Age Of Kings bounced back from a disappointing run in the Irish 2,000 Guineas to win the Jersey Stakes for Aidan O’Brien at Royal Ascot.
Down the field behind stablemate Paddington at the Curragh, he was the second string in this Group Three with Ryan Moore preferring the claims of The Antarctic, who never got involved.
Wayne Lordan was the man on board and he was never far from the early pace, set by Frankie Dettori on the favourite Covey.
With two furlongs to run Covey’s stride began to shorten and that left Age Of Kings in front and it became a question of what he had left in the tank.
Challengers emerged from out of the pack, the best of which was James Ferguson’s Zoology, while Streets Of Gold also made good late headway.
But Age Of Kings was able to hold on by a length and win at 22-1 to give O’Brien a fourth winner of the week.
Alex De Minaur reached his first final at Queen’s Club after a grass-court masterclass against Holger Rune at the cinch Championships.
The 24-year-old ‘Demon’ roared to a 6-3 7-6 (2) victory to become the first Australian to make the final since Lleyton Hewitt won his fourth title in 2006.
De Minaur, the boyfriend of Britain’s Katie Boulter, is a proven performer on the grass; he is a former Eastbourne champion and also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.
Danish rising star Rune, by contrast, remains a work in progress on grass. His win over Maxime Cressy on Tuesday was the first of his career on the surface.
De Minaur broke the Rune serve in the very first game and repeated the trick in the ninth to wrap up the opening set.
Rune, 20, fashioned a first break point at the start of the second, but De Minaur slammed the door shut with two consecutive winners and an ace.
De Minaur had a break point for 5-3 to take a stranglehold on the match, but he netted a simple forehand to let his opponent off the hook.
However, he totally dominated the tie-break, dropping just two points, on his way to victory in an hour and 40 minutes.
De Minaur, who beat Andy Murray in the first round, said: “I play pretty decent on grass and I’m having an amazing week.
“That was my best match so far, so happy days. One more to go. It’s a pretty special tournament so let’s hope I can go one better tomorrow. I’ll do my best.”
The semi-final was played in sweltering heat and twice interrupted by spectators needing medical treatment in the stands.
“I want to make sure the people who seeked medical assistance are all right,” added De Minaur. “Keep hydrated, it’s a hot one out there!”
Snellen just held off the late lunge of favourite Pearls And Rubies to provide Champion Hurdle-winning trainer Gavin Cromwell with a second Royal Ascot winner.
Sent off at 12-1 having won on her only previous outing at Limerick, she was produced with a well-timed challenge by Gary Carroll.
With a furlong to run there were any amount still in with a chance, but Carroll’s mount took a length out of the field.
That should have put the race to bed but Snellen began to drift to her left, allowing Pearls And Rubies and Ryan Moore a chance to close the gap. Unfortunately for favourite-backers, though, there was still a head between them when the line came.
Golden Mind and 125-1 shot Oddyssey dead-heated for third.
Cromwell said: “She’s been nice from the word go and is just progressing all the time.
“Her dam won over a mile and a half so I think she’ll stay further. I haven’t thought about Classics, we’ll enjoy today first.”
Frankie Dettori will arrive for his final day at Royal Ascot in the grandest possible fashion as part of the royal procession.
The 52-year-old has bounced back from a disappointing first day when he went winless and picked up a nine-day suspension – which he is appealing – to enjoy some spectacular successes, including the Gold Cup aboard Courage Mon Ami.
Dettori and his wife, Catherine, are in carriage four with Jamie Snowden and his wife, Lucy.
His book of rides on Saturday sees Covey as favourite for the Jersey Stakes, Free Wind a short price in the Hardwicke, Kinross fancied in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and Knockbrex the market leader in the Golden Gates Handicap. He also rides Mums Tipple in the Wokingham.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has denied comments he made about Nick Kyrgios following last year’s heated Wimbledon battle were racist in nature.
The Greek has been criticised on social media for saying during the Netflix documentary series Break Point that Kyrgios’ approach to tennis was “uneducated” and that he brought an “NBA basketball attitude” to the sport.
Writing on his Facebook page, Tsitsipas said: “Today, I want to address a matter that has been weighing heavily on my heart; an unfortunate misunderstanding that has a distorted picture of my intentions.
“It has come to my attention that some individuals have misinterpreted my comments regarding Nick Kyrgios, labelling him as uneducated and accusing him of bringing a basketball mentality into tennis, insinuating racism where none exists.
“Let me take this opportunity to provide clarity and rectify any misconceptions that may have arisen.
“Firstly, I want to emphasise that I harbour no prejudice towards anyone based on their background, ethnicity, or interests. I deeply regret if my words were misinterpreted or caused offence, as that was never my intention.
“My previous remarks regarding Nick Kyrgios were not meant to undermine his intelligence or abilities. Instead, I simply intended to express my perspective on certain aspects of his playing style, drawing comparisons to the passion and intensity often associated with basketball.
“It was an attempt to highlight the dynamic and captivating nature of his approach to the game, not a criticism of his character or capabilities.”
The pair clashed in the third round at the All England Club, with Kyrgios engaged in a running dialogue with the umpire and calling for Tsitsipas to be defaulted after he swiped a ball into the crowd.
The Greek lost his cool and received a point penalty for recklessly hitting the ball before appearing to aim a shot straight at Kyrgios, who eventually won in four sets.
Kyrgios accepted Tsitsipas’ apology, writing on Twitter: “It was a very heated battle sometimes as players we go into these press conferences without digesting the match…. We’ve had some crazy battles and I know deep down you like my brand of tennis we are all good @steftsitsipas”
Rory McIlroy gave back the shots he made by holing in one on the eighth as he was left trailing the record-breaking halfway leaders at the Travelers Championship.
McIlroy aced the par three in the first round, but could only find the water second time around as he double bogeyed the hole en route to a six-under-par 64.
“I hit a pretty good shot, I just misjudged the wind a little bit and it came up short in the one place you couldn’t miss today,” said McIlroy, who is tied for 10th on eight-under-par – seven behind leaders Keegan Bradley and Denny McCarthy at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.
“Other than that, it was a really good round of golf.”
McCarthy followed his opening round of 60 with a 65 to set a commanding clubhouse target which only Bradley, who fired a second round 63, could match – their 15-under-par total of 125 setting a tournament record.
“It’s nice, but golf tournaments aren’t 36 holes unfortunately,” said McCarthy. “I know there’s still a lot of golf left and I’m playing some really nice golf, so I’m looking forward to having fun this weekend.”
Chez Reavie, who won the title in 2019, moved within two of the lead with a 63 with Eric Cole a further two strokes back.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland are among those in a large group alongside McIlroy on eight-under, one better than a group containing England’s Aaron Rai, Ireland’s former Open champion Shane Lowry and world number one Scottie Scheffler.
Matt Fitzpatrick was a shot further back while his successor as US Open champion Wyndham Clark shot a 67 to move to five under – Masters champion Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood missing the cut.
Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz became the first Reds player to hit for a cycle in 34 years and Cincinnati outslugged the Atlanta Braves 11-10 for their 12th straight victory.
De La Cruz led off the second inning with a double, hit a two-run homer in the third, had a run-scoring single in the fifth and completed the cycle with a triple in the sixth for his fourth RBI of the game.
The cycle is the seventh overall in Reds’ history and the first since Eric Davis on June 2, 1989. The 21-year-old De La Cruz achieved the feat in just his 15th game – the third fewest since 1900.
Cincinnati matched the 1939 and 1957 teams for the franchise’s longest single season winning streak since 1900.
Atlanta, which had an eight-game winning streak stopped, scored five runs in the first off Luke Weaver, with Travis d’Arnaud’s three-run homer the big blow.
Cincinnati got two runs back in the second inning on Jake Fraley’s home run and pulled within 5-4 an inning later on De La Cruz’s two-run blast.
Joey Votto’s first home run of the game in the fourth inning tied it, but the Braves went back on top in the fifth as Matt Olson’s homer scored Austin Riley.
The Reds went ahead for good with four runs in their half of the fifth. De La Cruz singled in a run and Votto delivered a three-run homer.
Atlanta got solo home runs from Ronald Acuna, Jr., Riley and Olson again in the eighth but was unable to push across the tying run in just its third loss in 18 games.
Ohtani hits MLB-best 25th home run in Angels’ loss
Shohei Ohtani extended his major league lead with his 25th home run and fell a triple shy of the cycle in the Los Angles Angels’ 7-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
Ohtani homered off starter Kyle Freeland in the fifth inning and Mike Trout followed with his 16th home run to give the Angels a 4-2 lead.
Ohtani has at least one extra-base hit in 10 straight road games, a franchise record and the longest such streak in the majors since 2009.
Colorado, which had lost eight in a row, went ahead in the eighth on Elias Diaz’s grand slam.
Conforto leads Giants past Diamondbacks in NL West matchup
Michael Conforto had three hits and four RBIs to lead the San Francisco Giants to an 8-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a battle between the top teams in the NL West.
Conforto had a two-run double in San Francisco’s three-run third inning and came through with another two-run double as part of a four-run fifth. Patrick Bailey capped the uprising with a two-run homer.
The Giants have won 11 of 12 to get within 2 ½ games of NL West-leading Arizona.
Allianz Premier 15s chief executive Belinda Moore believes that women’s sport is beginning to “stand alone” as interest continues to grow.
The RFU announced in June 2022 that up to £220m would be invested into the professional women’s game over 10 years and Moore was announced as CEO of the Premier 15s last October.
It comes as part of an exciting time of growth in women’s sport which will be seen this summer with England’s cricketers and netballers in action alongside the Lionesses, who will be aiming to build on last year’s Euro win at the World Cup.
There has also been success in rugby as the Red Roses reached the World Cup final last November before scooping a fifth successive Six Nations title in front of a record-breaking crowd of 58,498 at Twickenham in April, and Moore insists women’s sport is now providing entertainment in its own right.
“We all know what an amazing job the Lionesses did and the growth that’s come off the back of that,” she told the PA news agency.
“One of the things they proved very eloquently was that women’s sport now is starting to stand alone.
“It’s recognised for what it is, so it’s not regarded as men’s sport – there’s a women’s brand of football, a women’s brand of rugby and they’re really entertaining games in their own right.”
Women’s domestic rugby is set to take centre stage on Saturday when Exeter Chiefs face Gloucester-Hartpury in the Premier 15s final at the renamed “Queensholm” Stadium.
Neither team has previously won the competition and so far 8,000 tickets have been sold for the West Country clash.
“I’m hugely looking forward to Saturday, I think the two semi-finals set a really good benchmark for what we can expect this weekend,” Moore said.
“It’s been amazing to see the growth of women’s rugby, even in the short time since the World Cup last year and that crowd last year, and the crowd at Twickenham for the England-France game.
“They’ve sold over 7,000 tickets for this match this weekend, which is a huge uptake on last year.
“The great news is we can see the interest in the sport is growing and I’m looking forward to a cracking final at Queensholm, as they’ve aptly renamed it this weekend!”
Alongside plans to grow the Premier 15s competition, England are also set to host the World Cup in 2025.
Last year’s World Cup final saw hosts New Zealand beat the Red Roses in front of 42,579 in Auckland and Moore believes a home tournament is an ideal opportunity to keep generating interest.
She said: “The number of people who got up at daft o’clock in the morning, myself included, was a really big thing.
“It was a great one, the challenge always is when you play rugby of any description down on the southern hemisphere, it’s harder to get that wider attention in a busy, crowded sports market.
“So I think what you got primarily was rugby fans, which is brilliant, but what we also want to do is expand the game out to those who maybe don’t know it so well, sports fans or more general fans of women’s sport.
“The great news is we’ve got a strong base to build on, but we definitely need to build on it and 2025 I think will be that big springboard that puts women’s rugby in people’s living rooms at primetime and starts to change that narrative.”
Mel Reid moved to within a shot of the lead at the second women’s major of the year – nine months after quitting golf.
Ireland’s Leona Maguire fired four late birdies in a second round 68 to take the halfway lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in New Jersey, one clear of a group on four-under which includes England’s Reid after her 67.
She was joined by China’s Xiyu Lin and Norwegian rookie Celine Borge with first round leader Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa and Australia’s Minjee Lee, chasing her second major title after a second round 67.
For Reid, it is a big change from deciding to give up playing due to injury.
“I legit quit,” she said. “When I got my injury, I tried to play through it, which I kind of felt I had to. In September I literally told Carly (her wife), I’m going into the media, I’m not playing golf anymore.
“With things like that, if you just give me a bit of space, I do kind of work it out myself.
“I missed the competitiveness of it and I thought let’s give it one more go. I’ve just been really enjoying myself this year.”
Maguire birdied four of her final six holes as she took the halfway lead in a major for the first time.
“This is uncharted territory for me,” Maguire said. “Whatever happens this week, I’m sure I’ll learn a lot, and just sort of taking it one day at a time.
“I think this golf course demands that. I think you can’t think more than one shot ahead, let alone a hole or a round ahead.”
Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow shot a second round 68 to be in a group on one-under with only 15 players under par on the Lower Course at Baltusrol.
World number nine Lexi Thompson birdied her last four holes to sneak inside the cut at four-over-par, but England’s Georgia Hall, Charley Hull, Bronte Law and Laura Davies all missed out, alongside world number two Nelly Korda, number four Lilia Vi and number six Atthaya Thitikul.
Harriet Dart is confident her game is heading in the right direction after her run at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham was ended by a narrow quarter-final loss to Anastasia Potapova.
Dart defeated top-30 player Anhelina Kalinina for the second week in a row to reach the last eight but was unable to capitalise on a good start against fourth seed Potapova, losing out 4-6 6-3 6-4.
It has been a difficult season for Dart, who has plummeted out of the top 100 after a breakthrough year in 2022, but the 26-year-old has found her form on grass and this was a second consecutive quarter-final appearance following on from Nottingham last week.
“I thought it was a really high-level match,” said Dart, who has been awarded a wild card for Eastbourne next week.
“I don’t think I served particularly very well but managed to find a way to get ahead with the first set. I definitely had a lot of chances. But overall a positive week.
“Of course I wanted to do better today and to keep going but it’s important just to keep building week in, week out to be able to compete with the best players in the world.
“And to also be realistic. This is grass, it’s a unique surface. I really enjoy these couple of weeks and just to try and use this momentum for the rest of the season.
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“Today I played someone who’s 21 in the world and lost 6-4 in the third, and I think there’s a lot of areas I can improve on, so it’s heading in the right direction.”
Dart struggled with her serve throughout the match but managed to win the opening set despite five double faults, producing some fine shots from the back of the court, and she made the first move in the second set with a break for 2-1.
But Potapova, ranked 21st, began to punish Dart’s second serve and the Russian turned the match around with a run of four games in a row, cutting down on the errors that had blighted her game.
Dart recovered from 3-1 down in the deciding set to level at 3-3 but Potapova’s heavy groundstrokes were taking their toll and the Russian broke again before serving out the victory.
Potapova next faces second seed Jelena Ostapenko, who mounted an impressive comeback from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-2.
The Latvian played until after 8pm on Thursday night in her victory over Venus Williams and was back on court on Friday lunchtime to take on Pole Frech.
Ostapenko needed treatment for a left calf problem and at one stage looked like she might not finish the match but she managed to turn things around in the second set before taking the decider.
“It was very little time to recover from yesterday because we finished very late,” she said.
“I was struggling as well with my left calf. I was thinking at some point maybe I should not continue but there is a fighter inside of me so I want to play until I cannot walk or something.
“After winning the second set I felt like I was playing better and my footwork was there. I’m really glad to manage to win this match.”
Top seed Barbora Krejcikova is through to the last four for the first time at a grass-court event having beaten teenage compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2, and the Czech will take on China’s Zhu Lin, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Rebecca Marino.
“A paradigm shift for boxing in Jamaica,” is how Jamaica Boxing Board President, Stephen ‘Bomber’ Jones described the country’s newest platform for boxers to show off their skills, Wray & Nephew Fight Nights.
“These are exciting times. I think the events will speak for themselves in terms of how we shift the paradigm of boxing in Jamaica going forward,” Jones said at the launch of the event on Wednesday.
“I want to thank Wray & Nephew. They bought into the vision of the Boxing board when our mandate was to expand the footprint of the sport island wide and now, that we’ve got to another level and with the mandate changing to expanding the footprint globally, they didn’t miss a beat,” he added.
The idea, according to Jones, is to have a Pro Am card at least eight times a year with at least six amateur bouts and two professional fights.
The first card will take place at the Kling Kling Oval in Olympic Gardens on July 1 and will be headlined by a pro fight between Jermaine ‘Breezy’ Richards and Omar ‘Crane’ Edmund. The night will also feature seven amateur bouts.
“Breezy who is the main event is a 2-0 fighter and the idea is, if he wins on July 1, that, by next year this time with his proper management and his promoter, you’d have watched him get to at least 9-0 and where there’s a Breezy, we have many more boxers,” Jones said.
“Where it is that we were turning boxers into world champions once every decade, the idea is now to be always having, year after year, talented Jamaican boxers with an opportunity to get a title fight,” he added.
Jones says he wants to use this platform to help Jamaica produce home-grown world champions in the sport.
“It’s common knowledge that for decades, Jamaica has been producing world champions from all different categories and weight classes. People like Mike McCallum, Trevor Berbick and Nicholas ‘Axeman’ Walters to name a few. What those boxers have in common was that they all had to chart their career overseas. This Wray & Nephew Fight Night series is about to change that,” said Jones.
“This is about putting our local boxers on the face of international boxing,” said Wray & Nephew Marketing Manager, Pavel Smith.
“You don’t have to now go overseas to develop your career. You can stay right here, train at the local gyms and have an opportunity to build your professional career and have your title fights here in Jamaica,” he added.
Former West Indies opener, Chris Gayle, the self-proclaimed Universe Boss, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Toronto Blue Jays’ inaugural Cricket Day on Saturday, June 24 and he wants everyone to come see him do it.
Known worldwide as one of the most destructive batters in world cricket, the charismatic Gayle is in Toronto, Canada as a special guest and had a batting practice session prior to the big day on Saturday.
“I’m town, Toronto just comes alive. So tomorrow is Blue Jays Cricket Day and Universe Boss will be doing the first pitch. You don’t want to miss that one,” Gayle declared in a short video on Twitter. “It’s going to be epic; 95 miles per hour pitch from the Universe Boss. You don’t wanna miss it.”
In addition to throwing out the first pitch and engaging in batting sessions, Gayle is also expected to be involved in other activities expected to excite fans in the Canadian city.
Rob Burrow’s daughters Macy and Maya played a starring role ahead of Leeds Rhinos’ Betfred Super League clash against Huddersfield Giants at Headingley on Friday.
The duo led a dance performance and also teamed up to conduct the pre-match interviews with respective coaches Rohan Smith and Ian Watson as part of a ‘Burrow Family Takeover’ in the Rhinos’ annual MND Awareness game.
Smith dodged Macy’s cutting question about his favourite player by responding: “I think my favourite player is your dad”, while Maya nudged Watson into revealing he was “a bit nervous” given the magnitude of the match.
Burrow’s four-year-old son Jackson also had a crucial job as he presented a special Rob Burrow/MND Association match ball to referee Ben Thaler.
Burrow was set to pick the man of the match after what Smith described as a “mini Grand Final”, with both clubs clinging onto increasingly tenuous hopes of landing a play-off place.
The Rhinos wore their special Doddie Weir celebration shirt for the fixture, from which 20 per cent of all gate receipts would be donated to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation set up by the late Scotland rugby union forward who died last year of motor neurone disease, the same condition afflicting Burrow.
Harriet Dart’s run at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham ended in the quarter-finals with defeat by Anastasia Potapova.
Dart defeated top-30 player Anhelina Kalinina for the second week in a row to reach the last eight but was unable to capitalise on a good start against fourth seed Potapova, losing out 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Dart struggled with her serve throughout the match but managed to win the opening set despite five double faults, producing some fine shots from the back of the court.
The 26-year-old was bidding to reach a first WTA semi-final having lost three previous quarter-finals, all on the British grass, and she made the first move in the second set with a break for 2-1.
But Potapova, ranked 21st, began to punish Dart’s second serve and the Russian turned the match around with a run of four games in a row, cutting down on the errors that had blighted her game.
Dart recovered from 3-1 down in the deciding set to level at 3-3 but Potapova’s heavy groundstrokes were taking their toll and the Russian broke again before serving out the victory.
It has nevertheless been a strong tournament for Dart to back up last week’s run to the last eight in Nottingham, and she will have another chance to pick up more wins ahead of Wimbledon having been awarded a wild card for next week’s tournament in Eastbourne.
Potapova next faces second seed Jelena Ostapenko, who mounted an impressive comeback from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-2.
The Latvian played until after 8pm on Thursday night in her victory over Venus Williams and was back on court on Friday lunchtime to take on Pole Frech.
Ostapenko needed treatment for a left calf problem and at one stage looked like she might not finish the match but she managed to turn things around in the second set before taking the decider.
“It was very little time to recover from yesterday because we finished very late,” she said.
“I was struggling as well with my left calf. I was thinking at some point maybe I should not continue but there is a fighter inside of me so I want to play until I cannot walk or something.
“After winning the second set I felt like I was playing better and my footwork was there. I’m really glad to manage to win this match.”
Top seed Barbora Krejcikova is through to the last four for the first time at a grass-court event having beaten teenage compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2, and the Czech will take on China’s Zhu Lin, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Rebecca Marino.
Cameron Norrie’s bid for a first grass-court title was ended by Sebastian Korda in the quarter-finals of the cinch Championships.
The British number one and fifth seed was beaten 6-4 7-6 (1) by American Korda, the world number 32.
His defeat means there will be no British interest, in singles or doubles, going into the weekend at Queen’s Club for the first time since 2012.
Korda, who also accounted for British number two Dan Evans in the first round, broke Norrie for 3-2 and had another break point for 5-2 in the opening set.
Norrie wriggled out of that tight spot with a pair of aces, but he was unable to prevent Korda wrapping up the set in 37 minutes.
Norrie, runner-up here in 2021 and a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, hauled a break back for 3-3 in the second, the first time he had got anywhere near the Korda serve.
But Korda, the son of former Australian Open winner Petr and brother of major champion golfer Nelly, raced away with the tie-break to reach the last four on his Queen’s debut.
The 22-year-old, who recently recovered from three months out with a wrist injury, said: “It’s massive. I’m playing really well on grass, I feel comfortable and I’m really enjoying myself here.
“As many matches as I can get, I’m always super happy. Everything is clicking right now.”
Saturday’s first semi-final will see Alex De Minaur face Danish second seed Holger Rune.
Australian De Minaur was watched by his girlfriend, Britain’s Katie Boulter, as he beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-4 4-6 6-4.
Rising star Rune, 20, got past Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 7-5.
Trainer Denis Hogan has lodged an appeal against the decision to suspend his licence for three months and his €5,000 fine after one of his horses tested positive for a prohibited substance.
Ballyadam Destiny showed elevated levels of triamcinolone acetonide (TCA) and dexamethasone after winning at Galway last October.
Dr Lynn Hillyer, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board chief veterinary officer, stated in a report published on Friday that Hogan had been advised not to run his horse for 40 days after being treated by his vet, Donncha Houlihan.
Hogan accepted the findings in the report, stating he had mistaken the withdrawal period due to an administration error and has now employed additional staff as well as putting new measures in place to avoid a reoccurrence.
It is the fourth time in the previous five years a horse of Hogan’s has failed a post-race drugs test – including point-to-points. His ban is due to begin on August 1.
Hogan said: “We have lodged an appeal, while we have the appeal in, I don’t want to say too much.
“I was shocked and it took me a day or two to digest (the findings) but it is what it is now and we’ll have to make the best of it. I haven’t thought beyond August 1 and will have to speak to my solicitor and see what he thinks and take it from there.”
King Of Steel gained compensation for his Derby near miss when storming to an impressive victory in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Roger Varian’s lightly-raced son of Wootton Bassett produced a tremendous effort on just his third start when touched off by Auguste Rodin at Epsom and confirmed the promise of that performance in the hands of Kevin Stott at the Berkshire track.
Dubai Mile led from Artistic Star in the early stages, with John and Thady Gosden’s Arrest keen in the hands of Frankie Dettori. But an ultra-confident Stott was in no rush and happy to bide his time aboard the 11-10 favourite, anchoring the King Of Steel in rear.
Stott asked his mount to improve as the six-strong field rounded the turn for home and having made stylish progress to the front, he soon defied momentary greenness to put the race to bed in fine style.
The rider, who was enjoying the his third Royal Ascot winner and first as retained rider for owner Amo Racing, was able to salute the crowd as he crossed the line three and a half lengths clear of Aidan O’Brien’s Continuous who kept on well for second, with Artistic Star a further two and a half lengths back in third.
It was a second winner of the week for Amo and also for the trainer, who struck on day one with Royal Champion, but has since seen big fancies Eldar Eldarov and Sakheer turned over and was making a welcome return visit to the winner’s enclosure.
Varian said: “It’s relief, when they run so well in the Derby you want them to back it up. We were confident he would but we know horse racing! It’s a tough game.
“He’d come out of the Derby so well, he’s such an agile horse and he’s got a great constitution. He’s never left an oat since the Derby, he’s been training super.
“I tried to put into the back of my mind that it was the Derby because we all know they can bounce after their effort at Epsom. I just went on the signs the horse was giving us, which were great.
“Raul Da Silva has done a wonderful job riding this horse most mornings, and the whole team at home. I’m delighted for Kia (Joorabchian of Amo), I was delighted he got his winner yesterday to take a bit of the pressure off for us!
“I’m delighted for the horse, he’s a super horse and he confirmed today what he did in the Derby which is very satisfying.”
Connections had been eyeing the Grand Prix de Paris as a next port of call, and Varian added: “That’s what we’d like to do, but we all know horses so we’ll see how he is tomorrow.”
Stott admitted he had felt the pressure following King Of Steel’s Derby run.
He said: “From the first time I sat on him at Roger’s, he’s always given me a lovely feel. I remember coming home and saying to Meg (Nicholls, agent and partner) that I was really excited about this horse.
“Not running in the Dante, I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to see if he was what I felt at home.
“His run in the Derby was incredible, so coming here obviously there was a huge amount of pressure on me and Roger.
“He was a bit keen, we didn’t go overly quick. We could easily drop him back if we had to, he’s got plenty of speed and in four strides he put the race to bed. It’s brilliant for everyone here.”
Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from June 23.
FootballJamie Carragher enjoyed Glastonbury.
A landmark day for Newcastle’s women’s team.
John McGinn put pen to paper.
Brendan Rodgers was back on familiar territory.
Happy birthday to a pair of midfield maestros…
…And a doyen of the dugout.
Sol Campbell likened himself to sprint king Usain Bolt.
Alan Shearer gave a warm welcome to Newcastle’s newest fan.
TennisPaula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas got reacquainted with Wimbledon.
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Billie Jean King marked a major anniversary.
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CricketTammy Beaumont was on fire.
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BaseballLondon (Stadium) calling for the Chicago Cubs.
A pre-dawn wake up call and a fumbled start could not prevent Shaquille from securing a landmark success for connections in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.
The three-year-old was homebred by his co-owner Martin Hughes and is trained counties away in Norton, North Yorkshire, by Julie Camacho.
He was loaded into the gates a 9-1 chance for the six-furlong Group One, middling odds that began to look far too short as he bounced upwards in his stall instead of outwards and let the field gain lengths on him from the off.
A little mischief has never been beyond the bay, who had only been beaten once prior to the Royal meeting but has looked a handful on both sides of the starter’s rostrum.
The phrase ‘pulled hard’ and ‘took a keen hold’ appear in the descriptions of almost all of his races, but under Oisin Murphy he was able to settle into a rhythm at the rear of the pack as the jostling took place ahead of him.
A few furlongs in he was gaining ground and looked like he might run into a place, but once he began to gun for Little Big Bear, the leader and 10-11 favourite, he dug deeper and deeper still to triumph by a length and a quarter.
The victory is hugely significant for Camacho and her husband and assistant Steve Brown, whose greatest success beforehand was the Group Three honours gained by Judicial, another sprinter, in the Chipchase Stakes and the Coral Charge.
“I watched it on my own, I was very nervous actually. I started to feel a bit sick and very nervous!” she said.
Of his steady start, the trainer added: “I thought well that’s it, isn’t it? He’s blown his chance. I’ve just watched it live and I’d like to go back and watch it properly but he was good, wasn’t he?
“It’s massive, we never thought we’d train a Group One winner, not at Royal Ascot anyway. For Martin (Hughes) it’s massive, he bred him, he’s got his mother at home and his siblings. Dad (Maurice, former trainer) looks after the stud and I’m sure he was screaming at home.
“When he started to run on I thought ‘oh he’s going to be place, he’s going to run a big race’.
“Then ‘oh my god, he’s going to win!’. I’m a bit speechless actually.”
Camacho, who does not seek out the limelight, reluctantly went up to collect the trophy as Brown pondered how good the horse could be with a neat start and a smooth passage.
He said: “I still maintain that we haven’t brought him racing and seen him do everything right, it’s fascinating. We’re enjoying the journey and hoping for a few more, he’s in the July Cup.
“It’s a good story. You come hoping, don’t you? We’re all dreamers and you’ve got to be in this game. We fed him at three o’clock this morning so he could have a smooth journey down, we didn’t want to bring him overnight as he’s never stayed overnight. We wanted him to sleep in his own bed and he left at quarter past four this morning.
“I think the making of him has been a paddock for him, every evening stables now he’s turned out and it’s just brought such a change about in him.
“He wouldn’t have walked around the paddock like he did before, he just goes out there and puts his head down – it’s made a huge difference to him and though it’s punchy for a colt, I’m so glad we did it.”
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