Galopin Des Champs was once again welcomed home by an adoring crowd as the dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner paraded before locals in the village of Leighlinbridge in County Carlow on Tuesday evening.

Victorious in the pinnacle of National Hunt racing last year, this time the Willie Mullins-trained gelding was able to take his career to the next level when becoming one of a select few to retain the title.

The 11-10 favourite under Paul Townend, Galopin Des Champs never looked threatened by any of his rivals and it was only the loose Fastorslow that ever threatened to thwart a repeat of last year’s triumph.

Victorious by three and a half lengths from Gordon Elliott’s Gerri Colombe, the Audrey Turley-owned eight-year-old has put his name among the greats of the race and next year could join the likes of the mighty Arkle and Best Mate as a three-time winner.

Galopin Des Champs was joined by State Man, winner of the Champion Hurdle in a another memorable meeting for Mullins, with his nine-winner haul including his 100th Festival success when Jasmin De Vaux took the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will continue their play-off push without one of their top playmakers.

Donovan Mitchell underwent a medical procedure on his nose on Tuesday and will be re-evaluated in about one week.

The injury timeline given by the Cavaliers means he'll likely miss two games against the Miami Heat, as well as contests against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets.

Depending on his recovery, the five-time All-Star has a chance to return for the second part of a home-and-home with the Hornets, next Wednesday at Charlotte.

Mitchell suffered a nasal fracture in Saturday's 117-103 loss to the Houston Rockets when he was accidentally hit by team-mate Tristan Thompson, and subsequently sat out Monday's 108-103 win over the Indiana Pacers.

With the victory, the Cavs improved to 10-9 without Mitchell, who has missed time lately with a bone bruise in his left knee.

They are 33-16 in games he plays.

Mitchell, 27, is one of the NBA's top scorers, ranking sixth at 27.4 points per game, while also averaging career highs with 6.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds.

His play is a big reason why Cleveland is in the mix for one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavs entered play Tuesday in third place in the East, one game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for first place in the Central Division.

They are also just two games ahead of the New York Knicks, and three up on the Orlando Magic.

This is the latest significant injury for Cleveland, which has also seen starters Evan Mobley (ankle) and Max Strus (knee) both miss time lately.

Masters champion Jon Rahm hopes golf can achieve “some type of union” as he set his sights on a Sunday showdown with his PGA Tour rivals at Augusta National.

The Tour’s six player-directors met with officials from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in the Bahamas on Monday as efforts continue to make a deal to end golf’s civil war.

The PIF bankrolls the breakaway LIV Golf League, which Rahm joined in a stunning move in December, meaning the majors are now the only events which see all of the world’s top players competing against each other.

“I’ve been playing good golf, but I’m definitely looking forward to joining with the rest of the best golfers in the world and teeing it up in the Masters with them,” Rahm said in a teleconference ahead of the year’s first major from April 11-14.

“I’m assuming there will be quite a few that are not happy, but from my side nothing changes. I still respect everybody on both sides and respect the game of golf above all.

“I think there’s a way of co-existing and, if there’s some type of union, I don’t know what that looks like. I just want to see again the best in the world being able to compete against the best in the world, whatever that looks like.

“If there is some type of peace achieved I think it can actually push the game forward.”

Rahm has finished third, eighth, fifth and 14th in his four LIV events to date and will compete in Miami the week before his Masters title defence. On the PGA Tour last year, Rahm won three times in eight starts before claiming his second major title at Augusta.

“I feel like my game is in really good position,” he added. “I have not played my best yet, but I can see it every tournament getting a little bit better and getting to a point where I like where I’m at coming up to the Masters.

“I am looking forward to hopefully having a great week and a great Sunday back-nine showdown with some of those great players because at the end of the day it’s what golf and spectators deserve.

“With that said, I’m hoping I can cruise the last three holes with an eight or nine-shot lead and know I can walk up 18 knowing I can make a nine or a 10 and win it, but it would be really fun also to come down to the wire and make a birdie on 18 to win it.

“That would be quite incredible.”

Rahm used the teleconference to reveal the full details of his Champions Dinner menu, including a lentil stew made to his grandmother’s recipe by chef Jose Andres.

“He called my grandma for the recipe so if somebody doesn’t like it, please don’t tell me,” Rahm joked.

“Don’t tell anyone actually.”

Aryna Sabalenka’s boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov has died at the age of 42.

Koltsov, a former ice hockey player who competed in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins, had been a regular presence supporting Sabalenka at tournaments.

He was in Miami when he died, and the Miami-Dade Police Department said in a statement: “According to investigators, on Monday, March 18, 2024, at approximately 12:39am, Bal Harbour Police and Fire Rescue were dispatched to the St Regis Bal Harbour Resort.

A post shared by ????? ????????? ??❤️ (@sabalenka_aryna)

“The Miami-Dade Police Department, Homicide Bureau, responded and has taken over the investigation of the apparent suicide of Mr Konstantin Koltsov. No foul play is suspected.”

The world number two frequently referenced Koltsov on social media in pictures and messages.

The news was announced by Russia ice hockey team Salavat Yulaev Ufa, where Koltsov had been assistant coach.

A statement on the club’s website read: “It is with deep sorrow that we inform you that Salavat Yulaev coach Konstantin Koltsov has passed away. He was a strong and cheerful person, he was loved and respected by players, colleagues, and fans.

“Konstantin Evgenievich forever wrote himself into the history of our club. Koltsov won the Russian Championship and the Gagarin Cup as part of Salavat Yulaev and did a great job on the team’s coaching staff.

A post shared by ????? ????????? ??❤️ (@sabalenka_aryna)

“The hockey club Salavat Yulaev expresses its condolences to the family and friends of Konstantin Evgenievich Koltsov.”

Koltsov represented Belarus at the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics and was also a coach of the national team.

A statement on the federation’s website read: “The Belarusian Hockey Federation expresses its deepest condolences to the family, friends and everyone who knew and worked with Konstantin Evgenievich.”

The Pittsburgh Penguins also paid tribute, saying in a statement on their website: “The Penguins extend their deepest condolences to the family and friends of former Penguins forward, Konstantin Koltsov.

“The native of Belarus was the Penguins’ first-round draft choice in 1999 and was with the team from 2003-2006, playing 144 NHL games.”

Pictures showed tributes to Koltsov outside Ufa Arena laid by fans of Salavat Yulaev.

Sabalenka, who won her second grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, is in Miami and is due to play her first match at the Miami Open later this week, although her participation must now be in severe doubt.

It is the second tragedy to hit the 25-year-old Belarusian, whose father Sergey, also a former ice hockey player, died in 2019 at the age of 43.

Sabalenka’s victory at the Australian Open fulfilled the dream she shared with her father of winning two slam titles by the age of 25 and, speaking in Melbourne, she said: “It was really important. Of course he’s my biggest motivation. He’s been everything for me.”

Nicky Henderson has raised the faint possibility of Constitution Hill returning to action at the Punchestown Festival.

Last season’s brilliant Champion Hurdle winner had been a short price to defend his crown at Cheltenham last week, but a fortnight before the Festival a poor workout at Kempton led to the discovery of mucus in his scope.

There was a brief glimmer of hope he would come right in time for Cheltenham, but he was ultimately the first in a host of Henderson big guns to be ruled out of the showpiece meeting.

Henderson ran six horses on the first day of Cheltenham, five of which were pulled up. The only bright spot was Luccia finishing third in the Champion Hurdle, just three and a half lengths behind State Man, arguably making Constitution Hill’s absence even harder to bear.

One by one Henderson’s main chances were withdrawn, with Shishkin not even declared for Friday’s Gold Cup. Jonbon was taken out of the Champion Chase while Sir Gino also missed the Triumph Hurdle.

Henderson was keen to point out that a very trying week was made a fraction more bearable due to the understanding shown by the racing industry as a whole.

“My owners were brilliant, very understanding, as were the media and everyone else in racing and for that I’ll be forever grateful,” he told the PA news agency.

While in hindsight Constitution Hill’s absence might have been a blessing given how Henderson’s week went, there may be green shoots of recovery. He also saddled a winner at Kempton on Saturday through Persian Time.

“He had his blood done yesterday, as he has done every Monday since what happened at Kempton,” said Henderson.

“It has kept on improving to the point where it is as near normal as it could possibly get without being 100 per cent. It is 99 per cent, which is a long way from where it started.

“He is back in routine exercise and has joined in at the back of the team this week.

“What he had and what the others had are two completely different things. He was pretty unwell, whereas all the others are very well but have a problem. I think it’s been well documented we have a problem.

“His blood tests told us he was unwell and given he’s so laid-back at home it was a good job we took him to Kempton.

“Now he’s better and his bloods are almost back to normality he can resume exercise, but he hasn’t galloped yet.

“We’ll tick along, you can take it he won’t be going to Aintree but if he continues and his work progresses with it, there is the possibility he could go to Punchestown which both Michael (Buckley, owner) and I would love to do if possible.

“If you were to ask me his primary objective I would most likely say it’s the Fighting Fifth next autumn, but if we can get to Punchestown then we will.”

He added: “Where we are mystified is that we thought they were well, their work was great but 10 days before Cheltenham they weren’t running well and everyone picked up on that, but we put it down to the ground and not being the ‘A team’.

“All appeared to be fine and all the tests were fine, but then we discovered the horses we were running were running dreadful.

“Every trainer in the country dreads this sort of thing, and for it to happen last week couldn’t have been worse, the timing was horrendous.

“Everybody has been through the mill, but as a team and family we at Seven Barrows would just like to thank everyone for how understanding everyone has been and for that we will be forever grateful. I wasn’t looking for sympathy, just a bit of understanding.

“We’ve been having massive meetings about how we get through this and we’ll take it easy this week and regroup next week and see where we are.

“We’ll see if we can get the main protagonists to Aintree. Sir Gino, Shishkin and Jonbon, they’ve all missed their dance. The next dance is Aintree and the one after that is Punchestown but they’ll only run in one, they would have done anyway.

“I love Punchestown and I love Aintree, they don’t quite have the pressure of Cheltenham but they are still Grade Ones so let’s try to get there.”

Great Britain will play Canada, Finland and Argentina in the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals in Manchester in September.

Leon Smith’s side will hope for a less nail-biting conclusion than in the same city last year, when Dan Evans and Neal Skupski saved match points to beat France in the deciding match in front of a jubilant record crowd, and the draw appears to have been relatively kind.

Canada, led by Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, were champions in 2022 but lack strength in depth.

Finland were last year’s surprise package, making it through to the semi-finals for the first time, while Argentina boast three top-30 players, but indoor hard courts should favour Britain.

The ties will take place at the AO Arena from September 10 to 15, with the top two teams progressing to November’s Final Eight event.

Having beaten France, Australia and Switzerland last year, Britain fell at the first hurdle in Malaga, losing out to Novak Djokovic’s Serbia.

Defending champions Italy will host a group in Bologna also featuring the Netherlands, Belgium and Brazil, while Australia, Czech Republic, France and Spain will contest a heavyweight Group B in Valencia.

The final group, containing Germany, USA, Slovakia and Chile, will take place in the Chinese city of Zhuhai.

Adrian Keatley’s smart performer Ballymount Boy is pencilled in for a step up in trip as he limbers up for the impending Flat season.

The Camacho colt enjoyed a good two-year-old campaign, winning a Hamilton maiden before catching the eye when finishing just a length behind Vandeek in the Group Two Richmond Stakes at Goodwood.

Vandeek subsequently went on to score twice at Group One level in the Prix Morny and the Middle Park, while Ballymount Boy was runner-up in the Acomb and then the winner of the Listed Prospect Stakes at Doncaster on his final start of the term.

After the Goodwood run Ballymount Boy was purchased by Wathnan Racing, who have appointed James Doyle as their retained rider.

Doyle partnered the imposing Ballymount Boy during his Doncaster victory and is set to sit on him ahead of the new season as plans are formulated for his three-year-old campaign.

After running predominantly over six furlongs last season, Keatley’s charge has emerged from his winter break looking like he will eventually appreciate further and both the Greenham and the Craven Stakes are possible targets.

Keatley said: “James Doyle is going to come and sit on him next week and we will finalise plans closer to the time, but the Greenham is a possibility I think, or he could end up going to Newmarket in April.

“He’s a fine horse, he looks more like a seven-furlong horse or a miler this year than he did last year.

“Last year he was built like a big, strong, sprinting two-year-old – I think he’s leaner this time around and hopefully he can keep progressing from where he is now.

“We were happy to finish off the season how we did with him last year and we’re hoping he can pick up where he left off.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan battled through to the last 32 of the World Open with a 5-3 win over Michael White.

The world number one was not at his best, despite back-to-back century breaks, but got the job done in Yushan.

It looked like being a straightforward evening’s work in China for O’Sullivan when he produced breaks of 129 and 106 to move into a 3-1 lead.

https://twitter.com/WeAreWST/status/1770089868388950384/photo/1

But Welshman White battled back and had the chance to earn a decider when he twice found himself in the balls after two uncharacteristic O’Sullivan misses – the second of which saw him hit the table with his cue in frustration.

But O’Sullivan won a safety battle to ensure he progressed in eight frames.

Judd Trump remained on course for back-to-back titles after a routine 5-2 triumph over Sanderson Lam.

Trump won this event when it was last staged in 2019 – before a four-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic – and is looking a good bet to repeat the feat.

World champion Luca Brecel is through after a 5-2 victory over Oliver Brown, while home favourite Ding Junhui beat Liu Hongyu by the same score.

However, John Higgins is out after a 5-3 loss to Jackson Page.

Brilliant Arkle winner Gaelic Warrior may be back out quickly for the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse on March 31.

Stablemate and subsequent dual Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs ran at both meetings as a novice, falling at the last when well clear in the Turners Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham before strolling to victory a month later.

The two races are closer together this season at just 19 days apart but trainer Willie Mullins has not completely ruled it out.

“We did it two years ago, we brought a horse back from Cheltenham to win this, so it can be done. I’ll see how Gaelic Warrior is,” said Mullins.

“He has a huge amount of ability. He won the three-mile novice hurdle at Punchestown that Galopin Des Champs won so I was never worried about his stamina, but the fact he can do this over a shorter trip is fantastic, it shows he has class.

“Ted Walsh always said a good Gold Cup winner could win a Champion Chase, as that is how you separate the ordinary Gold Cup winners from the very good ones, and this fellow has that type of ability, I think.”

Should Gaelic Warrior be given more time to recuperate, Blood Destiny is likely to try to give Mullins a sixth successive win in the race.

“I’m looking at Blood Destiny, he’s one that could go there. This race has been on my mind a while for him. We’d been trying him at two miles but a different way of riding him – we held him up in Navan – might suit for this race, I think,” he said.

“He has the speed when you need it so if Gaelic Warrior doesn’t come back for it, Blood Destiny could be a good substitute.”

Of his other entries in the Grade One, he added: “Facile Vega disappointed me at Cheltenham, I need to find out what is wrong with him.

“His home work suggests he has the ability I think he has. Indeed, his last three bits of work before Cheltenham, we thought he had a really good chance. Maybe we left our race at Closutton because his work was fantastic but he is taking a lot of working out.

“Fact To File had a hard enough race so I doubt he’d run, but Hercule Du Seuil worked well this morning.

“Il Etait Temps is a good, hardy horse and he could come back for it as well. If the ground came up nice and dry, I might let Sharjah take his chance and Tactical Move has the ability and is a nice type for that race.”

The other Grade One event at the Easter meeting is the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Honeysuckle Mares Novice Hurdle in which Jade De Grugy may attempt to atone for her Cheltenham defeat at the hands of Golden Ace.

“Jade De Grugy could run. I think you could say all the three Irish horses in her race were all marking one another. No one wanted to commit but then it was great to see Jeremy Scott winning, he had a great fan club there and it added a bit of atmosphere to the day,” said Mullins.

“Sometimes I don’t like coming back with a mare so soon as Cheltenham takes a lot out of them. Laurina managed to win both races, though.

“We have A Penny A Hundred with a chance, Cuta Des As with a chance but Fun Fun Fun could be the one as she didn’t go to Cheltenham.

“This is a Grade One and while it’s lovely to win in Cheltenham, I like to win Grade Ones, especially with mares, so it’s more important to go to Fairyhouse. We certainly did a lot of thinking this year regarding what we were keeping back for this, Cheltenham is only a Grade Two.

“If Jade De Grugy doesn’t make it back, I’d say Fun Fun Fun could be the one.”

City Of Troy could be seen at Saratoga this year, if everything goes as hoped with the red-hot Classic favourite.

Unbeaten in his three juvenile starts, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Dewhurst winner is set to reappear in the Qipco 2000 Guineas back at Newmarket on May 4.

Labelled “our Frankel” by co-owner Michael Tabor, the Justify colt is also favourite for the Betfred Derby at Epsom on June 1.

And if he is still on track after those engagements, an exciting trip for a dirt assignment could be on the agenda.

“We are particularly happy with how well he has wintered. He’s working away on bad ground at the minute as they all are obliged to,” the Ballydoyle handler said in a stable tour on Attheraces.com.

“He seems to handle it and handled a good cut in the ground in the Dewhurst, but as anyone can see he is a particularly beautiful mover which is what makes it so exciting to see what he does when he meets firmer ground. The better the ground, the better he’ll be.

“He’ll go away for a gallop in the next week or 10 days, that is always an important step for the Guineas horses. It was great for him to get the experience of the undulations of both the July course and the Rowley Mile at Newmarket last season. That will all stand to him in the 2000 Guineas.

“We’ll play it race-by-race, but you’d have to be made of stone not to be dreaming of the Derby if all goes to plan at Newmarket. After that, he could even go to somewhere like Saratoga for a Grade One on the dirt. He’s that type, he could do anything, but we’ll take it one race at a time.

“We have an unbelievable group of three-year-olds this year, but he has always been the leader. Horses like him are very rare.”

Before City Of Troy is unwrapped for the season, O’Brien has important business in Dubai on Saturday week, with dual Derby, Irish Champion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Auguste Rodin set for the Sheema Classic.

He said: “Everything is running really smoothly with him. He leaves here for Dubai this weekend and the Sheema Classic on March 30 is his target. We’ve been really happy with him since his gallop at Dundalk late last month. We feel he has matured well from three to four and it goes without saying that we are very excited to get him going again.

“The horse did all his own talking on the track last year, but we really do think that he’s a very important horse for the thoroughbred breed. It is a huge thrill to have him back for this year and we can’t wait to see him race.

“If all goes smoothly in Dubai, we have it in our head that he could come back for the Tattersalls Gold Cup and then drive on to the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.”

Having dominated the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins has set his sights on the Boylesports Irish Grand National on April 1 – with unexposed novice Nick Rockett likely to be all the rage.

The champion trainer is seeking a third win overall in the richest jumps’ race run in Ireland and back-to-back victories after the unlikely success of I Am Maximus 12 months ago.

Nick Rockett has been allotted 10st 13lb in the weights by handicapper Sandy Shaw, with Gordon Elliott’s Galway Plate winner Ash Tree Meadow top of the pile.

Three Cheltenham Festival victors are towards the top in Corbetts Cross (11st 10lb), Inothewayurthinkin (11st 9lb) and Limerick Lace (11st 7lb), but having kept his powder dry, Mullins might just have the ideal candidate.

“Nick Rockett has performed well around Fairyhouse and I love horses for courses,” said Mullins.

“Paul (Townend) was very happy the last day he won around the course and we thought instead of going to Cheltenham that we should maybe aim for Fairyhouse. That’s what we have been doing and we are very happy with how he is.

“He jumps, has won over the track, is a novice coming up the ranks, has a nice weight and Paul is very happy to ride him. That is more than enough and he ticks all the right boxes, I think.

“We have to get him there in the right order and at the moment I am very happy with him.”

Regarding his other entries, Mullins said: “This race comes into play for Stattler now, if he’d run at Cheltenham (Cross Country Chase was abandoned) he would maybe have gone to Aintree, but he’s now in the running to run here.

“Monkfish was disappointing at Cheltenham so wouldn’t come here, Mr Incredible only ran the other day so it’s too close, the same with Adamantly Chosen. Embassy Gardens and James Du Berlais the same.

“Bronn was disappointing in Naas, but if I could get him back right he could go there. Minella Cocooner has run well there, has the credentials, stays all day and has a nice weight as well.

“Ontheropes is 36 (on the ballot) but I think he is more or less in and is our other likely runner.

“It took us a long time to win it. My father had won it four times so it was an itch that needed scratching and then winning it with Burrows Saint for Rich Ricci and with Ruby Walsh, that capped it.

“It gave me as much pleasure as winning any race.”

For Shaw, Mullins’ comments have him “shaking in his boots”.

“An awful lot handicap themselves and it is obviously the novices that we look to as they are the ones that have more improvement in them,” he said.

“The three Cheltenham winners are in but we can reassess them, the difference is that Willie’s Nick Rockett didn’t go – he has me shaking in my boots the way he’s talking!

“He’s been held back and it was certainly the right thing to do, I think. Novices are always hard to rate because you have to rate them on what they have done, not on what we think they might do so there is a chance Nick Rockett could be well handicapped.

“The only thing is he has only run seven times in his life. He’s unexposed as a result, but it will be a question of if he can handle the hurly burly of the race. Other than that he does look the one. He could have a few pounds up his sleeve, we’ll just have to wait and see.”