Mister Coffey will begin his journey back to the Grand National on Saturday when he attempts to finally break his duck over fences in the From The Horse’s Mouth Podcast Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham.

Although second to L’Homme Presse in a Grade One over fences in February 2022, Nicky Henderson’s eight-year-old is remarkably still a novice over the larger obstacles, despite a respectable overall record that has seen him make the podium in seven of his nine chasing appearances.

Having run with credit at Prestbury Park at the last two Cheltenham Festivals, connections now hope they have picked out a suitable option to kick-start the gelding’s new campaign.

“He’s been third and second at the track but the most significant thing is he has never won a race over fences and hopefully this is the perfect opportunity,” said Charlie Gordon-Watson, racing manager to owner Lady Bamford.

“It’s left-handed on soft ground, the distance is right, everything is right. It looks like the right race for him.”

Mister Coffey was last seen jumping with real gusto on the front-end at Aintree in April in the Grand National.

Only stamina could stop Mister Coffey’s fun on that occasion and his team are now keen to return to Merseyside in the spring, providing their charge improves his rating sufficiently to make the line-up.

Gordon-Watson added: “Nicky was concerned about the new limit on numbers and that he needs to get up the weights a bit, so he needs to go up quite a few pounds to be guaranteed to get in. He’s 142 at the moment, so he has a bit of work to do.”

The Listed event, which was won last year by The Real Whacker and has the likes of Thistlecrack on its roll of honour, has attracted a strong field of six, with Nigel Twiston-Davies responsible for Weveallbeencaught and Broadway Boy, who both bring course-winning form to the table.

However, it is Good Risk At All that could pose the biggest threat to Mister Coffey, judged on his taking chasing bow at Carlisle.

Sam Thomas’ seven-year-old relished the larger obstacles when a 16-length winner over the reopposing Alaphilippe in the north west and could continue his handler’s fine start to the current season.

“Hopefully, Good Risk has learnt plenty from Carlisle and it is a small-runner field as well, which is nice,” said the trainer.

“We were thrilled (with his run at Carlisle), he made a bit of a novicey mistake early doors but he got the hang of it and please God he has learnt loads from that and, with a nice clean round of jumping, I would like to think he wouldn’t be a million miles away.”

Willie Mullins’ Baby Kate and John McConnell’s Sharp Object give Ireland a strong hand in the concluding Karndean Designflooring Mares’ Open National Hunt Flat Race, while the Emerald Isle raiders also have leading claims earlier in the day with Buddy One in the Paddy Power Games Handicap Hurdle.

Paul Gilligan’s six-year-old was third behind Iroko in the Martin Pipe back in March before also picking up a silver medal at Aintree a month later and he has continued to thrive, impressing with victory at Galway late last month.

“He’s improving and improving the whole time,” said Gilligan. “It’s another step up obviously, but his Galway run was fantastic – he was very professional that day in Galway.

“If he brings back his Martin Pipe form, then even though he has top-weight, he has to be in with a massive shout and that is what we are hoping.”

Formula One bosses were facing up to one of the most embarrassing days in the sport’s recent history after practice for the much-anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix was completed at 4am in an empty arena.

After months of hype leading up to the £500million race, the first running was abandoned with just eight minutes on the clock.

Second practice was then delayed by two and a half hours, and played out in front of vacant grandstands after furious fans were ejected to comply with local laws.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the order, with Max Verstappen sixth and Lewis Hamilton ninth, but the event – billed by F1 chiefs as the greatest show on earth – dramatically unravelled more than seven hours previously.

A water valve cover broke free from the newly laid tarmac and tore into the underbelly of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari at 210mph on the Las Vegas Boulevard.

The force of the impact visibly jolted Sainz in the cockpit and, amid a flurry of white smoke and orange sparks, disabled his machine.

Race director Niels Wittich red-flagged the session, but not before Esteban Ocon also struck the debris. On-board footage from Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin captured the 42-year-old dramatically dodging the loose drain cover.

Eleven minutes later, at 8:49pm, it was announced practice would not be resumed.

Both Sainz and Ocon escaped without injury – but their cars were severely damaged. A giant hole tore through Sainz’s Ferrari leaving his mechanics facing an extensive repair job. Team principal Frederic Vasseur, who appeared in a pre-arranged press conference moments later, was furious.

“We completely damaged the monocoque, engine and battery,” he said. “It is just unacceptable.”

Second practice had originally been scheduled to start at midnight. But it was postponed as all 30 drain covers along the 1.2-mile Las Vegas Boulevard – which runs against the backdrop of Caesars Palace, Bellagio and Venetian hotels – were inspected.

The covers were removed and holes filled with concrete and quick-drying resin in a hasty repair job. The track was finally deemed fit-for-purpose at 2:30am local time.

However, when the running resumed the stands were empty after strict labour laws posed a security risk. Some disgruntled fans, who refused to leave, were moved on by police.

A general admission ticket for the three-day event costs 500 US dollars (£400), while a hospitality suite was sold at an eye-watering 150,000 US dollars (£120,000) for the three days.

The disastrous failure in Las Vegas comes 48 hours after a Superbowl-like opening ceremony, and a day on from triple world champion Verstappen heavily criticising the staging of the Grand Prix – the first here in four decades – as “99 per cent show, and one per cent sport”.

F1 executives are keen to build on the sport’s growing popularity in the United States. The race in Nevada joins Austin and Miami as the third in America.

Yet the mess here drew parallels with the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis where only six drivers took part amid tyre safety fears.

Leclerc finished half-a-second clear of team-mate Sainz. Verstappen, a winner of 17 of the 20 rounds so far, was nine tenths adrift with Hamilton 1.3 sec back in his Mercedes.

Third practice is due to begin at 8.30pm on Friday (4.30am GMT on Saturday) with qualifying for Saturday’s 50-lap race taking place at midnight (8.00am GMT on Sunday).

Spirit Dancer quickened up impressively to give owner and breeder Sir Alex Ferguson a famous victory in the Bahrain International Trophy.

The former Manchester United manager already had a special place in his affections for the Richard Fahey-trained six-year-old, having sent the unraced dam Queen’s Dream to Frankel.

While he has taken time to reach his full potential, this summer saw him win three in a row, including the Group Three Strensall Stakes at York, which booked his ticket for this contest, worth £500,000 to the winner.

Spirit Dancer was not among the favourites due to the class of the opposition, which included Charlie Appleby’s Grade One winner Nations Pride, Saeed bin Suroor’s 2022 Queen Anne runner-up Real World, Israr for the Gosdens and Aidan O’Brien’s Point Lonsdale.

All the main protagonists had their chance but none had an answer to Spirit Dancer, who when Oisin Orr unleashed him down the outside put the race to bed in a matter of strides.

Ferguson was understandably delighted, telling Racing TV: “That is the best ever, without doubt. Against all the pedigrees and form of all the other horses – that’s fantastic, I couldn’t believe it.

“Richard said to leave it to the jockey, he’ll be all right.

“I was terrified looking at all the other people involved in this race. Godolphin had five horses in it. That was great, I’m so proud.

“I said to the jockey ‘remember, he’s a Frankel’.”

Orr said: “I got a lovely sit the whole race and I always felt I had plenty of horse underneath me. I couldn’t believe how well he quickened in the straight, he’s won well.

“He had good form coming here, maybe he just needed his last run a little but he’s come back to his best today.”

Everton have been deducted 10 points by an independent commission after being found to have breached Premier League financial rules.

The league referred Everton to the commission in March for an alleged breach of its profitability and sustainability rules in the period ending in the 2021-22 season.

The rules allow clubs to lose a maximum £105million over a three-year period or face sanctions.

Everton issued a statement confirming their intention to appeal against the sanction.

The Premier League said in a statement published on its official website: “During the proceedings, the club admitted it was in breach of the PSRs for the period ending Season 2021/22 but the extent of the breach remained in dispute.

“Following a five-day hearing last month, the Commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR Calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5million, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105million permitted under the PSRs.

“The Commission concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect.”

The NBA has fined Paul George $35,000 after the Los Angeles Clippers star hit out at referees.

George was frustrated with the officiating crew as the Clippers lost to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

George went to the line five times, which he felt was nowhere near enough, and was whistled for a technical foul for arguing with the referees shortly before halftime.

"We played great," George said, per ESPN. "It's tough, the adversity of playing against the extra three [officials]. 

"I thought they were awful... It was bad. Five free throws is very disrespectful on this night. So many times I got hit on layups, 3-pointers, it was constant.

In response, the NBA slapped the forward with a $35,000 fine.

The league's statement added that the fine amount "is based in part on George's history of public criticism of the officiating."

Draymond Green is wholly deserving of the five-game suspension he received following his ejection against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That is the view of Steve Kerr, with the Golden State Warriors coach claiming Green must recognise where the line is.

Green was ejected, along with Klay Thompson and Minnesota's Jaden McDaniels, when the Warriors lost to the Timberwolves earlier this week.

The 33-year-old grabbed Rudy Gobert, who called out Green's "clown behaviour", during an on-court bust-up, and served the first game of a five-game ban as the Warriors lost 128-109 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.

"He took it too far," Kerr said. "Draymond was wrong. He knows that. It's a bad look, and the five games are deserved.

"I don't have a problem with [Green] trying to get Rudy off of Klay, but he's got to let go.

"He hung on for six, seven seconds. It was a terrible visual for the league, for Draymond and for everybody.

"Draymond has to find a way to not cross the line. I'm not talking about getting an ejection or a technical, I'm talking about a physical act of violence. That's inexcusable.

"We have to do everything we can to give him the help and assistance he needs to be able to draw that distinction between being an incredible competitor, but he can't cross that line. He crossed it the other night, for sure."

Green has now been suspended five times across his career.

Brian Toomey has hailed the support of Harry Redknapp as he prepares to saddle his first runner as a trainer in the colours of the former football manager at Lingfield on Saturday.

The ex-jump jockey’s journey to the training ranks is a remarkable one, having sustained life-threatening injuries from a horror fall at Perth 10 years ago.

That incident saw the now 34-year-old spend 157 nights in hospital and placed in an induced coma for two weeks while having surgery to reduce swelling on his brain, including the removal of part of his skull.

Despite the extent of his injuries, and medics telling Toomey he had died for six seconds and was given only a three per cent chance of survival, he made a full recovery and even briefly returned to the saddle before hanging up his boots and turning his attentions to training in 2016.

Seven years on and he is preparing to saddle his first runner since taking up residence at Bowstridge Farm in Chalfont St Giles and being granted a dual-purpose licence by the British Horseracing Authority.

Toomey admits it has been a far from straightforward journey to reach this proud moment, but it is the Irishman’s determined attitude that first attracted the attention of Redknapp, whose Wake Up Harry will line-up for the new handler in division one of the one-mile Gamble Responsibly At BetMGM Handicap.

He said: “I’m blessed with the contacts and connections I have made and my first runner is for Harry Redknapp, who has been very encouraging to me throughout my path towards my goal. It’s a massive privilege and very exciting.

“Harry respects and admires my drive and determination he has said, and it’s one of the reasons he has supported me. He said ‘listen, you have never given up’ – and I’m very lucky.”

Toomey went on: “It hasn’t been easy, I won’t lie. I come from a non-racing background and it is something I have had to go out and achieve myself.

“I have been talking about it for a very long time and people probably thought ‘is this going to ever happen?’, but an opinion is not a fact and I knew in my head this is something I was always working towards and something I was going to achieve if I could.

“I am very passionate about training and nothing has been handed to me and hopefully I can prove I can do it. I am very focussed on making it a success if I can.”

Toomey’s carefully selected Buckinghamshire base is in the ideal spot to target a whole host of racecourses and he hopes that Redknapp isn’t the only famous face he can attract to his yard as he develops both the facilities and his string.

“I’ve got a few horses that will be ready to run before the year ends,” the trainer added.

“I’m hoping to pick up some more support before the year ends, but I’ve been blessed to have the support I already have.

“I’m at Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire. It is a lovely part of the country and only 24 miles from central London – and there are a lot of famous names around Chalfont St Giles and you never know, hopefully I may be able to attract a few of them.

“I’m only an hour away from Lingfield and 45 minutes from Kempton and places like that, so it is very central and there are plenty of racecourses around.”

Formula One’s gamble to bring the sport back to Las Vegas backfired on a shambolic opening night in Sin City.

After months of build-up to an event – billed by F1 executives as the greatest show on earth – practice was abandoned after just eight minutes.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the key questions surrounding the farcical opening to this weekend’s maiden race on the Las Vegas strip.

What happened?

As Carlos Sainz approached 200mph on the Las Vegas Boulevard, a water valve cover broke free from the tarmac and tore into the underbelly of his Ferrari.

The force of the impact visibly jolted Sainz in the cockpit and, amid a flurry of white smoke and orange sparks, disabled his machine.

Race director Niels Wittich red-flagged the session, but not before Esteban Ocon also struck the debris.

The one-hour running, which began at 8:30pm local time was suspended at 8:38pm. At 8:49pm it was announced it would not be resumed.

Were the drivers hurt?

Both Sainz and Ocon escaped without injury – but their cars were severely damaged. A giant whole tore through Sainz’s Ferrari leaving his mechanics facing an extensive repair job. Ocon required a new chassis, but he was able to take part in second practice.

How did the FIA respond?

All 30 manhole covers along the 1.2-mile 210mph Las Vegas Boulevard were inspected. The covers were removed, and the holes filled with concrete and quick-drying resin. The FIA’s standard procedure is to seal or weld the manholes but that process failed in Las Vegas.

Second practice had originally been scheduled to start at midnight local time. But it was pushed back to 2am, and then 2:15am before the cars eventually rolled out at 2:30am in front of empty grandstands, with fan areas closed at 1.30am. A two-hour window is required to reopen the public roads at 6am in Sin City, meaning the running had to cease at 4am.

Has anything like this happened before?

The problems of loose manhole covers at street venues is not a new one. Jenson Button struck a dislodged drain in practice in Monaco in 2016, while George Russell also ran over a drain cover in Azerbaijan four years ago.

But the embarrassing failure in Las Vegas comes 48 hours after a Superbowl-like opening ceremony, and a day after triple world champion Max Verstappen called the staging of the Grand Prix – the first here in four decades and maiden event on the strip – as “99 per cent show, and one per cent sport”.

What did they say?

A furious Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur labelled the chaos as “unacceptable” following millions of dollars of damage to Sainz’s car. But Mercedes boss Toto Wolff launched a wild and ill-judged defence.

“This is not a black eye (for F1),” said Wolff. “This is nothing. We are on a Thursday night – a free practice session that we are not doing – and nobody is going to talk about that tomorrow.

“It is completely ridiculous. How can you even dare to talk back about an event that sets the new standard? You are speaking about a f****** drain cover that has been undone. It is nothing!”

Frankie Dettori may have said his goodbyes to British racing, but his legacy on the racecourse will live on when Lanfranco makes his debut at Lingfield on Saturday.

Fittingly trained by the Italian’s long-time ally in the training ranks John Gosden, in conjunction with his son Thady, the Frankel colt is the first offspring of the Group One-winning mare Coronet, who Dettori partnered 11 times and steered not only to Royal Ascot glory, but also a pair of top-level races in France.

Like Coronet, Lanfranco will sport the colours of Dettori’s friend Prince Faisal Salman and his Denford Stud, and although the 52-year-old’s riding days in Britain may be over, the Clarehaven heir apparent Kieran Shoemark will be in the saddle when the youngster starts out over 10 furlongs in the BetMGM Take Time Out During #sgweek23! EBF Maiden Stakes.

“He is the first foal out of Coronet, so he was always a little bit special to us, but dare I say it, a typical first foal and was always going to need a little bit of time,” said Richard Evans, farm manager at Denford Stud.

“Coronet herself did not show her best until she was four and five and we just knew he would need that little bit of time and now he is going to be seeing a racecourse for the first time and it is very much see how we go.

“The feeling is he won’t show himself until next year really and at least the run this year will give him a little bit of experience. He’s very much out for a run and gaining experience and we just hope he progresses over the winter.”

The name Lanfranco had been reserved by Denford Stud awaiting the right opportunity to honour the decorated jockey and although Dettori played a key role in assigning the moniker, it is now unlikely he will get the chance to partner the colt on track following his forthcoming pre-retirement move to America.

“The name came about from Frankie’s visit to us earlier in the year,” Evans explained.

“Frankie is obviously very good friends with the Prince and we had the name Lanfranco on hold and we gave him the choice. It was very much while visiting the stud, choose which colt you would like to name, and he went for the Frankel-Coronet, as one might expect.

“It was good to use the name and it would be lovely if Frankie could ride him, but as we all know, we’re getting towards the end of Frankie’s career and the colt won’t be showing his best until next year, so just maybe it won’t happen. You never know.”

Exeter Chiefs captain Poppy Leitch wants her side to continue “moving in the right direction” as they prepare to compete in the inaugural Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby season.

PWR replaces the Premier 15s competition and starts on Saturday when Bristol Bears host Sale Sharks, while the Chiefs are in action against newcomers Leicester Tigers on Sunday.

The Chiefs will be aiming to bounce back from their Premiership final disappointment last season, where they lost 34-19 to Gloucester-Hartpury in June.

However, there is plenty still to cheer about for Exeter who have won two Allianz Cups and reached two consecutive league finals since their inception into the Premiership in 2020 – something Leitch admits is a “pinch yourself moment”.

“There are moments you have to pinch yourself to remind yourself about how far we’ve come in such a short period of time,” she told the PA news agency.

“But the exciting thing is, although we’ve had an exciting last three years, hopefully the next three years we have great player retention, people will still be playing at Sandy Park and these young faces playing in the cup and getting their Premiership debuts over the last couple of weeks are still very much part of Chiefs and we get that longevity of people’s careers while they represent what is such an amazing club.

“It’s a pinch yourself moment about how far we’ve come in a short period of time, but hopefully we continue to move in the right direction.”

Alongside playing for Chiefs, Leitch works as head coach of Exeter University Women’s Rugby Club and hopes that as the standard of Premiership rugby continues to improve players can eventually experience careers as professional athletes.

She said: “I think the next big thing is trying to get a large majority of players that are at Premiership clubs not on dual careers and being able to actually experience life as a proper female rugby professional athlete, which at the moment isn’t really the case across many of the squads.

“I suppose what drives me is probably how could you not try and get yourself into a Premiership environment that is the most up and coming, exciting women’s sport on the planet at the moment.

“I feel very fortunate to play in my hometown, I feel very fortunate to run out at Sandy Park, but I think the thing that kind of keeps you going when you work long hours then go to training and play high quality games at the weekend, is that everybody around you is challenging you to do better.

“I think that’s a really enticing part of the Premiership is each year the level of play increases massively, the standard increases massively and that in itself is usually motivating and engaging.”

Following their successful application to join PWR, Ealing Trailfinders are newcomers for this season and have made a number of top signings including England winger Abby Dow.

Canada’s Tyson Beukeboom is another of the new arrivals in west London and says the team are aiming to make their “own name”, kicking off with a home tie against Harlequins on Saturday.

“Being the underdog, which as a new team we’re going to be, kind of takes the pressure off,” Beukeboom told PA.

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“There isn’t a ton of expectation for us so we’re out to make our own name and see what we can do, which I think maybe can create some pressure within ourselves but from the outside there isn’t a ton of that expectation. We’re just excited to see what we can do.

“(Joining Ealing has) been amazing so far, it’s really fun coming into a new team and seeing what our team culture turns out to be. Meeting a whole bunch of new players and creating that family environment within a team.

“I think everyone’s really bought in and (Director of Women’s Rugby) Giselle (Mather) has done a really good job of creating that environment to have a successful team culture.”

Wales play their penultimate Euro 2024 qualifier in Armenia on Saturday.

Automatic qualification is in Wales’ own hands as two closing victories will book their place in Germany next summer.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the main talking points of the game in Yerevan.

Deja vu

The parallels between Wales’ successful Euro 2020 qualification and the current campaign are hard to resist.

Wales reached Euro 2020 with a fast finish – holding 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia to a Cardiff draw before winning in Azerbaijan and downing Hungary after back-to-back summer defeats.

Having suffered another pointless June and just beaten Croatia in Cardiff, Wales head to the Caucasus region again to take on Azerbaijan’s neighbour Armenia before finishing with a visit from Turkey.

Six more points will do.

Brennan’s back

The loss of Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson to injury last month was a big blow.

Johnson’s pace and movement can trouble any defence, but boss Rob Page plugged the gap against Croatia by utilising a three-man forward line of David Brooks, Harry Wilson and Kieffer Moore.

All three performed superbly with Wilson claiming a match-winning double.

Johnson is expected to return, however – possibly at the expense of Brooks – with Page also likely to use the pace of Daniel James from the bench.

Midfield promise

There was much wailing in Wales when Joe Allen hung up his international boots following the World Cup in Qatar.

Allen played a massive role over the last decade and midfield was seen as a problem area in the wake of his departure.

But Ethan Ampadu, with nearly 50 caps at the age of 23, has shown his leadership qualities in striking up an effective partnership with 19-year-old Jordan James.

The pair were magnificent in getting the better of Croatia’s much-vaunted midfield last month.

Repeat or revenge?

Wales have failed to beat Armenia in three meetings.

There were two draws in 2002 World Cup qualifying, 2-2 in Yerevan when John Hartson scored a brace, before a goalless Cardiff clash.

Wales were expected to breeze past Armenia – 71 places below them on the FIFA rankings when they met in June – but a 4-2 defeat damaged their Euro 2024 qualification hopes.

More than one Welsh player has mentioned avenging that loss in the build-up to the Yerevan return.

Yellow peril

Defensive pair Chris Mepham and Neco Williams will be walking disciplinary tightropes in Armenia.

Both players have picked up two bookings in the campaign, and a third would rule them out of Tuesday’s final qualifier against Turkey.

Wales have yet to lose any player to three bookings, although Joe Morrell and Kieffer Moore served two-match bans for respective red cards against Turkey and Armenia in the summer.

The Athletics’ move from Oakland to Las Vegas has been approved by Major League Baseball owners.

The 30 franchise owners voted unanimously in support of the team’s move from California to Nevada, with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledging that it was a “terrible day” for fans in Oakland.

The Athletics executives reached an agreement to build a new stadium in Las Vegas in May after the state’s legislature approved public financing towards the construction.

The Athletics have been based in Oakland since 1968, having previously been in Kansas City and Philadelphia.

MLB commissioner Manfred told a press conference: “I know this is a terrible day for fans in Oakland. I understand that, and that’s why we’ve always had a policy of doing everything humanly possible to avoid a relocation.

“I truly believe we did that in this case. I think it’s beyond debate that the status quo in Oakland was untenable.

“I absolutely am convinced that there was not a viable path forward in Oakland. We look forward to being in Las Vegas; there’s tremendous support locally for having the A’s there. We do believe over the long haul that Las Vegas will be a great asset to Major League Baseball.”

The Athletics’ owners had been unable to find a solution to keep the team in Oakland, with their existing Coliseum home in need of redevelopment.