In the wake of the Cheltenham Festival and with thoughts turning to Fairyhouse, Willie Mullins has lavished praise on Paul Townend as their association goes from strength to strength.
If anyone questioned whether Townend was the right man to replace Ruby Walsh when Mullins’ former number one called it quits at the Punchestown Festival in 2019, the champion trainer was certainly not one of them.
Townend rode six of Mullins’ nine Cheltenham winners – five of them coming at Grade One level, while his other winner, Absurde in the County Hurdle, was lauded as the ride of the week.
Galopin Des Champs’ second Gold Cup win means Townend has won four of the last six renewals and now his sights are switched to winning another Boylesports Irish Grand National on Easter Monday.
His ride on last year’s winner I Am Maximus also earned plenty of plaudits, none bigger than from Mullins himself.
“I thought Paul was going to pull him up, but when he pulled him to the outside he started to gallop a bit better. Undoubtedly it was some ride,” said Mullins.
“Paul was thinking on his feet the whole way and to get that performance out of that horse after the performance he put in for the first two miles was extraordinary horsemanship.
“Paul was a real jockey in Cheltenham winning on Galopin Des Champs last year, but then he showed what a real horseman he is when he came back to Fairyhouse, putting in that performance was what I call horsemanship.
“I never thought about it when Ruby retired. To me Paul was always going to be his replacement because he’d been second jockey to Ruby for however many years.
“Any time Ruby went to England or was injured Paul stepped into his shoes and we never had any problems. I was actually surprised at the time that the press were wondering if he would take over, it never crossed my mind.
“Paul probably felt the pressure a little in the early days as he did say to me about six months after he took over could he have his old job back because he was after picking the wrong one at Punchestown a couple of times, it’s much easier to ride as second jockey all right.
“But I had full confidence in him, I always had. He has a totally different style of riding to Ruby and you have to get used to it, but I’d been used to it for years. I’m happy with how he does it and for everyone the winners keep coming.”
Dominic Ffrench Davis is keen to see the rain keep falling ahead of a Classic tilt with Persian Dreamer later this spring.
She holds entries for both the Qipco 1000 Guineas and the Irish equivalent at the Curragh, with the daughter of Calyx winning both a Rowley Mile maiden and the July course’s Duchess of Cambridge Stakes impressively in Newmarket during her two-year-old season.
She signed off her juvenile campaign with a respectable effort in the Cheveley Park Stakes and with her best form coming at HQ with cut in the ground, her handler is hoping conditions allow her to take part in the opening fillies Classic of the season back on the Rowley Mile.
“Persian Dreamer is not back in the yard yet, she’s over with Robson Aguiar in Ireland but he tells me she’s doing well so we’re looking forward to her coming back,” said the Lambourn-based handler.
“I hope this rain continues because to win a Group One with her would be the aim, but she needs to get her toe in.
“She’ll run in one of the Guineas, whether she runs before that we’ll see what happens with the weather. If the word ‘soft’ was in the description we’d love to be at Newmarket because she’s two from three there.”
A key member of Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing operation, Ffrench Davis also oversaw the two-year-old campaign of Ornellaia in 2023, with the daughter of Night Of Thunder third in the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes when last sighted.
She has since switched to Roger Varian and also has a crack at the 1000 Guineas on her agenda, with Ffrench Davis feeling she could possess real star quality.
He continued: “We’ve still got Persian Dreamer but Ornellaia has gone to Roger Varian. She’s a lovely filly and I hope she goes on and wins a Group One this year because Kia deserves it, it’s a hell of an operation he’s put together.
“It rained heavy before Persian Dreamer won the Duchess of Cambridge and if it did the same before the Guineas, who knows. The race has opened up with Aidan’s (O’Brien, Opera Singer) not running, but Ornellaia will be a hard one to beat.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will be absent from the next Formula One race in Japan, the PA news agency has learned.
It is understood that Wolff’s decision to miss the race in Suzuka on April 7 was taken before the start of the new season and is not connected to the team’s performance in Australia.
Wolff admitted after Sunday’s race at Melbourne’s Albert Park that it is “fair” to question his future as team principal following Mercedes’ troubling weekend.
Lewis Hamilton qualified only 11th and the worst start to his 18-season career was confirmed when his engine expired on lap 17, while team-mate George Russell was seventh when he crashed out.
Wolff, who lives in Monaco, will be on the intercom remotely throughout the race weekend in Japan – with his duties at the circuit to be divided between senior members of the Brackley team.
The Austrian also missed last year’s Japanese GP and the ensuing round in Qatar, following knee surgery. On those occasions the team’s driver development director Jerome d’Ambrosio was handed the effective on-site team principal baton.
But it emerged earlier this month that D’Ambrosio is set to end his association with the team when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Wolff admitted in an interview with the PA news agency last year that he intends to scale back his on-track presence in the coming years.
The 52-year-old, who has been in charge of Mercedes since 2013, recently signed a new three-year deal to remain as chief executive and team principal of the F1 operation he co-owns with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ola Kallenius.
Mercedes won an unprecedented eight consecutive constructors’ titles between 2014 and 2021 but they have tasted just one victory from their last 48 outings.
Fresh from his harrowing accident in Melbourne, Russell is expected to be at the team’s HQ in Northamptonshire later this week as Mercedes search for solutions to their underwhelming start to the season.
Russell failed to make it to the end of Sunday’s race after hitting the wall on the penultimate lap in his pursuit of Fernando Alonso.
The double world champion was adjudged to have driven dangerously by the stewards and was demoted from sixth to eighth following a post-race 20-second penalty.
However, the 42-year-old protested his innocence in a message posted on social media.
Alonso wrote: “A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars. At no point do we want to do anything wrong at these speeds.
“I believe that without gravel on that corner, on any other corner in the world we will never be even investigated.
“In F1, with over 20 years of experience, changing racing lines, sacrificing entry speed to have good exits from corners is part of the art of motorsport.
“We never drive at 100 per cent every race lap and every corner, we save fuel, tyres, brakes, so being responsible for not making every lap the same is a bit surprising. We have to accept it and think about Japan, to have more pace and fight for positions further up the field.”
Promising fillies Queen Of Zafeen and Star Music will put their Classic credentials to the test next month, with Richard Hughes confident he has some smart operators to unleash during the 2024 season.
Both fillies are owned by Jaber Abdullah and hold entries in the Qipco 1000 Guineas, but the Weathercock House handler may look outside of Newmarket depending on how the duo perform in their respective trials.
Queen Of Zafeen was last seen being narrowly denied in Lingfield’s Spring Cup and after a rapid rise through the ranks, she will tackle Newmarket’s Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes before connections consider whether to challenge for a version of the Guineas home or abroad.
“It was a shame she didn’t go and win the Spring Cup and she was only beat on the line, but I suppose two colts were beside her,” said Hughes.
“I’m probably going to run her in the Nell Gwyn because she has no experience on grass and it has all happened a bit quick for her really.
“She will have had a nice break from the Spring Cup to the Nell Gwyn and I’m kind of thinking the German 1000 Guineas rather than the English Guineas, but we will let her do the talking first.”
Star Music will also be in action that week with the Oh So Sharp Stakes third set for action in the Dubai Duty Free Stakes – better known as the Fred Darling – at Newbury on April 20.
The form of her placed effort behind Dance Sequence and Skellet has already been franked by the fourth Chic Colombine this year and with connections of that rival hinting at a French 1000 Guineas bid, the daughter of Zoustar may end up joining George Boughey’s filly in the starting stalls at ParisLongchamp.
“She will go for the Fred Darling and a theory I have, which might be wrong, is that Zoustars prefer a really flat track,” continued Hughes.
“They are a bit like Exceed And Excels and just seem to act better when it is really flat.
“She was particularly impressive when she won at Kempton but I just feel Newmarket might not be her track, even though she ran a blinder in the Oh So Sharp. I might think of Longchamp for her if she runs well in her trial.”
Hughes is also holding plenty of hope for Derby entrant Kamboo, who is set for an early season appearance in the bet365 Feilden Stakes at Newmarket, while the former champion jockey turned trainer feels he is entering the season with some real talent at his disposal.
“Kamboo is one for the Feilden and is showing up well at home,” added Hughes.
“It’s all a bit undecided at the moment but it’s the first time I’ve had a handful of Group horses in my yard.
“Normally we have one that is a hopeful, but this time I’m pretty confident I have four or five to go to war with, which is pretty good for a small-enough string.
“I’m a bit of a realist and Lizzie (Hughes, wife) says I’m negative at times. It’s just this year I know I have nice horses to go to war with, so it’s been a little bit different in the spring.
“Now they are running so well it is a bonus – everything we seem to be running at the moment is winning or going close, so it’s going really well.”
Annaf will miss out on the chance to supplement his recent Saudi Arabian success on Dubai World Cup Night having met with a setback in transit.
Mick Appleby’s five-year-old enjoyed a fine 2023 season and having signed off with big wins at both Doncaster and Ascot, he has picked up from where he left off this term, going close in the Kachy Stakes before striking gold in the $2million Saudi National Bank 1351 Turf Sprint in Riyadh last month.
The son of Muhaarar was in line to seek an international double in Meydan’s Al Quoz Sprint on Saturday, but having picked up a respiratory illness on the flight over to Dubai, will now return to Appleby’s Oakham base to be prepared for a domestic campaign centred around a trip to Royal Ascot.
Appleby said: “He got taken ill on the flight over, but it is not life threatening or anything and he’s hopefully going to be fine, it’s just prevented him from running.
“It’s a shame but it’s a risk you take when they are flying a fair bit. He came home after Saudi and was heading back out so maybe it was just a bit too much for him.
“He should be fine and the vets out in Dubai in the hospital are happy with him – he should be fine to come back home when the other one (Roberto Escobarr) does.
“We’ll probably get him ready for Ascot now, that will probably be the main aim.”
The Royal meeting could also feature on the agenda for Appleby’s leading light Big Evs who is being readied for his three-year-old season.
The son of Blue Point excelled as a juvenile, winning top-quality two-year-old races at home before giving his team a day to remember when winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.
His handler is keen to keep his high-class speedster to five furlongs for the early part of the season, which would see ideas of the Commonwealth Cup put on the backburner for now. However, he does concede six-furlong contests will enter the equation at some stage.
Appleby continued: “He’s great and has wintered really well. He’s not far off being ready to run, we just need to decide where we are going to run.
“The obvious race (to target) would have been the Commonwealth Cup, but that is six furlongs and we don’t really want to try him over six first time back, so we’re not really sure where we will start back. The weather is not helping and it’s raining again here now.
“I think in the early season we will definitely be sticking to five furlongs. We’re obviously going to have to try him at six at some point and the way he won at Goodwood on that heavy ground, you would say he would stay the six.”
Forward Plan will bid for a third big pot of the season at the Grand National meeting in April.
Anthony Honeyball admits to have been taken aback by just how effective the eight-year-old has been this term, winning a good prize at Doncaster and then being beaten a nose in the Great Yorkshire Chase before winning the £150,000 Coral Trophy at Kempton.
He now has his sights set on the £100,000 William Hill Handicap Chase on Grand National day at Aintree, April 13, a race the yard has fond memories of.
“Forward Plan goes to Aintree for the race Sam Brown won two years ago,” said Honeyball.
“When Sam won it it was the race before the National so we had an hour in the winning connections room, but the only thing was we probably didn’t get much exposure as they went straight into the build-up for the National!
“Forward Plan has been a cracking little horse, he’s picked up about £120,000. We’ve dared to dream chucking him in big handicaps and he has kept on delivering.
“Last season we thought he had won his Gold Cup in a £20,000 race at Southwell but he has just improved and improved this season.
“The Badger Ales was a good place to start but the ground was softer than he liked, then he won a nice race at Doncaster and in between Doncaster and his Kempton wins he was beaten a nose in the Great Yorkshire Chase.
“Arguably the best ride Ben (Godfrey) has given him was that one too as everyone was sure the winner, Annual Invictus, had gone off too fast so he ignored him for much of the race, he beat the rest easily but to be fair to the winner he just found that little bit extra.
“The race at Kempton was worth more than the Ultima and there wasn’t one Irish entry. They probably think it comes too close to Cheltenham.
“He looked beaten two out, he’d lost his position down the back straight but he flew home. If he can win a third big pot it would be great, we’ll try and go to Aintree and if not it will be Punchestown.”
Frazer Clarke is ready to have the last laugh when he takes on Fabio Wardley for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles on Sunday in what will be the biggest night of his professional career.
Olympic bronze medallist Clarke has been forced to bide his time for a shot at domestic rival Wardley after their prospective bout last year collapsed.
Clarke’s own team of 258 Management and promotion company Boxxer made the decision to withdraw the 32-year-old on the day of purse bids, which resulted in their fighter being at the centre of a social media storm.
After Clarke took criticism and ridicule from all directions “on the chin”, he regrouped to get the better of veteran Mariusz Wach on points last summer before he comprehensively dismantled Dave Allen in September to finally set up an eagerly-anticipated clash with Wardley at London’s O2 Arena on Easter Sunday.
“It wasn’t pleasant. Definitely wasn’t pleasant,” Clarke told the PA news agency about the purse bid episode.
“To go through that at that stage of my career, it felt unfair but I am a firm believer in dealing with things as they come to you.
“I just had to get on with it. I did that and didn’t really complain too much. I got a lot of stick from a lot of people but took it on the chin. Got on with things. I had a couple of bad weeks but after that I was fine and we moved on.”
Clarke (8-0, 6KOs) conceded facing 48-fight veteran Wach at York Hall months after he was in line to compete for the British title proved to be the “biggest anti-climax ever”, while even Allen failed to “get the juices flowing” for the Stoke-on-Trent boxer.
However, motivation will be no problem when the 32-year-old steps in with Wardley, 29, after several social media exchanges between the duo who have been on a collision course since the latter beat one of Clarke’s old Olympic programme team-mates.
“I was at the Nathan Gorman fight. I watched that with keen interest and the second he became British champion, I thought one day I will end up fighting him,” Clarke said.
“I would say a rivalry is the right word. I wouldn’t say it’s a grudge because I have got no issue with Fabio.
“We’ve had a bit of back and forth, but that’s just the nature of the beast. It is all part and parcel of the game.
“The rivalry is definitely there. I would say it is a competitive rivalry rather than anything else.”
A subplot to this domestic dust-up is the pair’s upbringing, with Clarke steeped in boxing tradition after he progressed through the British Olympic programme, while Wardley’s first venture into the sport was through white-collar fights.
Nevertheless, Clarke acknowledged he is the underdog against an opponent who has won all 17 of his professional fights, but is ready to lean on his amateur pedigree and silence the critics after a “brutal” fight camp.
View this post on InstagramHe added: “Physically, emotionally, it’s been hard, draining but I feel like I’m coming out the other end.
“As a professional, this is definitely by far the biggest night of my life and everything will go into this.
“I’m motivated, I’m up for it and I’m really enjoying this underdog mentality.
“Having people against me, having people expecting me to get flattened, it will be sweet to prove people wrong.”
Sir Chris Hoy was crowned world champion for a 10th time on this day in 2010 as he triumphed in the Keirin at the Track Cycling World Championships in Copenhagen.
A crash in the first heat threatened to wreck Hoy’s plans, but he managed to regroup to qualify for the final.
Azizulhasni Awang pushed Olympic champion Hoy all the way before the British rider edged home to claim his second medal of the Championships.
Hoy had already clinched bronze in the team sprint at the Ballerup Super Arena, but crashed out in qualifying for the Keirin.
Josiah Ng Onn Lam had blocked Hoy, who went on to fall and take out another rider, which caused the race to stop.
Ng was later disqualified and after Hoy progressed through to the final, the Scot had to bide his time before he gained the lead during the final lap-and-a-half to taste success in his first major global event since his triple Olympic success in 2008.
“I certainly didn’t enjoy being bumped on my backside at the start of my first race – that was a bit out of order,” Hoy said.
“It made me angry but I had to keep my emotions in check because I didn’t want the red mist to descend.
“It’s even more special to be back here again where I won my first world title in 2002.
“I would never have predicted then that I would be coming back here in eight years time, let alone to win a 10th title. I’m delighted.”
Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey each had 24 points as the Philadelphia 76ers got back on track with Sunday's 121-107 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in the teams' first meeting since November's James Harden trade.
Harden's tumultuous 21-month tenure with the 76ers came to an end when Philadelphia shipped the disgruntled star guard to Los Angeles shortly after the start of this season. The 10-time All-Star dished out 14 assists against his former team, but was held to 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
The Sixers started fast and never trailed en route to ending a two-game losing streak, though Los Angeles erased a 17-point first-half deficit to tie the contest midway through the third quarter.
Philadelphia regained control behind a 6-0 run to take a 79-73 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter, then later scored 13 consecutive points in the fourth to open up a commanding 103-85 advantage with eight minutes to go.
Maxey accounted for 10 points during that pivotal spurt and scored 19 of his points after half-time.
Harris tallied 11 first-quarter points and Kelly Oubre Jr. added 10 as the Sixers built a 41-29 lead after 12 minutes, and Philadelphia stretched the margin further in the second before the Clippers closed out the first half on a 10-0 run to pull within 63-56 at intermission.
Los Angeles continued to chip away early in the third quarter and tied the game at 65-65 on a Paul George 3-pointer 2:14 into the second half.
Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell paced the Clippers, who were coming off consecutive wins over the lowly Portland Trail Blazers, with 20 points each.
Bucks knock Thunder out of West's top spot with rout
Giannis Antetokounmpo racked up 30 points and a season-high 19 rebounds, Khris Middleton amassed a triple-double and the Milwaukee Bucks rolled to a dominant 118-93 victory over Oklahoma City that knocked the Thunder out of first place in the Western Conference.
Playing with their core three of Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Middleton together for the first time since Feb. 3, the Bucks held Oklahoma City to its lowest point and field goal percentage (37.1) totals of the season to increase their lead on the second-place Cleveland Cavaliers to three games in the Central Division.
The Thunder had a four-game winning streak halted and dropped a half-game behind the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets for the West's best record.
Middleton compiled 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double, while Antetokounmpo scored 11 of his points in the third quarter as Milwaukee began pulling away after holding a slim 48-47 edge at half-time.
Seven of Antetokounmpo's points came during a 16-0 run that turned a one-point advantage into a 68-51 lead just past the midway stage of the third quarter.
The Bucks didn't let up in the fourth, as they shot 63.6 per cent for the period while increasing their lead to as many as 26 points.
Josh Giddey led Oklahoma City with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder's All-Star guard, was held to 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting and had a streak of 29 consecutive games of 20 points or more snapped.
Heat bounce back with dominant win over Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost ground to the Bucks in the Central race with a lopsided loss to the Miami Heat, who had seven players score in double figures to cruise to a 121-84 blowout win.
Miami rebounded strongly from Friday's 23-point home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, as the defending Eastern Conference champions built a lead as large as 45 points while getting contributions all throughout the roster.
The Heat received 59 points from their reserves, led by Haywood Highsmith's 18 on 7-of-10 shooting, as well as a 15-point, 16-rebound effort from starting center Bam Adebayo to end a three-game losing streak at home.
Cleveland got 15 points from Evan Mobley in the forward's return from a nine-game absence caused by a sprained ankle. No other Cavaliers' players reached double figures, however, as the injury-plagued club was dealt a third straight loss.
The Heat shot nearly 58 per cent from the field in the first quarter to build a 32-22 lead, then increased the margin during a second quarter that guard Terry Rozier closed with a buzzer-beating layup that sent Miami into the break owning a comfortable 60-39 advantage.
Cleveland never got closer than 19 points down in the second half, and the Heat's lead swelled to 118-73 with 4:23 left to play.
Miami's 45-point lead was its largest margin in any game since a 46-point cushion over the Chicago Bulls in a 2013 play-off contest.
Jonathan Drouin's goal 54 seconds into overtime capped an improbable rally for the red-hot Colorado Avalanche, who increased their winning streak to nine games with Sunday's 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Avalanche trailed 4-0 late in the second period before erupting for five unanswered goals, the last coming when Drouin skated by Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang up the right side before slipping a shot past goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic less than a minute into extra time.
Drouin finished with two goals and an assist, while Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists to extend his streak of consecutive home games with at least one point to 34, the second-longest run in NHL history.
While the Avalanche remained tied with the Dallas Stars atop the Central Division, the Penguins were dealt another blow to their fading play-off hopes with a third consecutive defeat. Pittsburgh currently stands in 13th place in the Eastern Conference and is now nine points behind in the race for the final wild-card spot.
Sean Walker and Yakov Trenin began Colorado's comeback with goals in the final four minutes of the second period, and Drouin cut Pittsburgh's lead to 4-3 when he one-timed a cross-ice pass from MacKinnon into the Penguins' net 3:32 into the third.
MacKinnon's 44th goal of the season later tied the contest with 4:38 remaining in regulation.
The Penguins dominated the first period, outshooting Colorado by a 15-4 margin and building a 2-0 lead on goals by Jesse Puljujarvi and Bryan Rust. They extended the margin to 4-0 when Sidney Crosby and Pierre-Olivier Joseph scored less than two minutes apart in the second.
Crosby finished with three assists in addition to his 34th goal of the season.
Nedeljkovic stopped 21 of 25 shots and briefly left the game in the third period after colliding with Colorado's Casey Mittelstadt. Tristan Jarry came on in relief and turned back 4 of 5 chances while surrendering MacKinnon's tying goal.
Alexandar Georgiev finished with 30 saves for Colorado.
Oveckhin, Capitals continue surge with shutout of Jets
Alex Ovechkin extended his hot stretch with two more goals to back Charlie Lindgren's 27 saves as the Washington Capitals continued their climb in the Eastern Conference standings with a 3-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
John Carlson added a goal and T.J. Oshie contributed two assists to Washington's fifth victory in six games, a result that pushed the Capitals one point ahead of Detroit for the East's final wild-card spot. Washington hosts the Red Wings on Tuesday in an important late-season clash.
Both Lindgren and Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck were perfect through two periods, but the Capitals finally broke the scoreless stalemate when Carlson one-timed a feed from Oshie past the Jets' star netminder on a power play 1:21 into the third.
Ovechkin put Washington up 2-0 just over two minutes afterward, then beat Hellebuyck on a backhand attempt with eight minutes to go as the legendary forward increased his goal streak to five games. Oveckhin has eight goals during the run.
Lindgren had seven third-period saves to polish off his fifth shutout of the season and hand the scuffling Jets a third consecutive loss.
Hellebuyck ended with 16 saves.
Andersen sharp again as Hurricanes top Maple Leafs
Frederik Andersen made 32 saves to remain unbeaten since returning from injury as the Carolina Hurricanes held on for an important 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Andersen made first-period goals from Brady Skjei and Sebastian Aho stand up to win his sixth consecutive start since coming back from a blood-clotting issue that had sidelined him for four months.
The victory was the ninth in 11 games (9-1-1) for Carolina, which trails the New York Rangers by just one point for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto had a two-game winning streak snapped despite 41 saves from Joseph Woll, who also turned back Jake Guentzel on a penalty shot in the first period.
Woll was beaten early, however, as Skjei scored on the Hurricanes' first shot of the game with just 1:06 elapsed into the contest.
Aho converted a power-play chance later in the first period to extend the margin, and Andersen made 20 saves through the first two periods before Toronto's Nicholas Robertson ended the shutout bid 8:51 into the third.
The Maple Leafs had an opportunity to tie it later on after Carolina defenseman Brent Burns was called for a tripping penalty with 3:15 remaining, but the Hurricanes were able to kill off the resulting power play.
Andy Murray raged at umpire Carlos Bernardes as he bowed out of the Miami Open following a dramatic three-set defeat to Tomas Machac.
Murray appeared to be furious with Bernardes for failing to control the movement of spectators around the Butch Buchholz court as he lost his serve at the end of the second set.
Machac then raced into a 3-0 lead in the decider and eventually closed out a 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7/5) victory in three hours and 27 minutes, but only after Murray had survived an injury scare and saved a match point to force the tie-break.
Murray had taken the first set after finally capitalising on his ninth break point and, following a 40-minute rain delay, the second set looked destined for a tie-break until Murray lost his serve in the 12th game.
The 36-year-old’s frustrations with fans moving between points boiled over and he could be heard shouting to Bernardes: “Useless, useless.”
In response to an unheard reply from Bernardes, Murray responded: “What are you talking about? It’s quite obvious when people are standing up between every single point.”
It was no surprise that a distracted Murray then lost his serve at the start of the decider but Machac was unable to close out the match at 5-3, serving two double faults as he let Murray back into the contest.
Murray looked to have all the momentum but then seemed to twist his ankle as he ran towards the net after levelling at 5-5, the former world number one thankfully able to continue after being assessed by a tournament physio.
In typical fashion Murray refused to throw in the towel and saved a match point on his own serve to take the contest to a decisive tie-break which he led 5-3, only for Machac to reel off four points in a row to complete a remarkable win.
Elsewhere, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner recovered from a set down to beat Tallon Griekspoor 5-7 7-5 6-1, but Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan caused a major upset as he knocked out world number seven Holger Rune 6-1 6-1.
“It is a great feeling to play at the highest level,” Marozsan said.
“I try to play my best tennis and today against a top 10 player and I am enjoying my time here. I try to play my best tennis.”
Fallon Sherrock wrapped up a successful two days at the PDC Women’s Series in Wigan with victory in the Event Four final on Sunday.
Sherrock, already victorious in Event One on Saturday, overpowered Beau Greaves 5-1 to claim her second triumph of the weekend.
Mikuru Suzuki also tasted success at the Robin Park Tennis Centre as she beat Deta Hedman 5-4 in the Event Three final earlier in the day.
Sherrock’s win came after a repeat of the Event One final, but was won far more convincingly than Saturday’s last-leg decider.
She had also powered through the earlier rounds as she disposed of Kirsi Viinikainen and Desiree Geel 5-0 and 5-1 respectively.
Suzuki edged out Sherrock 5-4 in the semi-finals of Event Three before going to beat Hedman in a deciding leg.
England kicked off their Women’s Six Nations title defence with an eight-try 48-0 trouncing of Italy in Parma despite having Sarah Beckett sent off after just 11 minutes.
The hosts, who have finished fifth the last two years, were no match for the 2023 Grand Slam winners who picked up a bonus point as they began their quest for a sixth successive championship in style.
Beckett was dismissed early on for a dangerous ruck clear-out but only after becoming the first woman to have her yellow card upgraded to a red by the TMO ‘bunker’ system.
But it did little to harm England’s chances as they eased into a 10-point lead at half-time courtesy of tries from Hannah Botterman and Abbie Ward.
England, for whom captain Marlie Packer won her 100th cap, picked up their performance after the break and added a further six tries to seal a comprehensive win.
Ellie Kildunne (two), Lark Atkin-Davies, Helena Rowland, Mackenzie Carson and Connie Powell all touched down despite the visitors being reduced to 13 players in the 69th minute when Rowland was yellow-carded for head contact at a ruck.
It was a case of mission accomplished for Knebworth who stuck his head out in game fashion to achieve trainer Richard Hughes’ early-season objective.
The four-year-old was sent off a 6-1 chance for the William Hill NRMB On The Grand National Handicap and was always prominent in the hands of young apprentice Ethan Jones.
The 9-2 favourite Aleezdancer and most notably Woven laid down a stern challenge at the business end of the six-furlong event, but Jones was strong and had a willing partner when he needed him to prevail by a short head from Woven.
Hughes said: “It was a great run and that has been the plan. I gave him a prep on the all-weather to knock the cobwebs off as you can find with sprinters they can be quite fresh after they’ve had a break.
“I wanted to get that freshness off before he went running on soft ground up there and it was an ideal spot for him.
“Ethan claiming the 7lb certainly helps and it was a lovely win. Ethan is doing most things right at the moment, he’s listening and riding well.”
On future plans, Hughes added: “That was our first target and there might be a race back on the all-weather for him Easter weekend as he’s quite good on the all-weather.
“That might be one of the last highly-rated all-weather races because when the summer comes, it’s hard to get a highly-rated all-weather race. He’ll either go there or I’ll wait for another turf race where there is some moisture in the ground.”
The William Hill Epic Boost Novice Stakes has been won by the likes of Maljoom and Fox Champion in the past and produced another likeable winner in the shape of Eve Johnson Houghton’s Balmacara.
Third on debut behind a subsequent Listed winner and the highly-regarded Kikkuli, the son of New Bay relished the cut under foot to get off the mark at the second attempt at odds of 5-2.
“I’m absolutely thrilled with him and he probably enjoys a bit of juice in the ground, he hits the ground quite hard so I was always keen to get him out early,” said Johnson Houghton.
“He probably wants further and is just a really nice, likeable horse. He definitely wanted soft ground last year but now he’s maturing he might be able to handle better ground better – but he wouldn’t want it very firm.
“It’s our first runner on turf and he wins, so it’s great for all the team and gives us a boost.”
King Of Spain provided a sentimental victory for Gemma Tutty in the Harrison College Your Future Your Choice Handicap as she continued her fine weekend on Town Moor.
Tutty saddled Look Back Smiling to win the Spring Mile at the South Yorkshire track on Saturday and she was in the winner’s enclosure again with a half-brother to former stable standard-bearer Mostly Cloudy, with the three-year-old King Of Spain making an impressive turf debut to follow up a recent success on the all-weather.
“He’s a half-brother to Mostly Cloudy who was our star during our first season so he has a lot of sentimental value anyway, but to see him keep progressing is really satisfying.
“We bought him as a yearling and the owners have been really patient. We were really keen to get him on soft ground and up in trip. I knew he would come on from his last run because he felt amazing at home, but I wasn’t expecting him to put the race to bed quite as impressively as he did.
“Looking at his knee action, he was always going to appreciate a bit of juice in the ground, but he has taken a big step forward today.
“I’m really thrilled and most of the owners of Mostly Cloudy have reinvested and it’s wonderful to pay them back for keeping the faith in me. The weekend couldn’t have gone much better really.”
The afternoon was kicked off by husband-and-wife team of Archie Watson and Brodie Hampson combining with Throne Hall (13-2) to win the William Hill Epic Value Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap, while Qitaal (14-1) returned from over 600 days off the track to make a blistering debut for Charlie Johnston in the 10-furlong Injured Jockeys Fund Handicap.
Purple Lily advertised her Classic claims with victory in the TRM Equine Nutrition Race at Naas.
A winner at Galway on her sole two-year-old outing, Purple Lily was sent off the 10-11 favourite to maintain her perfect record for trainer Paddy Twomey in the mile heat.
She made smooth progress for Billy Lee and when sent to win her race a furlong out, she had more than enough in reserve to win by three lengths from the Group One-placed Portland.
Twomey said: “She’s a nice filly and she wintered well. We just gave her the one run after the breeze-ups last year and she was good.
“I like her, the horses have done loads of cantering but they haven’t done much fast work. When you are taking on a 108-rated colt, you are asking them a question and she did it well.
“We might look at a Guineas trial and then the Irish Guineas. I think we’ll take our time.”
The Calyx filly has now won twice on testing ground, but Twomey added: “That’s only what was there the day she ran, I’d say it doesn’t matter.
“She’s versatile, she has a lovely attitude and is a lovely filly to train. Hopefully we have a good year with her.”
Wendla could also be set for a Classic trial after a taking success in the Dubawi Legend Irish EBF Fillies Maiden.
Beaten in two juvenile starts, Wendla was sent off an 11-2 chance to make it third time lucky for trainer Ger Lyons and jockey Colin Keane and she obliged in style, with a cosy two-and-a-half-length verdict over Harbour Gem.
The Ulysses filly is out of Breeders’ Cup winner Intercontinental, who is a daughter of Juddmonte’s prolific mare Hasili and counts Dansili, Banks Hill and Champs Elysees among her illustrious relations.
“Colin said to me she’d win if she did what we’ve seen at home. It’s about whether they handle the ground or not,” said Lyons.
“She’s a nice filly and it’s nice to get the maidens out of the way with the likes of her and (Friday’s Dundalk winner) Sakti.
“We thought if she handles that ground, if one of the trials comes up soft then we have one for it and if it turns up good, we’ve one for it too.
“I’m not saying they are Guineas horses or anything, they’ve to prove that, but at the minute we’ve won our maiden and they are horses we would like to be going to a trial with and see where the ceiling is in time.
“There’s nothing that gets going until after Punchestown so that gives us a chance to take a breather and obviously the trials are what I wanted to aim at. Ultimately it’s all about stakes races with all the horses.”
Janoobi (4-1) made it a double for Lyons and Keane in the Far Above At Compas Stallions Handicap, returning from a 575-day absence to win by five lengths – much to Lyons’ delight.
He said: “There is a lot of satisfaction in that because he’s come back from a massive injury and the team have done a marvellous job.
“He had a bad fracture in his front leg and it was touch and go whether he was going to be with us. They did a massive job with him and it’s a credit to anyone that had anything to do with him.
“He’s a horse that we always liked and it’s just a bonus to get him back, to win with him is just massive.
“He’s a good, fun horse to have on the team and every day we have with him now is a bonus.”
Jack Davison’s Take Me To Church is moving up in the world after a runaway success in the Irish Racing Writers Cliff Noone Memorial Madrid Handicap at Naas.
The three-year-old has won twice on the all-weather on his two most recent outings, but has clearly been considered a good turf prospect by his trainer ahead of his first start of the year on grass.
Under Ronan Whelan he was a 4-1 chance for the seven-furlong contest, won last year by Paddington before he went on a five-race winning streak that included the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the St James’s Palace, the Coral-Eclipse and the Sussex Stakes.
After an easy six-and-a-half-length victory Take Me To Church is also set to step up in grade, with the Listed Gladness Stakes on his agenda next.
“He’s a right little horse. It’s nice when a plan comes off and to bring up the hat-trick by winning the Madrid is a great result,” said Davison.
“He’s a turf horse really and I knew what he did in Dundalk wasn’t going to be what he could do on turf but he still won twice. He’s progressed with every run and it’s a fantastic result.
“I’d probably be in favour of having a go at the Gladness at the Curragh over seven, all going well. He has lots of options.
“He did win impressively. You don’t mind foregoing their handicap mark when they win a premier handicap in that style and you know you have a black-type horse.”
Ante-post Classic favourite City Of Troy satisfied trainer Aidan O’Brien in a rescheduled racecourse gallop at Leopardstown on Saturday.
The Ballydoyle handler had outlined plans to work his Classic contenders at Naas on Sunday earlier in the week, but with the ground riding heavy at the County Kildare venue, O’Brien opted to send his team to Leopardstown 24 hours earlier.
City Of Troy is a general 4-6 favourite for the Qipco 2000 Guineas and a 6-4 market leader for the Betfred Derby after an unblemished juvenile campaign that culminated in an impressive victory in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.
The Justify colt was one a strong group to have a racecourse spin, with Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Unquestionable and National Stakes victor Henry Longfellow others to strut their stuff.
O’Brien said: “They all worked nice, they all went in a bunch – the whole lot of them.
“We were happy with them all. They went seven and a half furlongs in a bunch and came up on the bridle but we were happy with what they did.
“City Of Troy, River Tiber, Unquestionable, Diego Velazquez and Henry Longfellow were all in the one bunch. We were very happy with them.
“We didn’t know whether there was a doubt about the meeting here (in Naas), so we were delighted to get into Leopardstown.”
O’Brien has indicated his intention to send City Of Troy to Newmarket on May 4 without a prep run and that remains the plan at present.
He added: “We’ll see how they come out of the work but that’s the plan at the moment.”
International honours are in O’Brien’s sights in the immediate future with last year’s Derby winner Auguste Rodin set to make his seasonal bow in the Dubai Sheema Classic next Saturday.
The four-year-old also won the Irish Derby, Irish Champion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Turf last term and he will headline the stable’s squad, with Luxembourg another headline act in the Dubai Turf, where he will be joined by Cairo.
O’Brien said: “They landed there this morning and everything looks good with them so far, they seem to have travelled nicely.
“We have Point Lonsdale in the Turf with Auguste Rodin. Then there is Luxembourg, Cairo and Tower Of London (Dubai Gold Cup) and the two in the Derby (Henry Adams and Navy Seal).”
Andrew Slattery’s Sunchart finally had his moment when landing the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Devoy Stakes at Naas.
The runner up in the race in both 2021 and 2023, the seven-year-old was last seen at the Curragh in November and was returning to action after a winter break.
Under Andrew Slattery jnr, the trainer’s son, he started at 5-1 as he attempted to go one better than previous efforts.
This time he was well able to get his head in front, finding himself with an easy lead two furlongs from home before pulling further and further clear of the field to cross the line six and a half lengths ahead.
“The horses deserved it more than any of us. Pat (Garvey, owner) has had great perseverance with him and it’s great that he’s kept going,” the trainer said.
“He was always a very good horse and he likes this track. He likes going left-handed and likes soft ground.
“He’s been a hard horse to place and we maybe aimed a bit high at times as well.
“He always had the ability, he was second in this last year and was barely beaten at Leopardstown in a Listed race (Trigo Stakes).
“People were doubting him for being doggy but he’s not, he’s just a horse that has had a lot of problems.
“It was just about getting him right on the day and today he was right.”
Sunchart was fourth in the Ormonde Stakes at Chester last season and could return to the meeting if conditions are suitable.
Slattery added: “I don’t think there is much coming up for him, the ground is the big thing. He might go back to Chester if the ground was soft, he ran well when fourth in the Ormonde Stakes last year.”
Judd Trump defended his World Open crown with a comprehensive 10-4 victory over Ding Junhui to claim the 28th ranking title of his career and move level with fourth-placed Steve Davis on the all-time list.
Trump dominated a scrappy first session in Yushan with a string of half-century breaks to open up an ominous 7-2 lead over home favourite Ding, who was let down by his safety play.
A stunning break of 130 by Trump after the interval managed to light up the final before he closed out the match with another century to clinch his fifth ranking title of the season.
View this post on InstagramA 6-2 semi-final win over Jackson Page had kept Trump on course to defend the tournament he won in 2019 with this year the first time it has been staged again following the coronavirus pandemic.
China’s Ding stood in Trump’s way and the opening frame set the tone for a cagey encounter.
Ding was left to rue a missed pink after a break of 39 with Trump able to eventually move one up after a succession of snookers from the duo.
Trump was not in full flow but an 88-break established a 3-0 lead before Ding responded with 59 to reduce the deficit before the mid-session interval.
World number two Trump upped his level in the second half of the first session and produced breaks of 59, 79 and 78 to take control despite the interruption of several mobile phones.
Hopes of a spectacular comeback were raised when Ding produced a sparking 106 break to close out the first session.
Trump had other ideas and replied with his own first century of the match after a stunning clearance of 130.
Another three-figure break followed after the Englishman showed off his full repertoire of shots, in between Ding’s 11th-frame 84, to move on the verge of victory.
Ding ensured another interval would occur when he edged a tight next frame, but Trump would not be denied.
An intriguing 14th frame eventually clinched more World Open success for Trump, although only after he missed the red on four occasions after a brilliant snooker by Ding.
Trump’s 58 break still had him in control and despite more fine safety play by Ding, a superb pink secured the frame and the final by a 10-4 score.
It represented the 28th ranking title of Trump’s career to draw him level with Davis, while only Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and John Higgins have won more than the Bristol potter.
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