Epsom runner-up Savethelastdance bids to go one better in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks at the Curragh – in which stablemate and Royal Ascot winner Warm Heart is seen as her main threat.
Savethelastdance, the choice of Ryan Moore, was an unheralded filly through the winter having only finished fifth on her sole start at two.
She reappeared in April on heavy ground at Leopardstown, where she surprised by winning at odds of 20-1 before destroying the opposition in the Cheshire Oaks at Chester by 22 lengths.
On quicker ground in the Oaks at Epsom, she was beaten into second by Soul Sister and trainer Aidan O’Brien expects the more conventional nature of the Curragh to suit her better.
“Obviously the two of them don’t work together, so it’s going to be interesting,” O’Brien said of the clash between his two smart fillies.
“There’s not much between them on the ratings, Savethelastdance is just a little higher.
“We always thought the Curragh would suit her better and the ground was quick enough in Epsom for her, so she’ll probably prefer a bit more of an ease on Saturday.
“She’s been in good form since and she’s had a nice break, too. Everything has gone well since (Epsom).”
Warm Heart stepped up from beating the reopposing Bluestocking by a head in a Newbury Listed heat to extend her superiority over Ralph Beckett’s charge in the Ribblesdale at Ascot.
“We were delighted with Warm Heart in the Ribblesdale because we weren’t exactly sure about her over a mile and a half,” said O’Brien.
“Obviously she got it well and we’ve been happy with her since.
“She definitely improved at Ascot, whether it was the distance or whatever, but she definitely did improve.”
O’Brien also runs Be Happy and Library.
Bluestocking is aiming to give Beckett a second Irish Classic in two years after Westover’s Derby success last year.
She is owned by Juddmonte, who sponsor the race, and their European bloodstock manager Barry Mahon said: “On the formbook she has to improve, but she’s a lightly-raced filly with only three runs, so we feel that there could be some progression there.
“She’s met Warm Heart twice and been beaten twice so she has a bit to find, but she’s in good form, we feel that she’s learning on the job and we’re hopeful of a good run.
“We saw how green she was at Newbury and Frankie (Dettori) felt she was green at Ascot. She got stuck on the rail and when the gap came, she didn’t really know what to do to get through it, but then picked up and finished off well.
“We hope she’ll be a bit more streetwise on Saturday, the track should suit her, it’s not a big field and a bit easier ground should suit as well. We’re hopeful rather than confident.”
Azazat represents Dermot Weld and the Aga Khan. Weld last won the race in 1996 with Dance Design.
Chris Hayes rides the Munster Oaks runner-up and said: “She is a nice filly, who has progressed with every run. She has handled slow ground and she stays quite well. She is bred to possibly get further and I’m looking forward to her.
“She is very straightforward to ride, uncomplicated.
“That form with Rosscarbery (Munster Oaks winner), to come from a maiden and take on a filly like her with that kind of experience, I thought was a good run. Rosscarbery drifted out a little bit on top of her.
“I think she has come forward for that run and hopefully she can put up a good performance.
“She has handled soft ground and circumstance has just led us to run her that way.”
Tyrrell Hatton became the latest victim of the difficult 18th hole at Royal Liverpool on day two of the 151st Open Championship.
Hatton was two under par for his round when he walked on to the tee of the 596-yard par five, but ended the hole two over par following a quadruple-bogey nine.
The world number 13 carved two drives out of bounds before pulling his fifth shot so far left it almost found the fairway on the first hole, which runs in the opposite direction.
From there Hatton took two more shots to find the putting surface and two-putted from 20 feet to finish two over par and 12 shots off the clubhouse target set by American Brian Harman.
Harman had earlier taken six shots fewer than Hatton to play the 18th, holing from 15 feet for an eagle in his flawless 65.
Hatton reacted to his nightmare finish by turning to look back down the fairway and using his putter to mimic shooting three times at the tee.
Two-time major winner Justin Thomas had also recorded a nine on the 18th in an opening 82, while Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho fared even worse with a 10 in his 83.
American Brian Harman set a daunting clubhouse target to leave Rory McIlroy with a mountain to climb to end his major drought in the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Harman carded four birdies in a row on the front nine and holed from 15 feet for an eagle on the 18th to complete a flawless second round of 65 and post a 10-under-par halfway total of 132.
That matched the totals recorded at Hoylake by McIlroy in 2014 and Tiger Woods in 2006, although both men were 12 under on their way to lifting the Claret Jug as the course was a par-72 at the time.
Nine years on, McIlroy will head into the weekend nine shots behind Harman after a third birdie of the day on the 18th saw him add a second round of 70 to his opening 71.
Harman, who is bidding to become just the third left-hander to win the Open after Bob Charles (1963) and Phil Mickelson (2013), said: “I’ve had a hot putter the last couple of days so (will) try to ride it through the weekend.
“I’m delighted with how I’m playing. (I’m) just really focused on getting some rest and getting after it tomorrow.
“(I’m) Just not trying to get too caught up in it. It’s just golf. I think when I held the 54-hole lead at the US Open (in 2017) I just probably thought about it too much.”
The 36-year-old’s superb round came after tournament officials took the unorthodox step of changing the way the bunkers were raked between rounds.
Masters champion Jon Rahm described the course’s 82 bunkers as “proper penalty structures” after having to play backwards out of one during his opening 74, while McIlroy needed two shots to escape sand on the 18th.
In response, the R&A instructed greenkeeping staff to build up the edges of the bunkers to allow more balls to roll back into the centre.
“Yesterday afternoon the bunkers dried out more than we have seen in recent weeks and that led to more balls running straight up against the face than we would normally expect,” the R&A said in a statement.
“We have therefore raked all of the bunkers slightly differently to take the sand up one revet on the face of the bunkers.
“We routinely rake bunkers flat at most Open venues but decided this adjustment was appropriate in light of the drier conditions which arose yesterday.
“We will continue to monitor this closely for the remainder of the Championship.”
Even those players who managed to successfully escape from the bunkers on day one had expressed their concerns, with former champion Stewart Cink speaking out following a bogey-free 68.
“Eventually it’ll catch up with you,” the 2009 winner said. “The bottoms of them are so flat that if a ball comes in with any momentum, it’s just going right up to the lip and stop.
“There’s not a little upslope that helps you at all. They are very penal.”
Emily Dickinson bids to get back on the winning trail in the Comer Group International Curragh Cup.
With her esteemed stablemate Kyprios sidelined by injury, the daughter of Dubawi moved to Gold Cup favouritism in the spring following an impressive return in the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan.
Her Royal Ascot claims were severely dented as she disappointed in the Saval Beg at Leopardstown the following month, but the four-year-old nevertheless took her chance in the Gold Cup and emerged with credit after finishing fourth.
Emily Dickinson drops back in distance and class on the Irish Oaks undercard and will be a warm order to provide trainer Aidan O’Brien with an eighth Curragh Cup success.
O’Brien said: “It looks a strong race. I think she stayed in the Gold Cup, I don’t think the trip was a problem.
“She likes an ease in the ground so she’ll appreciate that. She’s had a bit of an easy time since Ascot because we didn’t think the ground was going to be as it is, but we are letting her take her chance, obviously.
“The Irish Leger is definitely in the back of our minds for her.”
Emily Dickinson’s rivals in the €150,000 Group Two include her lightly-raced stablemate Gooloogong, the Paddy Twomey-trained Rosscarbery and Joseph O’Brien’s Duke of Edinburgh Stakes winner Okita Soushi.
Aidan O’Brien also houses the hot favourite for the Group Three Jebel Ali Racecourse And Stables Anglesey Stakes in Royal Ascot runner-up Pearls And Rubies.
A winner on her Navan introduction in June, the No Nay Never filly was subsequently beaten a head by Snellen in the Listed Chesham Stakes.
O’Brien, who won the Anglesey Stakes for a 12th time with Little Big Bear last season, added: “She was just a little bit green at Ascot, she was only after having her first run not long before it.
“She probably found everything a little bit new and she just got left out a bit on her own on the wing, but she did run well.”
Michael O’Callaghan saddles Kairyu, who impressed on her debut at Naas three and a half weeks ago, while dual winner Buyin Buyin represents trainer Willie Browne.
British raider Art Power bids for a fourth Curragh win in the Barberstown Castle Sapphire Stakes.
Tim Easterby’s six-year-old has landed the Group Three Renaissance Stakes in both 2021 and 2022 and maintained his unbeaten course record in the Group Two Greenlands Stakes in May.
He is four from four in Ireland overall, having also won the Group Three Lacken Stakes at Naas in 2020, and returns in fine form following a fourth-placed finish in last weekend’s July Cup.
Alastair Donald, racing manager for owners King Power Racing, said: “Ideally we probably wouldn’t run him back a week later, but his record in Ireland is so good and this looks the perfect race for him.
“He hasn’t run over five furlongs for a while, but it’s a stiff finish and soft ground and it’s not like he’s short of pace. He should have a favourite’s chance.”
Art Power is one of two British-trained runners in the five-furlong Group Two along with Karl Burke’s White Lavender, who was last seen striking gold in a Group Three in France.
The two leading hopes for the home team are Johnny Murtagh’s defending champion Ladies Church and French import Go Athletico, who bids to supplement a successful Irish debut for Ado McGuinness in the Listed Midsummer Sprint Stakes at Cork last month.
“He’s in great form and the ground will help. Unfortunately Ronan Whelan is suspended, but we’ve got a good deputy in Colin Keane,” said McGuinness.
“We’re very hopeful of a huge run. I know the Tim Easterby horse is back over, but he only ran last week in a Group One and our horse is fresh and well. We’re really looking forward to running him.
“I think our horse is even better than what he’s rated, hopefully he can prove it.”
Frankie Dettori has high hopes of making a successful return from suspension aboard Lezoo in the bet365 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury.
The 52-year-old incurred a nine-day ban for careless riding aboard Saga in the Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, with a subsequent appeal proving unsuccessful, as well as an eight-day suspension for a whip offence aboard Queen Anne second Inspiral.
As a result Dettori missed the ride on Coral-Eclipse runner-up Emily Upjohn and was denied the opportunity to partner the third-placed Kinross in last weekend’s July Cup, the only British Group One to elude him during a glittering riding career that is due to come to an end later this year.
Dettori, though, is keen to move on as he readies himself for what he hopes will be a busy second half of the season.
“I’m back and there is so much to look forward to,” he said.
“There’s the King George, Goodwood, Deauville and York. It’s going to be a packed summer and I’m looking forward to it.”
Like Kinross, Lezoo is trained by Ralph Beckett and carries the colours of Dettori’s long-time friend and supporter Marc Chan.
The magical Italian steered her to two of her four juvenile wins last year before William Buick took over for her Group One win in the Cheveley Park Stakes.
She has failed to trouble the judge in either the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket or the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot so far this term, but Dettori is confident about her chances in Saturday’s Group Three.
He added: “Lezoo was a Group One winner last year and she’s owned by Marc Chan and Andrew Rosen, who are two good friends of mine. It is always extra nice when you ride for your friends.
“I think we can put a line through Ascot, she just didn’t turn up. She’s a Group One winner and a good filly, so let’s hope we can get her going back to winning ways.”
The Michael Dods-trained Commanche Falls returns to Pattern level after a confidence-boosting Listed success at the Curragh three weeks ago.
The six-year-old finished third behind stablemate Azure Blue and Highfield Princess in the Duke of York Stakes on his penultimate start and was beaten just a head by Garrus in the Abernant Stakes at Newmarket earlier in the year.
“It’s obviously a tougher race than the one in Ireland, but it’s the only race there is for him really, so we’ll have to see how he gets on,” said Dods.
“He ran well at York before he won in Ireland, so hopefully he’s going there in good form.”
The Charlie Hills-trained Garrus is in opposition once more, while Adam Kirby is looking forward to riding Rohaan for trainer David Evans.
He said: “Rohaan’s last run at Ascot was much more pleasing. He is moving well and hopefully he can show his hand on Saturday.
“He finished off well, but it was a very slowly-run race. We were just pleased he came home and was only beaten a couple of lengths.
“Any rain will do him no harm, but some of his best form is in top-flight races on good to firm, so we’ll see.”
Other contenders include Mick Appleby’s King’s Stand third Annaf, who has since finished fourth in the Coral Charge at Sandown, and the Karl Burke-trained Cold Case, who bids to bounce back from a disappointing showing behind Little Big Bear in the Sandy Lane at Haydock.
Four people were arrested after Just Stop Oil protesters disrupted the second day of the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
American golfer Billy Horschel intervened to help remove one who invaded the 17th to throw powdered orange paint on the green. A smoke flare was also let off.
The 36-year-old escorted a woman wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt away from the putting surface and towards a police officer.
Another woman and two men, wearing similar T-shirts, were also handcuffed and marched off the course by several police officers.
Merseyside Police confirmed four people had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and public nuisance.
“At around 12.20pm Just Stop Oil supporters ran onto hole 17 at The Open in Royal Liverpool,” read a Just Stop Oil statement given to the PA news agency.
“They set off a smoke flare and threw orange powder paint on the green before being removed by security.”
Greenkeeping staff were dispatched to the hole and removed the powdered paint with leaf-blowers.
Merseyside Police said while it respected the rights of people to protest, disorder would not be tolerated.
“A small amount of powder was discarded onto the playing surface and it was reported that one person had a smoke pyrotechnic,” read a police statement.
“Two males and two females were quickly detained by both stewards and officers and they were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and public nuisance. They will be taken into police custody to be questioned.
“Merseyside Police respects the right to protest and expression of views but anti-social, criminal behaviour or disorder will not be tolerated and will be dealt with robustly.
“Police and The R&A management will be looking to ensure the activities of anyone who wants to protest don’t disrupt the event itself and if necessary we will use relevant legislation to deal with those people involved in it.
“Contingency plans are in place to help visitors enjoy these events in safety and with minimal disruption.”
Horschel declined to speak after his round but Merseyside Police has been contacted for comment.
In a statement, the R&A said: “A protester was quickly apprehended on the 17th hole and is one of four people who have been arrested by police.
“Play was not disrupted and we would like to thank the marshals, players and other spectators for their vigilance and understanding as the protesters were removed.”
Relief Rally will bid to give trainer William Haggas his third success in the Weatherbys Super Sprint when she takes on 20 rivals in the valuable five-furlong dash at Newbury.
Haggas, who struck with Superstar Leo in 2000 and Jargelle eight years later, feels the daughter of Kodiac has plenty going for her – and so do the bookmakers, who make her a warm favourite for the prize which is worth £122,925 to the winner.
Royal Ascot’s Queen Mary has been a good pointer to the Newbury sprint and having finished runner-up to American raider Crimson Advocate, who ended Relief Rally’s unbeaten run and foiled a hat-trick bid, Haggas feels she is the one to beat.
The last nine winners have come from stall 13 or higher and Tom Marquand’s mount is handily placed in stall 18, with Eve Johnson Houghton’s fancied pair Bobsleigh and Juniper Berries berthed in stalls 16 and four respectively.
“She’s a good filly and she’s very well,” said Haggas. “She won’t mind any rain. I don’t know about the draw.
“She is drawn with Bobsleigh and away from Juniper Berries, but there’s not much we can do about that. She has a good chance.”
The weight carried by a horse in the Super Sprint is determined by its sale price and as such, Juniper Berries, who finished fourth, four lengths behind Relief Rally at Ascot, is in receipt of 7lb this time.
Johnson Houghton said: “I was absolutely thrilled with Juniper Berries in the Queen Mary – she ran a blinder – and fourth at Royal Ascot is quite a feather in your cap.
“Relief Rally is obviously the main danger but we have a huge weight turnaround, so I am hoping that will be enough to change the placings.
“Bobsleigh has come out of the Coventry in very good form, I am very happy with him. He ran a storming race (at Ascot, beaten three lengths by River Tiber), which has turned out to be very strong form.
“That (five furlongs) would be my main worry. He has won over five and a half, but he looks like he gets the six furlongs well. They normally go very fast in the Super Sprint, so I am hoping that he we will be picking them up at the end.”
Irish raider Son Of Corballis has won two of his three starts for County Laois handler Kieran Cotter, latterly talking the scalp of the well-regarded Coolmore-owned colt Alabama in a Listed sprint at Tipperary.
Though he won on yielding ground on debut, Cotter is hoping the unsettled weather forecast is wrong.
He said: “We actually would want quickish good ground. He won on quick ground twice and I’m hoping it doesn’t rain to be honest.
“The way I look at it, if Alabama was in the race, he’d be hot favourite after previously running well at Ascot (fifth in the Windsor Castle) on the wrong side of the track. We’ve beat him twice this year with two different horses. He’s a fair horse.
“Before he won, he’d been working really well and we really fancied him. But since then, he’s been really laid back in his work, he just couldn’t be bothered.
“He has gone very relaxed altogether. So, when we were going for the Listed sprint, we thought cheekpieces would be needed, as these sprints are won by short heads.
“He is one of these horses who just pulls it out on the day, which is good, as we’ve had too many horses who will fly up the gallops and then you go to the track and they let you down a bit.
“He’s drawn 13 and that was our one big worry. The lads were saying if he was drawn one or two, you might just turn round the box.
“If you’d have given me the 13 stall yesterday I would have taken it. He’ll jump and go and we’ll see how far he gets.”
Roger Teal was also delighted with the 20 berth that Ffos Las debut winner Rosario has been accorded.
A son of Harry Angel, he had the reopposing Heed The Call and Relentless Warrior behind when scoring by a length and a quarter under George Rooke, who retains the ride.
Teal said: “He did it nicely on his first day at school. It all went very nicely and hopefully he will have improved for that, so fingers crossed.
“He is owned by my wife and we think a bit of him. He’s got a good draw, but the only worry would be the rain that is supposed to come on Saturday.”
He went on: “That could just mess us up a bit – he’s quite a good-moving horse and he wouldn’t want the ground too soft.
“Other than that, he’s pretty straightforward and he did the job nicely, so we’re looking forward to it.
“I’ve had bad draws all year, so it’s about time we got a good one. I don’t know what I’ve done right – they must have got my name mixed up in the computer somewhere!”
Peter Bowen’s Francky Du Berlais will bid for a third successive victory in the Unibet Summer Plate Handicap Chase at Market Rasen on Saturday.
The 10-year-old has landed the contest for the past two years, prevailing by seven and a half lengths in 2021 and by a neck in 2022.
His successes have continued Bowen’s exceptional record in the race, a contest he has won eight times since its inception in 1995.
Francky Du Berlais became the first horse to land the valuable chase twice when triumphant last year and he returns to Lincolnshire in good form as he goes for the hat-trick.
“He’s had his prep run and everything’s gone fine, everything’s ready for him now,” Bowen said.
“He’s won it twice and whether he can do it a third time, I don’t know, but he’s in great form anyway.”
When asked if the Summer Plate is a specific target for the yard, the trainer said: “Not particularly, but it just seems to happen for us in this race. It’s about seven hours from here but he’s made it worth it.”
Francky Du Berlais will not make the journey from Pembrokeshire alone as Bowen also has Courtland in the Summer Plate.
The eight-year-old has won his past three starts, including a course-and-distance victory by five and a half lengths last time out.
“Sean (Bowen, son) rides him (Francky Du Berlais) and Gavin Sheehan will ride Courtland, he’s in good form and he’s up and coming so he could be well in.”
Success in the race would be another win to add to Sean Bowen’s impressive tally so far this season, with the trainer’s son the current favourite be crowned champion jockey at the conclusion of the term.
Bowen snr said: “He’s had a brilliant start. As long as he can stay injury-free and have a bit of luck, he should stand a good chance.”
Elsewhere in the Summer Plate is Jonjo O’Neill’s La Domaniale and Sarah Humphrey’s Gloire D’athon, with Emma Lavelle saddling two entrants in both Killer Clown and Hang In There.
Gavin Cromwell also brings a pair of runners over from Ireland in Railway Hurricane and Broken Ice, while Laura Morgan is also double handed with And The New and Tardree.
Sergio Perez’s torrid run of form continued at the Hungarian Grand Prix after he crashed out of a rain-hit opening practice.
George Russell led the way in the wet conditions for Mercedes at the Hungaroring, 0.359 seconds clear of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll third and Lando Norris fourth.
Only 13 of the 20-strong field posted a competitive lap, with championship leader Max Verstappen and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton not risking the possibility of damage.
The first one-hour running of the weekend was still dry, and barely a few minutes old, when Perez lost control of his Red Bull and ended up in the wall.
The Mexican put two wheels on the grass under braking for the fifth corner, sending him into a pirouette and into the tyre barrier.
Perez was unharmed in the accident but he sustained significant damage to the front of his machine.
Perez is under increasing pressure at Red Bull following five consecutive qualifying sessions in which he has failed to make it into Q3. On each of those occasions, Verstappen has scored pole position in the other Red Bull.
Indeed, Verstappen, who has won eight of the opening 10 rounds and six in succession, has already moved 99 points clear of his struggling team-mate.
Daniel Ricciardo’s comeback at Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri is also likely to be playing on Perez’s mind, with the Australian admitting he is daring to dream about the possibility of a return to the grid’s all-conquering team.
For now, Ricciardo has a dozen races to prove his credentials. However, the eight-time grand prix winner was among those who elected not to set a timed lap on Friday.
The red flags were deployed to deal with Perez’s stricken car and then the rain arrived. The slippery conditions caught out Carlos Sainz after he lost control of his Ferrari on the exit of turn three.
The Spaniard spun across the track and grazed the wall on the opposite side of the circuit before becoming stuck in the grass.
A second red flag was required as marshals assisted in helping Sainz return to the pits with front-wing damage on his scarlet machine.
Friday’s concluding session takes place at 5pm local time (4pm BST).
Chad Ziadie and Aliana McMaster were crowned Jamaica’s national sporting clays champions on following an exhilarating day of shooting action at the Tru-Juice Estate in Bog Walk, St Catherine.
More than 100 of Jamaica’s best shooters had assembled to vie for the title of national champion. In the end, the pinpoint accuracy of Ziadie and the teen Phenom, McMaster, put them above the rest.
Ziadie advanced to the Super Six round after scoring 174 and was followed by Nicholas Chen (170), Christian Sasso (167), Craig Simpson (167) JJ Ralston (167) and Shaun Barnes (163).
The round consists of a 25-bird target over three rounds of intense shooting to determine the overall winner.
After the three rounds, Ziadie and Chen were tied on 185 forcing another round of eight targets. Both were still tied on 191, which meant that a fifth round shoot-off became necessary.
Ziadie shot first and picked off seven of the eight targets, forcing Chen to hit all eight targets for the win. He hit six thus handing Ziadie his very first national title.
"It feel great. I have been runner-up twice, last year and two years ago, so it feels good to be finally on top,” said the newly minted champion, who revealed how nerve-racking it was during the shoot off.
“You have to keep your mental going until the very end and also just zone out everybody else and just focus on yourself,” he said.
“He (Chen) pushed me to the end and I am glad I came out on top."
Junior shooter JJ Ralston was declared the A Class champion after scoring 167 along with Craig Simpson -167 and Christian Sasso - 167.
All three shooters competed in the Super Six shoot-off. Their placements are a direct result of their scores at the end of the shoot-off which were 183, 182 and 180 respectively.
McMaster had a relatively easier time of it, scoring 149. Her mother Wendy McMaster shot a score of 140 while Jolie Chin (115) was third.
Aliana, who was also second in the B Class behind Ramon Pitter (167), was thought she could have shot better during the tournament.
"I am not entirely satisfied with my performance over the weekend however I am still grateful that I was still able to come out on top," she said.
The top three shooters in the various classes were:
A Class: JJ Ralston - 167, Craig Simpson - 167 and Christian Sasso - 167.
B Class: Ramon Pitter - 161, Aliana McMaster - 149 and Najeeb Haber - 137.
C Class: Gordon Bucknor - 145, Dominic Simpson - 143 and Wendy McMaster 140 (L/R).
D Class: Craig Hendrickson - 156, Justin Samuda - 149 and Anthony Desnoes 141.
E Class: Max Williams - 127, Seymour Essor - 124 and Chris Clarke - 121.
Ladies Class: Aliana McMaster - 149, Wendy McMaster -140 and Joelie Chin - 115.
The Juniors: JJ Ralston - 167, Roman Tavares-Finson - 161, Mark Desnoes – 159.
Hunters or Beginners: Andrew Clarke - 132, Kevin Chin Shue - 126 and Nick Dawson - 125.
American golfer Billy Horschel intervened to help remove protesters who invaded the 17th green at Royal Liverpool on the second day of the Open Championship.
The 36-year-old escorted a woman wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt covered in orange paint off the green of the Hoylake links and into the custody of a police officer.
Both her and two other people wearing similar T-shirts were handcuffed and marched off the course by several police officers.
Just Stop Oil confirmed three people in total were involved in the protest.
“At around 12.20pm three Just Stop Oil supporters ran onto hole 17 at The Open in Royal Liverpool,” said a statement given to the PA news agency.
“They set off a smoke flare and threw orange powder paint on the green before being removed by security.”
Greenkeeping staff were dispatched to the hole and removed the powdered paint with leaf-blowers.
The environmental group have targeted a number of high-profile sporting events this summer, including the second Ashes Test at Lords – where England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow physically manhandled one pitch invader to the boundary – and Wimbledon, where three people ran onto the court throwing orange paper and jigsaw pieces.
Open organisers were prepared for a protest and stressed they had put in extra security precautions.
They did advise players not to engage with anyone who entered the course but Horschel decided against that.
This week the R&A revealed they had received a credible threat regarding Just Stop Oil protesters targeting last year’s Open at St Andrews but any action failed to materialise after security was stepped up.
It is understood police have now deployed one officer to each green on the course.
The R&A and Merseyside Police have been contacted for comment. Horschel declined to speak after his round.
Evgeniy Zukin says the only way to ensure tennis' future in Ukraine is by stopping the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia, with Belarus' assistance, invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The war still rages on, but in sport, Ukrainian athletes are carrying on, with Elina Svitolina becoming something of a figurehead with an exceptional run to the semi-finals at Wimbledon this month.
Zukin, the chief of the Ukraine Tennis Federation (UTF), is proud of the achievements of his compatriots, but warned that the "golden age" of Ukrainian tennis could ultimately lead to nothing down the line.
"This is the hard work of all the players themselves and the federation, the clubs, who put in those efforts in the last 10 years – the results are following just now," he told Stats Perform.
"We are truly happy, so many players in the top 50 and the way they play is inspirational and they have chances of beating the top players all the time. It's great.
"But could you imagine if this moment had come in a peaceful situation, in a good economical situation, because our main focus as the federation in the peaceful times was to promote our sports so that the parent would decide which sport their child would take up.
"They might go to tennis because it has tradition, good results, good coaches, so that’s why we need results on top, to grow the mass participation, to involve more people at grassroots. From those grassroots, there’d be more players, and from there more talents who become professionals if they work hard enough.
"Unfortunately now this is not the case and the problem is not many will be able to afford tennis for quite a big period of time.
"This is a golden age for [Ukrainian] women's tennis, for sure, but I'm really worried what's going to be there when this generation stops playing, and for the next generation."
Zukin says there is little the sporting community can do. Instead, the onus must be on the war coming to an end.
"We need to stop the war. This is the most important thing," he said.
"We cannot do anything in tennis when there are bombings in Kyiv, not even at the frontline, even in western Ukraine. We need to stop the war.
"Tennis is dependent on the economic situation of normal people, who can invest in their child until at least 13, 14, when we can understand if the kid can be a professional.
"Then we could support them, find an investor or a club. Those first five, six, seven years, it's the parents who are taking on most of the expenses.
"We need to stop the war, get back our normal economy and get it even better, with all the infrastructure that we lost already – it's not going to be easy, this is what we see as the biggest challenge, the economic resurrection.
"It's not about how many [tennis] courts were destroyed, the parents need to invest in their kids and be able to do this."
Stay Alert looks set to head to France in a bid to gain some form of compensation for her unfortunate runner-up effort in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.
The Group One contest produced a somewhat messy conclusion as the George Boughey-trained winner Via Sistina drifted across the track in the final furlong, impeding the placed horses in winning by two lengths under Jamie Spencer, who was suspended for six days.
Ben and Sir Martyn Arbib, who own Hughie Morrison’s second-placed Stay Alert, appealed against the decision not to revise the placings, but to no avail.
Though Stay Alert holds an entry in the Yorkshire Oaks on August 24, Morrison is favouring a trip to the Group One Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville four days earlier.
He said: “Ideally, I would go to France for the Romanet, over a mile and a quarter.
“The Yorkshire Oaks is afterwards and we can go there if we were not happy with something going to France. The Yorkshire Oaks is Plan B.”
One For Bobby is another talented filly at the Summerdown yard and she landed her biggest career success to date in the Group Three Grand Prix de Vichy on Wednesday evening.
Formerly trained by Johnny Murtagh, One For Bobby defeated Bolthole by three-quarters of a length in the 10-furlong contest.
Morrison will try to keep his two talented fillies apart and has not completely ruled out heading to Munich for the Group One Bayerisches Zuchtrennen, over a similar distance, on Sunday week.
“If we can keep them apart we will,” said Morrison. “One goes better on softer ground and one is better on faster ground, but they both go on good ground.
“I will talk to the owners and try to keep them apart.
“Actually, One For Bobby is in a Group One in Munich on Sunday week, because we were keeping our options open.
“If it was in three weeks after that (run), I would probably be going to Munich.
“I haven’t had a long chat to the owner yet, but prior to having won a Group race, (we felt) a Group One place would be at least as good as a Group Two win, so be brave and aim high.
“I think she won in conditions where you’d think she might be better in softer ground. She could win a weak Group One.
“She had been Group Two-placed last year and she is rated 104, so if they take the form at face value, she will go up to 109. The runner-up was rated 111.
“I think Munich is unlikely, but we’ll keep options open. You could go for the Prix Vermeille (at ParisLongchamp in September) and it might suit her, a mile and a half in France, we’ll see.”
Meanwhile, crack stayer Quickthorn, who bounced back to form when making most of the running to beat subsequent Group Two Princess of Wales’s Stakes scorer Israr in a Listed race at York last month, remains on course for the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup.
Morrison was primed to send the Lady Blyth-owned six-year-old to ParisLongchamp in a bid to win the Group Two Prix Maurice de Nieuil for a second successive season.
However, connections instead favoured a trip to the Sussex Downs for the two-mile Group One contest, for which he is a 10-1 shot with Coral.
“We were going to go to France, but the owners want to have a go at the Goodwood Cup, so that’s where we’re going,” said Morrison. “He’s in good form and that York form worked out pretty well didn’t it?”
American Brian Harman set an impressive pace in the second round of the 151st Open after tournament officials took the unorthodox step of changing the way the bunkers were raked between rounds.
Masters champion Jon Rahm described Royal Liverpool’s 82 bunkers as “proper penalty structures” after having to play backwards out of one during his opening 74, while Rory McIlroy needed two attempts to escape sand on the 18th in his 71.
In response, the R&A instructed greenkeeping staff to build up the edges of the bunkers to allow more balls to roll back into the centre.
“Yesterday afternoon the bunkers dried out more than we have seen in recent weeks and that led to more balls running straight up against the face than we would normally expect,” the R&A said in a statement.
“We have therefore raked all of the bunkers slightly differently to take the sand up one revet on the face of the bunkers.
“We routinely rake bunkers flat at most Open venues but decided this adjustment was appropriate in light of the drier conditions which arose yesterday.
“We will continue to monitor this closely for the remainder of the Championship.”
Even those players who managed to successfully escape from the bunkers on day one had expressed their concerns, with former champion Stewart Cink speaking out following a bogey-free 68.
“Eventually it’ll catch up with you,” the 2009 winner said. “The bottoms of them are so flat that if a ball comes in with any momentum, it’s just going right up to the lip and stop.
“There’s not a little upslope that helps you at all. They are very penal.”
Harman initially had no problems with the bunkers as he made four birdies in succession to surge into the lead, the left-hander holing from 20 feet on the second and similar distances on the third and fourth before hitting the pin with his chip to the par-five fifth to set up a simple tap-in.
Even when he had to play backwards out of a bunker on the 12th and missed the green with his third shot, Harman promptly chipped in for par to remain eight under, four clear of American Max Homa and Scotland’s Michael Stewart.
McIlroy began his second round in ideal fashion with a birdie on the first and, after missing from four feet on the third, got up and down from a bunker on the par-five fifth to improve to two under.
Australia’s Min Woo Lee had set the early clubhouse target on three under following a 68.
Truthful will continue her education in Listed company at Newmarket on Saturday with William Haggas content to take things gently with a filly whom he likes “a lot”.
Owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, the three-year-old daughter of Sea The Stars will take on 13 rivals in the Ric And Mary Hambro Aphrodite Fillies’ Stakes over a mile and a half, bidding to remain unbeaten.
She made a belated debut in May when scoring by a head from Mantoog in a 10-furlong novice at Salisbury, before impressively beating previous winner Shagpyle by two and three-quarter lengths when stepped up in an extended one-mile-three-furlong fillies’ novice at Haydock.
With Tom Marquand, who has been on board for both her victories, required for duty at Newbury, where he rides Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes favourite Relief Rally for the Somerville Lodge yard, Cieren Fallon takes over on Truthful.
Haggas said: “She is a work in progress and this is sort of the logical next step for her, and we will see whether she is up to it.
“We like her a lot, we think she’s a good stayer and I hope she will run a good race.”
However, plans are fluid thereafter and while she holds entries in both the Group Two Lillie Langtry at Goodwood and the top-class Yorkshire Oaks, the master conditioner is in no rush to pigeon-hole bigger targets for her.
“There are not really any long-term targets,” he added. “When you are training a filly like that for Highclere, we will go nice and gently and see where we are with her. She can go anywhere if she is up to the task.”
Truthful’s rivals include the highly-tried Novakai from Karl Burke’s yard and the four-year-olds Time Lock and Sound Angela.
Paul Wellens has urged his all-conquering St Helens squad to draw on the memory of recent heartbreaks if they wish to avoid adding an unwanted chapter to Challenge Cup history when they face Leigh in Saturday’s first semi-final.
Wellens’ men might have amassed a glittering pile of silverware but remarkably they will barely start favourites against Adrian Lam’s side, who only last season were celebrating lifting the 1895 Cup for second and third-tier sides at Wembley.
A revolution led by owner Derek Beaumont has catapulted the club to second place in their first season back in Super League – four points and two places above Saints – and within 80 minutes of a first Challenge Cup final appearance since they sunk Leeds at Wembley in 1971.
With the sport’s established order increasingly being stood on its head, it is perhaps no surprise that Wellens wants his players to forget their recent prize haul and focus on rare setbacks, such as their stunning semi-final defeat to Catalans Dragons in 2018.
Seven members of Saints’ current squad were involved in that game, which the French side won after blazing into a 27-0 half-time lead, and Wellens stressed: “A lot of of our group have won big matches but they have experienced a fair bit of heartbreak as well.
“Losing in the Cup semi-final to Catalans was an experience they have learned from, and has shaped them in terms of the way they approach big games. Sometimes out of those negative experiences, you can draw a lot of positives.”
Saints, who head into the game on the back of a gruelling Super League defeat to the French side which robbed them of influential duo James Roby and Mark Percival due to failed head injury assessments, certainly hold no fear for Lam’s buoyant side.
Lam’s men hit back from a 12-point half-time deficit to sink Saints 20-12 in their previous meeting in March, and have since forged a remarkable run of 12 wins in 13 games which has seemingly cemented their improbable place in the end-of-season play-offs.
For the Leigh-born former Saints hero Tommy Martyn, Lam and Beaumont have breathed new life into a club and a town for so long considered a “laughing stock” in rugby league circles for their inability to hold down a regular top-flight place.
Martyn, who played in Saints’ victorious 1996 and 1997 Challenge Cup final wins and also won Grand Finals and the World Club Challenge before ending his career with his home-town club, told the PA news agency: “It is the only thing anyone in Leigh is talking about.
“When I was growing up it was a golden era, winning the First Division title in 1982, and the town was booming then like it’s booming now. For so long the club was seen as a laughing stock. What Derek and Adrian have achieved is remarkable.”
Leigh’s stunning rise has been built on solid foundations, from a front row featuring stand-out prop John Asiata and mercurial hooker Edwin Ipape, to the flair in their three-quarters including the current joint-top Super League try-scorer, Josh Charnley.
But in a warning to Saints and the other clubs whom they must still face in their unlikely quest for silverware this season, Lam believes his side are still searching for their best.
“We pride ourselves on our identity but there are also one or two more levels we can keep improving on, and everyone agrees about that, so that’s the exciting part,” said Lam.
“We know the challenge ahead of us, we know it’s a massive mountain to climb, but the way this season has been rolling, if we can turn up and give our absolute best and be that same consistent side, I know we will give ourselves a chance.”
Tournament officials have changed the way the bunkers are raked for the 151st Open Championship following complaints from players that they were overly “penal”.
Masters champion Jon Rahm described Royal Liverpool’s 82 bunkers as “proper penalty structures” after having to play backwards out of one during his opening 74, while Rory McIlroy needed two shots to escape a greenside trap on the 18th.
In response, the R&A instructed greenkeeping staff to build up the edges of the bunkers to allow more balls to roll back into the centre.
“Yesterday afternoon the bunkers dried out more than we have seen in recent weeks and that led to more balls running straight up against the face than we would normally expect,” the R&A said in a statement.
“We have therefore raked all of the bunkers slightly differently to take the sand up one revet on the face of the bunkers.
“We routinely rake bunkers flat at most Open venues but decided this adjustment was appropriate in light of the drier conditions which arose yesterday.
“We will continue to monitor this closely for the remainder of the Championship.”
Even those players who managed to successfully escape from the bunkers on day one had expressed their concerns, with former champion Stewart Cink speaking out following a bogey-free 68.
“Eventually it’ll catch up with you,” the 2009 winner said. “The bottoms of them are so flat that if a ball comes in with any momentum, it’s just going right up to the lip and stop.
“There’s not a little upslope that helps you at all. They are very penal.”
American Brian Harman was having no issues with any bunkers as he carded four birdies in succession to surge clear at the top of the leaderboard.
Harman holed from 20 feet on the second and similar distances on the third and fourth before hitting the pin with his chip to the par-five fifth to set up a simple tap-in.
At eight under par the left-hander led by three shots from Tommy Fleetwood and South African amateur Christo Lamprecht, with Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo falling out of an overnight share of the lead following a double bogey on the second.
McIlroy began his second round in ideal fashion with a birdie on the first to improve to one under.
Sean Woods could step Savvy Victory up in class for next week’s Sky Bet York Stakes.
The four-year-old came from last to first under Tom Marquand to take the Listed Gala Stakes at Sandown earlier this month and may now test the water at Group Two level in the feature event on the final day of the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival.
Savvy Victory’s clear-cut Sandown success was just compensation for a luckless run at Royal Ascot when badly hampered at a crucial stage in the Hampton Court.
Woods is now scouring the programme book after his charge was hiked 6lb in the weights, with an appearance on the Knavesmire at the forefront of the Newmarket handler’s mind.
He said: “He has taken his run at Sandown very well and is back cantering. We are just waiting to see what options we have. We don’t have many options being rated 111 now.
“So, he will have an entry at York and will have an entry at Haydock (Betfred Rose Of Lancaster Stakes, August 12). Depending on the ground and opposition, we will make out minds up after that.”
Woods added: “We’ll put him in the York Stakes over 10 furlongs, but that ground can be a bit iffy sometimes.
“He likes cut in the ground and the weather is messing up everything at the moment. I had 11 entries for Saturday and I run one!
“If either one isn’t good, there is a Group Three at Windsor (Winter Hill Stakes, August 26), but he will be stepped up, rather than running again in a Listed race. He will be stepped up to a Group Two or Group Three.
“It’s a nice problem to have, so I’m happy.”
Claire Williams said selling the family’s Formula One team is a grief that has been difficult to come to terms with, admitting it has felt like someone cut her heart out and never gave it back.
Claire, 47, has been an F1 outsider for coming up to three years following the sale of the team founded by her father Sir Frank Williams to American investment firm Dorilton Capital for £136million.
She resigned as de facto boss at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, while Frank – who extraordinarily took his motor racing team from an empty carpet warehouse to the summit of the sport – died a year later.
“When I left in Monza it felt like someone cut my heart out and it has never been returned,” said Claire, in an interview with the PA news agency ahead of Williams’ 800th race at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
“You just have to find something to put in its place. But it was very difficult then and three years on, it is still really hard.
“It is just one of those griefs that is really difficult to get over, or to come to terms with. Now we have lost Dad, it sometimes feels as though it was just a dream. Did that period in our lives really happen?”
Sir Frank oversaw 114 victories, 16 drivers’ and constructors’ world championships and became the longest-serving team boss in the sport’s history.
His story is made all the more remarkable by a horrific car crash which left him with injuries so devastating doctors considered turning off his life-support machine.
Until his death in 2021, he was recognised as the world’s oldest surviving tetraplegic.
Frank, who lived at the team headquarters in Grove, Oxfordshire, handed over the managerial baton to daughter Claire in 2013.
She guided the team to a brilliant third in the constructors’ championship, behind the financial muscle of Mercedes and Ferrari over the following two years, before a lack of major investment contributed to Williams’ decline. A decade has passed since a Williams driver last won a race.
“There was so much that went on in those last few years, which to this day I will never be able to talk about,” continues Claire.
“But I saw the team through three very difficult seasons and I was able to hand over something that was still living and still breathing to someone with deeper pockets than us. We kept everyone in jobs, we didn’t go into administration and I am very proud of that.
“When I have challenging circumstances I bury my head in jobs and when we sold Williams, my next concern was, where did Dad go?
“As much as Dorilton were kind enough to say he could always live at the factory, I needed him close to me. And coincidentally the house next door to us came up for sale, so we moved Dad in.
“I managed his care team. I made sure he was happy and comfortable in his new home and we went off and did some nice stuff together. He would pick up my little one, Nate, from nursery.
“But then he got sicker, greater care was required to look after him and he passed away. But for the next six months, we organised this wonderful memorial service. We then decided to move house, renovating our old house in Ascot and our new home in South Downs.
“So, I am the master of distraction. Life carries on. And as much as I miss Williams, and I miss Formula One dreadfully, there is a whole other world out there. You have to go and find happy elsewhere. That is what I have done.”
However, Claire discovered her zen state is disrupted by watching the sport she loves.
She will not tune in on Sunday to see Alex Albon and rookie Logan Sargeant scramble for a point or two under the tutelage of new team principal James Vowles – an appointment Claire said her father would have approved of – in Williams’ landmark race.
“I turned on the TV to see Alex had scored a point in Australia earlier this year,” she continued with a broad smile.
“Ted’s Notebook was on and Ted [Kravitz] grabbed James and said, ‘mate, congratulations, you are only Williams’ third team principal and you have got a point. How does it feel?’
“And I was like, third team principal? That is Frank, that is Jost [Capito] and that is James, what about me? Ted has just cancelled me on national television!
“I may not have been called team principal but I operated that way and I have literally just been erased. I turned it straight off and vowed never to watch again.
“But I tried watching the last race at Silverstone. I thought to myself, ‘Right, I am going to do this. Come on’. But I watched the formation lap and that was that. I lasted five minutes.
“I don’t know what it is, but if you talk to any person who has worked, lived and breathed Formula One – no matter if that is for 20 years or 20 minutes – it does something to you. It absorbs you, and when you leave, particularly involuntary like I did, it is very difficult to watch it and not feel that loss.”
Claire dovetails speaking engagements and “top-secret television projects” with her role as brand ambassador for Williams Advanced Engineering.
Earlier this year, she launched the Frank Williams Academy in her father’s honour. The project aims to raise £1.5m to help educate and train those affected by spinal cord injuries. She also revealed Sky offered her the chance to return to the F1 paddock as a pundit.
“It was too soon,” said Claire. “It is better when you leave, you leave.
“Unless someone said to me, ‘Come back and be a team principal and you can have Williams back’, I don’t necessarily think there is a job I would want, but never say never.”
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