Roger Varian feels Eldar Eldarov has not yet reached the ceiling of his ability ahead of his bid for Gold Cup glory at Royal Ascot on Thursday.

The four-year-old is a previous winner at the showpiece meeting, having last season claimed the narrowest of victories in the Queen’s Vase.

He went on to secure Classic honours in the St Leger at Doncaster and lost little in defeat when a strong-finishing second to Giavellotto on his reappearance in last month’s Yorkshire Cup.

Varian has been delighted with his star stayer since and while he has trained several Group One winners in recent years, the Newmarket handler admits having a genuine contender for the two-and-a-half-mile feature is a bit special.

“He’s in great form and has done everything right and everything asked of him since his good run at York,” said Varian.

“It’s exciting to get him back out and back to Ascot, he obviously won at the Royal meeting last year and it is very exciting to have such a strong contender for the Gold Cup.

“It promotes that sort of horse, which is great – we all like to have fast horses and milers but to have stayers is great also and I think the staying programme has had a bit of a resurgence over the last few years and I hope it will continue to be the case.

“The Gold Cup is one of those iconic races, it’s got masses of history and there is always something nice about having a good staying horse. A horse like Eldar Eldarov might be in the camp for two or three years to come yet and as we have seen with some of those good staying horses, they can capture the public imagination as well.

“He’s got a long way to go before he’s held in any similar regard to any of those top staying horses, but he has won a Queen’s Vase, he’s won a St Leger and his profile is on the rise, I think.

“His best days could very much be ahead of him, so we are very much looking forward to running him in the Gold Cup.”

Eldar Eldarov disputes favouritism with Andrew Balding’s Coltrane, who plundered the Ascot Stakes 12 months ago and doubled his course tally with an impressive display in last month’s Sagaro Stakes.

Three-time champion jockey Oisin Murphy will partner Coltrane and is relishing the opportunity.

“He’s trained well and won the Sagaro in good style,” he said.

“It looks a hot race, as you’d expect. Eldar Eldarov is the St Leger winner and carries 1lb less, you also have to respect whatever Aidan O’Brien has in the race (Emily Dickinson and Broome) and Courage Mon Ami is an improver as well.

“It’s a wonderful chance and I’m looking forward to riding Coltrane. I watched Yeats dominate the race, and Stradivarius, so it’s great to be riding a horse who is probably going to go off favourite.”

Subjectivist was sensational in winning the Gold Cup in 2021, but an injury which initially threatened to end his racing career has restricted him to just two subsequent starts.

Charlie Johnston’s six-year-old was well beaten on his return from almost two years off in Saudi Arabia, but his third to Broome in the Dubai Gold Cup was a step in the right direction.

Courage Mon Ami is unbeaten in three starts for John and Thady Gosden, but faces a big rise in class as he bids to provide Frankie Dettori with a dream Gold Cup success in his final year before retirement.

Willie Mullins is represented by Grade One-winning hurdler Echoes In Rain, as he looks to become the first trainer to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in the same year.

The daughter of Authorized was last seen winning the Mares Champion Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival and carries the colours of Barnane Stud, which is owned by the family of former England international cricketer Craig Kieswetter.

“Her win at Punchestown was really impressive. When she travels well she has an electric turn of foot and she just powers home,” said Kieswetter.

“Hopefully things work out accordingly throughout the race and she settles down nicely and then she can give everyone a crack coming down the straight there.

“Most importantly we’re just looking forward to another big day at the Royal meeting and it would be amazing if the green and red silks can come home first.”

Wesley Ward is confident American Rascal can give hot favourite Elite Status a run for his money in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot on Thursday.

The Karl Burke-trained Elite Status has been all the rage for the Group Two contest, having followed up an impressive racecourse debut at Doncaster with a dominant display in the National Stakes at Sandown.

But Ward knows what it takes to win the Norfolk, having previously struck gold with No Nay Never (2013) and Shang Shang Shang (2018), and his latest candidate is certainly bred for the job as a son of the popular American’s dual Royal Ascot heroine Lady Aurelia.

American Rascal looked to have inherited a good portion of his mother’s blistering speed when powering over 10 lengths clear on the dirt at Keeneland in April and he can be expected to blaze a trail from stall one in the day three curtain-raiser.

“Everything is unbelievable with American Rascal, it’s all systems forward. He’s travelled great, been training great. We couldn’t be happier with him,” said Ward.

“American Rascal is the star of the show for us, anyway.”

Elite Status appears to be the top dog in what appears a particularly strong team of juveniles for Burke this season, and the Spigot Lodge expects his star youngster to take some stopping.

He told Sky Sports Racing: “I think and I hope he’s a very talented horse for the future and this track will play to his strengths.

“If he gets luck in running, for me he’s the one they’ve got to beat, but it’s very well me saying it, he’s got to go and do it.

“It was a very impressive performance at Sandown, not just visually but on the clock. The race beforehand was probably the strongest two-year-old race of the season and he annihilated them, so fingers crossed we can do it again.”

American Rascal is joined by compatriot No Nay Mets, who won on his introduction at Gulfstream for trainer George Weaver and will be ridden by Frankie Dettori.

Noche Magica (Paddy Twomey), Devious (Donnacha O’Brien) and His Majesty (Aidan O’Brien) also feature.

The other Group Two on the card is the Ribblesdale Stakes, in which the unbeaten Al Asifah will be widely expected to play a starring role.

John and Thady Gosden’s filly did not make her debut until late May, but was far too good for her rivals on her first start at Haydock and again proved in a different class when stepped up to Listed class at Goodwood.

She turns out just 11 days later after being supplemented for the Ribblesdale by the Shadwell team, with racing manager Angus Gold excited about her prospects.

He said: “She’s come out of Goodwood in really good shape, she didn’t have a hard race. In everyone’s opinion she is a filly of great potential, but it is a big step up and we’ll see where she fits in a bit more after we see her in the Ribblesdale.

“We’ve been playing catch up a bit as she was just a bit immature last year and had a few little niggling problems which held her up.

“It’s all come a bit quick for her, which is normally not our way, but equally because she seems to have taken her Goodwood race well.

“Sheikha Hissa is going to be here, we wanted her to have the chance to see the filly and she was keen to see her, so it just fits in time-wise. We would have another month to wait otherwise and anything can happen in that time.

“Hopefully, while she is in very good form, we thought we would roll the dice.”

Al Asifah may not have things al her own way, with Sir Michael Stoute’s Infinite Cosmos and Bluestocking from Ralph Beckett’s yard the two obvious dangers.

Infinite Cosmos brings strong form claims after finishing third behind subsequent Oaks heroine Soul Sister in the Musidora Stakes at York, while Bluestocking has been kept fresh since being beaten a head by Warm Heart, also in the Ribblesdale field, on her seasonal bow in a Newbury Listed event.

Barry Mahon, racing manager for Bluestocking’s owner-breeders Juddmonte, said: “We’re looking forward to seeing her and hopefully she will have come on for her reappearance. She was so green at Newbury on her second start, you would like to think she is going to improve.

“Ralph is happy with her and she’s been training nicely. She’s a filly we are looking forward to.

“It’s a big jump up, the Gosden filly looked exceptional last week and I know Sir Michael thinks an awful lot of his filly.

“It could be a pretty strong renewal, but we like our filly and I think she is going in the right direction. Whether that is in the Ribblesdale or later in the season, I think she will develop into a top filly.”

Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Tahiyra is the star name among seven fillies declared for the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on Friday.

Dermot Weld’s filly was brilliant in winning each of her two starts as a juvenile last season and was a hot favourite to secure Classic glory in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

She was narrowly beaten by the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Mawj on the Rowley Mile, but went one better in the Irish equivalent and with Mawj not lining up for the rematch due to an unsatisfactory scope, Tahiyra is odds-on to claim a third Group One victory on the penultimate day of the Royal meeting.

Aidan O’Brien’s Irish Guineas runner-up Meditate does take on the Weld runner again, as does Jim Bolger’s Comhra, who finished third as a 150-1 shot in the Curragh Classic.

There was only a short head between Sounds Of Heaven (Jessica Harrington) and Queen For You (John and Thady Gosden) when first and second in a Listed event at York last month and they renew rivalry.

Mammas Girl (Richard Hannon) and Remarquee (Ralph Beckett) complete the septet.

Little Big Bear will be all the rage to see off 13 rivals in the Group One Commonwealth Cup.

Last season’s champion juvenile floundered in a soft ground 2000 Guineas, but showed his true colours when dropped back in trip on a sounder surface in the Sandy Lane at Haydock last month.

Chief among his rivals is Roger Varian’s Sakheer, who also reverts to sprinting after seemingly having his stamina limitations exposed in the Guineas.

It is a similar story for the Beckett-trained filly Lezoo, who won last season’s Cheveley Park Stakes but weakened late on in the 1000 Guineas on her reappearance.

Noble Style (Charlie Appleby) and Shaquille (Julie Camacho) also feature.

Carla’s Way (Simon and Ed Crisford), Soprano (George Boughey) and Jabaara (Varian) are among the leading contenders for the curtain-raising Albany Stakes, while Derby runner-up King Of Steel (Varian) heads a six-strong field for the King Edward VII Stakes.

Arrest, a disappointing Derby favourite for Frankie Dettori, takes him on again.

Five-time Wimbledon singles champion Venus Williams has been awarded a wild card for next month’s championships.

Williams, who played mixed doubles at the All England Club last year, has not played in the singles event since 2021 but rolled back the years on Monday to beat Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham days after her 43rd birthday.

Williams competes sparingly these days and only played her first tournament since January at a grass-court event in the Netherlands last week before heading to Birmingham.

Her gutsy 7-6 (5), 4-6 7-6 (6) victory over Giorgi in more than three hours on Monday represented a first win over a top-50 opponent since 2019.

Ten singles wild cards have been handed to British male and female players, including Liam Broady and Katie Boulter, while Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina will be involved in Wimbledon after she missed last year’s tournament due to her pregnancy.

Former world number three Svitolina gave birth in October but made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last month in her first grand-slam since becoming a mother.

Svitolina made the last four at Wimbledon in 2021 and could encounter more Russian and Belarussian players in SW19.

She was booed at the French Open after not shaking hands with Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka following her quarter-final exit.

British hopefuls Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Heather Watson have also been given wild cards.

In the men’s singles Ryan Peniston has received a wild card, along with fellow Britons Arthur Fery, Jan Choinski and George Loffhagen, with the trio set to make their main draw debuts at Wimbledon.

Belgian David Goffin, the world number 124, has been handed a wild card following his run to the quarter-finals in 2022, where he lost in five sets to British number one Cameron Norrie.

The All England Club has one more women’s singles and two more men’s singles wild cards to hand out.

Frankie Dettori has yet to decide whether he will appeal a nine-day ban he picked up on the first day of Royal Ascot.

The 52-year-old was adjudged by the stewards to have caused interference shortly after the start on Saga in the Wolferton Stakes on Tuesday.

Owned by the King and Queen, Saga went on to finish fifth with the ban compounding a frustrating afternoon for Dettori, who filled the runner-up spot on three occasions.

The suspension is due to run from July 4-12, meaning he will be unable to ride likely favourite Emily Upjohn in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on July 8.

He would, though, be free to ride at Newmarket’s July Festival as he chases one of the few remaining Group One gaps on his CV, the July Cup.

“I’ve got to consult my legal team and we’ll decide whether I’m going to appeal or not,” Dettori told ITV’s The Opening Show.

“I’m glad that nobody got hurt. It’s one of those things, the bend comes very quickly after the start and it can get very congested at that point in the race, but I haven’t had chance to go through it properly yet.

“I’ll talk to my lawyers today.”

Team GB’s first male artistic swimmer is thoroughly satisfied to have earned the respect of friends who once asked why he did not just play football like everyone else.

Ranjuo Tomblin is one of 12 British artistic swimmers hoping to top the podium at the European Games this week in Krakow, but the 17-year-old knows he will be making history no matter what the result.

When he and Beatrice Crass slip into the pool for Thursday’s mixed duet technical event, Tomblin will also be making his milestone senior debut with Team GB.

“Definitely my friends at the start were like, ‘Oh, why are you doing that? Why aren’t you doing football, you know, the generic sports?'” he said.

“But as I’ve grown and developed and I’ve got a few medals in the bank, they definitely more respect what I do, now they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a really cool thing you do’.”

Tomblin’s ambitions to erase stigma and stereotype around his chosen sport, once known as synchronised swimming, extend well beyond his circle of friends.

Artistic swimming is, like a duck gliding smoothly across a lake, an illusion of effortlessness when in reality it is anything but. Asked about the biggest misconception people hold, Tomblin’s answer comes immediately.

“That it is easy,” he said. “It’s not easy. A lot of people just think it’s having a play about in the water. It’s really not.”

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Training comprises working on everything from strength and conditioning to flexibility, knee extensions, toe points, breath-holding, swimming, stamina and timing.

Consider the feeling of, as American synchro coach Joyce Lindeman once put it, “running a marathon while holding your breath”.

Also it is set to music, and you are judged on how good you look doing it.

Tomblin spent nearly a decade in gymnastics and it was only by fluke that the woman coaching his “normal” swimming lessons at Atlantis Flamingos also happened to be the synchro coach.

Hearing about his gymnastics background, she asked if he wanted to give artistic swimming a go.

“I immediately loved it. It’s really grown from there,” said Tomblin, though he admits there was an adjustment period, adding: “It definitely did feel a bit weird, especially with the first team I joined.

“There were no boys, it was full of girls and it was a bit awkward and it was hard to make friends, but I feel like after I joined the national squad everyone’s really lovely. We’re all good friends.”

A landmark December 2022 World Aquatics decision paved the way for male artistic swimmers to compete at next summer’s Paris Olympics, which will now allow up to two men in the eight-athlete team event.

Tomblin won silver at the inaugural male free solo event at the 2022 LEN European Junior Championships as well as bronze alongside Cass and, while he is certainly open to the possibility of the team event, mixed duet – appearing for the first time at a European Games – is Tomblin’s speciality.

Mixed duet is not on the programme for Paris, but December’s announcement allowed Tomblin to be cautiously optimistic that his event could feature at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

“When I first heard that, I felt really excited and hopeful,” he said. “Because now they’re like, ‘Oh there’s loads of boys so let’s let them in the Olympics’… then hopefully that will lead towards the mixed duet going into the Olympic Games.”

While records will fall and champions change, there can only ever be one person who does something first, and Tomblin is delighted by the role he could play in ensuring he will not be the last.

“It would mean so much to me,” he added. “I’m working so hard because I’ve seen males older than me, like (Team USA’s) Bill May. I look up to him and he inspires me so much. I’d like to inspire someone – that would feel really nice for me.”

Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill is being investigated on allegations of assault and battery after an incident at a Miami Beach marina, the Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed Tuesday.

Hill allegedly hit a marina employee on the back of the head during an altercation Sunday, according to multiple media outlets in South Florida. No charges have been filed.

The Dolphins released a brief statement Tuesday in acknowledgement of the investigation.

“We are aware of the situation and have been in contact with Tyreek, his representatives and the NFL,” the Dolphins said in the statement. “We will reserve further comment at this time.”

Acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs in March of 2022, Hill signed a four-year, $120million contract extension with the Dolphins.

In his first season in Miami, Hill was selected to his seventh career Pro Bowl after accumulating 119 catches for 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns.

As long as the Los Angeles Angels are in contention for a playoff spot, the team’s front office has no intention of trading two-way star Shohei Ohtani in the final year of his contract.

 Angels general manager Perry Minasian fielded questions Tuesday about whether the club would consider trading Ohtani this summer for a hefty return to avoid watching the 2021 American League MVP walk away in free agency in the offseason.

“I think anybody who has watched us play or looked where we’re at in the standings, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we like him and we hope he’s here a long time,” Minasian said. “It’s pretty self-explanatory with where we’re at.”

The Angels opened play Tuesday with a 41-33 record and in second place in the AL West. The club is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought.

Ohtani is in his sixth season with the Angels and will make $30million this year, his last before having the chance to be a free agent.

While Ohtani could eventually sign a new contract to stay in Anaheim, his agent Naz Balelo indicated in February that Ohtani will not sign an extension during the season, allowing him to hear offers from other teams this winter.

If Ohtani chooses to sign with another team, the Angels would receive only compensatory draft picks in return for his departure.

Ohtani leads the major leagues with 24 home runs this season while batting .300 in 323 plate appearances.

On the mound, the Japan-born superstar has a 6-2 record with a 3.29 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 14 starts.

Jordan Spieth won his second consecutive major with victory in the 115th US Open at Chambers Bay, on this day in 2015.

The American world number two carded a closing 69 to finish five under par, one shot ahead of Louis Oosthuizen and Dustin Johnson, with the latter having three-putted from 12 feet when faced with an eagle putt to win on the final hole.

Spieth became just the sixth man after Craig Wood, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to win the Masters and US Open in the same year, as well as the first player since Gene Sarazen in 1922 to win multiple majors aged 21 or younger.

After three-putting the opening hole, Spieth recovered with birdies at the eighth and 12th and, with Johnson losing a two-shot lead with three bogeys in four holes from the 10th, shared the lead with playing partner Branden Grace.

That all changed on the 16th, where Grace drove out of bounds to card a double bogey and Spieth holed from 25 feet for birdie – only for Spieth to double bogey the 17th after compounding a wild tee shot by three putting from 40 feet.

Oosthuizen had set the clubhouse target on four under after a remarkable six birdies in the last seven holes for a record-equalling back nine of 29, before Johnson then made birdie on the 17th to tie the lead.

After two brilliant shots onto the 18th green, Spieth two-putted for birdie to finish five under and Johnson initially responded superbly with an even better approach to 12 feet, but saw his eagle attempt drift four feet past and miss the return to force a play-off.

Spieth went on to finish second at the 2015 US PGA Championship in August, and has since secured a third major title at the 2017 Open.

Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma has declined his $13 million player option for next season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday.

Kuzma set personal highs with 21.2 points and 3.7 assists per game last season while also averaging 7.2 rebounds – the second-most in his career.

The Brooklyn Nets selected Kuzma with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft before a draft-night deal sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kuzma played four seasons with the Lakers and led all Los Angeles reserves with 10 points per game during the 2020 playoffs en route to the franchise’s record-tying 17th NBA championship.

The Lakers traded Kuzma to the Wizards in August 2021 in the deal that sent Russell Westbrook to Los Angeles.

Kuzma has averaged 16.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 406 regular-season games.

It’s been a busy offseason for the Wizards, who have agreed to trade Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns in a deal that will see Chris Paul land with Washington.

Frankie Dettori will miss the ride on Coral-Eclipse favourite Emily Upjohn after being handed a nine-day careless riding ban by the stewards on a frustrating first day at Royal Ascot.

Three second-placed finishes was the best the Italian could muster and he picked up the hefty suspension when deemed to have caused significant interference to multiple horses aboard royal runner Saga, who finished fifth in the Wolferton Stakes.

Dettori attempted to switch right handed towards the rail in the early stages of the 10-furlong Listed contest and in doing so, he caused James McDonald to quickly snatch up Cadillac. Certain Lad and Notre Belle, who were behind Cadillac, were also hampered in the scrimmaging.

Cadillac finished 15th of the 16 runners, while Notre Belle and Certain Lad were 11th and 13th respectively in the race won by Royal Challenger.

The ban, which runs from July 4 to 12, means John and Thady Gosden, who trained Emily Upjohn to win the Coronation Cup at Epsom on her last start, will not have the services of the popular jockey at Sandown, where she currently heads the market at 9-4 with the race sponsors.

His suspension will finish a day before the three-day July festival at Newmarket begins, where the 52-year-old will hope to fill one of the few significant Group One holes in his glittering CV – riding a July Cup winner – before his retirement at the end of the year.

Dettori came close to riding a winner on Tuesday, with Inspiral a neck behind 33-1 chance Triple Time in the Queen Anne.

He he also filled the second spot aboard St James’s Palace Stakes favourite Chaldean, who was beaten by Paddington, and played second fiddle when Absurde was runner-up to runaway winner Vauban in the concluding Copper Horse Handicap.

Andy Murray suffered a major blow to his Wimbledon hopes after falling to a first-round defeat at the cinch Championships.

The five-time Queen’s Club winner paid for an error-strewn, irritable performance as he slipped to a 6-3 6-1 loss against Alex De Minaur.

Murray had won 10 matches in a row in claiming back-to-back grass-court titles in Surbiton and Nottingham.

But Australian seventh seed De Minaur – the world number 18 – was a major step up in class and probably one of the trickiest first-round opponents Murray could have drawn.

The 24-year-old certainly knew his way around a grass court; he is a former Eastbourne champion and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

He was simply too strong for 36-year-old Murray, sending him spinning to a defeat which means, barring an unlikely raft of withdrawals, that he will not be seeded at Wimbledon next month.

Murray probably needed to reach the quarter-finals at least to have a chance of being one of the top 32 players at SW19, but now the two-time champion – currently ranked 38 – is at risk of facing one of the big guns in the early rounds.

Murray’s appearance in the singles may have been fleeting, but tournament organisers will at least be relieved he has opted to play doubles with British number one Cameron Norrie; they face Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram on Wednesday evening.

They were breathing a sigh of relief earlier on Tuesday when Carlos Alcaraz survived a scare.

The top seed and world number two insisted he can challenge on the grass this summer despite needing a third-set tie-break to beat French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech.

The 20-year-old was playing only his seventh match on the surface, and his first outside of Wimbledon.

Lucky loser Rinderknech only found out he was playing the Spaniard shortly before midday after fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils, Alcaraz’s scheduled opponent, withdrew from the tournament.

But the 27-year-old almost knocked the headline act out, taking the first set and giving Alcaraz an uncomfortable afternoon before going down 4-6 7-5 7-6 (3) in just over two-and-a-half hours.

Alcaraz, the US Open champion who was playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, said: “It has been a really tough match, he has played four or five matches on the grass and this was my first one.

“It was really difficult to adapt my game to the grass. For me it’s tough to play here, but Queen’s is a tournament I really wanted to play.

“I couldn’t play tennis on grass at home but I practised the movement on grass. I practised here a little bit before the tournament and I felt really good, even though it was the first match.

“I would say I’m going to be better in the next round.”

Britain’s Liam Broady was denied a notable win after world number 46 Adrian Mannarino came from a set down to win in three.

Broady, ranked 97 places behind the Frenchman at 143, raced away with the first set but was pegged back in a 1-6 6-4 6-3 defeat.

Fellow Brit Ryan Peniston – who beat Ugo Humbert on Monday – will face second seed Holger Rune in round two after the Danish youngster won 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3) against Maxime Cressy for his first career victory on grass.