Inspiral is being prepared for a return in the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes as owners Cheveley Park Stud look to continue riding a crest of a wave with their all-star mare.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the daughter of Frankel ensured she was a Group One winner for the third successive season when landing the Prix Jacques le Marois last summer.
Inspiral soon supplemented that impressive Deauville triumph with further top-level victories in the Sun Chariot Stakes and at the Breeders’ Cup, prompting the decision to keep the leading mare in training at five with Newbury’s one-mile event on May 18 an initial target.
However, if that high-class event comes too soon for the nine-times winner, then she will revert to plan B which, like 12 months ago, involves beginning her campaign at Royal Ascot in June.
“The Lockinge is the plan, but obviously she is a filly that likes to take her time to come in the spring as we’ve seen before,” explained Chris Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park Stud.
“Certainly the Lockinge looks the first engagement we can consider and if she tells us she’s not quite ready, then we can wait until the Queen Anne.
“She seems to be happy and well back in the yard and I watched her come up Warren Hill the other morning and she went up there nicely and quietly, so we will see how we go.”
Inspiral finished 2023 by successfully stepping up to 10 furlongs at Santa Anita when capturing the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf and although connections are keen to start the new season at a mile, options over further could be explored as the summer goes on.
“I think John is keen to start her off at a mile and then we can build over the campaign hopefully, all being well. We will definitely be considering going a mile and a quarter,” continued Richardson.
“She’s five now and a lovely filly who is still maturing and developing. She had a lovely break at the stud after America and they are a long time in the paddocks, so she is a mare we can really enjoy.
“She had a nice visit to us and was out in the paddock with her usual companions. She is always very inquisitive with her ears pricked, seeing who is coming round the corner next.”
Carlos Sainz is refusing to throw in the towel at such an early stage of the Formula One season – insisting he has “nothing to lose” in his last year at Ferrari.
After Max Verstappen led home a dominant Red Bull one-two in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said the Dutchman was uncatchable this year.
Having clinched the previous three drivers’ titles, Verstappen is once again the overwhelming favourite to claim the crown.
He has won three of the opening four races, with a brake failure causing him to retire early on at the Australian Grand Prix last month – where Sainz went on to take the chequered flag.
The Spaniard was back in action after missing the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix with appendicitis and, having finished third behind the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Sergio Perez at Suzuka, he was not ready to cede the fight.
In what will be the longest season in F1 history – there are still 20 races left with four having been run – Sainz is hopeful Ferrari can improve across the course of the year, although he also doubted if that would be enough to haul in Verstappen.
“I think they are definitely going to have an advantage in the first third of the season until we bring one or two upgrades that makes us fight them more consistently,” he said.
“By that time, maybe it’s a bit too late with the advantage that they might have on the championship. In the meantime, we need more Australias! Which I don’t see Red Bull, as a team, making these mistakes very often, no.
“It is a shame, because also I missed a race, which for both the team and me, it could be costly in the championship. We’re competing in one race less, but at the same time, we’re going to give it our best shot.
“It’s my last year in Ferrari also, so yeah, nothing to lose and we will try everything to make it back.”
Sainz has lost his seat to Lewis Hamilton from next year, the seven-time world champion moving across to partner Charles Leclerc from 2025 onwards.
Hamilton will be hoping to return to a competitive car, with Mercedes struggling for another season this time around.
The 39-year-old has amassed just 10 points so far – his worst-ever tally after the opening four races of a season.
Wolff labelled Hamilton’s first run on the hard tyres in Japan as “atrocious” and the Brit himself was bullish when asked if he could have improved on his ninth-placed finish.
“I don’t know what the different strategy would have been, whether if we stayed on the mediums to start with, but we still had two really terrible hard tyres to run through,” he said.
“It was a real challenge, I think I picked up a bit of damage at the beginning with Charles (Leclerc) when he came around the outside and I had huge understeer for the first stint.
“I couldn’t turn the car through any of the corners. That’s why I let (team-mate) George (Russell) through.
“The hard tyre was pretty bad, as I said, the medium tyre was much better. So for sure, in hindsight it looks like we should have had two (sets of) medium tyres but in general the car, it was just pretty bad.”
A return to China is next on the calendar, with the Shanghai International Circuit hosting its first grand prix since 2019 and with the first sprint race of the season also taking place.
Jalen Brunson scored 43 points and helped spark a big second-half rally that catapulted the New York Knicks to a 122-109 win over the spiralling Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.
Both Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo recorded 20 second-half points as the Knicks overcame a 61-50 half-time deficit to hand the Central Division-leading Bucks a season-high fourth straight loss.
Milwaukee has now dropped six of its last seven after winning 11 of its first 15 games after the All-Star break, and its lead over the Knicks and Orlando Magic in the race for the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed is now down to one game.
The Bucks did get superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo back from a one-game absence, but forward Khris Middleton did not return after taking an inadvertent elbow to the mouth from DiVincenzo, who finished with 26 points, in the second quarter.
Antetokounmpo, who missed Milwaukee's loss to the non-contending Toronto Raptors on Friday with a sore hamstring, amassed 28 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. Damian Lillard finished with 23 points for the Bucks, but went just 4 of 11 from the field and 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
Antetokounmpo had 18 first-half points and Lillard 14 as Milwaukee took a double-digit lead into the break, but the Knicks reversed momentum with a red-hot third quarter.
New York shot 73.7 per cent for the period and turned a 10-point deficit into a 70-67 advantage midway through the quarter by embarking on a 14-1 run.
The Knicks stretched their margin further with a 10-0 spurt early in the fourth quarter that staked them to a 99-87 lead with under nine minutes left.
Milwaukee was able to trim the margin to six points later on but shot just 35 per cent in the fourth quarter, and DiVincenzo helped keep the Bucks at bay by making four 3-pointers in the final period.
Maxey scores career-high 52, 76ers outlast Spurs in double-overtime
Tyrese Maxey gave the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers a needed lift by pouring in a career-high 52 points and leading his team to a hard-earned 133-126 double-overtime win over Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs.
With Philadelphia resting reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid in the second of a back-to-back and forward Tobias Harris remaining out of the lineup, Maxey notched his third 50-point outing of the season while adding seven assists to will the Sixers to a fifth consecutive win.
Maxey's biggest shot of the night came with time winding down in regulation, when he cut to the basket and took a pass from Nicolas Batum before converting a layup that tied the game at 111-111 with 0.9 seconds on the clock.
The 76ers forced a second overtime with a similar play, as Ricky Council IV found a cutting KJ Martin for a layup with 24.4 seconds to go in the first OT to knot the score at 121-121.
Philadelphia ultimately prevailed by scoring the final 10 points of the second overtime, with Batum delivering the biggest blow with a 3-pointer that put the Sixers up 131-126 with 1:24 left.
The Spurs were held scoreless after Malaki Branham's 3-pointer broke a 123-123 tie with 3:32 remaining in the second OT, and turned the ball over three times in the final 2:10.
Wembanyama had nine turnovers on the night to offset an otherwise dominant performance from the rookie sensation, who tallied 33 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and seven blocks.
Branham ended with 22 points, while Kelly Oubre Jr. recorded 26 points on 12-of-22 shooting along with eight rebounds for Philadelphia.
Pelicans down Suns to draw even in West standings
CJ McCollum scored 31 points and Zion Willilamson had 29 to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a critical 113-105 win over the Phoenix Suns that further clouded the Western Conference's play-off picture.
Williamson added 10 rebounds, seven assists and a career-high five blocks to help New Orleans halt a four-game losing streak and move into a tie with the Suns for sixth place in the West. The top six teams in each conference automatically advance to the quarterfinal round of the postseason, while the seventh through 10th-place finishers will be slotted in the play-in tournament.
Phoenix, which had a three-game winning streak snapped despite 33 points from Bradley Beal, does hold the tie-breaker on New Orleans by winning two of the teams' three meetings this season. Both teams have four games remaining in the regular season.
The Pelicans never trailed after taking a 97-96 lead on Williamson's layup with 7:19 remaining, though they were unable to pull away until the final stages.
Beal's jumper with 4:02 left to play brought the Suns within 103-101, but Phoenix then went scoreless for nearly two minutes as New Orleans scored the next four points.
McCollum found WIlliamson for a crucial layup with 29.1 seconds left that gave the Pelicans a 111-105 edge. After Phoenix's Devin Booker misfired on a 3-point try on the ensuing possession, New Orleans' Herb Jones sealed the outcome by making two free throws.
The Pelicans trailed by as many as 12 points in the first quarter, but McCollum tallied 11 points in the second and New Orleans outscored the Suns by a 37-24 margin for the period to go into half-time up 56-50.
New Orleans stretched its lead to 93-83 on Jose Alvarado's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, but Beal scored the game's next 10 points to pull Phoenix even.
Booker finished with 25 points but went 0 for 6 from 3-point range. Beal ended 7 of 8 from beyond the arc.
The Atlanta Braves backed Chris Sale's solid start with three home runs in a 5-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday that completed a three-game series sweep.
Michael Harris II, Matt Olson and Austin Riley all homered to help give Sale his first victory since joining the Braves in an offseason trade with the Boston Red Sox. The seven-time All-Star struck out six in 5 1/3 innings while allowing two runs on four hits.
Harris' solo homer off Ryne Nelson in the bottom of the fourth inning snapped a 2-2 tie, and Riley later provided some breathing room when he followed Ozzie Albies' double in the eighth with a blast into the center field seats off reliever Miguel Castro.
Nelson struck out seven in five innings but permitted three runs to take the loss.
Olson opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second inning, and the Braves loaded the bases later in the frame on three singles before Chadwick Tromp plated Marcell Ozuna with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
Sale set down the first 10 Arizona hitters before Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled to put runners at first and third in the top of the fourth inning. Carroll would score on a balk from Sale before Christian Walker brought in Gurriel with a game-tying single.
Walker finished 2 for 4 in the defending NL champion Diamondbacks' fourth straight loss.
Astros' Blanco dominates again in win over Rangers
Ronel Blanco followed up his no-hitter with six scoreless innings of one-hit ball to lead the Houston Astros to a 3-1 win over the rival Texas Rangers.
Six days after throwing the 17th no-hitter in franchise history to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, Blanco yielded only a sixth-inning single to Aroldis Garcia while scattering four walks for his second victory in as many starts this season.
Yordan Alvarez supplied all the offence Blanco would need with a three-run homer off Texas starter Dane Dunning in the third inning.
Dunning struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings and encountered his only real trouble in the third, when he issued consecutive walks to Jake Meyers and Jose Altuve before Alvarez belted a pitch into the right field seats.
The Rangers mustered only two hits for the game, with the second coming when pinch-hitter Justin Foscue singled home Garcia with one out in the ninth inning.
Josh Hader shook off the hit to induce a game-ending double play off the bat of Ezequiel Duran to notch his first save since the star closer signed a five-year, $95 million contract with Houston in the offseason.
The defending World Series champion Rangers had won the first two meetings of this four-game series, which concludes Monday.
Cubs start fast, take series from Dodgers
The Chicago Cubs earned a series win over the Dodgers with Sunday's 8-1 rout that was helped out by a pair of former Los Angeles players, Michael Busch and Cody Bellinger.
Busch smacked a three-run double in the first inning and Bellinger had a solo homer in the sixth as the Cubs took two of three from the defending NL West champions and improved to 6-1 over their last seven games.
Chicago starter Shota Imanaga threw four scoreless innings before being removed due to a weather delay that lasted nearly three hours. The Japanese left-hander has now tossed 10 shutout innings over his first two major league starts.
Imanaga was staked to a quick lead as the Cubs scored three first-inning runs with two outs. With Ian Happ on base via an error by Los Angeles first baseman Freddie Freeman, Christopher Morel singled and Dansby Swanson walked before Busch cleared the bases with his opposite-field double.
Mike Tauchman drew a lead-off walk from Los Angeles starter Gavin Stone in the second and later came around on Seiya Suzuki's sacrifice fly for a 4-0 Chicago lead. Tauchman drove in the Cubs' fifth run with a double in the third, and another Dodgers' error in the fourth led to two more runs and staked the Cubs to a 7-0 advantage.
Stone allowed five runs in three innings, though just one was earned due to two of Los Angeles' three errors on the day.
Bellinger accounted for Chicago's final run with his solo blast off Ryan Yarbrough in the sixth that increased the lead to 8-0.
Shohei Ohtani finished 2 for 4 and drove in the Dodgers' lone run with an eighth-inning double. The 2023 American League MVP also had a triple earlier in the contest.
Akshay Bhatia survived losing a six-hole lead and injuring his shoulder to win the Valero Texas Open.
The American injured his shoulder celebrating the birdie which earned him a place in a play-off with Denny McCarthy, but clinched victory on the first hole after receiving treatment.
Rory McIlroy was a distant third, nine shots adrift, as he completed his Masters warm-up with a bogey-free 66.
Bhatia clinched a place at The Masters with his second PGA Tour victory, which had seemed a lot more straightforward when he held a six-shot lead heading into the final nine holes.
McCarthy birdied his last seven holes to shoot 63 and wipe out the deficit, leaving Bhatia needing to hole from 12 feet for a birdie to force the play-off.
He found the cup to complete a 67 and move alongside McCarthy at 20-under-par, but felt his shoulder pop out of its socket as he raised his arms in celebration.
After McCarthy found the creek in front of the 18th green in the play-off, Bhatia had his shoulder taped before hitting his wedge to six feet and holing to clinch victory.
The 22-year-old will become the first finalist from the Drive, Chip and Putt event to return to Augusta to play in The Masters.
Danielle Collins secured back-to-back tournament wins with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Daria Kasatkina in the Charleston Open final.
After winning the Miami Open last week, Collins earned her 13th successive victory in style as she dropped just three games in her latest triumph.
The American, who moved up to 15th in the world rankings, needed just 77 minutes to dismiss her opponent without facing a break point in the whole of the contest.
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Collins said: “I had a lot of matches in Miami and I had a lot of matches here.
“I had, at one point in this tournament, two matches in one day, which is not easy to pull off. I don’t know if I’ve done that before as a professional. I feel like the last time I did that was like in 12-and-unders.
“So to be able to physically battle and push myself to a new limit gives me a lot of confidence. I’ve been so happy to be, obviously, playing at the level that I’ve been playing, but to be able to back it up two weeks in a row has just been fantastic.”
Dallas Star caused a 50-1 upset in the P.W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown.
The Amo Racing-owned winner finished nine lengths behind Charlie Appleby’s Derby candidate Arabian Crown in a Group Three at Newmarket in the autumn when trained by Dominic French Davis.
Switched to Adrian Murray over the winter, the Cloth Of Stars colt was sent into an early lead under Seamie Heffernan but had to battle back after Deepone struck the front.
Dallas Star handled the testing ground well, regaining the initiative in the straight to gallop home three lengths clear of Aidan O’Brien’s The Euphrates, whose stablemate and odds-on favourite Illinois was only third.
“We were on a mission today to see how we were going or where we were going to go next,” said Murray.
“He kept finding for him. Twice during the race I thought he was done for and he kept coming back.
“I never thought I’d see the day where we would be competing in the same race as Aidan O’Brien.
“I was so near to packing it in a few years ago and it’s amazing the way things can turn around. The horses are very healthy and that is a big thing.
“He’ll be entered in all the big races now I suppose and we’ll see where we go. I’ll have to chat to Kia (Joorabchian, owner) and Robson (Aguiar, part of the Amo team) and see where they want to go.
“He came to us over the winter.”
A Lilac Rolla maintained her unbeaten record with a gritty display in the Ballylinch Stud “Priory Belle” Stakes at Leopardstown.
Paddy Twomey’s filly had won both her starts at two, and she had one piece of standout form in terms of this Group Three.
She had finished in front of Aidan O’Brien’s Opera Singer at the Curragh in August, with that filly going on to win the Prix Marcel Boussac by five lengths.
Sent off at 9-2, A Lilac Rolla’s rider Billy Lee was keen not to let Seamie Heffernan get too far clear on Kitty Rose and from a long way out the two had it between themselves.
Both of them stuck to the task gamely but it was A Lilac Rolla who just came out on top by a head, with the pair almost three lengths clear of Buttons in third.
“I think she’s a good filly and I’d hoped she would do something like that,” said Twomey.
“I haven’t run her since she won the second time last year as she just grew and I wanted to give her the time. I’m glad I did and she’s trained well all winter.
“I was looking forward to coming here today, although the heavy ground was a concern as her form was on good ground. She’s uncomplicated and she’s tough.
“She had every chance to curl up if she wanted to but she didn’t.
“We’re lucky that we have good horses and good owners. I’m very well supported and appreciative of that.”
A Lilac Rolla maintained her unbeaten record with a gritty display in the Ballylinch Stud “Priory Belle” Stakes at Leopardstown.
Paddy Twomey’s filly had won both her starts at two, and she had one piece of standout form in terms of this Group Three.
She had finished in front of Aidan O’Brien’s Opera Singer at the Curragh in August, with that filly going on to win the Prix Marcel Boussac by five lengths.
Sent off at 9-2, A Lilac Rolla’s rider Billy Lee was keen not to let Seamie Heffernan get too far clear on Kitty Rose and from a long way out the two had it between themselves.
Both of them stuck to the task gamely but it was A Lilac Rolla who just came out on top by a head, with the pair almost three lengths clear of Buttons in third.
“I think she’s a good filly and I’d hoped she would do something like that,” said Twomey.
“I haven’t run her since she won the second time last year as she just grew and I wanted to give her the time. I’m glad I did and she’s trained well all winter.
“I was looking forward to coming here today, although the heavy ground was a concern as her form was on good ground. She’s uncomplicated and she’s tough.
“She had every chance to curl up if she wanted to but she didn’t.
“We’re lucky that we have good horses and good owners. I’m very well supported and appreciative of that.”
Aidan O’Brien is sticking to his original plan with Auguste Rodin, despite his disappointing effort in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan.
Winner of both the Derby and the Irish Derby last year, the Deep Impact colt had produced lacklustre efforts in both the 2000 Guineas and King George at Ascot either side of those Classic victories.
He ended his season by winning both the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown and the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita, but never looked like getting involved on his return to action in Dubai, coming home last of 12 runners.
O’Brien felt the race did not suit and will look to get his campaign back on track in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on May 26.
“He’s well and we just put a line through the race. It was a tactical affair and we just got caught in the wrong part of it,” said O’Brien.
“The good thing about Ryan (Moore) is when things go wrong like that, he accepts it very quickly and the horse doesn’t get a hard race.
“We are looking at going to the Curragh (for the Tattersalls Gold Cup) if everything goes fine.”
Aintree is set to experience a wet start to the week as the flagship Randox Grand National meeting looms.
The three-day fixture starts on Thursday and peaks on Saturday with the National itself.
The forecast before the opening day includes plenty of rain, with the majority looking set to fall before the meeting starts.
The ground was varying between soft and heavy across the two courses at Aintree on Sunday, following an incredibly wet winter and early spring. There is clearly more to come, although it may alleviate when the gates open on Thursday for an afternoon that kicks off with four successive Grade One races.
“We’re soft, heavy in places on the Grand National course and soft on the Mildmay,” said Sulekha Varma, clerk of the course at Aintree.
“We are sunny and breezy at the moment, but we are expecting another band of rain to move in over the next few days, probably quite heavy rain at times.
“Then Thursday, Friday and Saturday are looking overcast, perhaps some showers but nothing too significant.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a shower or two through racing, but the bulk of the rain seems to be at the start of the week.”
The Los Angeles Lakers are full of confidence as they aim to hit peak form heading into the playoffs, so says Anthony Davis.
Darvin Ham's team have nine wins from their last 10 games, and with a playoff berth clinched, they are now looking to push on into the top six seeds in the Western Conference.
The Lakers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-97 on Saturday, with D'Angelo Russell finishing on 28 points, LeBron James - whose son Bronny has declared for the NBA Draft - on 24 and Davis on 22.
With just two games separating the No.6 seed from the No.9 seed in the West, Davis says the Lakers are full of verve.
"We're very confident in our ballclub," he said.
"We laugh about, like, 'Oh, winning nine out of 10,' and we haven't gone anywhere [in the standings].
"So, it's how good the West is. But we're confident, very confident in our ballclub and any time we step on the floor.
"I think the biggest difference is just that we're just having fun.
"We're holding each other accountable. If somebody messes up we're yelling, screaming at him. But nobody is taking it personal.
"Because we all know what we're here for, to try to win. So we're having fun, we're having a great time out there playing basketball, and we're staying together."
With four games of the regular season remaining, coach Ham warned it is now just about focusing on a smooth transition into the playoffs.
"Just take care of us, that's the biggest thing," Ham said.
"Everything else will take care of itself. We'll fall exactly in the spot we're supposed to fall. But the key is for us to be playing at a high level on both sides of the ball. We saw that on the defensive end tonight."
Battle Cry came from last to first to win the Ballylinch Stud “Red Rocks” Stakes at Leopardstown.
Aidan O’Brien’s colt was last seen at Doncaster in October, when he went to post for the Group One Futurity Trophy but was withdrawn at the start having become upset in the stalls.
Prior to that he had chased home his stablemate Mountain Bear at Dundalk and the winner paid him a huge compliment when subsequently second at the Breeders’ Cup.
In what looked a strong field against the likes of Atlantic Coast, the in-form Take Me To Church and his own stable companions Samuel Colt and The Liffey, both once-raced maiden winners, Battle Cry was sent off a 10-1 chance.
He looked to have plenty to do when the field turned into the straight but when Ryan Moore gave the signal, the No Nay Never colt quickened up impressively to win by half a length from Samuel Colt.
“We saw what happened to him in Doncaster last year. He just panicked but never did it before or after,” said O’Brien.
“Ryan gave him a very good ride. He’d prefer better ground and looks like he’ll get a mile. It’s tough out there and you have to get home there today.
“He could be a horse for the French or the Irish Guineas.”
Edward O’Grady saddled a rare Flat maiden winner at Leopardstown when Ecureuil Secret justified market support.
Sent off at 15-2 in a field of 11, the Wootton Bassett colt was up against Aidan O’Brien’s 4-9 favourite Autumn Winter in the Flat Is Back At Leopardstown (C&G) Maiden, but had been backed in from some fancy prices.
Settled nicely by Seamie Heffernan, he got a lovely split up against the rail just as Autumn Winter was delivered to go and win the race.
As the market leader found disappointingly little it was Joseph O’Brien’s Thequietman who emerged as the biggest danger.
O’Grady’s €60,000 purchase found plenty inside the final half-furlong, though, and pulled away to win by a length and a quarter.
“He’d been working nicely and very kindly Joseph allowed me do a bit of work with him after racing in Naas recently. The funny thing is himself and the second (Thequietman) worked together and they finished about the same way,” said O’Grady.
“Aidan (Ryan, owner) asked me to buy him a horse at the breeze-up sales. I couldn’t get one at Goresbridge as they were too expensive.
“This fellow was in a sale at Deauville in July. He was only five miles up the road from me and I went to see him and loved him. The stallion is on fire and it’s brilliant to have him.
“I thought I was buying a dual-purpose horse as he’s 16.3. He’s the only three-year-old that I have, I have a few two-year-olds I bred.
“It’s very exciting to buy something like that and I’d say that was a fair maiden. He has a great attitude and the dream is still alive.”
Aidan O’Brien had better luck in the following Ballylinch Stud “Bayside Boy” Fillies Maiden with Wingspan.
Surprisingly weak in the market at 7-2 for a filly by Dubawi out of a Group One winner in Hydrangea, she was unraced at two.
Jim Bolger’s Nativity Square made sure there was no hiding place and it was only the Ballydoyle runner who was able to reel her in, showing a smart turn of foot in the process for Ryan Moore, winning by a length and a half.
“She’s like her mother, lazy and laid-back. Ryan said she found loads, handled the ground and would be very comfortable with a step up in trip,” said O’Brien.
“She’ll have no problem going up into an Oaks trial. She’s a baby and should improve plenty.”
Tiger Woods will inevitably say he is there to win the Masters when he gives his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday.
Woods has always insisted he only enters events if he thinks he can “get the W”, no matter the state of his game or his body, and writing off the 15-time major winner has always been a dangerous game.
Yet there is no escaping the fact that the 48-year-old has played fewer than five and a half competitive rounds since undergoing ankle surgery in April last year after withdrawing from the Masters during the third round.
Having made a record-equalling 23rd consecutive cut at Augusta National last year, Woods’ most realistic target appears to be separating himself from Fred Couples and Gary Player in the record books by extending that streak to 24.
Two-time US Open winner and ESPN analyst Andy North said: “I think playing on the weekend would be a win.
“He’s going to tell you that he’s there because he thinks he can win the tournament but to be realistic, what he’s gone through you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.
“What he has to do to get ready to go out and try to play golf every single day is very, very difficult.
“Just to get him there and get around for the week and play some good golf and hit some nice shots, I think that would be awesome.
“We saw him in LA (at the Genesis Invitational) and I thought he looked a lot better walking around from that standpoint. Then his back went out on him. We haven’t seen him since.
“There’s talk he’s been playing some golf, he’s been practising. He’s been doing what he needs to do, but we really don’t know. Is his back okay?
“We’ve talked so much since the (car) accident about his leg and how hard it is to walk and all these other things, but we really don’t know.
“To me, it’s always interesting to see what we see out of him. What he’s given us over the last 25 years has been just second to none. It’s been such a joy to be able to watch him.
“If he were to say this is the last time he’s going to play, we’ve seen so much greatness out of him, good for him if he wants to walk away.
“I mean, he doesn’t have to do this for anybody else other than himself, and I think he still wants to prove that he can do it.
“Would we love to see him come in here and hit a lot of good shots on Thursday and be under par and be in the mix of it? Of course we would.
“Again, if he shoots 68 or 78 the first day, you wouldn’t be surprised that anything could possibly happen.”
Paddy Twomey is in an enviable position as he considers where to send Guineas hopefuls One Look and Purple Lily.
Both fillies ran twice as two-year-olds and both showed a great deal of promise when winning their respective starts in good style.
One Look, a Gleneagles bay out of a Holy Roman Emperor mare called Holy Salt, made her debut in the Goffs Million at the Curragh last September having been purchased as a yearling via the auction house for €65,000.
There she faced a field of expensive purchases but made light work of them all when powering to a six-length success over seven furlongs and pocketing just shy of 10 times her purchase price as the first place purse was €610,000.
Earmarked as a top prospect for the 2024, One Look started her campaign in a Cork auction race and maintained her reputation with an easy three-length victory there.
“That was a good starting point for her, she won the Goffs Million last year and I was keen to get another run into her,” Twomey said.
“She went there ready to run and acquitted herself well in the circumstances, on the heavy ground, she’ll go for one of the Guineas in England or Ireland.
“Over the next few days we’ll make a decision on who goes where when we’ve run most of them.”
Purple Lily, who is by Calyx, also started her career on a good note when winning a Galway maiden last August and proved she had progressed into her three-year-old season when lining up in the TRM Equine Nutrition Race at Naas in March.
There she prevailed by three lengths from the Group One-placed Portland, and like her stablemate she now holds entries for the 1000 Guineas contests at both Newmarket and the Curragh.
“Purple Lily came out of her win in Naas in great form, I’m very happy with her,” Twomey said.
“She’s trained very well since, we’re looking forward to the year ahead and we’ll decide soon which of the Guineas she’ll go for – hopefully it’ll be either the English or the Irish Guineas.
“We’re lucky to have some nice horses in and we’re just hoping they can have a good year.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insists Max Verstappen’s fourth consecutive title is already a foregone conclusion after the Red Bull driver cruised to victory at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen returned to winning ways in dominant fashion as the reigning drivers’ champion triumphed at Suzuka.
Having retired last time out in Australia, it was normal service resumed for the Dutchman as he led home a Red Bull one-two with Sergio Perez finishing second.
Verstappen twice led into the first corner off the line after the race was restarted following a first-lap incident which saw both Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon crash out after making contact.
From there, Verstappen controlled the pace and the result never looked in doubt, as he took the chequered flag and the fastest lap to open up a 13-point lead at the top of the drivers’ championship.
His brake failure in Melbourne aside, Verstappen has looked in imperious form in the opening four rounds of 2024.
In what is Formula One’s longest-ever season there are still 20 races remaining, but Wolff was in no doubt that he feels Verstappen will once again be untouchable.
“No one is going to catch Max this year,” he said.
“His driving and the car are just spectacular. You can see the way he manages the tyres and basically this season now is best of the rest.
“If I was to look from a pure sporting point of view it is P1 what matters, not P2, P3 or P4 but this is the reality that we are facing at the moment.
“We’re trying to do the best out of this new reality and that is to beat our competitors whilst acknowledging that somebody is just doing a better job and setting the benchmark that we eventually need to set ourselves again.”
Wolff’s prediction of another year of Red Bull dominance was brushed aside by opposing team principal Christian Horner.
Horner and Wolff have history as rivals and have never been shy of mixing words.
“It’s very early to write off the year,” Horner said.
“There’s still 20 races to go. I’ve learned not to listen too much to what Toto says over the years.
“It was great to bounce back after the DNF in Australia, after such a great start to the season, it was important to bounce back quickly.
“I think that we’ve done that emphatically here at Suzuka this weekend. It’s a great performance.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, took the statement in a lighter mood: “Lately Toto’s been really nice! Saying a lot of nice things about me.”
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz took the last step on the podium with a strong strategy from Ferrari enough for him to leapfrog Lando Norris, with McLaren misjudging a call to pit the Briton early for his final stop.
A strong showing from Ferrari saw the sister car of Charles Leclerc come home fourth ahead of Norris, Fernando Alonso hung on to take sixth for Aston Martin with a late push from George Russell seeing him pass the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri on the closing lap to secure seventh.
Lewis Hamilton had said after qualifying that his Mercedes felt better than it had in the last three years but he struggled for genuine pace and dropped back through the field during his first stint, eventually having to settle for ninth as home favourite Yuki Tsunoda became the first Japanese driver to score points at Suzuka in 12 years by coming 10th for RB.
Aidan Coleman has announced his retirement from the saddle having failed to recover from a knee injury.
The 35-year-old suffered a fall at Worcester in June and has been battling to return ever since, undergoing several surgeries on his knee and a shattered tibia.
Coleman, who will possibly be best remembered for his association with the recently-retired Paisley Park, has undergone a lengthy rehabilitation process but has conceded he will not recover sufficiently to resume his riding career.
“The prognosis early was quite bleak about returning to ride,” he told Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday.
“But around September when the rehab was early I was kidding myself that I could get back from this. In early December I had another operation and since that the progress has really plateaued.
“The gym is good because it’s a stable surface but I can’t run or jump. I can’t ride a horse really. A lot of people would say I couldn’t anyway so what’s the difference!
“Since Christmas, every time I’ve tried to ride a horse it’s not really gone well and I just can’t really do it and I definitely wouldn’t be able to ride in a race or anything like that.
“Speaking to Jerry Hill (the BHA’s chief medical adviser) and my surgeon, my chances of improving are negative now, so that’s it. My knee won’t stand the demands of being a jockey or get anywhere near it, so that’s it.”
Coleman enjoyed a successful association early in his career with Venetia Williams but overlooked her 100-1 Grand National winner Mon Mome in favour of stablemate Stan.
There were many good days in a stellar career, though, with Emma Lavelle’s Paisley Park winning the Long Walk Hurdle three times and the Stayers’ Hurdle in 2019.
Coleman also picked up the rides on Epatante, winning an Aintree Hurdle and two Fighting Fifths, and Jonbon, on whom he won multiple Grade Ones.
“I think the last few years I’ve been at my happiest, riding horses like Paisley Park has been a mainstay since 2019, we picked up Epatante, Jonbon, winning the Champion Chase on Put The Kettle On. I would have a good army of behind me when I got to September and they hit the board regularly,” said Coleman.
“I kind of gave up the idea of being champion jockey and being a slave to the game, that just wasn’t for me. I enjoyed the good horses so much I just wanted to focus on them rather than the numbers and since I did that I think I rode better.”
Leopardstown’s Classic trials card will go ahead as planned after the track passed a 7.30am inspection.
The P.W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes is one of the highlights having produced several top-class performers over the years, including three subsequent Epsom winners in Galileo (2001), High Chaparral (2002) and Harzand (2016).
Two other Group Three events in the Ballylinch Stud “Red Rocks” Stakes and the Ballylinch Stud “Priory Belle” Stakes also take place on ground described as heavy.
Clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer said: “The track at Leopardstown is fit for racing and the fixture scheduled for today goes ahead.
“The ground remains heavy but we had no measurable rain at the track in the last 24 hours and some strong winds. Today looks to be mainly sunny and breezy.”
The track at Carlisle also passed a 7am inspection allowing the final day of the Go North Series Finals to go take place, although conditions are heavy.
Tuesday’s meeting at Hexham has been called off though, with areas of false ground and standing water on the course.
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