he was getting plenty of weight from a lot of the runners, but it’s a fantastic performance.
“Doncaster has been a lucky place for me, I obviously won my first Classic here (St Leger on Eldar Eldarov), but the Lincoln is the race every winter that you build towards. I’ve obviously been away, but the Lincoln is that special race that kick-starts the year, so it’s great to win.”
The sole Irish raider for the race was Fozzy Stack’s Chazzesmee, sent off the 5-2 favourite following his easy success in the Irish version last weekend.
“What was going through my head was the Irish Lincolnshire last week, I rode Raadobarg in that and I gave Joey Sheridan a lead all the way to the furlong pole on Chazzesmee and he quickened up by me,” said Egan, who won the Saudi Cup and Juddmonte International with Mishriff when he was retained by Prince Faisal.
“I got into the stalls today and who was next to me! I looked at Joey and he just said ‘same again?’. I knew he was behind me the whole way, but when my lad quickened up, he quickened up really well – and as he has stamina, he was able to sustain that all the way to the line.”
As for taking the Amo job, Egan could well have joined at just the right time.
He went on: “It’s a very exciting year, you dream of getting a job like this and he (Joorabchian) has got such an array of horses, from older horses like King Of Steel to Classic contenders like Bucanero Fuerte.
“And Amo Racing in recent times have been renowned for two-year-olds coming through, they had a lovely one win at the Curragh last week. They are a great team to have a connection with.
“They’ve got ambition to win and be the best, we understand that will take time but they are still relatively new, the purple colours have only been seen in the last five or six years – when I started in racing, Amo Racing wasn’t even a thing.
“To see their progress and for me to land a job of this nature so soon in my career is great and I hope we have a lot of success in the future.”
Ryan Loft scored late on to give Port Vale a crucial 1-0 victory at Burton to end their 14-game winless run.
The striker pounced seven minutes from time to give Vale a first win of 2024 and pull themselves to within three points of Sky Bet League One safety.
Vale’s James Wilson fired the first effort of the game into the side netting and Burton keeper Jamal Blackman had to tip Nathan Smith’s goalbound header from a corner over the bar.
Albion’s best moments came from Mark Helm, the midfielder agonisingly wide with a curling effort while Connor Ripley had to come out of his goal to block him after an exchange of passes with Joe Hugill.
Burton captain John Brayford poked wide early in the second half before Vale’s Ben Garrity struck the post from Tom Sang’s corner.
The decisive moment came on a counterattack, Loft initially crossing for Ethan Chislett and, when the striker’s shot bounced back off the post, he was there to smash the ball in from close range.
Derby’s promotion hopes were dealt a major blow as they suffered a narrow 1-0 League One defeat at midtable Northampton.
The Cobblers’ first win in six games – and their first ever over Derby – came thanks to Sam Hoskins’ first-half strike, his 15th goal of the season.
Derby dominated possession early on and they should taken a 20th-minute lead but Martyn Waghorn side-footed the ball over with the goal at his mercy.
Northampton struck against the run of play midway through the first half when Louis Appere chased down a long ball and showed brilliant vision to pick out Hoskins, who volleyed first time into the bottom corner.
The visitors responded well but they could not find a leveller before half-time despite Ebou Adams twice going close, first denied by Sam Sherring’s goal-line clearance and then heading over when well placed.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing almost converted Kane Wilson’s cross after the restart before Manny Monthe hit the post at the other end.
Derby applied plenty of late pressure but could find no way through Northampton’s resilient rearguard and their misery was compounded by a straight red card for Sonny Bradley in stoppage-time.
Paul George insists the Los Angeles Clippers are not focusing on what the New Orleans Pelicans are doing as they battle it out for the Western Conference fourth seed.
The Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 125-117 on Friday, while the soaring Pelicans have won eight of their last 10 games.
Los Angeles are a game-and-a-half ahead of the Pelicans in the race for the No.4 seed.
But George, who led the Clippers with 31 points, is paying little attention to New Orleans' form.
"We're not looking at them," George said.
"It's more about us. We've got to play well and we're in the driver's seat. So it's more about us."
With the Clippers holding a large lead in the final quarter, coach Tyronn Lue was able to rest George and fellow star Kawhi Leonard, who added 22 points.
Lue said: "I just want us to lock in and be healthy."
The West is tough anyway, no matter who we play or where you play. Whether you start at home, start on the road, it's going to be tough.
"So it doesn't really bother me or phase me in any way. We've just got to be healthy."
Lue will be buoyed, then, by the impending return of Russell Westbrook.
He has been out for three weeks since he underwent surgery on a fractured hand.
Westbrook, though, is expected to return to action next week.
Judd Trump is one win away from a fifth ranking title of the season after beating Jackson Page in the semi-finals of the World Open.
Trump will face China’s Ding Junhui in the final in Yushan after beating an unfortunate Page 6-2, the Welshman cutting his finger while taking his cue out of its case before the match.
“The buckle of the case ripped the skin on my finger,” Page said. “I was praying for it not to bleed, but then it started bleeding.
“I tried putting a plaster on, but then I couldn’t feel the cue so I had to take it off. It’s not an ideal start in your first semi-final.”
Trump, who won this event the last time it was staged in 2019, opened with a break of 122 and won four frames in a row following the interval after Jackson’s break of 72 had made it 2-2.
“It was a scrappy game, neither of us played well, we both missed a lot of balls,” Trump said.
“It was Jackson’s first semi-final and he didn’t really settle, my experience probably made the difference.
“I haven’t played that well this week, I have scraped my way through with sheer determination, but that has been the case at other tournaments I have won this season. Hopefully things click in the final.”
Victory in the final would give world number two Trump a 28th career ranking title, moving him level with Steve Davis on the all-time list and behind only Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and John Higgins.
The other semi-final proved a tense affair between Ding and Neil Robertson, which went to a deciding frame.
Breaks of 67 and 118 had seen Robertson open up an early 3-1 lead.
Ding, though, responded with two half-century runs of his own to edge back in front.
Robertson made 128 in the ninth frame despite becoming frustrated with the frequent interruptions from mobile phones in the noisy crowd, the Australian appearing to point out one serial offender to the referee.
However, Ding responded again as he took a tense 10th frame with a break of 68.
Then after Robertson had missed a chance to wrap up victory when looking set on a break of 53, the world number nine clinched a hard-earned place in the final with a run of 24 to win the deciding frame 70-56.
Mr Professor was too clever for the rest with a power-packed display in the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster.
Sent off at 33-1, the Dominic Ffrench Davis-trained five-year-old was drawn in stall two but ended up more towards the middle after David Egan – celebrating a big winner so soon after becoming number one rider for owners Amo Racing – asked his mount to quicken a furlong and a half from home.
Lattam was a length and a half back in second, with Navagio two lengths further away in third, but there was never any danger to the winner once he had flown.
Fozzy Stack’s Chazzesmee was the well-backed 5-2 favourite, chasing an unprecedented double after winning the Irish equivalent last weekend, but while he moved with some menace, he could never quite get into it, eventually just being edged out for fourth by Alpha Crucis.
But there was huge disappointment for David Menuisier, with last year’s winner Migration planting himself in the stalls as the gates opened.
Cieren Fallon produced Montassib to perfection in winning the William Hill Cammidge Trophy Stakes at Doncaster.
Content to sit at the back of the field until just over a furlong out, Fallon weaved his way through on the William Haggas-trained 4-1 chance to beat 3-1 joint-favourite Marshman by a neck, with the other market leader Orazio another length and a quarter back.
It did look like Marshman had done enough after hitting the front, but his supporters were sunk by Fallon’s late surge, on a horse who ended last season with victory in the valuable Coral Sprint Trophy at York and is now a Listed winner.
It was Fallon’s first winner since returning from a lengthy injury.
He said: “Last year, he was a frustrating horse for me because I felt I should have won the Ayr Gold Cup on him, but we at least ended the season with a win at York.
“I rode him work the other week and I said to the boss he’d improved again, he’d got quicker. He was such an easy ride today, anyone could have won on him.
“I’m very lucky that I was looked after well at Oaksey House, they’ve spent a lot of hours with me, I took my time as I was off for four and a half months, I didn’t want to come back too soon, I wanted to make sure I was 100 per cent.
“I’ve been back riding out the last three weeks and the boss has put me on some quiet horses to give me some confidence that way. I had a spin yesterday and I feel great, I feel better than ever and I don’t feel like I’ve lost any race-sharpness at all.
“I’m in a really great position, I’m very lucky to be riding horses like this.”
Assistant trainer Maureen Haggas said: “I thought Cieren gave him a lovely ride – it was a bit testing about a furlong out, but he got there.
“He was a talented two-year-old, then early the following year he had a problem with his heart, so he had the whole year off.
“He’s really done nothing but improve since then, he got his act together at the end of last year and he’s carrying on now. I think he needs a bit of cut to be seen at his best.
“We thought he was quite big today, as he had a good blow in his work, but he doesn’t look like he’s had much of a race today.
“He’s a lovely horse, one of those lovely people, so straightforward.”
The mercurial Look Back Smiling provided Gemma Tutty with the biggest success of her training career when winning the William Hill Epic Boost Spring Mile at Doncaster.
Bought out of Ed Dunlop’s stable by Nick Bradley for what now looks a snip at £10,000, the four-year-old was defying a career-high mark of 83.
A winner in heavy ground at Town Moor last October, he had conditions to suit once more and was delivered perfectly by 5lb claimer Brandon Wilkie.
The only worry was that under pressure he drifted into Jamie Spencer on the 5-1 favourite Thunder Roar, bidding to give Tony Coyle and Kaine Wood a first winner since the start of their new joint venture. The stewards left the original result alone, though.
Tutty said of the 17-2 winner: “As you could see in the final furlong, he’s not the most straightforward and he doesn’t make life easy for his jockeys.
“That’s another fantastic run at this track though, so we’re going to have to look at coming back here.
“He doesn’t do a stroke at home. In his work, we put the least experienced jockeys on him and just play catch me if you can, then he just keeps going and going.”
She went on: “He won three races last year, but I suppose in racing like he does, it’s protected him from the handicapper. It’s just a shame he needs the ground this soft because some of those big handicaps in the summer would be perfect for him.
“We’ve had a really good start to the year, we’ve targeted the All-Weather Championships, so we’ve had more runners than we’d normally have and they’ve been running well, but you can’t have a better start to the turf season than this.
“It’s my biggest win, I suppose, we’ve got about 20 horses in and the staff have worked so hard all winter, the staff have been up and down that motorway all winter, so I can’t thank them enough.
“Nick Bradley has a few horses with me now, so it’s nice to repay the faith he has shown in me.”
Dylan Cunha put a feather in the cap of his training career in Britain as Zminiature landed the William Hill EBF Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster.
Traditionally the curtain-raiser for the Flat season, this time the juvenile contest – won 12 months ago by Persian Force, who went on to prove very smart – was the second race on the Town Moor card.
A Group One-winning handler in his native South Africa, Cunha is now based in Newmarket, and in this 16-1 winner he looks to have a nice colt on his hands.
Given a patient ride by Rhys Clutterbuck, the Territories youngster moved smoothly through runners to pick up long-timer leader Paddy’s Courage inside the final furlong, before keeping on nicely to hold Bob The Bandit and Indication Ember by a length and a short head.
Cunha said: “It was expected. We really fancied him. He’s small but he’s tough and does everything right. It’s nice to get a good early two-year-old winner.
“I said to the owners halfway through the race ‘it’s been a great experience, he’s learning to race’, as it looked like he was going to be fourth or fifth.
“We took him to Chelmsford for a gallop last Monday, we did all the work that needed to be done.
“I’ve got to thank the Sarkar family, they were the first owners in the UK to support me, so to pay them back with a Brocklesby winner is massive.
“His name is Zminiature because he’s tiny, he’s only up to my chest!
“We started with three horses 18 months ago but we’re up to 50 now, 25 of those are two-year-olds. It’s been hard work, 18-hour days, but I’ve got to thank the team at home, I just conduct it all.
“There’s a conditions race at Chester and a Listed race at Sandown, then after that we’ll take stock.
“I’m pleased for Rhys, I don’t think he gets the opportunities he deserves but he’s quite softly spoken and in this game you’ve got to make a bit of noise and talk yourself into jobs, but it meant I was able to get him. He’s a great jockey, I love him.”
Silvestre de Sousa made the best possible start to the new turf season when teaming up with Roger Varian’s Charyn to win the William Hill Doncaster Mile.
The former champion jockey has only recently returned from a 10-month suspension picked up in Hong Kong for breaching betting rules.
De Sousa, 43, has been getting his eye in on the all-weather recently but will have been thrilled to pick up the first Listed race of the season on the Group One-placed Charyn.
Last year’s winner Astral Beau made another bold bid for Pam Sly but she had no answer close home to the 2-1 winner, who streaked three and a half lengths clear under hands and heels riding.
“He’s a lovely horse, he just felt a little bit lazy out there,” said De Sousa.
“He’s ended up picking up really well. There wasn’t much of a pace, so I just rode the race to suit him.”
With David Egan taking up his role with Amo Racing this season, Varian will be employing a new team of jockeys, with De Sousa in line to pick up plenty, along with James Doyle.
“That was a nice start to the season. Last year, he put up some really good efforts in the Irish Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes against some top opposition,” said Varian.
“He was a Group Two-winning two-year-old, he’s always been a nice horse and had some big questions asked of him last year, hopefully this can be his year.
“He looks to have done well through the winter, he’s a stronger horse this year and we were always keen to come here just to try and get a win on the board and build him back up again.
“I was worried about the ground, as while he has run some good races on testing ground, he’s at his best on a sounder surface. I think he’ll go on any ground.
“I’d like to go to Sandown for the Group Two (Bet365 Mile) and then the Lockinge.”
On the jockey situation, Varian added: “We’re in a good position. Some of our owners have their own jockeys, James Doyle is going to ride quite a few for us when available.
“Silvestre has been in riding work, I’ve got Jack Mitchell to call upon, Cam Noble, Raul de Silva, Aiden Keeley, so I’ve got a good team and they are all in every morning putting in the work, so hopefully they’ll all get opportunities.
“Silvestre is a good jockey, we like him a lot, we’ve known him a long time.”
Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands played out a goalless stalemate, while US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands played to a 1-1 stalemate in their respective first legs, as first round action of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers got underway on Friday.
Anguilla 0-0 Turks and Caicos Islands
The action started with Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands failing to get on the score sheet at the Raymond E. Guishard Stadium in Anguilla.
The result halts an 11-match losing streak for Anguilla in World Cup Qualifying.
It was a very cagey first 45 minutes between the two sides, with little in the way of scoring chances.
Things opened up in the second half and Anguilla should have broken the deadlock when they won a penalty, but they were unable to convert.
In the end, the Turks and Caicos Islands defence held firm to secure the goalless draw, leaving things wide open for Tuesday’s second leg.
US Virgin Islands 1-1 British Virgin Islands
The second match of the day offered a bit more in terms of entertainment, as British Virgin Islands came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with US Virgin Islands at the Bethlehem Soccer Stadium in Upper Bethlehem, USVI.
Scoring chances were few and far between in the first half, but it was a different story in the second half, as USVI scored the first goal of the day in the 73rd.
A long throw-in was headed in the area and fell perfectly for Jett Blaschka, who chested the ball to himself and finished a left-footed shot.
BVI camped out in USVI's quarters in their probe for an equalizer, but they found their opponents defence in a defiant mood at that point.
However, BVI’s Justin Smith had other plans and in the second minute of second half stoppage time, he fired home from close-range to earn his side a crucial away goal to keep things even heading into the second leg.
Daryl Jacob will miss the ride on Intense Raffles in the Boylesports Irish Grand National on Easter Monday due to a broken collarbone.
The 40-year-old was riding Moon Hunter for Henry Daly at Newbury on Friday when he parted company with his mount at the third fence.
He is hoping to be back in time for the Punchestown Festival but will know more next week.
Jacob told SportingLife.com: “It was an unfortunate accident as Moon Hunter clipped heels with a horse in front of him coming down, taking his footing away from him, and I landed on my collarbone.
“It’s fractured in two places and I’ll know more about recovery timelines when I see Geoff Graham, a specialist, next Wednesday.
“The timing is terrible as I was looking forward to riding Intense Raffles in the Irish National and then there’s Aintree just around the corner.
“My motivation is to work hard and be back as soon as I can, hopefully for Punchestown, but I’ll know more on that score next week.”
D'Angelo Russell set a new Los Angeles Lakers record for the most 3-pointers in a single season as his team snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Los Angeles won 101-94 on Friday, earning their first victory over Philadelphia since March 2020.
The Lakers improved to 38-32, now the same record as the Sixers, with the fourth quarter proving key as they edged a close, low-scoring game.
It was the Lakers' lowest points tally in a game since January 3 and LeBron, who had 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, as well as eight rebounds and six assists, accepted it had not been a vintage performance.
"It was ugly, but we got the job done," he said, per ESPN. "We defended well in the second half. They only had 18 points in the fourth. That's big-time when the offense was struggling like it was.
"We turned the ball over way too much and gave up too many easy baskets, but when we got in the half-court, we buckled down and made them take tough shots."
Davis had 23 points and 19 rebounds for Los Angeles, while Russell finished with 14 points and four 3-pointers.
Nick Van Exel had 183 successful 3s for the Lakers during the 1994-95 season, but Russell hit his 184th of this season in the first quarter, having sunk six from deep in the win against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Russell said: "It just feels good to be part of one of these type of deals.
"This franchise is one of the most prestigious, so to have my name be a part of it, more than grateful.
"Just continue to shatter it, if I can. Make it really hard for the next person!"
Tyrese Maxey scored 27 points for the Sixers, who have lost seven of 10 without MVP Joel Embiid and are 0-2 on their four-game West Coast road trip which continues against the Los Angeles Clippers next.
"We played unbelievably hard and executed the game plan," Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said. "I just thought we could not get enough offense to hang in there.
"As long as we play our guts out, I can live with it. I’m having a hard time living with it right now because I thought we played so hard and executed so well."
The Lakers, meanwhile, have won seven of their last 11 and host the Indiana Pacers (40-31) on Sunday. They are ninth in the Western Conference standings.
Ryan Porteous admits Scotland have to tighten up after the 4-0 defeat by Netherlands on Friday made it 18 goals conceded in six winless games.
Steve Clarke’s side started well in the first half of the friendly at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam until the Dutch took the lead against the run of play five minutes from the break with a powerful Tijjani Reijnders drive.
Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland missed a glorious chance in the 62nd minute when he was through against Dutch goalkeeper Mark Flekken with the Hearts captain clipping the crossbar with his shot.
It started to go really downwards for the Scots 10 minutes later when Georginio Wijnaldum headed in a second before substitutes Wout Weghorst and Donyell Malen added late goals.
Scotland have gone six games without a win for the first time since a run from October 2007 to September 2008 and ahead of the friendly against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park on Tuesday, Watford defender Porteous conceded improvement was required.
He said: “It was disappointing. We were more than in it for long spells.
“We had a number of good chances to get ourselves on level terms or maybe even go in front but ultimately the goals we have conceded have stopped us getting anything from the game.
“It is going to be hard to focus on the positives because of the manner of the result.
“But even if we’re getting beaten in games we can’t concede the goals that we have done. That can’t happen.
“We’ll definitely take a look at them. But up until the 65th minute we’re more than in the game but the sloppy goals and things that we can do better has cost us.
“It’s tough when you’re playing against these teams but we’ve shown that we can do it.
“We are going through a spell right now with six games, we’ve conceded a number of goals and it’s definitely something we want to rectify as a team and, lucky for us, we’ve got another game on Tuesday to try to do that.”
The match, which serves as a first preparation game for the European Championship in the summer, may well have turned out differently had Shankland netted when he was through against Flekken, but former Hibs defender Porteous was understanding.
He said: “I thought he was excellent against arguably the best centre-half in the world (Virgil van Dijk).
“His game has come on leaps and bounds in the last year and he can hold his head up high after that performance.”
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