Owner Ahmad Al Shaik is again dreaming of Derby glory after Deira Mile broke his duck in routine fashion at Windsor.
Dubai Mile was ninth in the Epsom Classic last year carrying the Green Team Racing colours and hopes are high of an improved placing this term.
The Owen Burrows-trained Deira Mile remained a maiden following four runs as a juvenile, mainly due to fluffing his lines when sent off as a 1-5 favourite at Chelmsford.
However, he showed his potential when beaten less than three lengths in fourth behind Ancient Wisdom in the Group One Futurity at Doncaster and built on that by justifying short odds of 4-9 at Windsor under Jim Crowley.
Asked about Derby aspirations, his owner told Sky Sports Racing: “It is in my blood and my sons’ blood, not just me. We need to go to the Derby and one day we will win – if not me, one of my sons.
“He is still green but Jim Crowley said the further he goes, the better he will be.
“We have only 40 days now until Epsom, I don’t think we have time to run him again, so I will discuss with the trainer about going straight to Epsom and I think he will be fine.”
Burrows added: “He’s a big lad and mentally, he’s still quite immature. He had the four runs last year, but he is still a big baby.
“The plan was to try and find as easy a race as we could and it worked out perfectly. He’s ended up hitting the front a little sooner than ideal, as he gets to the front and just thinks ‘right, what do I do now?’ But he’s had a race.”
Crowley pulled alongside main market rival Castle In The Sand between the final two furlongs of the 10-furlong contest and Deira Mile responded to his urgings to prevail by four lengths.
The jockey said: “It’s the first time I’ve ridden him, but I saw him at Chelmsford last year and I think when he hits the front, he just loses concentration a little bit and he did it there, hence why I gave him a smack, because I just don’t want him to get in the habit of doing it.
“The race sort of fell apart at the two-furlong pole and I could have quite easily stayed upsides on the bridle, but he probably wouldn’t have learnt an awful lot.
“But he is learning, he’s going to progress and he stays well – he’s a lovely type of horse and he was entitled to win that race.
“His two-year-old form was very good at the back-end and I suggested to Owen we could possibly put a set of cheekpieces on him, especially in a better race where horses take him further.
“Like I said, he stays very well and there will be some lovely races for him through the summer.”
Qualifier Joe O’Connor held his nerve to sink four-time champion Mark Selby and book his place in the second round of the World Championship in Sheffield.
O’Connor, who grew up idolising Selby and cheered him to three of those previous successes, scrambled to a 10-6 victory after resuming 7-2 in front from Sunday’s dominant first session.
Selby, who has struggled on and off the table this season and said he was considering retirement after his Tour Championship loss to Gary Wilson earlier this month, looked sluggish and far from his best throughout.
But he still managed to draw on his famous fighting qualities as he opened with a break of 112 and also fired a 91 to reduce the deficit to 8-5 at the mid-session interval.
O’Connor, the only debutant in the tournament this year, showed few signs of nerves as he nudged 56 points from victory in the next to move one more frame from a famous victory.
Selby responded once more with a break of 67 then threatened to edge within two frames when he went 39 points up in the next before an ice-cool red down the rail by his opponent effectively confirmed his demise.
It marked the first time since 2018 that Selby has lost in the first round, and prompted ‘The Jester from Leicester’ to admit that he will give some serious thought to his future in the summer.
Selby told the BBC: “I’ll sit down with (my wife) Vicky and see what the options are.
“Obviously it will be a big decision but if I do carry on playing I need help, probably on the mental side of it a little bit more just to go out there and enjoy the game.
“That’s all I want to do, go out there and enjoy it and for me, it’s always sort of life or death; I’ve always been that kind of character, putting too much pressure on myself and trying too hard.”
Shaun Murphy avoided the same fate as he turned a 6-3 overnight advantage into a comfortable 10-5 win over China’s Lyu Haotian.
Murphy punished Lyu from 38 points behind to pinch the opening frame, and was never in danger of surrendering his advantage in the tie, which he eventually polished off with a break of 81.
The 2005 champion told the BBC: “It’s such a relief, it’s so rewarding and pleasing, I haven’t won a match here for a few seasons. I’m delighted to have got that win and (be) in the second round of the tournament.”
Stuart Bingham stormed into an impressive three-frame lead to give him a healthy advantage at the end of the first session, leading Gary Wilson 6-3.
Bingham started in tremendous fashion, falling just two points short of an opening-frame century break and he rattled off the next three before Wilson made his mark on the scoreboard.
Bingham responded with a 117 break to go 5-1 up and put daylight between himself and his opponent, who many expected to challenge for the title.
Staring down the barrel of an early exit, Wilson’s session-high 60 break came in the final frame but a missed black helped Bingham swoop and almost clear the table until he himself missed a routine black, which his opponent sunk to reduce the deficit to three.
Former world champion Shaun Murphy has accused rival Hossein Vafaei of “sacrilege” after the Iranian launched a scathing attack on the conditions at the Crucible Theatre.
Vafaei described the venue as “smelly” and said the practice room was like a garage in the wake of his 10-5 World Championship first-round defeat to Judd Trump on Sunday.
But Murphy, who swept to victory over Lyu Haotian by the same score, jumped to the defence of the Crucible, which has hosted every World Championship since 1977.
Murphy said: “This is holy ground. It’s almost sacrilege for a professional snooker player to be so openly critical of our home.
“Hossein should educate himself on how our tour works in relationships with the WST and our broadcast partners, and what a special place this is.
“Does he think he is helping our sport grow by being so openly critical of one of our biggest partners? He has not helped the sport at all.”
Speculation is mounting over the future of the venue, with its current deal due to expire in 2027 and some stars including world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan openly calling for the sport’s power-brokers to pursue more lucrative options abroad.
Murphy, who is based in Sheffield and won the world title as a qualifier in 2005, conceded the Crucible has its problems but said he hoped it would find a way to extend its historic association with the sport.
“We’re coming up to the 50th anniversary of snooker being here and if the World Snooker Tour turned up tomorrow and did a site visit they would probably not come here because it’s not big enough, but there’s nothing we can do about that,” added Murphy.
“I don’t want the snooker to leave here. I don’t think anyone wants to leave apart from Hossein and Ronnie O’Sullivan. Everyone else wants to stay but it can’t stay as it is.”
Former semi-finalist Mark Allen admitted he is in two minds about the future of the sport’s showpiece event given the lure of those potentially lucrative alternatives elsewhere.
The WST recently signed a deal to step up promotion of the game in Saudi Arabia, and next year’s second World Masters of Snooker event will offer a stunning one million dollars (£810,000) jackpot for any player capable of potting a special golden ball after a maximum break.
“Sometimes money talks and it doesn’t look too good for the Crucible, but I wouldn’t be openly pushing to leave,” said Allen.
“I’m a traditionalist and I love the history that is attached to this venue. The sport needs to evolve and grow but I’m not sure about the direction it wants to go in.
“On the other hand you need money to provide for your family and if somewhere else is better placed to help with that then so be it. Perhaps the answer is to find a bigger venue in Sheffield to keep it here.”
The Jamaica Defence Force and UWI Volleyball are champions of the Jamaica Volleyball Association Club League which culminated at the GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sports in St. Catherine over the weekend.
In the Women’s final, Master’s Volleyball Club were no match for the defending champion as UWI Volleyball Club won in straight sets 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-20).
The team was led by team captain and national representative Erica Harris.
In the Men’s final, The Jamaica Defence Force defeated MOSA Volleyball Club in straight sets 3-0 (25-10, 25-21, 25-22).
JDF was led by 2023 RJR Sportsman of the Year for Volleyball and team captain, Ryck Webb.
GC Foster College (Women) and UWI A (Men) placed third after straight sets victories over MOSA Volleyball Club and UWI B respectively in the 3rd place playoffs.
Azure Blue has the defence of her 1895 Duke of York Clipper Stakes title pencilled in on the calendar as Michael Dods prepares his star speedster for her impending return to action.
The five-year-old appeared to be on a real upward curve in the sprint division around this time last year and followed up a Newmarket Listed win over Heredia on her reappearance by claiming the scalp of the ill-fated Highfield Princess in the York Group Two 12 months ago.
That Knavesmire victory signalled her intentions to compete at the highest level but although she got a first taste of Group One action when finishing sixth in last summer’s July Cup, niggling injuries kept her on the sidelines for the rest of the 2023 campaign.
She is now working towards a return to the track, with her trainer setting his sights on again tackling some of the season’s most prestigious sprinting events.
However, the first port of call is a return to York on May 15, with Darlington-based Dods pleased with how her preparations are going.
“The plan is to go straight to York and we’re on track for that and we’re happy with her,” said Dods. “She’s working nicely and she looks great at the moment.
“The plan is to be in all of those top sprints this year and we’re happy with her, and she’s working nicely. We’re just making steady progress until we get her on the track.
“Hopefully that will be at York, that’s the plan.”
Relief Rally is set for a drop back in trip, as sights turn to the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot following her run in the Fred Darling Stakes at Newbury.
A winner of four of her five starts last season, she was highly unfortunate not to be unbeaten as a juvenile, with her sole defeat coming at Royal Ascot when beaten a nose by American raider Crimson Advocate in the Queen Mary Stakes.
Having changed hands for 800,000 guineas in December, the daughter of Kodiac is now owned by Zhang Yuesheng and connections decided to test their filly’s stamina over seven furlongs on her first start of the new campaign.
Despite running with real credit and finishing an honourable fourth as the 7-4 favourite, her trainer feels she should now drop back to sprinting distances and will be targeted at achieving Royal Ascot redemption in the Commonwealth Cup in late June.
“I’m certain she didn’t stay and I said to Tom (Marquand) before the race, this will be the last time she runs over this trip, but I couldn’t not run in it,” said Haggas.
“Whether she is going to be a top filly, I don’t know, but she is going to run six furlongs next time, maybe at the Lockinge meeting against the colts.
“There is a race on the all-weather at Chelmsford (on May 2) for fillies, but that feels a bit hard on her and I don’t think she will go there.
“Tom said she was very weak in the last half-furlong, when he thought he had them covered, so I’m not sure, she may have just got tired as well, but she won’t run seven furlongs again and she’s not going to be running in the French Guineas.
“We’ll try to get her to Ascot if we can, with a run before.”
Aidan O’Brien is keen to see what Chief Little Rock can do back on a decent surface when he contests the Betfred Blue Riband Trial at Epsom on Tuesday.
After winning his maiden on his second outing on good ground, he finished runner-up in two Group races, but they both came with plenty of cut in the ground.
In chasing home Paddy Twomey’s Deepone in the Beresford Stakes and subsequent Group One winner Ancient Wisdom in the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket, he nevertheless sets a very good standard for his five rivals to aim at.
The Ballydoyle handler was last successful in this race in 2019 with Cape Of Good Hope, who like Chief Little Rock was by Galileo and went on to finish fourth in the French Derby before grabbing a Group One win in Australia.
“We’re very happy with him and he showed a good level of form when second in the Beresford,” said O’Brien.
“We like him and we think nice ground will suit him, it was nice ground when he won his maiden and we’re keen to learn plenty about him at Epsom.
“His form from last year looks good now and we’ve been very happy with him this year.
“We always thought he would stay a mile and a quarter and maybe a mile and a half.”
O’Brien, of course, houses the hugely exciting City Of Troy, who despite not running in a trial ahead of the 2000 Guineas, has continually seen his form franked, not least by easy Craven winner Haatem, who was over eight lengths behind him in the Dewhurst.
“All is good with him,” said O’Brien. “It’s a case of so far, so good anyway.”
Ralph Beckett’s Feigning Madness is defending an unbeaten record but has plenty to find on ratings, as does Roger Varian’s Defiance, who stepped straight into Group company after a Sandown maiden win and was not disgraced behind Clive Cox’s Ghostwriter in the Royal Lodge.
Arabic Legend has his first start for Karl Burke after being moved from Andrew Balding by owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, while Balding himself runs Bellum Justum, who beat the promising Inisherin last time out.
Kevin Philippart de Foy’s Bur Dubai completes the field.
The Brooklyn Nets have a new man in charge, hiring Jordi Fernandez as the 24th coach in franchise history on Monday.
Fernandez spent the last two seasons as the associate head coach of the Sacramento Kings, helping lead them to the Pacific Division title and the third seed in the Western Conference a year ago for the franchise's first play-off berth since 2006.
The Kings finished ninth in the West this season, and went 94-70 in Fernandez's two seasons on the Sacramento staff.
The Nets ended up going 32-50 this season to miss the play-offs for the first time since 2018. They fired Jacque Vaughn at the All-Star break, and Kevin Ollie finished out the season as the interim coach.
A native of Badalona, Spain, Fernandez also coaches Canada's men's national team. He helped Canada to a bronze medal in last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup with a win over Team USA in the third-place game.
"We're thrilled to announce Jordi Fernández as Brooklyn's new head coach," said Nets general manager Sean Marks in a statement. "As we progressed through an extensive search over the past six weeks, it became increasingly clear that Jordi is the best coach to lead our team forward. Jordi brings a diverse set of experiences and basketball knowledge gained over the course of a coaching career that has taken him around the world. Each step of the way, Jordi has consistently demonstrated the ability to implement strong processes and creative systems designed to optimise each team's specific roster."
Prior to his stop in Sacramento, Fernandez was an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets for six seasons, during which the team made the play-offs four times.
In addition to coaching Canada's team, Fernandez has other experience coaching on the global stage, serving as the lead assistant for the Nigerian national team at the 2020 Olympics. He also worked on the staff for the Spanish national team at EuroBasket 2017 and the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championships.
"My family and I are thrilled to join such an incredible organisation and become part of the vibrant Brooklyn community," Fernandez said. "I am eager to get to work with this talented group of players and collectively drive our team forward. Together, we will be fully committed to building something special for Nets fans and the borough to be proud of for years to come."
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler hailed his mental strength after making it four wins in five starts with a rain-delayed victory at the RBC Heritage.
Scheffler returned to Hilton Head on Monday morning holding a five-stroke lead with three holes to play after a storm halted proceedings on Sunday.
The world number one dropped a shot at the last to finish 19 under par, three shots ahead of fellow American Sahith Theegala, with Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark another stroke back.
Scheffler is the first player to win a PGA Tour event the week after claiming the Green Jacket since Bernhard Langer in 1985 and the first to win four times in five starts on the US-based circuit since Tiger Woods in 2007-08.
Each of Scheffler’s last seven wins have come with at least eight of the world’s top 10 in the field and he is the third player in the last 30 years – after Woods and Vijay Singh – to win or finish runner-up in five consecutive starts on the PGA Tour.
“I was able to go home for a couple days and celebrate,” Scheffler said.
“I didn’t really put much thought into it. I had committed to playing the tournament here, it was part of the plan, so we stuck to the plan.
“I talked about it at the beginning of the week – I didn’t show up here just to have some sort of ceremony and have people tell me congratulations. I came here with a purpose, got off to a slow start but after that played some really nice golf.
“I do have fairly high expectations for myself and when I show up at tournaments, I try to do my best.
“I’ve talked a lot about kind of the preparation and what it takes for me to show up on a first tee ready to go, and I feel like I’ve been putting in the work and been playing some good golf, and it’s nice to be seeing some results for that with wins.
“On the course, I think the last month or so I’ve been as good mentally as I have in a long time and I think that’s why I am seeing some of the results.
“This week could be a good example of starting off and looking at the leaderboard on Thursday and everybody is just making birdie after birdie and I’m sitting there over par and I’ve had a shank on the day.
“I just did my best to stay patient and wait until I got hot.
“Had a nice finish to the round on Thursday and then had a really solid Friday where I felt like I played better than I scored, and then I had Saturday where I just played some really good golf.”
Rory McIlroy carded a final-round 74 to slip into a tie for 33rd.
Patrick Mullins has warned Britain’s leading yards that his father Willie may well aim for back-to-back victories in the jump trainers’ championship if topping the table this term.
The Closutton camp added a rather modest £4,356.80 to their tally when Patrick partnered 2-9 favourite Rath Gaul Boy to an easy success in the Dragonbet Best Odds On Welsh Sport Novices’ Hurdle at Ffos Las.
But that win showed that having already passed the £3million mark with Grand National victories at Aintree and Ayr to build up a sizeable lead over Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls, Mullins is clearly keen to take nothing for granted.
And if he becomes only the second trainer based in Ireland to claim the UK title, the inspiration is there to push on for a second straight success.
“Myself, Ruby (Walsh) and David (Casey) would love it to be the plan from the start of the season, but Willie is always very much like mind your own garden and don’t let anyone get a foothold at home and do your best there,” Patrick Mullins told Sky Sports Racing.
“The only reason this became possible is because I Am Maximus won the National, if he hadn’t won the National, we wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t have been at Ayr. It’s half a million, so we’d be fourth.
“So that changed things and we’ve been blown away by the support. People have been saying if you want to send a horse to Ffos Las or Ludlow or wherever, then do that. We’re very grateful for that.
“But Vincent O’Brien did it in the 1950s and he did it two years in a row, so if we do win it, maybe we’ll have to come back next year and emulate him! Although to emulate anything Vincent O’Brien did would be very special, because he is the legend.”
Manchester United fan Mullins was at Wembley on Saturday to watch the Red Devils reach the FA Cup final by getting past Coventry, but he took note of how they blew a 3-0 lead and came within a whisker of being knocked out in extra-time before prevailing on penalties.
Nicholls famously overturned a big deficit on the final day at Sandown when the Closutton team were last in pole position to top the table back in 2016.
“We went to Sandown before on the last day and we’ve been here before and we didn’t win, but hopefully this time we can,” added Patrick.
“The bid for the English title has really livened everything up for us at Closutton as well and we’re really enjoying it. I’m delighted to be in Ffos Las, I was delighted to be in Ayr and I can’t wait to be going to Ludlow on Wednesday.
“I haven’t seen a lot of these tracks, so it’s exciting and hopefully we can get it over the line.
“People have been very kind, we were up in Ayr and the crowd were so welcoming and very supportive of us.
“I remember when Man United used to win everything and everyone wanted to beat them, so there is that side of things when you’re successful, but Willie’s always said you take nothing for granted and you don’t know when things can change, so enjoy it while you can.
“We got the bounce of the ball in Ayr, where we got two photo-finishes. Macdermott could have been second and Chosen Witness could have been second, so that would have changed the whole thing again.”
Owen Burrows’ Alflaila is pencilled in for a summer comeback after a setback cut short his brief campaign last season.
The entire son of Dark Angel has done plenty to prove his ability in the past, enjoying a successful three-year-old season which yielded four victories.
Amongst them was the Strensall Stakes at York, an eight-furlong Group Three, and the Masar Darley Stakes at the same level at Newmarket.
Those runs were due to lead into a bid for the Bahrain International Trophy, but the bay met with a setback and could not take his chance in the Middle East.
He made a late return to action in June last year to take the York Stakes on the Knavesmire by half a length, and although luck did not favour him in his subsequent start in the Irish Champion Stakes he was not disgraced when coming home fifth.
Alflaila has not been seen since after meeting with another issue, but he has now returned to work and Burrows is hopeful he will make an early summer comeback.
“He’s back with me, he probably won’t be out for another month’s time,” said Burrows.
“In the last couple of weeks he’s started fast work and it’ll be good to get him back.
“He obviously didn’t have the longest of seasons last year, but he won well at York on King George day and then it’d didn’t go to plan in the Irish Champion Stakes.
“That was the case for a lot of the English horses, and then unfortunately he had a little setback and that finished him for the season.
“Touch wood we can get him back soon, I was hoping to start him in the Brigadier Gerard, but that may just come a fraction too soon.
“It all depends how the next few weeks go, but he looks as well as ever, he’s filled out and strengthened up again.
“I’m not going to rush him to try and get to Sandown, if it comes around then it comes around but if not we’ll look to June time, there’s plenty of races for a nice horse like him.
“He was only just over three lengths behind Auguste Rodin (in the Irish Champion Stakes) and so he doesn’t have a huge amount to find to step up into these Group One races.”
Willie Mullins has entered both El Fabiolo and Gaelic Warrior at Sandown on Saturday, as he leaves no stone unturned in his attempt to be crowned champion trainer in the UK for the first time.
With £170,000 up for grabs in the bet365 Celebration Chase, Mullins has every base covered with the winners of the last two renewals of the Arkle at Cheltenham.
Appreciate It, Dysart Dynamo and Saint Sam could all run for Mullins, who has made 25 entries on the card overall, while current champion chaser Captain Guinness holds an entry for Henry de Bromhead.
In what could potentially be one of the races of the season, Jonbon, Editeur Du Gite and Edwardstone are among the 14 possibles, in which Mullins’ nearest rival Dan Skelton has entered Nube Negra and his new recruit from Ben Pauling, Harper’s Brook.
A late decision is expected on Gaelic Warrior, with Joe Chambers, racing manager for his owners Susannah and Rich Ricci, explaining he is unlikely to be supplemented for the Champion Chase at Punchestown.
“We’re crawling forward day by day and fully expected him to be entered. We’ll see how things are looking on Thursday morning,” Chambers told the Nick Luck Daily podcast
“We’re not in the Champion Chase at Punchestown, only the novice race, and it’s 30,000 euros to supplement, which doesn’t appeal.
“Willie has always kept novices to novices, unless there has been the odd exception. I would have thought winning the Scottish National would make him run less rather than more, but I could be absolutely wrong, I haven’t a clue what they are thinking.
“He’d be a fair sight, I’d love to see him personally going two miles there, it’s right-handed but whether he goes there or not, it’s going to be very much later in the week.”
Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon is in at Punchestown but Sandown is his preferred destination.
“We are thinking we’re going to Sandown, that’s the plan at the moment, we’re just a little concerned he’s had to start watering quite early. As long as it is safe,” said Henderson.
“We did the two (Aintree and Sandown) last year, so it pricked our ears to it again. Punchestown is an option but I’d rather not be travelling, as it would be safer to stay in England, to be honest.”
In the bet365 Oaksey Chase, Ahoy Senor is among 17 entries, along with Henry de Bromhead’s Journey With Me and Patrick Neville’s The Real Whacker.
Paul Nicholls’ Threeunderthrufive is left at the top of the weights for the bet365 Gold Cup, as the current champion retains a slim hope of retaining his title.
Last year’s winner Kitty’s Light remains in contention after his brave run in the Grand National, with Le Milos carrying the flag for Skelton.
Mullins has left in four, with Nick Rockett and Minella Cocooner his main hopes.
Impaire Et Passe and Langer Dan could meet again in the bet365 Select Hurdle, in which Skelton has also entered My Drogo.
Shaun Murphy began his quest for a second world title in style as he cruised his way into the second round of the World Snooker Championship with a 10-5 victory over Lyu Haotian at the Crucible.
Murphy started the session with a 6-3 lead and was looking to carry on where he left off when he punished China’s Haotian from 38 points behind to pinch the opening frame to extend his advantage to four.
Murphy secured the next to make it five consecutive frames but Haotian won two out of the next three to extend the tie slightly.
A relaxed Murphy did not sweat and – with the 2005 world champion just needing a solitary frame for the win – he wrapped it up in style with a break of 81 to put himself into the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2021.
Murphy told the BBC: “I haven’t won a match since I beat Kyren Wilson here in 2021.
“It’s such a relief, it’s so rewarding and pleasing, I haven’t won a match here for a few seasons. I’m delighted to have got that win and in the second round of the tournament.”
Stuart Bingham stormed into an impressive three-frame lead to give him a healthy advantage at the end of the first session as he leads Gary Wilson 6-3 at the halfway point.
Bingham started in tremendous fashion, falling just two points short of an opening-frame century break to put his first point on the board and he rattled off the next three before Wilson made his mark on the scoreboard.
Bingham responded straight away with a 117 break to go 5-1 up and already put daylight between himself and and Wilson, who many expected to challenge for the title.
Staring down the barrel of an early exit, Wilson’s session-high 60 break of the match came in the final frame but a missed black pot helped Bingham swoop in and almost clear the table until he himself missed a routine black on the last and his opponent sunk the remaining ball to reduce the deficit to three.
Paul Nicholls has admitted he feels a pang of sympathy for Dan Skelton if, as looks likely, Willie Mullins goes on to beat the pair to become champion trainer.
Nicholls needs one more title to draw level with Martin Pipe on 15, while Skelton is chasing his first crown.
However, having won the Grand National at Aintree with I Am Maximus and the Scottish version with Macdermott, Mullins now has a cushion of almost £180,000 with a week to go.
Nicholls told Betfair: “All credit to him, he’s got a big team of people and horses, particularly horses, and it’s become a bit of a numbers game. The numbers they can produce to run across the board is immense really. It’s a job to compete with that.
“I remember back in the years I had all those good ones and you’d win the trainers’ championship just by winning those big races. The last few years, it has just been about getting the best out of your team.
“Now it’s very difficult. If you win all those big races, like Champion Hurdles and Gold Cups and Grand Nationals, you are going to be champion trainer with a small number of runners. It’s not going to get any easier with the number of horses and the class of horses they have at their disposal.
“It’s an amazing feat to do but with the ammunition they’ve got, and the numbers, we’re up against it.
“I feel a bit for Dan because he said to me on Saturday that he thought the first time he’d beat me in the trainers’ championship, he’d be champion – well he hasn’t yet, because we’ve got Saturday and I’m not too far behind him, so I’m not going to let him rest on his laurels – but in a normal year, he’d be champion trainer.
“He could end up finishing second having beaten me and I know he’s mortified, but he’s had a good season and he’ll get his chance another day.”
Jayson Tatum showed he was unfazed by the Miami Heat's physicality as he logged his first career playoff triple-double in the Boston Celtics' 114-94 Game 1 victory on Sunday.
Top-seeded Boston seized the initiative in their first-round series against Miami at TD Garden, with Tatum adding 10 rebounds and 10 assists to his 23 points, leading six Celtics in double figures.
Tatum's fine performance came despite some rough treatment from the Heat, taking one huge hit from Caleb Martin while going up for a rebound in the last minute of the fourth quarter.
Martin immediately went to help Tatum up but was pushed by Boston's Jaylen Brown, with both players awarded technicals. The Miami forward later said the incident was accidental, as he received a slight nudge from Jrue Holiday before crashing into Tatum.
The five-star All-Star was soon back to his feet, though, and he later said getting hit was just part of the game.
"It's playoff basketball, and it's a physical game against a physical team. ***'s going to happen," Tatum said. "It's probably not the last time I'm going to get hit like that in this series.
The Celtics led by as many as 34 points in the fourth quarter, with a late run from the Heat only ever bringing them as close as 14.
Tatum hailed Boston for staying focused throughout, adding: "It's supposed to be tough. In the playoffs no game is easy.
"There are no guaranteed wins regardless of the score, or how much time is left. We just had to respond and we did that."
Miami struggled in the absence of Jimmy Butler, and coach Erik Spoelstra accepted they were second-best, saying: "Boston controlled this game from the tip.
"They won the big muscle areas. They definitely won the 3-point line and the majority of the areas in between."
Elsewhere on Sunday, Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard scored 35 first-half points – a franchise playoff record – as they claimed a 109-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their own first-round series.
Lillard didn't score after halftime, but his lightning start ensured the Bucks were untroubled despite the absence of two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed out with a calf strain.
Milwaukee built a commanding 69-42 lead by the interval and never saw their advantage drop to single digits as Khris Middleton tacked on 23 points – 15 of them in the second half.
Looking ahead to Tuesday's second game, which will also be held at the home of the third-seeded Bucks, Lillard said: "In the playoffs, it's about setting the tone.
"We're going to see this team a lot of times, and you want to establish yourself, especially on your home floor. That was my mentality, to come out and try and set the tone in that way."
Remarking on Lillard's incredible first-half performance, Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said: "He carried us. He was unbelievable."
Over the course of four quarters, Lillard was upstaged by Indiana's Pascal Siakam, who finished with 36 points and 13 rebounds in 40 minutes on the court.
Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle, however, was unable to look beyond their miserable start to the game.
"The first half was embarrassing," Carlisle said. "We have no excuses. We've simply got to come out better. It was ugly, and we all own it."
Porta Fortuna is on course for the Qipco 1000 Guineas having pleased trainer Donnacha O’Brien in a recent racecourse gallop.
The Caravaggio filly won the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot in June but showed she was far from just a precocious type when winning the Cheveley Park at the end of September.
Stepped up to a mile for the first time at the Breeders’ Cup, she went down by just half a length to Chad Brown’s Hard To Justify in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“She’s done well over the winter and we had her at Leopardstown for a day away on the Guineas Trials day and she went very well,” said O’Brien.
“We’re very happy with her and aiming for Newmarket.
“She barely won a maiden on heavy but all her best form is on quick ground, so I’d say the better the ground the better for her.
“She ran well over a mile at the Breeders’ Cup, but a Newmarket mile is different than around Santa Anita.
“We are happy to give it a go and if it doesn’t work we can always come back (in trip).”
William Haggas’ Maljoom has the Paradise Stakes at Ascot in his sights and holds an outside chance of running in the Al Shaqab Lockinge.
The five-year-old entire is lightly-raced and heads into this season having had a successful three-year-old campaign followed by well over a year off the track.
A Group Two winner in the German 2,000 Guineas in 2022 and then fourth when beaten only half a length in the St James’s Palace Stakes, Maljoom clearly has plenty of ability.
Last season he was seen only once when fifth in the Joel Stakes and September but he is now preparing to make his seasonal debut at Ascot next month in the Listed Paradise Stakes.
He also holds a Lockinge entry but may find that contest comes around too soon as the Newbury fixture is on May 18.
“He’s going to the Paradise Stakes on May 1 and then we will decide if he goes for the Lockinge,” Haggas said.
“I wanted to run him earlier than that so the Lockinge is probably a long shot, but I need to get his show back on the road, he’s in good shape.
“He’s only run once since the St James’s Palace and he’s very much trying to get his show back on the road.
“He’s a talented horse but a fragile one, but to be fair to him he’s trained very well this spring.”
Stablemate Montassib started his season on a high note when landing the Cammidge Trophy ahead of Marshman at Doncaster on the opening weekend of the turf season, though the runner-up was well beaten in the Abernant next time out.
The Duke Of York could await Haggas’ runner and there are French contests on the table also.
“He needs a bit of cut in the ground and he’s in the Duke Of York, he might go there,” the trainer said.
“The form of his race at Doncaster fell in a heap in the Abernant the other day and he could go for a Listed race at Chantilly on May 14 – we might do that.”
One Haggas runner that will not be seen on a racecourse again is Sense Of Duty, a talented Group-winning mare whose career has been cut short by an injury.
“Regrettably I think she has fractured her pelvis, so she will sadly be retired,” Haggas said.
“It’s very frustrating for Andrew Stone who owns her, but she will make a broodmare for him.
“It’s always horrible for a trainer when you know a horse has talent and you never get to the bottom of her.”
Jason Kidd and Kyrie Irving were frustrated by a "passive" performance from the Dallas Mavericks, who went down 109-97 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
The Mavs were second best throughout the opening contest of their first-round series against the Clippers, who were without talisman Kawhi Leonard.
James Harden stepped up with 28 points in Leonard's absence, Paul George chipped in with 22 and Ivica Zubac contributed a career-high 20 points, adding 15 rebounds.
Dallas, seeded fifth, shot just 38.8 per cent for the game, and were 56-30 down by halftime.
Doncic finished with 33 points, while Irving finished with 31, but the latter was deeply frustrated by the Mavs' display.
"It really centered around the foundational point of talking about physicality and this being the playoffs," Irving said.
"A lot of guys aren't used to being here. A few young guys aren't used to being here, so they don't know what they can get away with and what the refs are going to call.
"I think this was a great first test for us. We obviously failed and we came out with a loss, but I think there are some things we can take into Game 2."
Mavs coach Kidd added: "They were physical and we were passive."
For the Clippers, it was a timely reminder of what Harden is able to offer.
"I can score with the best of 'em," Harden said.
"Still can score with the best of 'em. My role for this team is just generating really good shots and making guys' jobs easier.
"And then when my number to score is called, then you score the basketball. Obviously, Kawhi is out, so my playmaking and my volume is going to go up a little bit more, and took advantage of it."
Zubac lauded his teammate's performance, labelling Harden as "one of the greatest scorers this game has seen".
"James was great," he said. "We needed him and he played great.
"He is one of the greatest scorers this game has seen. He can do that on a nightly basis. It's just the role is different for him in this game and [with Leonard out], we need him to score more and that's what he did and we all know he can do that."
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue chipped in with the praise, too, saying: "When he's scoring the basketball and making the right play, it's huge.
"He understands that he doesn't have to do a lot of heavy lifting with Kawhi and PG both on the floor.
"But if one of those guys are out, he has to step up and be aggressive to score the basketball. That is what he has been doing for us of late. I thought he really set the tone early."
Christian Horner has knocked back criticism that Max Verstappen’s stranglehold on Formula One is “boring” by describing his star driver’s unstoppable form as a “golden moment”.
Verstappen claimed his fourth win from the five rounds so far this season with a commanding drive at Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix to establish a 25-point championship lead.
The Dutch driver has failed to triumph at only two of the last 23 races staged in the sport, and he is the overwhelming favourite to secure a fourth world crown in as many seasons.
Speaking prior to Sunday’s race, Lando Norris, who finished runner-up to Verstappen in Shanghai, admitted that seeing the “same driver win without a fight is boring”, and a “turn-off” for fans.
But addressing claims that Verstappen’s dominance is damaging the sport, Red Bull team principal Horner said: “You have to appreciate success. Max is a special talent and this is a golden moment for him.
“As we have seen with every single driver in the past, it doesn’t last forever. It is about enjoying the moment and being in the moment and there are no guarantees we can give him a car like this for the next five years.
“Max is just a metronome. The pace he showed last year, he has continued that through.
“And since the last Chinese Grand Prix in 2019, he has won 50 per cent of all the races. He has won 21 out of the last 23 races. He is in fantastic form, at one with the car and the team and enjoying his racing.”
Verstappen also won the first sprint round of the season in Shanghai.
The dash to the chequered flag took place before qualifying for Sunday’s main event in a rejig this year.
Verstappen, 26, has often criticised the format, and although he agreed the new schedule is better than in previous years, he urged F1 bosses not to increase the number of sprints – which is set at six this season.
“The sprint format was more straightforward that it has been but let’s not overdo it,” said the triple world champion.
“We are already doing 24 races in a season and six of these sprint events, too. I guess it sells better and the television audience numbers increase, but it also increases the pressure on the mechanics to ensure everything is tip-top.
“So, we have to deal with it, but let’s not now think that we need 12 of these (sprints) because it will take its toll on people in the sport.”
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