Charlie Appleby earned his first Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes with Modern Games powering to glory at Newbury and the most consistent of trainers was generous with his praise for the team effort.
Modern Games arguably has not received the credit his career has deserved thus far and the Godolphin handler was keen to make the point on a sun-drenched afternoon.
The facts are quite phenomenal. Born in the same year as stablemates Coroebus and Native Trail, both Classic winners, Modern Games had already proved himself as a juvenile, landing the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on his final start in a six-race campaign.
While Coroebus was defeating subsequent Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Native Trail in the Guineas at Newmarket, Modern Games was sent to France. He duly did his duty, landing the French equivalent and giving Appleby a clean sweep in the colts’ mile division.
A runner-up effort to Baaeed in the Sussex Stakes was followed by Group One success at Woodbine in Canada. A QEII runner-up to Bayside Boy, then it was off to America, where he won around a two-turn mile at Keeneland.
Now a domestic Group One has fallen his way – in great style it has to be said, with William Buick having to “keep him interested” near the front end, according to Appleby.
A career at stud beckons at the end of the year for Modern Games and he will doubtless be popular with breeders.
Yet Appleby was not only happy to heap praise on the horse. His first call was from fellow handler Saeed bin Suroor, these days often overlooked as a key cog in Godolphin’s Newmarket operation.
He served notice a couple of weeks ago that he is still a player when Mawj won the 1000 Guineas – a fact not lost on Appleby.
“I am delighted for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, for Godolphin and for the team back at Moulton Paddocks, but more for this horse – he deserves it,” said Appleby.
“Coming into the race, he was a four-time Group One winner, but to win one on the domestic scene is a huge testament to him and his sire, Dubawi.
“He is his son – there’s no doubt about it.
“There was strength in depth and they have gone a good gallop. I said to William (Buick) to keep him up in the van and keep him interested. He is an older horse now, so you have to keep the interest there and give him a target.
“From William’s point of view, it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but he has given him a fantastic ride and the jockey knows the horse so well, he knew exactly when to deliver the challenge.
“Ultimately we want to head back to the Breeders’ Cup Mile.”
Yet such is the mark of the man, who has largely turned Godolphin’s fortunes around, he was also eager to acknowledge Bin Suroor and the essence of Team Godolphin.
“I was delighted for Saeed to win the Guineas,” said Appleby. “He was the first person calling me there after the Lockinge.
“Everyone looks at us as working against each other, but we work for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and that is what myself and Saeed and everyone does, but we do it as a team.
“He was the first to call. That’s nothing new. Whether I win or he wins, we are winning for His Highness and that is what we all do it for. There is no rivalry – we are a team aiming to achieve the best.
“For him to have that Classic winner was brilliant. Everyone will say ‘Charlie, how well you are doing’, but as I always say to Saaeed, I’m about two championships behind you and about a thousand winners!
“I don’t think I should be trying to take any plaudits. It’s great to see Saeed win these type of races and great for the team. It was just brilliant for Modern Games, too. He deserves that.”
Geraint Thomas surrendered the Maglia Rosa in the Giro d’Italia to Bruno Armirail as Nico Denz secured his second stage triumph within three days.
Denz, who claimed his maiden Grand Tour stage win on Thursday, reacted quickly after Alberto Bettiol attempted to breakaway in the final kilometre on the approach to Cassano Magnago in Italy.
And in a gripping sprint finish, the German Bora–Hansgrohe rider just about held off the advancing Derek Gee to cross the line first in the 194-kilometre stage 14 race, with Bettiol finishing third.
“I felt supergood and so I managed to get again into the breakaway,” Denz said. “We were lucky to close the gap just inside the final kilometre.
“I felt very good and when Bettiol launched his sprint I followed him and then I went full gas until the line. It was a very tough day but it ended well for me.”
Armirail finished 40 seconds down on the leading pack but will be in pink in Sunday’s 195km mountain stage from Seregno to Bergamo after going to the top of the general classification.
Thomas, who has held the leader’s jersey for the last four stages following Remco Evenepoel’s withdrawal after a positive Covid test, is now one minute and 41 seconds behind Armirail.
The French Groupama rider said: “The plan was more about the stage win (on Saturday). We thought one day the Maglia Rosa could be up for grabs. But we didn’t think it would be today.
“I had tried on stage four and I was disappointed that I wasn’t on a good day. Only once Geraint Thomas crossed the line, it became a reality in my mind but it’s hard to realise.”
Warm Heart narrowly outpointed hot favourite Bluestocking to secure Listed honours in the Haras De Bouquetot Fillies’ Trial Stakes at Newbury.
Aidan O’Brien’s daughter of Galileo made progress with each of her first three starts, building on a debut fourth at Dundalk with a runner-up finish at Leopardstown before making it third time lucky at the same track a fortnight ago.
Stepping up in class, she was second best in the betting at 5-2, with Ralph Beckett’s Camelot filly Bluestocking all the rage at 11-10 following a hugely promising and successful start to her career at Salisbury in September.
The two market principals came to the fore at the end of the 10-furlong contest, with Bluestocking and Rossa Ryan doing their level best to reel in Warm Heart, but try as she might, she could never quite get on terms with the Irish raider, who clung on by a head.
Crack Of Light was a couple of lengths further behind in third.
Winning rider Ryan Moore said: “She is a straightforward filly who has improved for every run. Those Irish maidens she was running in, the form is very good.
“The filly she beat last time (Leopardstown third Shamida) won last night. I think she has a great attitude and she is a 10-furlong filly. The Oaks is 13 just days away.”
Paul Smith, son of part-owner Derrick, said: “The Oaks comes up very quick. She is an improving filly, who has won on the soft in Ireland and now the ground is pretty quick.
“She stays a mile and two well. She is improving and something like the Ribblesdale off the top of my head – that would give her a little bit more time.
“She is a 10-furlong filly at the moment, but once those fillies get on a roll…
“I think at the moment, it is only 13 days to the Oaks, so possibly we will go to Royal Ascot. The lads will discuss it.”
Willie Mullins has two darts to fire as he aims to become the first Irish trainer to land the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris since 1919.
Troytown won the prestigious Auteuil event for Algy Anthony and in the 103 years that have followed there has been no further Irish success despite the nation being such a dominant force in National Hunt racing.
Mullins is Ireland’s leading jumps trainer and has an exhaustive CV that includes almost every notable prize worthy of mention, but France’s best and most lucrative steeplechase is a rare blank space.
Last year the master of Closutton enjoyed a share of the €900,000 prize fund when Franco De Port came home in third place and the same horse travels over to Paris in an attempt to improve on that gallant run this year.
The eight-year-old has run in France three times since that effort, placing fifth in both the Prix la Haye Jousselin and the Prix Georges Courtois and then coming home third in an established Grand Steep trial in the Prix Ingre.
The 12 months since last year’s race have revolved around Sunday, and Mullins has had the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris pencilled in for Franco De Port since he took well to the task in 2022.
“He surprised me and we came out of Auteuil last year saying we were coming back again and we would try to gear his year around the Grand Steep,” he said.
“We thought he was an Arkle Chase horse, a professional two-mile horse and the more we went out in trip, the better he got.
“When he went out to France, I think as he’s a very keen horse and very free, the French fences settled him down hugely. I think it brought about huge improvement in him and that’s why we’re back here again.”
Mullins has taken heed from French trainer Guillaume Macaire, who follows the same route to the race and is the leading trainer with seven titles to his name, but is mindful that the travel is an added trial for horses not based in France.
“From watching how Guillaume Macaire does it, he always comes to this race so we thought we’d do what the top guys do,” he said.
“I hope it works, however for us coming from Ireland and having to come over and back again, it might be too near the Grand Steep compared to a horse living in France.
“That’s my worry, we’re doing the time honoured way of going to the Grand Steep but I would traditionally like a longer run-in. I’d like a six-week run-in for a chase of this length. But we will see what happens.
“I think he will improve from that race (Prix Ingre), he came home, he travelled well. He’s a seasoned traveller so I don’t expect any problems, we’re very happy with him going into the race.”
Mullins’ second runner is Carefully Selected, an 11-year-old who returned this season after a two-year injury absence.
His comeback has been a successful one with a win in the Thyestes Chase and a fourth place in the Bobbyjo, after which he completed the Grand National at Aintree and was 14th of the 17 finishers at 50-1.
Mullins is expecting the gelding to take well to French fences due to his unflappable temperament and does not harbour any concerns about the trip for such a proven stayer.
He said: “He’s a big, old-fashioned chaser. He had leg trouble, we gave him all the time he needed and he came back and won the Thyestes Chase, which is a traditional Aintree Grand National trial, in very heavy ground over three miles at our local racetrack in Gowran.
“He’s a traditional Irish staying chaser, he’s very calm. These different fences, they won’t bother him so we’d decided to let him take his chance.
“He hasn’t run much in the last few years and we’re always looking for three-mile plus races for him.
“This was always on the cards provided that he stayed sound and he’s been very sound all season.
“The trip suits and he’s a good jumper, at 11 years of age we might as well take our chance.”
Roger Varian’s Jabaara will follow a familiar path to Royal Ascot after a taking success on debut at Newmarket.
The Exceed And Excel filly contested the British Stallion Studs EBF Fillies’ Novice Stakes as the 2-1 favourite under David Egan, a race previously won by both Cachet and Mawj – subsequent 1000 Guineas winners in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Varian has also enjoyed success in the contest before as Daahyeh came out on top in 2019 and then went on to land the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, the same route Jabaara is now likely to take after her three-quarter-length success.
Varian said: “She has always looked smart. I thought she did well there as she was a touch green and he (David Egan) had to take her off heels, switch and start his run again.
“I thought she was a filly with a lot of ability to be able to do that on debut. She pricked her ears as she crossed the line. I think she is quite nice.
“We have been fortunate to win the Albany twice before and I think this filly should go straight there as I think she is quite good and she looked it there today. Time will tell us what the form is worth.
“I thought for a few weeks that she could be an Albany horse. I nearly got her started a few weeks ago but that was only a five furlong option and she has shaped at home as if she has wanted this six.
“A strong pace at Ascot over a stiff six on decent ground would suit her, I would have thought.”
Ladies Church can book her ticket to Royal Ascot when she lines up in the Sole Power Sprint Stakes at Naas on Sunday.
A high-class cast of sprinters have assembled for this five-furlong contest and Johnny Murtagh’s filly brings track-and-trip form to the table as she bids to continue her rise up the sprinting ranks.
Last seen in the Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night, she secured Group Two honours when accounting for the reopposing Mooneista in the Sapphire Stakes last term, and her handler is eyeing the King’s Stand Stakes at the big meeting for the speedy daughter of Churchill.
Murtagh said: “We were happy with her first run back in Meydan when she finished second and she probably ran better than her finishing position on World Cup night. So with the ground drying up – she wants good, fast ground – the drier the better the chance she will have and everything leads to the King’s Stand.
“It is always tough for three-year-olds and she’s a year older now. We’re really happy with her and looking forward to her.”
Another aiming for Ascot is Ken Condon’s Moss Tucker, who built on his reappearance to claim the scalp of Tenebrism over course and distance last month.
“He came forward from his first run of the year and we were delighted with him the last day,” said Condon.
“It will be contrasting ground this time but he has shown in the past, albeit in handicap and conditions company, that most ground is all right for him. He’s particularly effective when it is soft, but I don’t think the ground will be an issue.
“He has obviously won at Naas and that is encouraging when you go back to these places and he’s been in good form since. It’s a competitive heat, as you would expect, but he seems to be still improving which is the nice thing about him.
“He will go for the King’s Stand and he ran very well in the Prix de l’Abbaye last year – he just made a bit of a tardy start, so he did very well to run as well as he did. I think that would be on the agenda as well if he remains in good shape.
“He didn’t run at two so it’s only his third season racing. He certainly looked in the second half of last season that he was on the improve and hopefully we can find a bit more improvement from him.”
There is British interest in the form of Robert Cowell’s Arecibo and Adrian Nicholls’ Tees Spirit, with the latter looking to add to the Abergwaun Stakes he secured on his travels last term.
“They are never easy races, but you’ve got to start somewhere in these Pattern races,” said Nicholls.
“I know the track well from when I was riding and I think it will suit him. There’s a couple of nice ones in there and he carries a penalty like Moss Tucker, but it’s a nice starting point and we’ll find out where we are.
“He’s in really good form and I think he’s improved again this year again. I’m looking forward to seeing him out on the track, the horses are running well so I don’t see why he won’t.
“He has a little pony called Scooby who travels over with him and he doesn’t mind travelling. The Irish look after us well. It’s not easy, but it’s a nice starting point and we can see where we go from here.”
Also on a raiding mission is Ziggy’s Dream who runs for Alice Haynes in the Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint Stakes on the back of a fine second in an above-average renewal of the Lily Agnes at Chester last week.
This Group Three was won by Meditate last year before going on to land the Albany Stakes, and Haynes sees this step up to six furlongs as the perfect chance for Ziggy’s Dream to to test the waters at this level before she potentially makes her own appearance at the summer showpiece.
“She came out of Chester very well,” said Haynes. “She didn’t really have a race early on after missing the break and then finished like a trooper.
“The step up to six furlongs on better ground will suit and drawn 13 straight down the rail is ideal. We go there hopeful.
“The winner of this last year went on to win at Royal Ascot and I’m sure if she wins then she will be near enough favourite if she goes for the Albany.
“This is the first really nice horse we’ve had for Middleham Park, who are keen supporters and even though there are a couple of unexposed ones in there, she definitely deserves to be there.”
Shartash was a regular in the top two-year-old events last season and with the decision made to stick to sprinting distances for the time being, is out to get his Commonwealth Cup ticket stamped in the Group Three Goffs Lacken Stakes.
“We think he is a sprinter,” said Murtagh. “We were a bit disappointed with his first run back at Navan, but the ground was very soft. Ben (Coen) said he never got going – he jumped sluggish and never got into the race.
“We’re looking forward to a much improved performance and the ground should be ideal for him. Six furlongs at Naas, I think he’ll get up the hill well.
“I think six is a good trip for him and maybe later in the year he will be able to step up to seven. But we’re going to see how he goes over six first.”
Connections also hold strong claims in the Owenstown Stud Stakes where Sharlouk steps up to Listed class having shed his maiden tag in style at Leopardstown two weeks ago.
Murtagh added: “I think he deserves to step up. He ran well on his penultimate start and perhaps didn’t stay the mile on heavy ground and then broke his maiden well last time.
“It’s a big step up and looks a very competitive race, but we want to see how good he is and he should be well tested.”
Chindit and Berkshire Shadow are likely to renew rivalry with Modern Games at Royal Ascot next month after chasing home the dual Breeders’ Cup winner in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.
The Richard Hannon-trained Chindit does not yet have a Group One victory on his CV, but it has not been due to a lack of effort.
Last season the son of Wootton Bassett had to chase the shadow of the brilliant Baaeed on a couple of occasions, but did win the Group Two Summer Mile at Ascot and made a successful start to the new campaign in the Paradise Stakes at the same track earlier this month.
Just for a brief moment it looked like the 22-1 shot might cause an upset after striking the front in the Lockinge, but he ultimately had no answer to the Modern Games’ potent finishing kick, with Chindit attempting to bite the winner as he passed by.
Hannon said: “I’m delighted with him. He travelled great and was a happy horse. He has improved physically. He has a middle to him now, which he didn’t have earlier in his career.
“There is one of these coming his way. He goes to the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.”
Another horse to outrun his odds was Andrew Balding’s Berkshire Shadow.
The grey has largely struggled to make an impact in Pattern company since his memorable success in the Coventry Stakes at the Royal meeting two years go, but returned for another stab at Group One honours following a couple of confidence-boosting wins on the all-weather.
Those victories appear to have reignited the fire as he was beaten just two and a half lengths as a 33-1 shot, leading Balding to also target a rematch with the winner in the Queen Anne.
He said: “He’s a grand horse. He ran very well in the 2000 Guineas last year. His form tailed off a bit, but he’s a different horse this year.
“I think he will win us a decent race, because he really likes fast ground. Yesterday’s rain wasn’t that helpful for him.
“He’ll go for the Queen Anne and then we can decide where we go down the road after that.”
My Prospero, not seen since finishing a close-up third in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October, is also bound for the Royal meeting – but he will revert to a mile and a quarter for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes instead of sticking to the mile.
His trainer, William Haggas said: “He needs further. He was going to get stuffed and then he stayed on again.
“It was a good run. He is just not quick enough for these, but he should come on for that.
“He will be a player in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. That will just do him good.”
World number one Jon Rahm was among the players battling miserable conditions on day three of the 105th US PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
Heavy rain greeted the early starters and was forecast to continue for much of the day, adding to the challenge on a course where just nine players were under par at the halfway stage.
Rahm made the cut with a shot to spare after rounds of 76 and 68, but the Masters champion bogeyed his first two holes on Saturday to slip back to six over par.
Former Ryder Cup star Thomas Pieters was having a much happier time, the Belgian making four birdies in the first five holes to improve to one over par and move inside the top 20.
Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland shared the halfway lead on five under, with Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Suh two shots behind.
England’s Callum Tarren was another stroke back alongside four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, with Justin Rose on one under and Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry on level par.
McIlroy continued to struggle with his long game over the first two days, but was pleasantly surprised to still find himself in contention for a third US PGA title and first major since 2014.
“I think with how terribly I’ve felt over the ball, the fact I am only five back… I’m not saying it could be up there with one of my best performances but when I holed that (birdie) putt on the last I thought ‘I can’t believe I’m only five back’,” McIlroy said after a second round of 69.
“If I can get the ball in play off the tee I’ll have a shot and at this point I might just tee it high and bomb it everywhere.
“I may as well just swing it hard and go for it.”
Aidan O’Brien retains full faith in his Betfred Derby contender Auguste Rodin, despite his lacklustre 2000 Guineas display.
The Deep Impact colt won three of his four juvenile starts, culminating in Group One glory in Doncaster’s Futurity Trophy, with O’Brien rating him a possible Triple Crown horse this term.
However, Auguste Rodin failed to fire in the first Classic of the season at Newmarket in early May, coming home 12th behind Chaldean, beaten 22 lengths over the Rowley Mile.
O’Brien subsequently described the race as a “non-event” for the 13-8 favourite after he suffered interference in the early stages, with Ryan Moore not too hard on his mount when his chance had clearly gone.
Despite that defeat, Auguste Rodin remains a best-priced 9-2 second favourite behind Military Order for the Epsom showpiece on June 3 and O’Brien certainly believes his charge has the ability to make his presence felt.
He said: “The Derby is always about the one horse, really – and always has been. Everything he has always done has been exceptional.
“I think we just have to put a line through the Guineas and put it out of our heads.
“I think he got banged into and wiped out another. Because that happened, Ryan got caught in a pocket and it just didn’t happen.
“Ryan did the right thing.”
Modern Games produced his trademark finishing kick to secure his first Group One victory on British soil in the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.
The Charlie Appleby-trained four-year-old is no stranger to success at the top table, having won three times at the highest level in North America and once in France.
Modern Games is a dual Breeders’ Cup winner having won the Juvenile Turf in 2021 and the Mile last year – and while he had to make do with the runner-up spot on his return to Keeneland for his seasonal reappearance last month, he showed his class back in the UK.
The 3-1 favourite was given plenty of time to find his feet by William Buick and was still a long way back as the admirable Chindit moved to the front and threatened to cause an upset a furlong out.
But once given his head, Modern Games engaged overdrive to readily reel in those in front of him and he was ultimately good value for the winning margin of a length and a half.
Chindit stuck to his guns to fill the runner-up spot, despite making a grab at Modern Games as he passed by, with Berkshire Shadow third, My Prospero fourth and Mutasaabeq fading into fifth after cutting out much of the running.
Buick told ITV Racing: “It was a real tussle, I definitely noticed it (Chindit’s attempted bite)!
“This horse is a real superstar, he’s so consistent and he’s just a joy to have anything to do with.
“He’s there when you need him, he’s done it now in England, France, America a couple of times and on different grounds. He’s a top-class miler.”
The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has announced the appointment of Georgia Gibson Henlin as the new Chairperson of the Independent Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel.
Mrs Henlin, formerly Vice Chair, takes on the role of Chairperson in place of Kent Gammon, who resigned.
Catherine Minto has been added to the membership of the Panel and will be the new Vice Chair.
The new appointments take effect from May 15, 2023 until the tenure of the Panel expires in 2025.
Minister Grange has thanked Mr Gammon for his leadership and service to the Independent Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel.
Jim Brown, widely considered the most dominant football player of his era and one of the best running backs of all time, has died. He was 87.
A bruising runner who never missed a game, Brown led the NFL in rushing in eight of his nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns and appeared in nine consecutive Pro Bowls. He averaged 104.3 rushing yards per game and remains the only player in league history to average over 100 rushing yards per game for his career.
Brown won the league’s MVP award in 1957, 1958 and 1965. At the time of his retirement in 1966, Brown held the single season rushing record with 1,863 yards and was the career rushing leader with 12, 132 yards. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971 in his first year of eligibility.
"Jim Brown was a combination of speed and power like nobody who has ever played the game," former NFL player and coach Dick LeBeau told Sports Illustrated in 2015.
"If he got into the secondary, he was so good at setting you up and then making you miss. You just didn't know if you were going to get a big collision or be grabbing at his shoelaces."
Brown became one of the first pro athletes to parlay his fame into notable off-the-field accomplishments and made the transition to acting while still playing for the Browns.
He stunned the sports world by announcing his retirement prior to the 1966 season at 30 years old. Brown went on to appear in over 30 films, including The Dirty Dozen and Ice Station Zebra as well as the blaxploitation movies Slaughter and Three the Hard Way.
While playing a variety of roles, Brown performed with some of the leading stars of the day. He appeared with Raquel Welch in 100 Rifles and was involved in one of the first interracial love scenes.
Overshadowed by his remarkable NFL career, Brown's college career at Syracuse was equally impressive. He was a consensus first-team All-American and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting in his 1956 senior season after he rushed for 986 yards and 13 touchdowns despite playing only eight games.
Brown, who also excelled in basketball, track and especially lacrosse at Syracuse, was named the greatest college football player of all time by ESPN during a ceremony at the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on January 13, 2020.
Brown was also no stranger to public service. He created the Negro Industrial and Economic Union in the early 1960s to help establish black entrepreneurs and was an activist during the civil rights movement.
He then spent much of his post-NFL career fighting for social justice and change. In 1986 he founded Vital Issues, aimed at teaching life management skills and personal growth techniques to inner-city gang members and prison inmates.
Brown also experienced his share of legal troubles throughout his life and was dogged for years by accusations that he physically abused women.
He was arrested in 1999 following a domestic disturbance with his wife, who accused Brown of making threats towards her. A jury later found Brown guilty of hitting his wife's car with a shovel during the incident. He was fined $1,800 and sentenced to three years' probation and one year of domestic violence counselling.
Brown served as an executive adviser to the Browns from 2005-2010 and was named a special adviser to the team in 2013.
He is survived by his four children, as well as his first wife, Sue Jones, and second wife, Monique.
Frankie Dettori was at his brilliant best as he steered Haskoy to a last-gasp victory in a thrilling renewal of the Al Rayyan Stakes at Newbury.
Ralph Beckett’s filly made huge progress during her debut season last term, with an introductory win at Wolverhampton in late July followed by a Listed success in the Galtres Stakes at York in August.
She subsequently stepped up to take on the boys in the following month’s St Leger at Doncaster and passed the post in second behind Eldar Eldarov before being demoted to fourth place by the stewards after causing interference.
With a subsequent appeal unsuccessful, Haskoy was making her first appearance since in Berkshire and was a 5-2 shot to strike Group Three gold.
Dettori was at work in the saddle some way from home, but the daughter of Golden Horn responded to his urgings to keep herself in the fight and got up in the dying strides to beat John and Thady Gosden’s Israr and the Aidan O’Brien-trained Bolshoi Ballet by a short head and a head respectively.
Yibir, the 9-4 favourite on his first outing since winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket last summer, made late gains from the rear to finish fourth.
Beckett said: “She wasn’t stopping at the end of the St Leger. I sort of feel with her pedigree, it is a stamina-laden pedigree, so I would be pretty confident she’d get it. She switched off very well today, considering how fresh she was.
“We will see how we go. I tried to put a tongue strap on her before but she wouldn’t have it – we had to take it off.
“I’m really pleased. The St Leger was frustrating and it was great to get a Group race next to her name.
“It was only her fourth start and she was still a little green today. With a bit of luck, there’ll be more to come.
“She has got quite a round action. Every time she has surprised me. I didn’t think she could win the Galtres, certainly not at three (furlongs) down. I wouldn’t be afraid to try fast ground.”
Haskoy was cut to 10-1 from 16s by Paddy Power for the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and Beckett indicated the filly could now take her chance in next month’s two-and-a-half-mile highlight.
He added: “She is a top-class stayer with a turn of foot. She was just backing off them a little bit when she was in behind horses, but that is slightly her way. She’ll come forward for today – she was only just ready for it.
“The Ascot Gold Cup is a big ask for all of them – it is more like a war than a horse race. It is tough for all of them. Some never come back from it. It is a massive ask, but we are more inclined to do it now she has won a Group race.”
Julie Camacho looks set to send Shaquille to Royal Ascot for the Commonwealth Cup after a decisive all-the-way win in the Carnarvon Stakes at Newbury.
James Doyle’s mount was completing a four-timer after a couple of novice wins last year and a soft-ground success in a decent handicap at Newmarket to open his three-year-old campaign.
Shaquille was clearly fresh and well, having almost dispatched his rider on the chute from the parade ring to the track and bounced out in the six-furlong contest.
He did not see another horse, with odds-on Noble Style restrained in the early part of the race and Desert Cop, who tracked the leader all the way, fending off the reminder to take second.
It was a wonder that an emotional Camacho even saw the winner, she explained: “I’ve only just arrived. We have had a terrible journey down here.
“It means an awful lot, especially since we’ve had such a rough trip down. It was bit hectic. They shut the A34 and we ended up in Oxford, reversing up streets. It should have taken four hours and we left at 8.15am.
“Newbury has never been a lucky track for us. It is very competitive, but we have managed to have winners at other tracks.
“When you are so far wrong in the ratings, you wonder if you should be here, but he showed he does deserve to be.
“He did it well and he’s a homebred, so it means a bit more.”
She added: “He has taken a while to pull him up. At Newmarket he did everything wrong and still managed to win. He must have some engine to do what he did at Newmarket. It wasn’t the plan to make all, but if nothing wanted to go on, there was no point in fighting him.
“We will go home and think about Ascot, but I think the plan will be to go there.”
Terri Harper’s first defence of her WBA light-middleweight title is off after challenger Cecilia Braekhus pulled out on the morning of the fight because of illness.
Harper, who beat fellow Briton Hannah Rankin in September last year to become world champion again, was set to take on Braekhus on the undercard of Chantelle Cameron-Katie Taylor in Dublin on Saturday night.
But the withdrawal of Braekhus means Harper will instead fight next weekend against an opponent to be confirmed on the undercard of Mauricio Lara-Leigh Wood II in Manchester, according to Matchroom.
Former undisputed world welterweight champion Braekhus said in a video message on Twitter: “I’ve just woken up this morning with flu – headache, fever, ear, nose, throat, the whole thing.
“I felt great yesterday at the weigh-in. I’m just heartbroken, gutted for Terri Harper of course. Sorry to all my fans. I still want to thank Matchroom and Terri for giving me this chance to fight her.
“I hope we can come back and do this real soon.”
The Boston Celtics are not dead and buried despite going 2-0 down to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals on Friday, insists star forward Jayson Tatum.
Four-time All-Star Tatum posted team-high figures of 34 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists as the Celtics started Game 2 strongly at TD Garden, but it was not enough.
Jimmy Butler's 27 points helped the Heat rally to claim a 111-105 victory, with a game-ending 24-9 run from the visitors leaving the Celtics facing an uphill task to seal consecutive NBA Finals appearances.
Boston now approach back-to-back road games requiring a win to keep the series alive, but Tatum retains confidence in their ability to turn things around.
"It's tough. It's a challenge," Tatum said after Friday's loss. "They came in and won two games. They played well, you have to give them credit.
"But we're not dead or anything. We've got a great opportunity.
"I still have the utmost confidence. Everybody has the utmost confidence. We've just got to get ready for Game 3."
Grant Williams attracted criticism for his part in the Heat's fightback, after Butler said a heated fourth-quarter exchange with the Celtics forward provided him with additional motivation late on.
Addressing the incident, Williams said: "I think he said something and I just responded. I'm a competitor and I'm going to battle.
"He got the best of me tonight, and at the end of the day it's out of respect, because I'm not going to run away from it.
"You either come back before you die or you come back and get a win, and I'm not willing to die in this finals. I'm ready to get a win.
"I'm ready to come back and come into Game 3 with a better mentality, and I know this team is as well.
"We have a real, real decision to make, are we going to come back and really set the tone for the rest of this year and really make a statement?
"Or are we going to come out and lay down? I don't think this team is built for laying down."
Miami's Kaseya Center will play host to Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday respectively, with the Heat needing just two further wins to avenge last year's 4-3 Conference Finals defeat to Boston.
Tahiyra is “more likely than not” to take her chance in the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas on Sunday week, trainer Dermot Weld has confirmed.
The daughter of Siyouni won each of her two starts as a juvenile last season, supplementing a debut victory at the Galway Festival with a Group One success in the Moyglare Stud Stakes.
Weld left it late before eventually committing to a run in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier this month and after being sent off a hot favourite, she was narrowly beaten by Saeed bin Suroor’s Mawj, with the pair drawing a long way clear of the chasing pack.
With connections responsible for a second contender for the Irish Guineas in recent Group Three runner-up Tarawa, Weld was initially hesitant to commit Tahiyra to the Curragh Classic – but speaking at Leopardstown on Friday evening, he revealed he is leaning towards running the Rowley Mile runner-up.
“We’ll make a decision next week, the same with Tarawa as well. It’s more likely than not, at this stage, that Tahiyra will run in the Irish 1,000 Guineas,” said the Rosewell House handler.
“The final decision will be made the middle of next week.”
Reflecting on Newmarket Tahiyra’s Newmarket performance, he added: “She ran a super race, they are two very good fillies who drew seven and a half lengths clear of the rest.
“She was carried a little bit across the track as well but full marks to the winner, she’s a very good filly. On the day she had the fitness and on the day she was slightly the better of the two fillies.”
Jimmy Butler said his bust-up with Grant Williams lit the fire within after leading the Miami Heat to a terrific comeback win over the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Boasting a 96-87 lead midway through the fourth quarter at TD Garden on Friday, the Celtics looked set to level the series at 1-1, only for Butler to lead his team to a huge 111-105 victory.
Butler scored nine of his team-high 27 points after he went head-to-head with Williams in a heated exchange in the fourth quarter, with the Heat closing the game with a 24-9 run.
Asked whether that incident helped to instigate his strong finish to the game, Butler said: "Yes, it did.
"But that's just competition at its finest. He hit a big shot, started talking to me. I like that. I'm all for that.
"It makes me key in a lot more, it pushes that will that I have to win a lot more. It makes me smile. It does.
"When people talk to me, I'm like, 'okay, I know I'm a decent player if you want to talk to me, out of everybody that you can talk to'. It's just competition.
"I do respect him, though. He's a big part of what they try to do. He switches, he can shoot the ball. I just don't know if I'm the best person to talk to."
Heat guard Caleb Martin concurred, suggesting Williams picked the wrong man to provoke.
"I knew it was going to be good for us," Martin said. "Knowing Jimmy, at that point in the game, if you get him going… we'll take mad Jimmy any time!
"You could kind of see it in his eyes that he was ready to go after that."
With Miami set to assume home advantage for Game 3 on Sunday, head coach Erik Spoelstra said the Heat's ability to find new ways to win has been a key feature of their postseason run.
"It feels like this has just been our existence all year long," Spoelstra said. "I guess nobody is really paying attention.
"But every single game… it felt like for weeks on end, every game was ending on the last-second shot, whether we're shooting it or the other team is shooting it.
"You develop some grit from that. Whether that turns into confidence or not, sometimes you don't have the confidence, but at least you have that experience of going through stuff and you understand how tough it is."
Brett Howden banked the puck off a scrambling Jake Oettinger from behind the net 1:35 into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
William Karlsson scored his sixth and seventh postseason goals for Vegas, while Teddy Blueger netted his first playoff goal since August 5, 2020.
Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson each had a goal and an assist for the Stars and Jamie Benn's goal with 1:59 remaining in regulation forced the extra period.
Hintz upped his playoff totals to 10 goals and 12 assists in 14 contests and Robertson's goal ended an eight-game stretch without one.
Adin Hill made 33 saves to improve to 4-1 this postseason and Oettinger dropped to 8-6 after turning aside 33 of 37 shots.
Game 2 will take place on Sunday in Las Vegas.
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