Jane Chapple-Hyam could saddle her first Cheltenham Festival runner on a rare foray to the National Hunt scene if Stavvy sneaks into the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.
Although most commonly associated with big-race success on the Flat, Staavy earnt his shot at Prestbury Park glory when cruising to a nine-length success at Southwell last month.
That was his handler’s first ever victory under National Hunt rules and the intention is for the four-year-old to be declared for the Grade One event, even though his spot in the final line-up is not guaranteed, with a safety factor of 24 meaning seven of the 31 confirmed entrants could miss out.
Chapple-Hyam is hoping for some good fortune at declaration time on Monday to enable herself and her staff the chance to experience the Festival for the first time, having enjoyed plying their trade amongst the jumps fraternity with Stavvy this winter.
She said: “I haven’t got a runner just yet as he needs two not to declare, so I’m going to have to wait and see!
“The plan is to run but we have a ballot number and we need two not to run, so it’s not certain just yet.
“The staff have enjoyed it and it has been good fun. It’s been a wet winter and it has given the yard a bit of flavour and something to enjoy which has been good.
“He won well at Southwell considering there was an odds-on shot in the field. It was heavy ground and that shows that if Cheltenham was to go slow or dead, then he is able to handle that.”
“The owners have enjoyed watching him progress and he was bought to be a Flat runner, but he is showing us enough to have a go at this. If he gets in, he won’t let us down.”
Stavvy was ridden to victory at Southwell by Bryony Frost, who has also encroached on Flat territory recently to put the big-race outsider through his paces at home in Newmarket.
Chapple-Hyam is hoping the 28-year-old will be available to do the steering if making the cut for Wednesday’s Grade One event – with the gelding available at odds of 100-1, the same price Mudawin was when landing the Ebor for the Australian native in 2006.
She added: “Bryony is jocked up at the moment but it all depends what Mr Nicholls does with his three entries and he obviously has first call – so that’s another thing I will have to sit and wait on and I just have to wait for her agent to let me know if she is available or not.
“As long as the horse stays fit and well until Wednesday, we hope to be competing and I hope Bryony is available to ride him because she has sat on him twice (on course) and has come and ridden him here at home in Newmarket.
“Mudawin won the Ebor at 100-1, so it’s never say never.”
Danny Care was presented with his national academy report in anticipation of his 100th cap and the England scrum-half jokes that the assessment made two decades ago is still accurate now.
Care will become the sixth England men’s Test centurion if he steps off the bench in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations match against Ireland with his extended family, including his wife Jodie and three children, all present at Twickenham.
When the squad gathered on Thursday to celebrate the occasion, they were read out the 37-year-old’s hand-written Under-18 report that had been obtained by attack coach Richard Wigglesworth.
“Wiggy got handed it at our training camp in York last week and was asked to give it to me. He said ‘there’s no way I’m giving it to him yet. I’m going to have some fun first’,” Care said.
“He did a little bit of a montage of good and bad bits from my career. The report said ‘he lacks a bit of physicality, box-kicking is slightly inconsistent’. I’d say 18 years later it’s still the same!
“The cool line at the end of it was ‘future England player’. There was also ‘he tries a bit too much and makes a few mistakes, but he’ll have a crack’.
“Wigglesworth had a bit of fun with that and it’s come a full circle. I’m still quite similar, I’d say.”
Care’s passage to the milestone has been far from plain sailing after being dropped by Eddie Jones in 2018, resulting in four years spent in the international wilderness until his dazzling form for Harlequins forced a recall.
Back in the saddle for the 2022 tour to Australia, he was then hauled off before half-time of the Sydney decider and once again he appeared to have been frozen out.
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But upon Steve Borthwick’s appointment as Jones’ successor in time for the 2023 Six Nations, the Test odyssey of England’s most attacking scrum-half was given a new lease of life.
“As a parent you want to inspire your kids and if they can maybe have a look at my career and go ‘dad didn’t give up, he kept trying’, then maybe there’s a message out there for them to believe in yourself and keep going,” he said.
“Because it would have been quite easy for me to sack it off and not want to do it any more.
“But I’ve always had that drive to wear the shirt again. It might be my last opportunity to wear it at Twickenham, the stadium where I’ve played at a lot of times, so I’m desperate to get out there on the weekend and have some fun.
“I’ve just tried to embrace these moments because it’s not going to last forever. That’s what I’ve been telling the young lads in the team – embrace it and enjoy it.”
“Now I’m still here blagging it! I still think a lot of people can’t believe I’m here – I’m the same.”
It is fitting that Care will reach the century as a replacement having made the role of giving England zip and energy late in games his own. With 56 substitute appearances already made, no Test player has appeared more off the bench.
“Everyone always asks me if I get annoyed being on the bench and I genuinely don’t. It’s not that I prefer it, but I love it,” he said.
“I love that role because you’re on the pitch at the end. You have the ability to help your team win the game and you’re on the pitch for the final whistle. When you’re a starter as a nine, you very rarely play the 80 minutes these days.”
Owner Rich Ricci insists the Mares’ Hurdle remains “Plan A” for Lossiemouth at next week’s Cheltenham Festival, despite the increasing clamour for her to take on the boys in the Unibet Champion Hurdle.
Winner of the Triumph Hurdle 12 months ago, the Willie Mullins-trained five-year-old was so impressive on her reappearance on Cheltenham’s Trials day card in late January that many called for her to take on the mighty Constitution Hill in Tuesday’s feature event.
While the Mares’ Hurdle was immediately put forward as her most likely objective, the subsequent defection of the reigning champion led to Mullins saying he supposed “a conversation will be had” regarding the possibility of switching Lossiemouth to the big one.
However, with Mullins now responsible for the red-hot favourite for the Champion Hurdle in the form of last year’s runner-up State Man, it appears almost certain Lossiemouth will be taking the perceived easier option on the same afternoon.
“We all know that five-year-olds have a challenging record in the Champion Hurdle and we learned a lot last year with Vauban – look how he struggled and he’s a fine horse,” Ricci told Sky Sports Racing.
“This year we said to ourselves ‘let’s just take our time with the mare, she’s very young’ – she had a hard season last year and she didn’t run until Trials day this season.
“The plan was always to run in the Mares’ Hurdle, keep one eye on the Champion in case it cut up, but the intention has always been to run in the Mares’ and hopefully if she’s good enough come back and have a real go at the boys next year.
“I know a lot people would be thinking about running her in the Champion Hurdle, but if you look at her best ratings and times not one of them would have won a Champion Hurdle in the last 10 years, so I think we’re doing the right thing.
“We’ll keep an eye on the Champion Hurdle in case it cuts up further, but I think Plan A is to run in the Mares’ Hurdle.”
Lossiemouth will be tackling two and a half miles for the first time on Tuesday, but Ricci is optimistic her stamina will last out over the extra distance.
He added: “She seems to be maturing and settling a bit, the trip is a slight concern as she’s never won over it, but they all think she’ll get it and on breeding she should get it.
“She’s certainly our best chance of the week, so we’re looking forward to seeing her on Tuesday.”
Another Ricci-owned star set to be in action on the opening day of the Festival is Gaelic Warrior, who is poised to drop back in trip for the Arkle Trophy.
Although the six-year-old has displayed a preference for going right-handed, he has finished second at Cheltenham in each of the past two years and Ricci hopes he can put a disappointing run at the Dublin Racing Festival behind him.
“He’s a nut job and a bit of a knucklehead at the racecourse,” he said.
“He jumps a bit right and prefers going right-handed and probably the easiest thing to do with him is to take him to Fairyhouse and Punchestown, but there’s only one Cheltenham Festival so we’ll take our chance again.
“He’s run there twice and run well twice. We’re leaning at the moment towards running him in the Arkle.
“I don’t know what happened the last day, no one can explain it, he just sort of spat the dummy. He seems to be back in better form and I’m hoping you’ll see a much better performance than you did at the Dublin Racing Festival.”
Monkfish looked a genuine Gold Cup contender after winning the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase three years ago, but subsequently spent two years on the sidelines.
He notched his first win since his return in the Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park in late January and while the Stayers’ Hurdle remains an option, Mullins has suggested he may belatedly get his tilt at Gold Cup glory next Friday.
Ricci added: “Willie keeps talking about the Gold Cup, (but) we haven’t engaged much on Monkfish.
“It would appear to me that the natural race would be the Stayers’ Hurdle as he hasn’t jumped a fence in public over the last three years and he was very good the last day in the Galmoy. That being said, if it comes up soft he may go for the Gold Cup, that’s what Willie is intending to do at the moment.
“We won’t talk about it until next week, but the fact that Willie is talking about that, given the level of the competition (in the Gold Cup), means the horse is in great nick and in great form.
“We always thought he was a Gold Cup horse and maybe this is the year he’ll take his chance.”
The Ricci squad also includes Allegorie De Vassy, who will look to go one better than last year in the Mares’ Chase, and popular veteran Sharjah, who has been placed twice in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham and this year looks set to contest the Turners Novices’ Chase.
The owner believes Bialystok has a “great each-way chance” in the County Hurdle and that Mercurey may “outrun his odds” in the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle.
After making history by becoming the youngest British driver to step foot in a Formula One machine at a Grand Prix weekend last October, teenager Ollie Bearman is moving up another gear with his F1 debut for Ferrari at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The 18-year-old, who turns 19 in May, has been called up as a last-minute stand-in for Carlos Sainz, who has been diagnosed with appendicitis and requires surgery.
Bearman was barely three months old when Fernando Alonso won his first world championship in 2005 – but on his F1 debut in Mexico City, five months ago – the Essex-born teen finished ahead of the double world champion.
“That was an added bonus,” he said with a broad smile.
Competing for American outfit Haas, Bearman finished 15th in first practice in Mexico, only 1.6 seconds slower than triple world champion Max Verstappen, and three tenths adrift of Nico Hulkenberg – a veteran of 200 grands prix – in the other Haas. He was also speedier than Alonso.
Five rookies were fielded at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and Bearman was quickest of them all.
Raised in Chelmsford and schooled at King Edward VI Grammar, Bearman joined Ferrari’s driver academy, aged only 16.
Bearman had just won both the German and Italian Formula Four championships, and his performances made those at Maranello sit up and take note.
He quit school – despite initial resistance from his mother, Terri – left the family home in Chelmsford and moved to Modena, a dozen miles north of Ferrari’s headquarters in northern Italy. Two years on, and his Italian twang is noticeable.
“Maybe I got a bit lucky not to get the Essex accent,” he joked, in an interview with the PA news agency.
“A lot of people have told me my accent has changed even if I don’t notice it. I spend a lot of time with Italians and to communicate with people where English is not their first language is not easy, so I have changed my word order and ended up with this everywhere accent.
“When I moved to Modena it happened pretty quickly. It was like going to university two years early, but I have loved every moment so far.
“My mum was very pro-school and very pro-education, but we managed to convince her in the end.
“I miss my family, my two dogs – I have an English Bull Terrier and a Boston Terrier and they are very cute – and that is the negative side. But the food in Italy is a big chunk above the English stuff and the weather is better, too.”
Following four victories in his rookie Formula Two season – the feeder series to F1 – Bearman was thrust into the spotlight in Mexico City, eclipsing Lando Norris as the sport’s youngest Brit.
Norris, now in his sixth season, was three months shy of his 19th birthday when he took part in practice for McLaren in Belgium in 2018. Bearman turned 18 last May.
When Lewis Hamilton made his F1 bow, Bearman was only 18 months old. Yet in October, he shared the same asphalt as the seven-time world champion.
“When I heard Hamilton was coming up behind me on a push lap I was like, ‘wow, I will get out of the way’,” he added.
However, it was Hamilton’s former McLaren team-mate, the 2009 world champion Jenson Button, who was Bearman’s childhood hero.
“I heard Jenson was praising me on Sky and that was amazing for me to hear,” he adds.
“I don’t know why, but he was always the guy I loved and really looked up to. It is cool that he recognised my performance in practice and I will try to speak to him here – that is my goal.”
Bearman remains in F2 this season after completing practice for Haas – effectively Ferrari’s B team – four months ago in Abu Dhabi.
But he misses this weekend’s round due to his stand-in responsibilities for Ferrari.
“It is really cool that I have been given this opportunity,” he said. “My whole career has been a pinch-yourself moment, and this is another one.
“Ferrari is such an elusive team. They are an iconic brand, they have an iconic colour and they have the best-looking car on the grid. They are putting a lot of trust in me, and loyalty is an important part of this paddock.
“Of course my goal is to become a Ferrari driver and I need to do that with my performances on track. Today was an amazing moment and one I will savour for years to come.
“It is a shame it was only practice, but it is all part and parcel of the work we have been doing to get to the top.”
This Saturday night, Bearman will become only the 12th British driver to compete for Ferrari and the first Englishman since Nigel Mansell in 1990.
Bearman will get a first taste of his Ferrari in final practice, which gets under way at 1630 local time (1330GMT) on Friday ahead of qualifying at 2000 (1700GMT).
Richard Hannon possesses a strong hand in Saturday’s BetMGM Lady Wulfruna Stakes at Wolverhampton – but stresses Group One performer Shouldvebeenaring will not be in optimum condition for his seasonal reappearance.
Owned by Middleham Park Racing, the four-year-old sets a clear standard on what he achieved last season, finishing the campaign by placing in top tier events both at Haydock and ParisLongchamp.
He drops to Listed level for his return to action, but with many big days and a long summer ahead of him, Hannon has warned the mount of Sean Levey will not be fully tuned up for his Dunstall Park appearance.
Hannon said: “He’s going to need it badly, it is going to be quite a busy year for him and we’re just giving him a run to get him ready for some of the bigger races later in the year.
“He’ll enjoy having a run round there and he might still win, but I imagine he will improve massively on this whatever he does.”
Hannon has won this race twice in the last four years and is also represented by 2021 champion Mums Tipple, who although well held after meeting trouble in running at Lingfield recently, is expected to come on for the run in the hands of Hollie Doyle.
“Mums Tipple has had the advantage of having a run and he won’t be far away, he’s working great,” continued Hannon.
While both Shouldvebeenaring and Mums Tipple are proven performers, Geoff Oldroyd’s Doctor Khan Junior is very much taking a step into the unknown on his first try in Pattern company.
Proven in the West Midlands, the five-year-old is unbeaten in his last four outings – all on the all-weather – and his handler feels there is no better time than the present to test the waters at a higher level.
“He just keeps progressing and we’ve got to the stage now where he is rated 99 and it is probably going to be hard in handicaps,” explained Oldroyd.
“There aren’t that many races around for him at the moment, so we’re just going to pop him up into a Listed race and see how we get on.
“He likes Wolverhampton and comes alive around there, so while he’s healthy and in good nick, it’s probably a good time to find out if he is good enough to go up in that grade.”
Another attempting to make her mark at this level is Nine Tenths, who has always been a consistent performer for trainer William Haggas and owners St Albans Bloodstock and having gained black type when second to Dear My Friend at Lingfield last month, will now bid to go one better.
“She’s quite lightly raced for a four-year-old but she has been very consistent and I think she has only been out of the first four once in her career to date,” said the owners’ racing manager Richard Brown.
“She got her black type last time which is important and she looks to have a fair chance of getting some more. Whether that is winning black type though, I don’t know and we will find out.
“Richard Hannon’s horse will be hard to beat on the ratings, but she’s fit and well and ready to go and we’ve obviously got William (Buick) on board which is always a great help. We’re hoping for a big run and she goes there match fit, which we hope will give us some bit of advantage.”
Course-and-distance winners Misty Grey (David O’Meara) and Intervention (Mick Appleby) complete the sextet heading to post for this seven-furlong feature.
British teenager Ollie Bearman will be handed his Formula One debut as a last-minute stand-in for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard has been diagnosed with appendicitis and requires surgery, and – as a result – is ruled out of the second round of the 2024 championship.
Sainz’s absence through illness hands a dramatic debut to 18-year-old Bearman.
Ferrari reserve driver Bearman, who turns 19 in May, will become the youngest Briton to compete in a Formula One race.
A Ferrari statement read: “Carlos Sainz has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will require surgery.
“As from FP3 and for the rest of this weekend, he will be replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman.
“Oliver will therefore take no further part in this round of the F2 Championship. The Ferrari family wishes Carlos a speedy recovery.”
England and Ireland clash in round four of the Guinness Six Nations at Twickenham on Saturday, with the 142nd meeting between the rivals packed with significance and sub-plots.
Here, the PA news agency examines five talking points ahead of the match.
The real world champions?
“Let’s be clear on Ireland – right now we can all agree they are the best team in the world,” were the words Steve Borthwick used when assessing England’s round four opponents, adding his voice to a theme that has developed throughout the tournament. Former Wales captain Sam Warburton holds a similar view that has been greeted with indignation in South Africa given the Springboks retained the World Cup last autumn. It will take the rivals’ two-Test series in July to settle the debate, but for now Andy Farrell’s green machine appear invulnerable as they aim
to become the first side to win back to back Grand Slams in the Six Nations era.
Against all odds
The odds are startling – England are rated 4-1 to win with Ireland 1/5 to continue their Grand Slam march. It is hard to recall a more lopsided evaluation for a match at Twickenham and Borthwick’s men undoubtedly face a gargantuan task to rebound from their 30-21 mauling by Scotland, a game in which they made 25 handling errors and gifted 22 turnovers, and deny Ireland a fifth successive victory in the fixture. Murrayfield was the pivotal encounter for England, who must now topple the favourites and France in Lyon to avoid finishing the Six Nations with just two wins for a fourth successive year, a run that would evoke memories of the dark days of the early 1970s and mid 1980s.
Manny mania
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s inclusion on the right wing at the expense of Elliot Daly should thrill England fans even if the 21-year-old Exeter finisher has played only a handful of professional matches. Injecting genuine X-factor into the team, Feyi-Waboso has been told to go hunting for the ball in the hope his pace, strength and running lines can make a difference against the champions. But a cautionary tale can be seen in the similar trajectory of Henry Arundell, who exploded on to the scene amid a flurry of stunning tries but now plays in France and is unavailable as a result. It is a failure of England’s that they were unable to find him an ingoing role and they must ensure Feyi-Waboso’s vast talent is fully realised.
Clash of the Titans
It will be a duel to savour when young second row enforcers George Martin and Joe McCarthy go toe to toe. There is a thuggish-ness to both forwards as they look to inflict maximum damage on each side of the ball. And as they share similar stats across the board – both are 22-years-old, same height, comparable weights and experience – there is a real sense that this could be the first of many battles between the type of menacing tight five forward every team needs. Martin’s coming of age performance came against South Africa in the World Cup semi-finals, McCarthy’s against France in round one of this Six Nations. Neither will want to give an inch, the type of menacing tight five forward every team needs.
100 not out
If and when Danny Care steps off the bench at Twickenham, he will become the sixth England men’s player to reach the 100 cap milestone. The enduringly brilliant Harlequins scrum-half made his professional debut in 2003 and even at 37-years-old he is still playing the electrifying rugby that thrills audiences. One of the game’s most popular characters has done it the hard way too, long playing second fiddle to Ben Youngs and then having to resurrect his career, having been cast into Test exile after the 2018 ‘Black Hole Game’ against Japan. Not bad for a self-confessed nutritionist’s nightmare who credits a regimen of cookies and saunas for his longevity.
Scotland face Italy in their penultimate Guinness Six Nations match at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some key talking points ahead of the showdown in Rome.
History beckons for Duhan
There is every chance of Scottish history being made in Rome this weekend. Duhan Van Der Merwe moved within one of Scotland’s record try-scorer Stuart Hogg when he scored a match-defining hat-trick against England at Murrayfield last time out. A single score will be enough to take the South Africa-born wing level with Hogg on 27, but in his current form – five tries in his last three Six Nations matches – few would bet against him doing enough at the Stadio Olimpico to break the record outright. Hogg, incidentally, is set to be watching on from the stand after completing a fundraising cycle to the Italian capital in aid of the My Name’5 Doddie charity.
Scots in hunt for rare top-two finish
Scotland have not finished in the top two of the championship since winning the last staging of the Five Nations in 1999. They arrive in Rome knowing a victory will keep them on course to do so for the first time in the 21st century. Gregor Townsend’s team are currently second in the table – a point ahead of England and three above France – with two matches to play. While they still have an outside chance of pipping Ireland to the title, finishing second appears to be a more realistic target.
Chance for Scots trio to shine
There is an element of freshness to the Scotland team this weekend as Townsend has handed opportunities to three players who have been regular squad members in recent seasons but who are not accustomed to starting in the dark blue. Burgeoning Bath centre Cam Redpath makes his fourth Scotland start in place of the injured Sione Tuipulotu, Glasgow scrum-half George Horne has been handed his first start since the 2019 World Cup as Toulon’s Ben White gets the weekend off to rest, while in-form Saracens back-rower Andy Christie has finally been rewarded with first international start two years after making his debut at home to France.
Italy a sticky opponent
Italy have bounced back well from a chastening World Cup and have proved particularly testing opponents for England and France under recently-installed head coach Gonzalo Quesada. The Azzurri lost by just three points to the Red Rose on match-day one and drew away to France in their last outing, with a last-gasp penalty miss costing them what would have been a famous victory in Lille. The Italians have lost their last 13 meetings with the Scots but they gave Townsend’s team a good game at Murrayfield a year ago and have every reason to be confident of doing so again on home soil this weekend.
Full house at the Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico regularly hosts capacity crowds for football matches, such as Thursday’s Europa League showdown between Roma and Brighton, but it is far more unusual for the iconic bowl in the north-west of the Eternal City to sell out for rugby matches. It is a sign of the relative buoyancy of both of these nations, therefore, that almost 70,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday’s match.
Kristaps Porzingis bowed down to the "incredible" Luka Jokic after the Denver Nuggets star dismantled the Boston Celtics.
Eastern Conference leaders Boston lost back-to-back game for the first time since November as the Nuggets ran out 115-109 victors on Thursday.
Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists – his 20th triple-double of the season and his 30th career 30-point triple-double as the Nuggets completed the series sweep against the Celtics.
Porzingis recorded 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 41 points and 14 rebounds, but ultimately Jokic's quality told for the reigning NBA champions.
"He's just an incredible basketball player," said Porzingis.
"Some things I learned from him today, actually. He's just so smart, so crafty, so many things you don't see that he does on the floor that helps that team win.
"It's incredible. Whenever you [slip up] just a little bit, he'll find [Aaron] Gordon, he'll find all these guys. It speaks to how valuable he is for them."
The Nuggets have won seven of their last eight games and sit third in the West.
"They're a really good team, and they have basically an answer for everything," Jokic said.
"Matchup-wise, defense-wise, offense-wise. They are a really well-built team, and they're playing really good.
"That's why they're the best team in the NBA right now. It's really hard to play against that team. They're long and tall. They defend really good. They have really smart players. It's a great thing."
Denver coach Michael Malone knows it is something of a statement win.
"That team never goes away," Malone said of the Celtics, before adding of his team: "I thought the bench was outstanding, they gave us really good contributions.
"We've got 19 to go, we've got to find a way to stay hungry, we can't just get up for the great teams, we've got to get up for everybody and play that brand of basketball every night."
Luka Doncic became the second player with five straight 30-point triple-doubles and the Dallas Mavericks rallied for a 114-108 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday.
Doncic had 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to join the exclusive group with Russell Westbrook, who had five consecutive 30-point triple-doubles in 2017 for Oklahoma City. Doncic also became the first in history with four straight 35-point triple-doubles.
Doncic was 12 of 24 from the field and 7 of 13 on 3-pointers and sank all four free throws. He is averaging 35.8 points, 11.8 assists and 11 rebounds during his five-game run.
Kyrie Irving added 23 points as Dallas snapped a three-game skid.
Terry Rozier had 27 points and 11 assists for Miami, which had won seven of eight.
The Mavericks trailed 101-100 with under four minutes remaining but 3s by Doncic, Dante Exum and Irving gave them the lead for good.
Curry limps off as Warriors fall to Bulls
Stephen Curry limped off late in the fourth quarter and DeMar DeRozan converted a three-point play with 26 seconds remaining to give the Chicago Bulls a 125-122 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Curry exited with 3:51 left after rolling his right ankle and went to the locker room. He scored 15 points in 29 minutes.
DeRozan, who also hit a key jumper with 43 seconds to play, finished with 33 points, while Nikola Vucevic had 33 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, including a tying 3-pointer with 2:49 to go.
Chicago won for the fourth time in five games and snapped an eight-game skid on Golden State's home court.
Jonathan Kuminga scored 19 points and Draymond Green notched a triple-double with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 boards.
Edwards stars in Wolves’ win
Anthony Edwards tied his season high with 44 points, hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer and came up with a stellar block at the buzzer to give the Timberwolves a 113-111 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Edwards soared to reject a last-second layup attempt by Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith, hitting his head on the rim as time expired.
He accounted for the team’s final eight points, shooting 18 of 35 from the field with three 3s and six rebounds.
Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Naz Reid contributed 13 points and eight boards as Minnesota won its second straight to move back into sole possession of the Western Conference lead.
Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 23 with 13 assists for the Pacers, who erased a 17-point deficit to lead 104-103 with two minutes remaining.
RT if that was the best block you’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/6UrBuoLFdR
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 8, 2024
Luka Dončić became the second player with five straight 30-point triple-doubles and the Dallas Mavericks rallied for a 114-108 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday.
Doncic had 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to join the exclusive group with Russell Westbrook, who had five consecutive 30-point triple-doubles in 2017 for Oklahoma City. Doncic also became the first in history with four straight 35-point triple doubles.
Doncic was 12 of 24 from the field and 7 of 13 on 3-pointers and sank all four free throws. He is averaging 35.8 points, 11.8 assists and 11 rebounds during his five-game run.
Kyrie Irving added 23 points as Dallas snapped a three-game skid.
Terry Rozier had 27 points and 11 assists for Miami, which had won seven of eight.
The Mavericks trailed 101-100 with under four minutes remaining but 3s by Doncic, Dante Exum and Irving gave them the lead for good.
Curry limps off as Warriors fall to Bulls
Stephen Curry limped off late in the fourth quarter and DeMar DeRozan converted a three-point play with 26 seconds remaining to give the Chicago Bulls a 125-122 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Curry exited with 3:51 left after rolling his right ankle and went to the locker room. He scored 15 points in 29 minutes.
DeRozan, who also hit a key jumper with 43 seconds to play, finished with 33 points, while Nikola Vucevic had 33 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, including a tying 3-pointer with 2:49 to go.
Chicago won for the fourth time in five games and snapped an eight-game skid on Golden State's home court.
Jonathan Kuminga scored 19 points and Draymond Green notched a triple-double with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 boards.
Edwards stars in Wolves’ win
Anthony Edwards tied his season high with 44 points, hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer and came up with a stellar block at the buzzer to give the Timberwolves a 113-111 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Edwards soared to reject a last-second layup attempt by Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith, hitting his head on the rim as time expired.
He accounted for the team’s final eight points, shooting 18 of 35 from the field with three 3s and six rebounds.
Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Naz Reid contributed 13 points and eight boards as Minnesota won its second straight to move back into sole possession of the Western Conference lead.
Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 23 with 13 assists for the Pacers, who erased a 17-point deficit to lead 104-103 with two minutes remaining.
Brian O’Driscoll bade farewell to the Aviva Stadium a decade ago with a memorable last appearance in Dublin in Ireland’s Six Nations victory over Italy.
O’Driscoll’s vintage sleight of hand inspired a seven-try, 46-7 win to set up a title decider against France.
The then 35-year-old marked his world-record 140th Test cap by deftly setting up tries for Johnny Sexton and Andrew Trimble.
Chants of “one more year” rang around the ground at the final whistle, but O’Driscoll’s summer retirement was set in stone.
The outside centre, who made his Ireland Test debut in 1999, said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better close to playing at home in an Irish jersey.
“To score 46 points and only concede one try, it really made the day what it was. I’ll remember that for a very long, long time. I got emotional at the end, it was hard to take it all in.
“I think maybe when I go back and look over it again, I’ll probably get more emotional then. But it was very, very special, if a little embarrassing, but it was still great.”
O’Driscoll had a fairytale ending to his international career, with Ireland defeating France in Paris the following weekend for only the second time in 42 years to claim the Six Nations title.
He continued playing for Leinster until the end of May, with his final appearance coming in their Pro12 Grand Final victory over Glasgow Warriors.
Garnet Hathaway scored with 22 seconds left in regulation and the Philadelphia Flyers got 29 saves from Samuel Ersson in a 2-1 victory, ending the Florida Panthers’ six-game winning streak on Thursday.
Ryan Poehling had the other goal for the Flyers, who have points in three straight (2-0-1) after losing three of four.
Vladimir Tarasenko was pointless in his Panthers debut after he was acquired from Ottawa on Wednesday.
Florida, which had won six in a row at home, dropped to 12-2-0 in its last 14 games overall.
Flyers defenseman Cam York left late in the third after blocking a shot with his knee, while leading scorer Travis Konecny returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury.
Carolina’s Andersen sharp in return
Frederik Andersen turned away 24 shots after a four-month absence and Brady Skjei scored twice to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Andersen made his first appearance since Nov. 2 due to a blood clotting issue and improved to 5-1 on the season. He had been doing on-ice work for about a month in preparation for his return.
Stefan Noesen and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Hurricanes, who pulled within four points of the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers.
Forsberg has hat trick in Predators’ win
Filip Forsberg recorded his ninth career hat trick to lead the red-hot Nashville Predators to a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Forsberg scored the game’s first goal at 3:53 of the opening period and scored twice in the third period, completing his first hat trick of the season at 6:43.
He extended his point streak to seven games, one short of matching his career high. He has seven goals and five assists during the run.
Luke Evangelista also scored and Juuse Saros stopped 26 shots to help the Predators improve to 9-0-1 in their last 10 games.
The Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves will be without star forward Karl-Anthony Towns for at least four weeks after he undergoes surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee, the team announced Thursday night.
With Towns expected to miss at least four weeks, he would, at minimum, be sidelined for at least 13 more games – the majority of the Timberwolves’ remaining schedule.
The team revealed after Thursday’s 113-111 win over Indiana that an MRI exam, performed Wednesday, showed the tear.
He will undergo surgery early next week.
“It’s not a plug-in one person to fill Karl’s role kind of situation,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “What I love about our team is that we have a multitude of options. We can go a lot of different ways based on matchups on any given night. We’ve started different guys through the season anyway.”
An All-Star for the fourth time, Towns is averaging 22.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while sinking a career-best 42.3 percent from 3-point range. He is one five players in the league averaging at least 20 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent on 3-pointers.
The Chicago Bears and star cornerback Jaylon Johnson have worked out a four-year, $76 million deal, two days after the team placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on the 24-year-old.
Johnson is guaranteed $43.8 million at signing and will make $28 million in the first year of the deal, according to sources.
“We’re extremely excited to be able to keep Jaylon here for the next four years,” general manager Ryan Poles said in a statement. “He’s an integral part of our defense and his leadership will help our team continue to ascend.”
Johnson would have been due $19.8 million in 2024 had he not agreed to extension prior to the July 15 deadline.
Johnson has started all 53 games he’s appeared in since the Bears selected him in the second round with the 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft.
He had four interceptions and returned one for a touchdown last season after picking off one pass in his first three years. Johnson had 10 passes defensed and forced one fumble and was selected second-team All-Pro.
The Bears finished 7-10 last season and missed the playoffs for the third straight season. They own the No. 1 and No. 9 overall picks in next month’s draft.
The Grand National remains the world’s most famous race and on International Women’s Day, a woman stands proudly at the helm in Liverpool.
Sulekha Varma was appointed clerk of the course at Aintree in 2019 after gaining years of experience in the racing industry.
As a teenager, Varma went on a work experience placement at the yard of dual Grand National-winning trainer Lucinda Russell. Upon graduation from Edinburgh University she gained a place on the British Horseracing Authority Development Programme, during which she spent time on the news desk at the Racing Post.
After returning to Russell’s yard as racing secretary and working for the Arabian Racing Organisation, Varma then began to take the first steps towards her current career with a trainee role at the Jockey Club that led to spells at Market Rasen, Nottingham, Warwick, Huntingdon and then Hamilton Park.
That experience stood Varma in good stead when the role of clerk of the course at Aintree became vacant and she subsequently became the first woman to hold the position, in the very thick of the action on the world’s most famous and watched day of racing.
“It’s a great honour. I can’t believe it’s been four years already since I took on the role,” she said.
“Working for Lucinda was a great grounding for me in horse racing. Learning about sport from the very grassroots; how a yard operates and what life is like at that end of the sport, and from then I moved into the administration side.
“I did the BHA Development Course in 2006, straight out of university, and my placement was at the Racing Post which was incredible, I got to write a double-page spread for the paper which was something I never thought was going to happen.”
Naturally Varma’s success is the result of drive and hard work, but she credits the industry with being filled with people who are willing to help those looking to advance their career.
“I met a huge number of people who were very willing to help me out, whether it be work experience or just talking through opportunities and learning about the industry,” Varma added.
“I think you have to open doors for yourself, but there are also a lot of people who, if you show enthusiasm and love for the sport, they will also open doors for you.
“Being the first female to fill this role is something that I’ll always treasure. Absolutely.”
Managing director of the Netball Super League Claire Nelson hopes netball can “capitalise on this moment for women’s sport” as it strives for professionalisation.
England Netball announced last year that the Super League will be relaunched in 2025 with the vision of clubs playing in bigger venues, enhancing live and TV audience experience and providing closer competition.
Professionalisation will also aim to provide “advancements in the elite environment to ensure players can choose and experience rewarding careers in netball”.
Nelson was appointed to her role in April last year having previously worked for Netball Scotland and Strathclyde Sirens and hopes netball can “capitalise” on its moment.
She told the PA news agency: “We have some amazing targets. We talk about our 10-year strategy, but we want to win golds on the world stage at World Cups and we want to build the most competitive, commercially vibrant, captivating league in the world.
“When you look at what we have as foundations, they’re so good and everything we’re doing now is to actually capitalise on this moment for women’s sport, but more importantly for our sport.
“This is a moment for netball, our bounce back post-COVID has seen us absolutely smashing our participation and membership numbers – we’re a big sport.
“We’ve now got this professionalisation opportunity where we can go into bigger arenas and take our sport to more households.”
The Super League is already three games into the 2024 season ahead of next year’s relaunch and Severn Stars and Manchester Thunder are the only unbeaten teams, sitting three points ahead of defending champions Loughborough Lightning.
The sport’s professionalisation ambitions follow in the footsteps of other women’s sports which are continuing to flourish at the highest level and Nelson believes netball is the “biggest untapped opportunity”.
“For me, netball’s the biggest untapped opportunity in women’s sport bar none,” she added.
“We’re in this moment where women’s sport is front and centre, so people are wanting to see, to experience, to consume, to support women’s sport.
“Then what we bring to the table is the opportunity to blank canvas, create this product which actually is an intersect from what happens on a court to what’s happening digitally and how we can become more lifestyle and music and fashion and entertainment, how we can unlock the talent potential in our athletes and tell their stories.”
Domestic professionalisation can only be helped by England’s Vitality Roses, who continue to enjoy success on the international stage.
The Roses earned an historic gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in a dramatic final against Australia and they finished third in the World Cup on home soil in 2019.
More recently, England took silver in their maiden World Cup final appearance in South Africa last year and Nelson believes the Roses are the “pinnacle” of England Netball’s aims.
She said: “This is the beauty of what we do here at England Netball, we’ve got the whole sport, we’ve got international, we’re going to have professional domestic and then we’ve got grassroots and community.
“All of these should be integrated and they should be complementary and that’s what we’re trying to build – this ecosystem of a sport where everyone can enjoy their experience and thrive in it, but the Roses are absolutely the pinnacle.
“I have to get the best performance programme and competition in the Super League because that is going to ensure that we have Roses success on the world stage. Roses success on the world stage makes people want to show up and support.
“It’s all interconnected and it’s all complementary, it makes my job a whole lot easier when we have great performances from these incredible athletes on the world stage.”
Exeter wing and Gladiators star Jodie Ounsley has targeted a place in the England 15s squad after hanging up her super-hero outfit and changing back into a rugby kit.
The 23-year-old from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, is already an England Sevens international and has set the bar high following her exploits as Fury on the revamped BBC show.
Ounsley, who became the first deaf woman to play for a senior England rugby side in 2019, told the PA news agency ahead of International Women’s Day: “I was straight back into rugby the week after filming finished last summer, but because of my injury I’ve been out.
“Quite a lot of people thought I’d given up rugby, which is not the case at all. I’m full-time rugby and part-time Gladiator.
“I’d love to do another Gladiators series, but right now it’s all rugby for me. I’ve still got a long way to go, but I’d love to be involved with the Red Roses 15s.
“I’m focused on getting back fit, hopefully getting some game-time in the Premiership with Exeter and then who knows?”
The multi-talented Ounsley is a former British jiu-jitsu champion, five-time world junior coal-carrying champion and represented Great Britain at the 2017 Deaf Olympics in the 100m and 200m sprints, aged just 16.
But after scoring a length-of-the-field try with her very first touch in her first rugby match for local club Sandal, she was hooked on the 15-a-side game and never looked back.
Ounsley was included in the England Sevens squad while at first professional club Loughborough Lightning and was snapped up by Sale Sharks in 2020 before joining her third top-flight club, Exeter Chiefs, in 2022.
“There’s so much competition in the Red Roses, especially the back three, so I’m not putting any expectation on it,” she said.
“I’m just going to work hard and let’s see what happens. First of all I just want to get back on the pitch and see where I can go with it.”
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Ounsley has long been blazing a trail for the deaf community and, since starring in Gladiators, her popularity has transcended to a wider audience.
She is grateful to her growing fan-base for helping her inspire the next generation of deaf athletes and change the perception of women’s rugby in general.
Ounsley, whose TikTok followers alone number over 176,000, said: “I just love showing young kids you can be a bad-ass rugby player, a bit savage, but also be a nice person and still be feminine. I like to show people that.
“I always wanted to be successful in sport, whatever that might be. But I never in a million years expected it to turn out how it did and have such a platform.
“In terms of the rugby community and kids now getting into rugby, girls playing it and having that ‘Fury mentality’ of smashing people and stuff… I love it!”
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Ounsley is completely deaf in both ears and wears a scrum-cap while playing rugby to protect her cochlear implant.
She is a “super-proud” honorary president of UK Deaf Sport and a patron of the Elizabeth Foundation, a charity which helps young deaf children learn to listen and talk.
“Being on Gladiators has meant so much to me, not because it’s on TV, but because we can be good role models to kids,” she said.
“We look a bit like super-heroes, so they’re perhaps more susceptible to us setting a good example, but the response has blown me away.”
As tough-tackling Exeter wing or as Fury the Gladiator, Ounsley is playing her part in the drive to raise the profile of women’s sport.
“The gap is massive, obviously, and I know there’s a long way to go,” she added.
“We’re sort of indebted to the Lionesses. They’ve taken it to another level. Women’s football is showing the support is there and women’s rugby has stepped it up over the last few years.
“Women’s sport is certainly becoming a lot more popular. More people are appreciating that there are some super-talented female athletes out there.”
Whilst most sports are now moving to develop and promote their women’s game independently of the men’s, racing has the rare distinction of allowing both sexes to compete directly against one another.
The majority of jockeys are male, but there has been breakthrough after breakthrough in the women’s ranks and responsible for much of that progress is the great talent of Hollie Doyle.
Doyle is not just a supreme female jockey, but a leading rider regardless of gender and is one of only a handful of jockeys to enjoy a retained role as the go-to for Imad Al Sagar’s Blue Diamond Stud.
It is aboard their star mare Nashwa that she has enjoyed great success in recent seasons, winning three Group Ones and collecting several placings at the top level in a career that looks set to continue when the Flat season really starts next month.
John and Thady Gosden train Nashwa but Doyle is the stable jockey for Archie Watson, for whom she has registered countless victories aboard big names such as Glen Shiel, Outbox and last year’s Royal Ascot scorer Bradsell.
With a stable jockey position and a retainer, Doyle could be expected to take only a limited book of outside rides, but her CV proves she is in demand whenever available and she is the rider associated with Alan King’s top stayer Trueshan.
Her status would also grant her the right to sit out the lower quality meetings and choose not to travel the length and breadth of the country for all-weather rides, but Doyle is arguably one of the hardest-working riders in the weighing room and took just shy of 800 rides last year in Britain alone.
During the window that determines the British Flat jockeys’ championship, she rode 89 winners last season, finishing fifth behind William Buick, Oisin Murphy, Rossa Ryan and her husband, Tom Marquand.
In addition to that, she has plied her trade in almost every significant racing jurisdiction that exists and last year brought home prize money from Japan, France, Germany, Sweden and Italy – something she does not take for granted.
“I get loads of support from everyone and it’s really nice to feel that I have such an open book of trainers that are willing to use me,” she said.
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“It is great to have the association I have with Imad Al Sagar and it’s even better that Nashwa is in training for another year, and that’s something to look forward to for the season ahead already.
“I’m really lucky, I’m attached to Archie’s stable and always busy in that regard, he has a nice team of horses to go forward with.
“I’ve been riding all around the world, I did a stint in Japan and I thoroughly enjoyed that – it’s something I’ll be hoping to do a lot more of.
“It’s great as it’s always hard to go to a new jurisdiction and pick up some good rides, you have to take it all in and adapt to the style of racing riding there.”
Hayley Turner broke many barriers at a time when there was some reluctance to use female jockeys, with her success then paving the way for younger riders like Doyle.
“Hayley was a massive trailblazer for everyone, especially when I was young and she was really at the peak of her career,” she said.
“She definitely carved out a path and that’s had an impact on us all.”
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