Ross O’Sullivan’s Follow Me made a pleasing start to life in Ireland when landing the Treacy Group Irish EBF Maiden at Curragh.
The three-year-old hit the frame several times last season in France before changing hands, but drifted out to 22-1 to score for new connections at the first time of asking.
Despite those odds he came with a strong challenge close to home and crossed the line half a length to the good under Shane Foley.
“I couldn’t believe he was drifting (in the betting) and was getting nervous had we got it wrong,” said O’Sullivan.
“Shane Foley has ridden him in work for the last six weeks and thought a lot of him.
“Tom Malone bought him at a sale in France for Amanda (Torrens, owner). She put an order in for him to find a nice horse and fair play he took his time and this horse popped up.
“As soon as he came off the box I liked him. He has size and scope. He had good form in France as a two-year-old but looked like a three-year-old. He’s a tall horse with a good temperament.
“He was declared for the meeting here that was called off and then we were thinking of running him in Dundalk, but we said we’d sit and wait for the Curragh.
“He had form over six, seven and a mile but showed plenty of pace in his work.
“Hopefully he can take us to the big days and we can have a nice summer with him. We’ll have to sit down now and make a plan.”
Denis Cullen’s Zephron took the PG Duffy & Sons Citroen Handicap by half a length under Wayne Hassett.
A 13-2 shot, the gelding handled the soft to heavy ground best of all to add a fifth career win to his tally.
“It looked like they went pretty hard early, and Wayne said he got squeezed back a bit but was happy to take his time,” said Cullen.
“He likes the Curragh and handles that ground well. He had a nice run in Naas which brought him on a lot and he seemed in good form today.
“He has form on most types of ground but handles that better than most horses. We’ll see what way the weather goes, and he could end up back in Galway for something. He got touched off there a few years ago.”
Aidan Howard’s Magical Vision then came out on top in the five-furlong Newbridge Silverware Sprint Handicap.
The mare is well-proven on heavy ground and demonstrated that ability again with a one-and-a-quarter-length victory under Chris Hayes at 100-30.
“We were hopeful today. I was a little bit concerned about the ground being tacky, but she seemed to handle it well,” the trainer said.
“She travelled very well, and I think five (furlongs) is definitely her trip.
“We’ll keep an eye on the weather now and she won’t run on quick ground.”
Natalia Lupini’s Redshore City (9-1) came out on top in a blanket finish to the Business Plus Handicap winning by a short head, a neck and a neck.
Boris Becker says he is “working hard with the authorities” to return to the UK and Wimbledon in 2025.
The three-time Wimbledon men’s singles champion was deported from the UK in December 2022 after serving eight months of a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for hiding £2.5m of assets and loans in a bankruptcy fraud case.
Becker cannot return to the UK until October 2024 at the earliest following his deportation, but the 56-year-old German plans to return to the tournament he says is “in my DNA” as soon as possible.
“Wimbledon has been my favourite tournament as a player, coach and commentator,” Becker said at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid.
“It’s unique, you can’t compare it.
“I lived in Wimbledon a long time so I’m working hard with the authorities to have all the applications ready to be back for next year. We’re working on 2025.
“It’s a part of my life. It’s in my DNA, you can’t deny that.”
Asked if he would be back in the Wimbledon commentary box, Becker replied: “I hope so.”
Becker has not been involved in tennis since stepping down as Holger Rune’s head coach at the start of February.
The pair spent less than four months together, but in that time the 20-year-old qualified for the ATP finals in Italy.
::The 25th Laureus World Sports Awards take place on Monday evening in Madrid. To find out more, and follow the ceremony, visit www.laureus.com
Donnacha O’Brien’s Yosemite Valley battled hard to take the Lester Piggott Gladness Stakes at the Curragh.
The colt is well versed when it comes to racing at the track, finishing second to Little Big Bear in the Anglesey Stakes as a juvenile and was having his fifth outing there from just seven in all.
He started this season off at Cork in Listed company, finishing second but looked a different proposition this time.
On returning to the Curragh the four-year-old was a 3-1 chance upped to seven furlongs and was a comfortable winner under Gavin Ryan when crossing the line two and three-quarter lengths ahead of 7-4 favourite Jumbly.
“It was a good performance. I always thought he was a proper horse but he was unlucky a few times,” said O’Brien.
“He ran well in Cork the last day and the step up to seven seemed to suit him. It’s nice to get a stakes win into him.
“He could get away with a stiff six, but he travelled so well there today and all the big seven-furlong races will be open to him.”
Of future plans the trainer added: “There is the Maurice de Gheest over six and a half in France. Whether he’s up to that level I don’t know but I’d like to give him a shot at it to see.
“The Greenlands is here in about a month but that is back to six. A stiff six could be an option or we might give him a little break and aim for seven furlongs in France.”
Ollie Sangster is hopeful Shuwari will be able to make her mark in the second half of the season, with a setback having scuppered an intended crack at the Qipco 1000 Guineas.
The Manton handler revealed last month that his Fillies’ Mile runner-up would be denied a return to Newmarket on May 5 for a shot at Classic glory, with the daughter of New Bay set to be on the sidelines for the first half of the new campaign.
However, optimism is high that she will be back later in the summer to take part in plenty of high-ranking assignments.
“She’s OK and she will hopefully be back for the second half of the season,” said Sangster.
“There’s no immediate plans and we will make a bit more of a plan in a couple of months, I would say it would be July onwards (when she is back).
“She’s fine and a good patient and she will be back. She is a filly who will probably stay in training next season anyway, but it is a shame to miss the Guineas, a shame for the yard and owners, but she will have plenty of nice targets later on.”
Sangster also feels there is more to come from talented three-year-old Per Contra, with the Wathnan Racing-owned colt backed to build on a successful low-key comeback at Wolverhampton.
“He ran really well at Wolverhampton having been off for a while,” continued Sangster.
“He’s gone up to 92 and hopefully he will be a horse who will have a nice pot in him somewhere this season.
“He should keep improving and he wouldn’t have been best suited by Wolverhampton really. He’ll improve as the year goes on and for running on a nice galloping track, so hopefully 92 isn’t the bottom of him.”
There was no surprise that the name O’Brien dominated the opening two races at the Curragh but it was Joseph who unleashed two hugely promising juveniles, beating two trained by his father Aidan in the process.
Midnight Strike made a brilliant start to his career when taking the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Race.
The Starspangledbanner colt was a 15-2 chance under Dylan Browne McMonagle but oozed class throughout.
In a field of six Midnight Strike was always travelling strongly and had gained a clear lead by the final furlong marker, going on to cross the line two lengths ahead of Treasure Isle (5-4 favourite), the first two-year-old runner this season for Aidan O’Brien.
“I thought he was a nice colt but didn’t expect him to win like that,” the winning trainer said.
“He looks an Ascot-type horse and he’s another nice Starspangledbanner for the owners.
“We thought he’d stay six but was certainly quick enough to start at five. He looks very smart.”
The younger O’Brien then struck again in the Keadeen Hotel Irish EBF Maiden with Cowardofthecounty, a 17-2 chance under Browne McMonagle.
Again the market was dominated by a Ballydoyle horse as Whistlejacket, a full brother to former champion two-year-old Little Big Bear, went off the evens favourite.
Whistlejacket took up an early lead and looked the winner at one stage, but Cowardofthecounty loomed up beside him to prevail by two and a half lengths.
“This fella looked like he could be a bit special at home but you’re never really sure with a two-year-old until they go to the races,” O’Brien said.
“He’s a particularly laid back horse and couldn’t have been more impressive. He’s a big horse, well over 500 kilos which for a two-year-old at this stage is a lot.
“He could go straight for the Coventry now. He’s such a big horse I don’t know does he need to run again but we’ll have to see.
“We knew when the horse ran well in the first that there was a good chance this lad would run well too.
“A lot of people pitch in two-year-olds with an older horse to give them a guide, but we don’t and keep the two-year-olds together.
“They are the first two colts that we have run and it looks like we have a couple of nice ones!
“They have both been away once and today is just the second time they have been on grass. We don’t drill our two-year-olds and like them to progress. It bodes well on what they have done today.”
Four-time champion Mark Selby is on the brink of crashing out of the World Championship at the first hurdle after losing the first session of his first round match 7-3 to debutant Joe O’Connor.
Selby, who questioned his future in the sport after losing to Gary Wilson in the Tour Championship earlier this month, was second best against his Leicester rival, who reeled off five frames in a row to leave himself in a commanding position ahead of Monday’s resumption.
The 40-year-old Selby has endured a dismal season by his standards, reaching one ranking tournament final and two semi-finals, but has traditionally reserved his best form of the season for the Crucible.
Despite sharing the opening two frames, Selby looked distinctly out of sorts and two centuries in three frames sent O’Connor three frames clear, before two further half-centuries sealed a sensational debut performance from the 28-year-old.
O’Connor, who has previously tried and failed seven times to reach the Crucible, is the only debutant in this year’s field, and requires just one more century on Monday to equal the record for a first-time performer at the venue.
Eleventh seed Zhang Anda followed defending champion Luca Brecel out of the tournament as he was hammered 10-4 by last year’s surprise quarter-finalist Jak Jones.
Resuming 5-2 in front after their abridged opening session on Saturday, Jones chiselled his way over the line with a top break of 60, while Zhang’s 95 in the 13th frame proved much too little, too late.
Jones, who beat Neil Robertson last year en route to the last eight, will face either fellow Welshman Mark Williams or last year’s surprise semi-finalist Si Jiahui in round two.
Clive Cox has been buoyed by a racecourse gallop ahead of Ghostwriter’s Qipco 2000 Guineas bid, confident his smart Newmarket form can prove a positive in the opening Classic of the season.
The son of Invincible Spirit was unbeaten throughout his two-year-old season and finished 2023 with a statement victory on the Rowley Mile in the Royal Lodge Stakes.
With that experience under the colt’s belt, Cox was happy to forego an early-season trial in favour of a pipe-opener at Kempton, with Ghostwriter – a general 14-1 shot to claim the scalp of Aidan O’Brien’s odds-on favourite City Of Troy on May 4 – reported to have thrived over the winter.
“I’m very happy with Ghostwriter and he has his Newmarket course form,” explained Cox.
“I’m very pleased he has done exceptionally well over the winter and we will be going there with a racecourse gallop under his belt. He’s done very well and that is why he hasn’t run in a trial.
“He’s been to Kempton and he’s a very athletic, clean-winded horse who has done well over the winter and we think that will have benefitted him far more than racing on testing ground, with his previous experience at Newmarket hopefully holding him in good stead.”
Another star juvenile for the Beechdown Stables team last season was the Kennet Valley-owned Dragon Leader, who suffered defeat just the once in five starts in 2023 as he proved a real money-spinner for connections.
Big victories at York and Redcar sandwiched a near miss in a valuable Doncaster event and Cox is eyeing stepping the son of El Kabeir up in trip this term when ground conditions allow him to return to action.
“He was a very productive runner last year earning over £300,000 in prize-money,” continued Cox.
“I’m pleased to say he’s wintered well, but he’s definitely better with a dry surface and we wouldn’t be making any concrete plans at the minute. When the ground gets a little bit quicker you will see him.
“Last year he was looking like seven furlongs would help him and I would be very hopeful he will get a mile. We kept him at six last year simply because he was so well qualified for those races. Six and a half was no problem for him at Doncaster though in the Weatherbys race.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is confident Lewis Hamilton’s morale will not plummet despite his continued worst start to a Formula One season.
Hamilton fought back from his lowly 18th grid slot to finish ninth in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
But the British driver, in his final season with Mercedes before his blockbuster transfer to Ferrari, leaves Shanghai only ninth in the standings after failing to finish inside the top six at either of the opening five rounds.
Indeed, Sunday’s result marked the third time he has crossed the line in ninth this year. Hamilton also trails team-mate George Russell 5-0 in qualifying.
But Wolff said: “Lewis is a pro and he has behaved that way, trying to keep his morale up and the morale of the team up, even if the results have not come his way. I have no doubt this will last.”
Hamilton has now gone 50 races and 868 long days without a victory and he was exposed to yet another sobering afternoon in his uncompetitive Mercedes.
Following his worst qualifying result in seven years, Hamilton started on the quickest, but less-durable soft rubber, but just two laps into this 56-lap affair, his complaints began.
“I am making no ground on this tyre,” he said after dropping from 18th to 19th.
Hamilton made the first of his two pit-stops on lap nine and rejoined back in 19th, 53 seconds off Max Verstappen’s leading pace.
“That was the worst tyre, man,” said the despondent 39-year-old.
Hamilton was soon back on the intercom. “I can’t even catch him (Alpine’s Esteban Ocon), man,” he said. “This car is so slow.”
Hamilton’s fortunes improved on lap 21 when he stopped for a second time, with the virtual safety car (VSC) deployed after Valtteri Bottas broke down.
And as the marshals struggled to shift Bottas’ stricken Stake, the VSC was upgraded to a full safety car, promoting Hamilton up the order.
He would be 12th at the restart, but he was still bemused by his unruly machine.
“The car is just sliding around everywhere,” he said. “It just feels like something is broken. It is really bad.”
Daniel Ricciardo suffered floor damage after Lance Stroll thumped into the back of his RB, elevating Hamilton into 10th before he swatted Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg aside.
Hamilton was then up to eighth as Fernando Alonso made a maverick third stop for tyres. But the 42-year-old took advantage of his fresh rubber to blast back through the field, relegating Hamilton back a place with seven laps remaining.
The seven-time champion took the chequered flag nearly one minute behind Verstappen.
“This is the worst season so far, as I mentioned at the last race,” said Hamilton. “It definitely wasn’t better than expected because we expected to finish there today.
“I have never had so much understeer in my life. I thought I damaged my car because there was debris on the track at one point, but it was just the way I set the car up.
“We finished second in the sprint race yesterday and, with better decisions on setup today, we would have been where George finished. We have to keep fighting.”
Emile Cairess dedicated his stunning run at the London Marathon to his cousin, who was left in a coma after a car crash earlier this year.
Cairess finished third in the second fastest time by a British man in two hours, six minutes and 46 seconds.
The run should rubber-stamp his place Great Britain team for this summer’s Olympics.
But Cairess’ immediate thoughts were with his 22-year-old cousin, Oliver Burton, who is still in hospital but out of intensive care.
“He’s my little cousin, like a little brother to me, and a couple of months ago he was in a bad accident,” said Cairess, 26.
“He was in a coma for about a month and just came out of ICU a few days ago,
“It was so stressful, it was touch and go at some points but he’s made a fantastic recovery in the last couple of weeks.
“This morning I was really emotional. Hopefully I’ve made him proud today.”
Cairess did not even know he was third, behind winner Alexander Munyao of Kenya and 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele, until about 200m from the finish line.
“I heard it over the tannoy,” he added. ” I passed about four people in the space of a minute around the 39km mark and I thought I’d already passed a few from the front group.
“I was like ‘there can’t be many more left so I must be in a decent position’ but I didn’t know, I could have been sixth or seventh. When I heard I was third it was a great feeling.”
Another Briton, Mahamed Mahamed, finished fourth, making it the first time two home runners have finished in the top four since Kevin Forster and Hugh Jones in 1988.
Mahamed was catching Cairess in the closing stages and although he could not quite overhaul his team-mate, he was still inside the Olympic qualifying time.
“Me and Mahamed have been racing since we were 13, so we’ve always been neck and neck,” said Cairess.
“We’ve always progressed together so it’s fantastic to see him doing so well. A lot of people drop out of the sport but we kept going and it’s paid off for us.”
Munyao managed to shake off veteran Ethopian Bekele, who was bidding for a first London Marathon win some 20 years after he took Olympic 10,000m gold, with around three miles to go.
“At 40km I thought I could win the race,” he said. “It’s the biggest win in my career because it is my first major marathon.
“There was a little fear because I know Bekele is a threat but I was confident over the last few kilometres.”
Before the start of the men’s race and the mass race, tributes were paid to last year’s winner Kelvin Kiptum, who died in a car accident in February.
Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir smashed the women’s-only world record to win a thrilling women’s race.
The Kenyan kicked for home as she turned on to The Mall and won in 2:16.16.
Four runners were in with a shout down the final straight and Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa came in second, ahead of Joyciline Jepkosgel in third with Megertu Alemu fourth.
The previous world record for a women-only race was 2:17.01 by Mary Jepkosgei Keitany in London in 2017.
“I’m so happy for today’s victory,” said Jepchirchir. “I wasn’t expecting to run a world record. I thought there might be one – but I didn’t think it would be me.”
Marcel Hug won a record fourth-consecutive men’s wheelchair race, the Swiss ‘Silver Bullet’, 38, clocking 1:28.33.
Daniel Romanchuk of the United States was second with Britain’s David Weir third in his 25th consecutive London Marathon.
Weir, 44, said: “Keeping up with Marcel for 20 miles, it was one of the best races I’ve done on this course.
“Some of these guys are 10 or 20 years younger than me. But I promised myself I’d come back and get on the podium.”
The women’s wheelchair race was won by a distance by another Swiss, Catherine Debrunner.
In a spectacular display of dominance, Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard delivered an outstanding performance, scoring 63 goals to lead the West Coast Fever to a resounding 81-56 victory over the Sunshine Coast Lightning in their Suncorp Super Netball League home opener on Saturday night.
The Fever continued their winning streak, extending their record to two wins without dropping a single quarter in their opening games. On the other hand, the Sunshine Coast Lightning, considered premiership favorites, faced a challenging defeat at the hands of the Fever.
Fowler-Nembhard's remarkable accuracy was on full display, with the Jamaican shooter missing just two shots throughout the match. Despite the Lightning's best efforts, including strong defensive play from Courtney Bruce against her former team, Fowler-Nembhard proved unstoppable.
The game started with a flurry of action, as Fowler-Nembhard quickly secured the Fever's first two goals. However, the Lightning fought back to even the scores after trailing early. The Fever's defensive unit applied intense pressure, disrupting the Lightning's attacking combinations, especially after Cara Koenen (21/25) replaced Steph Fretwell in the shooting circle.
As the match progressed into the second quarter, the Fever steadily increased their lead, capitalizing on turnovers and defensive stops. Shanice Beckford's (8/11) pivotal role in the midcourt enabled Fowler-Nembhard to find space and capitalize on scoring opportunities.
The Lightning faced setbacks with Fretwell exiting the court due to an ankle injury, further impacting their offensive flow. Despite efforts to close the gap, the Lightning struggled to contain the Fever's relentless attack.
In the third quarter, the Fever maintained their control, with Beckford and Fowler-Nembhard continuing to dominate in the shooting circle. The Lightning, needing super shots to narrow the deficit, fell short against the Fever's strong defensive presence.
The fourth quarter saw a determined Lightning side trying to stage a comeback, led by Courtney Bruce's defensive efforts. However, the Fever's consistent scoring and strategic play extended their lead further.
With 10 minutes remaining, Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds called for a tactical timeout, urging her team to take risks and reduce the deficit. Despite their efforts, the Fever's relentless performance and precise shooting ultimately secured them a commanding 25-goal victory.
Over at the Ken Roswell Arena, Trinidad and Tobago’s Samantha Wallace-Joseph scored was perfect from the field, scoring 37 goals in the New South Wales Swifts 67-56 win over the Melbourne Mavericks.
Meanwhile, defending champions, Adelaide Thunderbirds suffered a narrow 54-53 loss to Melbourne Vixens despite an impressive 28 goals from just 30 attempts from Romelda Aiken-George.
Kikkuli will take a step up in grade in Sandown’s Chasemore Farm Stud Staff Heron Stakes next month after shedding his maiden tag at Newmarket’s Craven meeting.
A half-brother to the mighty Frankel and by Juddmonte’s Classic-winning sire Kingman, the Harry Charlton-trained colt made an encouraging debut on the Rowley Mile behind subsequent Listed winner Zoum Zoum last autumn.
On his seasonal return at HQ, the last foal out of Frankel’s dam Kind advertised his star potential when outbattling Charlie Appleby’s Creative Story in the hands of Ryan Moore.
He will now make the move up to Listed level as connections seek further evidence of his limit, where a positive performance will put the talented prospect in line for further big-race assignments at Royal Ascot.
“It was brilliant to see what he did and he had a big run at Newmarket last year (on debut) when he was about 75-80 per cent. That was a big run and the form of the race was franked,” said Barry Mahon, Juddmonte’s European racing manager.
“Tuesday was good and I thought in the last furlong if he wanted to give it up he could have, and he didn’t. He stuck his head out and went on and Ryan was complimentary of him.
“He came out of the race well and we will now look forward to the Heron (Stakes) with him. It looks to be the next logical step and if he is ready for another step up after that it brings you nicely into Royal Ascot and a whole host of races.
“We’ll concentrate on the Heron next and see where we go from there, we look forward to it.”
Michael Malone believes the Denver Nuggets face "a hell of a series" against the Los Angeles Lakers, with LeBron James pledging to improve after his team were beaten in Game 1 on Saturday.
The Nuggets and the Lakers faced off in the Western Conference finals last season, and they were reunited for Game 1 of this year's first-round series at Ball Arena on Saturday.
It's advantage Denver after Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 12 rebounds in a 114-103 win over Los Angeles, their ninth victory in the teams' last nine head-to-head meetings.
The reigning NBA champions were made to work for their success, though, having gone into halftime down 60-57, with James scoring 19 first-half points.
However, the NBA's all-time leading scorer was limited to just eight second-half points and didn't attempt a shot in the fourth quarter until the final 80 seconds.
Though the Lakers ultimately ran out of steam, Denver coach Malone expects another tough test when the teams reconvene for Game 2 on Monday.
"We're not going anywhere," Malone said. "This is the playoffs. No team in the playoffs, if you get down 12 early, you're not going to just take your ball and go home.
"We still have plenty of fight left in us and we know that we are better than what we were playing early.
"That's a good team over there. They came into the playoffs playing extremely well, and they showed it.
"LeBron was on course, I thought he was about to have 50 points tonight, the way he was playing and shooting the ball.
"We've got to watch the film to see what we can do better. This is going to be a hell of a series."
James' 27 points came in support of Anthony Davis, who had 32, while the Nuggets had two other players match Jokic's double-double, with Jamal Murray tallying 22 points and 10 assists and Aaron Gordon adding 12 points and 11 rebounds.
James, who is appearing in the playoffs for the 17th time in 21 seasons, says the team won't get too low with plenty of time remaining to rescue the series.
"I thought we played some good ball tonight, just could have been better," he said. "You don't have much room for error versus Denver, especially on their home floor.
"They're just a team that's been through everything. Obviously, they're the defending champions, so you've got to execute, you've got to make shots, you've got to defend.
"I don't ever get into the 'here we go again' mindset. It's one game, they protected their home court. We have another opportunity on Monday to come back and be better."
England have been tapping into the knowledge of veteran attack guru Brian Ashton to achieve their aim of filling Twickenham.
The Red Roses ran in 14 tries in an 88-10 victory over Ireland that places them on the brink of claiming a sixth consecutive Guinness Women’s Six Nations title when they face France on Saturday.
A thrilling attacking performance before a 48,778 crowd was born out of the belief that in order to play in front of a full house of Twickenham at next year’s home World Cup, they must play appealing rugby.
And helping them achieve that aim is Ashton, a former England men’s head coach regarded as a visionary in the game whose expertise has been enlisted by Red Roses boss John Mitchell.
“Brian makes us ask questions. ‘If this is the picture, what is the easiest way that you can take the wins?’” said Dow, who ran in a hat-trick against Ireland.
“I do think it is about asking those questions and having Brian Ashton available throughout the week…I absolutely adore the man.
“The way he phrases things almost makes you re-think the philosophy of rugby. I think in the English brand the philosophy is ‘let’s kick to the corner, let’s take the territory’. But is that the philosophy of all rugby? Can we expand that?
“At the end of the day, professional rugby is a business in its own way. We need to be proving to the whole of England that we can play an exciting brand of rugby.”
While England march on by overwhelming the opposition in front of them, Ireland’s blowout highlights the gulf in class in the women’s game and affects the credibility of the Six Nations.
The Red Roses have accumulated 228 points after four rounds and France are the only European team capable of taking the wind out of their sails when the rivals clash in Bordeaux.
“I 100 per cent think teams will catch up and as much as we may be on top now, it is on us to try and work to keep that place and demand more from ourselves,” Dow said.
“Because as much as we’d love the game to grow, we want to keep the gap ourselves and continue to prove that we can be the best.”
Ruth Jefferson’s Sounds Russian is pencilled in for Perth on Wednesday after his satisfactory comeback in the Rendlesham Hurdle at Haydock.
The Sholokhov gelding has always shown plenty of ability and won a good prize at Kelso in October 2022, going on to finish fourth in the Many Clouds and then coming home runner-up in both the Rowland Meyrick and the Cotswold Chase.
He was a contender for the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup off the back of those performances but unfortunately his race ended at the 17th fence when Ahoy Senor fell and brought him down, with the incident inflicting a knee injury that later required an operation to remove 12 chips of bone.
That kept him off for 11 months but he returned to action at Haydock in February, finishing fifth, and he is now set for the Listed Gold Castle Novices’ Hurdle.
“He came out his race at Haydock really well, there wasn’t much else to run him in without going to a big festival,” said Jefferson.
“He was always going to come on for the run so I’ve put him in at Perth, we may as well learn if he goes right-handed.
“If he does it will open up opportunities next year, if he doesn’t then I’ll know for sure.
“He’s always lugged a little bit left-handed so I’ve never run him right-handed, but we may as well have a go and find out now he’s nine.
“He’d been out for a long time and when you’re coming back on tacky ground it’s not like the start of the season.
“I knew in the back of my head I’d done as much as I could and he hadn’t been for a gallop, it was a perfectly acceptable run and we were happy enough.”
It is 20 years ago since Attraction blazed a trail to 1000 Guineas glory at Newmarket – the last Classic winner trained in the north.
Trained by Mark Johnston and bred by her owner, the Duke of Roxburghe, out of his once-raced mare Flirtation and the sire Efisio, nobody could have predicted the heights she would go on to reach.
Especially when she began life as an early two-year-old at Nottingham in April, with perhaps the height of ambitions ending at Royal Ascot.
They would be achieved, via Thirsk and then the Hilary Needler at Beverley before she bolted up in the Queen Mary, winning by three lengths.
She only ran once more as a juvenile, when she was even more impressive in the Cherry Hinton, her first spin over six furlongs.
Her season ended prematurely there and she was not sighted again until the Classic, via a racecourse gallop at Ripon which has almost gone down in folklore.
What made Attraction stand out from the rest – apart from her inherent ability – was her unusual action, with her legs seemingly heading off in all directions, but it certainly did not slow her down.
The man who rode her in all but the first three of her runs was Kevin Darley, who said: “I only rode her once that year before the Guineas and that was when she had her racecourse gallop at Ripon.
“When you rode her, she actually felt balanced, it just felt right, but you could obviously see one leg flicking out to the right and the other to the left.
“Looking at her, you wouldn’t have thought she’d want quick ground, but the one time she ran on soft in France, she couldn’t handle it at all, she was happy just feeling herself on a sound surface.”
Sent off second favourite in the Guineas behind Sir Michael Stoute’s Fillies’ Mile winner Red Bloom, despite tackling a trip two furlongs further than she had attempted before, Darley was positive from the outset and never saw another rival.
“I think she caught a few by surprise in the Guineas because a lot of people thought she was all speed and that she would be vulnerable over a mile,” recalled the rider.
“Speed was her forte, there’s no doubt about that, but when she had to dig deep, she did – and that was credit to her, she never gave in really.
“When she won the Queen Mary, we weren’t thinking of her in terms of a Guineas horse, but after she won a Cherry Hinton by five lengths, we started to think maybe she could get a mile.
“Leading up to the Guineas, she’d had one or two niggly problems and when she went to Ripon, she wasn’t working with a superstar and to be fair, she didn’t work that brilliant, to be honest.
“But I think what had happened was, she was getting a bit complacent at home and that trip to Ripon set her alight. She went there with a hairy coat and didn’t look right at all but as soon as she did that gallop, the lights came on again.”
For the first half of the season against her own generation, she simply had no peers, adding an Irish Guineas and the Coronation Stakes, taking her unbeaten run to eight.
“After Newmarket, Mark sent her over for the Irish Guineas, when she was good again in beating Alexander Goldrun, who turned out very good, and then she won the Coronation,” Darley went on.
“That really suited her there (Ascot), there were concerns, as it was her first time round a bend, but it actually helped her, as she was able to fill herself up and give herself a breather – and she was able to go again. She was looking unbeatable at that point.
“She found it tougher against the older fillies in the second half of the season and finished second to Soviet Song twice either side of her run in France, but all credit to her that she ended the year with a win in the Sun Chariot.”
Kept in training at four, am ambitious trip to Hong Kong was not rewarded and she looked a fraction off her former self when beaten in the Hungerford at Newbury, so it was all credit to her again when her career ended with victory in the Matron Stakes in Ireland.
Darley said: “The year after, she ran disappointing in Hong Kong, it was probably the wrong thing to do sending her there, in hindsight.
“After that, she had her niggles but it was very nice she was able to go out with a win in Ireland, it showed what a true equine athlete she was, all she wanted to do was race and win and please you.
“She hasn’t been too bad as a broodmare either, Elarqam was a nice horse for Mark.
“She’s bang up there with the best I rode. I’ve always said ability-wise, the best I rode was High Chaparral, as he went on and became a dual Derby winner and won two Breeders’ Cup Turfs.
“She was the best I was associated with all the way through though – and without a doubt, she was the best filly I ever rode.
“I just can’t believe it is 20 years ago!”
Max Verstappen powered to another dominant win in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix – as Lewis Hamilton complained his car was “slow” and “broken” after he finished ninth.
Verstappen emerged unscathed from two safety car periods to secure his 38th win from the last 49 staged in Formula One on his unstoppable march towards a fourth straight championship.
But for Hamilton, now 50 races and 868 long days without a victory, this marked another sobering afternoon in his uncompetitive Mercedes.
McLaren’s Lando Norris delivered an impressive performance to finish second, one place ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fourth and fifth for Ferrari.
George Russell could manage only sixth for Mercedes as the grid’s once-dominant team endured another race to forget.
F1 is back in Shanghai following a five-year absence, and it was a venue that Hamilton once ruled, winning a record six times here.
But the sport has a new king now, with Verstappen securing his fourth win from the opening five rounds – his only downfall in Australia when his Red Bull engine expired. For Hamilton, hampered by starting only 18th, his worst-ever season continued.
As Verstappen blasted away from his marks to convert his pole position into an all-too predictable early lead, Hamilton was evidently struggling for speed in his Mercedes.
Hamilton started on the quickest, but less durable soft rubber, but just two laps into this 56-lap affair, his complaints began.
“I am making no ground on this tyre,” he said after dropping from 18th to 19th. Hamilton made the first of his two pit-stops on lap nine, and re-joined back in 19th, 53 seconds behind Verstappen.
“That was the worst tyre, man,” said the despondent 39-year-old after switching to the medium rubber.
Up front and Fernando Alonso, who moved from third to second following a fine move around the outside of Perez at the opening bend, was starting to slip down the order.
On lap five, Perez sailed past the evergreen Spaniard, before Norris swooped ahead at the penultimate corner two laps later.
Back to Hamilton, and he was now 15th after making his way ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda at the first bend. But his mood had not improved.
“I can’t even catch him (Alpine’s Esteban Ocon), man,” he said. This car is so slow.”
Speed has not been a problem for Verstappen since he denied Hamilton a record eighth crown at the 2021 decider in Abu Dhabi.
Temporarily demoted to third by virtue of changing tyres earlier than his competitors, the Red Bull star breezed past Leclerc on lap 16 before re-taking the lead from Norris three laps later.
Hamilton’s fortunes improved on lap 21 when he stopped for a second time with the VSC deployed after Valtteri Bottas broke down. And as the marshals struggled to shift Bottas’ stricken Stake, the VSC was upgraded to a full safety car, promoting Hamilton up the order. He would be 12th at the re-start, but he was still bemused by his machine.
“The car is just sliding around everywhere,” he said. “It just feels like something is broken. It is really bad.”
In came the safety car on lap 26, but it was back out moments later after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll clumsily thudded into the back of Daniel Ricciardo, and Kevin Magnussen punted Yuki Tsuonda off.
Ricciardo suffered floor damage, elevating Hamilton into 10th and a single-point paying position before he swatted Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg aside for ninth on lap 41.
Hamilton was then up to eighth as Alonso made a maverick third stop for tyres. But the 43-year-old took advantage of his fresh rubber to blast back through the field, relegating Hamilton back to ninth with seven laps remaining. Alonso would cross the line in seventh.
Verstappen took the chequered flag 13.7 sec clear of Norris to extend his championship lead to 25 points with Hamilton – almost one minute behind his one-time rival – still searching for a top-six finish this season.
Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Tour dominance looks to be showing no signs of slowing down as the world number one heads into the final day of the RBC Heritage with a one shot lead on 16 under.
Fresh off securing his second Masters title in three years, the 27-year-old shot up the leaderboard at Hilton Head on Saturday with a bogey-free third round score of eight under 63.
He leads by one stroke from Austria’s Sepp Straka, while America’s Collin Morikawa sits outright third on 14 under.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy carded a second straight round of 68 to be tied for 12th place on 10 under.
Meanwhile, defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick is tied for 25th after the Englishman carded a third round score of 70.
Nikola Jokić had 32 points and 12 rebounds and got ample help from his teammates as the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets continued their recent mastery of the Los Angeles Lakers with a 114-103 win in their Western Conference playoff opener on Saturday.
Jamal Murray tallied 22 points and 10 assists, Aaron Gordon added 12 and 11 rebounds and Michael Porter Jr. contributed 19 points and eight boards as the Nuggets won their ninth straight against the Lakers.
Anthony Davis matched Jokic with 32 points and 14 rebounds and LeBron James scored 27 points, but D’Angelo Russell was held to 13 points on 6-of-20 shooting – including 1 of 9 from 3-point range – and Rui Hachimura managed just seven points in 31 minutes.
Los Angeles hasn’t beaten Denver since Dec. 16, 2022, and will try again Monday in Denver, where the Nuggets are 34-8 this season.
Denver’s lead was down to 103-96 with five minutes left but Porter Jr. hit a 3 and Jokic dunked off a turnover by James to push the lead to 12.
Knicks’ reserves step up in win
Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart each scored 22 points and the New York Knicks got a huge lift from their bench for a 111-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Deuce McBride outscored the 76ers by himself with 13 points in the second quarter and finished with 21 on 7-of-12 shooting, including 5 of 7 from long range. Bojan Bogdanovic added 13 points and Mitchell Robinson came off the bench to add eight points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.
Joel Embiid had 29 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points for the 76ers, who will try to even the series in Game 2 on Monday.
Embiid was listed as questionable to play and went down with 2:49 left in the first half with an apparent injury to his surgically repaired knee. He walked to the locker room area and missed the rest of the first half but returned to start the second.
Hart made a pair of huge 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, the second extending the Knicks’ lead to 107-100 with one minute remaining.
Edwards powers Timberwolves past Suns
Anthony Edwards scored 18 of his 33 points in the third quarter and grabbed nine rebounds to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a tone-setting 120-95 win over the visiting Phoenix Suns in their series opener.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 18 and Rudy Gobert tallied 14 points, 16 rebounds and stellar defence to help Minnesota to its first home win in the playoffs in 20 years.
Edwards keyed a 19-4 run to close the third quarter for a 20-point cushion and put a bow on his performance by stealing the ball from Kevin Durant and finishing with a slam on the other end to give the Timberwolves a 111-91 lead with 3:37 left.
Durant scored 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting, but Devin Booker was held to 18 on 5 for 16 from the field. The Suns were outrebounded 52-28 and outscored 52-34 in the paint.
Game 2 is in Minnesota on Tuesday before the best-of-seven series shifts to Phoenix for Game 3.
Zack Wheeler took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Brandon Marsh hit a two-run homer as the surging Philadelphia Phillies defeated the lowly Chicago White Sox, 9-5 on Saturday.
Wheeler held the White Sox hitless until Korey Lee’s one-out single in the eighth. The right-hander struck out eight, walked two and threw 75 of 106 pitches for strikes.
A night earlier, Spencer Turnbull didn’t allow a hit until Gavin Sheets’ one-out single in the seventh.
The Phillies won their fifth straight and moved five games over .500 in April for the first time since 2019.
Marsh’s home run in the second off Michael Soroka gave Philadelphia a 3-0 lead and Trea Turner’s two-run double in the seventh made it 9-0.
The White Sox scored their first runs of this series with five in the ninth but dropped to a major league-worst 3-17.
Streaking Mets beat Dodgers
Starling Marte belted a go-ahead, three-run homer and Pete Alonso made a stellar defensive play to lift the New York Mets to their sixth straight victory, 6-4 over the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers.
Marte finished with four RBIs and Francisco Lindor drove in two runs as the Mets improved to 12-3 after an 0-5 start.
The Dodgers went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left 13 on base. They have lost three consecutive series for the first time since June, and three straight series at home for the first time since August 2018.
Marte’s 432-foot shot off reliever Ryan Brasier in the sixth snapped a 2-2 tie.
Los Angeles had the bases loaded in the sixth trailing 5-4 before Max Muncy grounded to Alonso, who fielded the ball near the edge of the outfield grass, sprinted in and dove to tag the bag for the third out.
New York won despite issuing 10 walks, its most since Aug. 15. They last walked 10 in a win on May 13, 2014, in a 12-7 victory over the Yankees.
D’Arnaud homers again in Braves’ win
Charlie Morton combined with three relievers on a five-hitter and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Texas Rangers 5-2 for their sixth straight win.
Morton gave up two runs and four hits with two walks in six innings. Joe Jimenez and A.J. Minter each pitched one inning and Raisel Iglesias worked the ninth for his sixth save in as many chances.
D’Arnaud, who drove in six runs with three home runs on Friday, hit a two-run shot in the eighth off Austin Pruitt to close the scoring.
Luis Guillorme had an RBI double and scored on Michael Harris’ single before Matt Olson’s sacrifice fly snapped a 2-2 tie in the second.
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