Ronnie O’Sullivan eases into the Crucible on the hunt for a modern record eighth world title and it is abundantly apparent that if the Rocket is in the mood, then very few of his rivals will be able to live with him.
But while O’Sullivan continues to soak up all the pre-tournament column inches, the PA news agency sizes up the best of the rest who are left with the daunting task of putting the brakes on the best player the game has seen.
Luca Brecel
Barring a run to the final of the non-ranking Shanghai Masters, Brecel has done anything but build on his stunning title success last year, and must rank as one of the least fancied returning champions in history. But the Belgian was equally unfancied 12 months ago when he waded into the Crucible insisting he had not laid a hand on the practice table, so it feels wrong to write him off entirely just yet.
Judd Trump
Flashback to 2019 when Trump’s maiden world crown bore all the hallmarks of a decade of dominance ahead. No fewer than 14 ranking titles have followed – including five this year alone – but with the exception of the 2023 Masters, the coveted majors have remained elusive. Trump undoubtedly has the talent to become a multiple world champion, but whether he has the temperament to see it through again remains a significant question mark.
Mark Selby
Four-time winner Selby trudges to the Crucible on the back of another inconsistent campaign that left him seriously considering retirement after his loss to Gary Wilson in the first round of this month’s Tour Championship. All of which will count for nothing, of course, when the Crucible kicks back in and the 40-year-old, who has repeatedly showed the tenacity to grind his way through the rounds, will once again be well and truly in the running.
Mark Allen
Seemingly in danger of becoming known as one of the game’s great under-achievers, Allen radically altered his style a couple of seasons ago and the ranking titles began rolling in – five in the last two years, plus a Champion of Champions gong. While it undoubtedly makes him better-equipped to break his Crucible duck, the fact remains that his Crucible record – with just two semi-finals in 17 appearances – leaves a lot to be desired.
Gary Wilson
Wilson’s run to the 2019 semi-finals as a qualifier looked to have been a flash in the pan until the last two seasons, in which the Tyneside man has picked up three ranking crowns and established a reputation as one of the toughest match-players in the business. With a steady temperament that makes him well-suited to the long game, Wilson could emerge once again as a major threat.
Barry Hawkins will return to the Crucible this year convinced he has proved a point to those who questioned whether he still had the hunger to pursue a second appearance in a World Snooker Championship final.
Hawkins’ relatively serene progress within the game’s elite – peaking with his 2013 final loss to Ronnie O’Sullivan – was rudely interrupted last year when he dropped out of the top 16 and failed to qualify for Sheffield the first time in 17 years.
But while the 44-year-old admits he too started to doubt his ability to return, a stellar current season, capped by his ending a seven-year wait for a fourth ranking title at the European Masters in August, will send him back to Sheffield in good heart.
“I know sometimes I come across like I’m not hungry enough, but it must be in there somewhere or I wouldn’t have been around as long as I have,” Hawkins told the PA news agency. “You need that hunger or you’re not going to succeed.
“I was devastated to miss out last year and for my run to come to an end. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so low about snooker.
“Inevitably, when you’ve played in ranking finals and massive arenas, your ranking starts to drop and you can’t help but start wondering if you’re on the slippery slope to retirement.
“It’s hard to keep that sustainability and that mindset, but I got my nose back in the top 16 and I set my goal to be seeded for the Crucible. I’ve bounced back this season and after winning the title in Germany I feel like my game is in good shape.”
Hawkins evolved into one of the Crucible’s most consistent performances in the wake of his run to the 2013 final, embarking on a run that would see him reach four semi-finals and one quarter over the next five years, including an epic 13-12 second-round win over O’Sullivan in 2016.
But his seemingly effortless progress belied a story of gritty resilience for the mild-mannered Hawkins, who failed to reach Sheffield for nine straight years before booking his place at the 10th attempt in 2006 – only to lose 10-1 to Ken Doherty.
“My immediate reaction was, thank God it’s over,” recalled Hawkins. “I was only young and I was completely demoralised, but at the same time I remember coming off and thinking, ‘I want to get back in there’.
“I couldn’t have imagined that I was going to go and play there so many times, have some unbelievable runs and beat some of the greatest players. It seems like a distant memory now but I suppose it did toughen me up for what was ahead.”
One of only a handful of current players to have proved he has the stamina for the 17-day Crucible slog, Hawkins, who is also a two-time Masters finalist, has renewed hope that could crown his career with a coveted ‘triple crown’ title.
“As the years go by the belief slowly dwindles that you are going to win one of the big ones,” he added.
“But you’ve just got to keep punching and live in hope, because you never know when it could happen. It could come completely out of the blue.
“One thing’s for sure, if I finish my career and I haven’t managed it, it won’t be through lack of trying.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan may claim not to care about records but the magnitude of his quest to eclipse Stephen Hendry and claim a record-breaking eighth world snooker title in the modern era cannot be understated.
O’Sullivan heads to the Crucible as reluctantly as ever, yet he is arguably never in a stronger position to go one better than his great rival and further enhance his surely unarguable status as the greatest snooker player of all time.
It is a mark of his true greatness that O’Sullivan finds himself in such a position at the age of 48, and having adopted an almost lackadaisical public approach to his sport, picking and choosing his events and constantly deriding his own performances and occasionally those of his peers.
While other players sweat and toil and chisel their way deep into the Crucible’s 17 days, O’Sullivan will waft in and out with an agenda led by the prospect of lucrative exhibitions and ambassadorial deals with the likes of Saudi Arabia, further underscoring his status as simply a player apart.
There are a handful who have proved themselves more than capable of sinking O’Sullivan – not least his fellow ‘Class of 92’ star Mark Williams, who routed him 10-5 in the Tour Championship final last month and is exhibiting some of his best form in years.
Mark Selby, despite another torrid season which resulted in him recently threatening retirement, still summoned a rare 6-0 whitewash of O’Sullivan in February, while emergent Chinese star Zhang Anda beat him in back-to-back tournaments earlier in this campaign.
Yet it remains abundantly clear that having withdrawn from no fewer than seven ranking titles this season for various medical and mental health reasons, the biggest threat to O’Sullivan clinching that prestigious eighth title remains O’Sullivan himself.
Snooker is still waiting for a true rival to stand up and be counted. Judd Trump continues to sweep all before him in lesser ranking events but his displays in the so-called majors have left much to be desired, the expected surge after his 2019 world title win having hardly materialised.
Luca Brecel, the reigning champion and a man after O’Sullivan’s heart after swaggering into the Crucible last year to win the thing despite insisting he had not so much as potted a ball in practice, has endured a dismal season by any top-16 player’s standards.
Selby is another to have performed sluggishly but his grit and determination invariably makes him come good at at the Crucible, and he is clearly the name to be reckoned with – qualifiers notwithstanding – in a much weaker top half of the draw.
Mark Allen is another whose undoubted talent has seldom been glimpsed in a series of Crucible calamities, while older stagers like Ali Carter and Gary Wilson have the guts but perhaps not that final special something required to go all the way.
Two players who were shaping up into the best prospects to at least share the spotlight with O’Sullivan and haul the sport into a new global era, Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao, remain banned for a variety of offences relating to betting on snooker.
It is 90 years since the great Joe Davis won his own eighth title, beating the only other player willing to stump up the five guineas entry fee, Tom Newman, 25-22 in the final played over five days at Kettering’s Central Hall.
In those intervening years the game has changed unfathomably, to the point where Saudi princes are dangling the lure of seven-figure prize money for players who pot a golden ball at the end of a maximum break.
But one constant remains: the dominance of a single individual. Not since the great pioneer Davis, who would go on to win 15 straight titles before retiring undefeated in 1946, has the sport seen a player so far apart from the rest of the field.
The latest episode of the Ronnie O’Sullivan show starts this weekend – whether O’Sullivan, or the sport’s officials, or the rivals he leaves so consistently short-changed and occasionally enraged – like to see it that way or not.
LeBron James starred as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans to reach the NBA play-offs.
The 39-year-old scored 23 points in the Lakers’ 110-106 victory and also contributed nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals.
The Lakers go into the play-offs as the seventh seed and will face defending champions the Denver Nuggets in the first round.
Speaking to reporters, James said: “It was a good all-round team win. This was a long road trip, you almost forget we were in Memphis before these two games.
“Tonight was definitely a play-off game so get your mind right, get your body right, try to get as much recovery as we can before we have to go out there on Saturday.
“It’s a sprint now, we already went through the marathon. Tonight we showcased what we’re able to do both offensively and defensively. We’ve got a good group going right now, a good rotation, good plan and guys are coming in ready to go.”
James, who will compete in the play-offs for the 17th time in 21 seasons, feels his team have their work cut out against the Nuggets.
“It’s the defending champion, they know what it takes, they know how to win, they’ve been extremely dominant at home over the last few years,” he said.
“They’ve got high-level players, high IQ players, they’ve got a hell of a coach. We have to play mistake-free basketball and make it tough on them.”
LeBron James tallied 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Zion Williamson’s 40 points to clinch a playoff berth with a 110-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference play-in tournament on Tuesday night.
D’Angelo Russell added 21 points with five 3-pointers and Anthony Davis had 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who advanced to face the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in a rematch of last season's West finals.
Williamson shot 17 of 27 and had 11 rebounds and five assists in his postseason debut before he went to the locker room after tying the game at 95 on a driving layup with 3:19 remaining. He threw a towel to the floor in disgust as he walked into the tunnel with what coach Willie Green called “left leg soreness.”
Williamson didn’t get much help, as Brandon Ingram scored 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting and CJ McCollum was limited to nine on 4 of 15, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
Soon after Williamson’s injury, James hit a jumper, Davis dunked on an alley-oop, Russell drained a 3 and Davis grabbed a crucial offensive rebound, then hit two key free throws.
New Orleans will take on Sacramento on Friday for the final playoff spot in the West.
Kings roll to eliminate Warriors
Keegan Murray scored 32 points with eight 3-pointers and every Sacramento starter scored in double figures as the Kings cruised to a 118-94 victory to eliminate the Golden State Warriors and stay alive in the play-in tournament.
Harrison Barnes scored 17 points, Domantas Sabonis added 16, 12 rebounds and seven assists and Keon Ellis contributed 15 points as the Kings moved on to a matchup with New Orleans on Friday with a chance to return to the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Golden State was kept out of the playoffs for the third time in five seasons, including two eliminations in the play-in tournament. The Warriors committed 16 turnovers, gave up 15 offensive rebounds and missed 23 of 33 from long range.
Stephen Curry had 22 points, but Klay Thompson didn’t score and missed all 10 shots from the field.
Six-time world champion Steve Davis announced his retirement from snooker on this day in 2016.
Davis brought his career to a fitting close, bowing out at the Crucible in Sheffield, where he won all six of his world titles.
He called time after 38 years as a professional, winning 28 ranking titles, three Masters crowns and making 355 century breaks.
He also played in the most memorable world final of all, losing on the black in the deciding frame against Dennis Taylor in 1985.
Davis’ father Bill Davis died at the age of 89 in March 2016, and in an emotional press conference Steve Davis told how he had entered the recent World Championship qualifiers for his father, knowing it was one last bid to earn a place in the televised stages.
A 10-4 defeat to Fergal O’Brien in the first of three qualifying rounds merely confirmed to Davis it was time to quit.
Davis was world champion in 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988 and 1989. “Then Stephen Hendry came along and nicked all my sweets,” Davis joked.
“I don’t want to play any more, it’s too hard. There were matches that by the time I had got in the car I had already forgotten about them.
“Back in the day, you would have gone home and been furious for two or three days later and you didn’t calm down. I noticed that it didn’t matter as much.
“I’ve had moments at the Crucible where it has been the most wonderful place and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
“I have also had times in that place where I’ve wanted it to swallow me up – it was the worst place ever.”
There was a rousing reception for Davis as he was allowed the Crucible arena floor to himself after revealing his retirement plan.
He walked around, holding up the World Championship trophy, and was treated to a standing ovation.
The Miami Heat are anticipating a "dog fight" in their play-in matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers, according to forward Caleb Martin.
The 8th-seeded Heat face the 7th-seeded Sixers - who have listed Joel Embiid as questionable - at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.
Defeat for the Heat would see them in a win-or-go-home contest, but victory would see them open the playoffs against the New York Knicks.
Speaking ahead of the showdown with the Sixers, Martin is quoted by the Miami Herald as saying: "Everybody knows what's at stake going into that building, including them.
"We just expect a dog fight. We went through a lot of difficult games this year, over the last couple years, to get us prepared for these types of moments.
"So we'll definitely come in with the right mentality."
An injury-ravaged Heat ended the regular season with a record of 46-36, including a run of 7-3 across their final 10 games.
The Heat hope to have Duncan Robinson back after a four-game absence through a back injury, but Terry Rozier has been ruled out.
Miami and Philadelphia split the season series, and Heat center Bam Adebayo sees no reason why his side cannot come out on top this time around.
"We've been in a lot of big games before," he said. "We've all experienced it. We've been to the Finals. We understand what's at stake."
Steve Kerr is hoping for more of the same from "sublime" Steph Curry when the Golden State Warriors face the Sacramento Kings in the play-ins.
Curry produced a career-high 50 points to guide the Warriors to a Game 7 victory in Sacramento in the sides' most recent win-or-bust showdown.
The two-time MVP became the first player in playoff history to score 20 points or more from behind the arc and in the paint in the same game.
Asked about that performance on the eve of Tuesday's do-or-die matchup with Sacramento at Golden 1 Center, Kerr told reporters: "He's one of the great clutch players in the history of the league, we know that.
"That performance did not surprise me because he's 'that guy'. What I remember about that game is that we extended a lead at the end of the third, I think we went into the fourth up by 12 or something and so we had timeouts saved up.
"And the conversation you're referring to I think I was telling him we can take a timeout anytime you want just to get a couple of minutes of rest. And we were able to control that fourth quarter, but he was so sublime."
Curry leads the NBA standings across the regular season for average 3-point field goals made (4.8) and is ninth overall in terms of average points per game (26.4).
If the Warriors are to stay on course for the playoffs, the four-time NBA champion will likely have a major part to play.
"I think he led the league in player efficiency this year and clutch minutes," Kerr added of what to expect from Curry.
"We've seen him win championships, win Finals MVP. I mean Steph Curry is Steph Curry."
It is likely to be the Cheltenham Gold Cup rather than a Grand National repeat that is on the agenda for I Am Maximus next season, as Willie Mullins sees his Aintree hero as the perfect candidate for the Cheltenham Festival blue riband.
It is barely a month since Galopin Des Champs enjoyed receiving the adulation of the locals after providing the master of Closutton with his fourth Gold Cup triumph and I Am Maximus appears set to be trained with the Cotswolds in mind as it was his turn to be paraded through the streets of Leighlinbridge in County Carlow on Tuesday evening.
The eight-year-old was sent off the 7-1 joint favourite for the Aintree showpiece after impressing in the Bobbyjo Chase in February and provided the perennial Irish champion with his second victory in the world’s most famous steeplechase, 19 years after he triumphed with Hedgehunter in 2005.
However, it may have to be one of his stablemates who bids to mark the 20th anniversary of that first National success with another win in Liverpool, as I Am Maximus is set to join Mullins’ swelling Gold Cup hand that includes the likes of dual winner Galopin Des Champs and high-class novice Fact To File.
“I Am Maximus is definitely a Gold Cup horse and I couldn’t see much point in going back to Aintree again,” said Mullins.
“I’ll be training him for the Gold Cup anyway.”
Mullins also gave his seal of approval to the array of alterations to the Merseyside race, which led to no fallers and the highest number of finishers since 2005 – with all of the handler’s eight-strong team leaving Aintree unscathed.
“We live in different times and nothing stays the same, everything changes,” continued Mullins.
“When you go back many years ago, the National was dead on its feet and Aintree was going to be sold and it was saved.
“You have to change and go with the present day. Today, we have a £1million National and there was a huge amount of people going to Aintree over the three days and it was special what they did – and there will be the odd tweaks and turns every now and then.”
I Am Maximus was given a masterful ride by Paul Townend, who became the first man in 94 years to win the Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same season.
However, the son of Authorized’s seven-and-a-half-length romp over Delta Work also put Mullins in pole position to create his own piece of history and become the first Irish-based handler since the great Vincent O’Brien in the 1950s to claim the UK jumps trainers’ championship.
The 67-year-old has got a multitude of entries for Ayr’s two-day Scottish Grand National meeting, as he attempts to beat Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls to the title, and is set to be mob-handed in the £200,000 feature after confirming a possible six runners for the four-mile marathon.
“It’s never been an ambition because one does not have those ambitions, they are not real,” he said of his tittle bid.
“We find ourselves in this position and hopefully we will go close and I suppose now that we are so near, you want it more when you are so near.
“We’ve done lots of entries and I would say Mr Incredible will run and Macdermott will run in the big one at Ayr and hopefully we will have two or three to go with them.
“At this point in time, we’ve just got plenty of entries and we will see how the horses are during the week before we send them on their way.”
Blake Griffin has dunked in an NBA game for the last time.
The six-time All-Star announced his retirement on social media on Tuesday after a 14-year pro career.
The first overall pick of the 2009 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, Griffin missed the entire 2009-10 season with a broken patella in his left knee sustained in the preseason.
He made an immediate impact the following year, however, winning the 2010-11 Rookie of the Year Award, the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest and was named to the first of five consecutive All-Star teams while playing for the Clippers.
A three-time All-NBA Second Team selection and a two-time All-NBA Third Team pick, Griffin made his final All-Star Game appearance in 2019, with the Detroit Pistons.
The 35-year-old spent the 2023-24 season out of basketball as a free agent.
Griffin's best season came in 2013-14, when he finished third in MVP voting with averages of 24.1 points per game, 9.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists to help the Clippers capture the Pacific Division title.
In his final NBA season, Griffin averaged career lows of 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 41 games for the Boston Celtics in 2022-23.
Though injuries slowed him in recent seasons, Griffin, who also played for the Brooklyn Nets, still averaged 19.0 points per game and 8.0 rebounds in 765 career games.
One of basketball's top dunkers, Griffin may be best remembered for winning the Slam Dunk Contest by dunking the ball after jumping over a parked car on the floor at his home-court in Los Angeles.
Rory McIlroy has dismissed a report that he was on the verge of a shock move to LIV Golf.
London financial paper City AM reported at the weekend that McIlroy, who has been among the staunchest critics of the Saudi-funded breakaway, could be about to jump ship in a deal worth USD850million (£680million).
McIlroy’s manager Sean O’Flaherty told the Irish Independent the report was “fake news” and the world number two was asked about the claim ahead of this week’s RBC Heritage.
“I honestly don’t know how these things get started,” McIlroy said in an interview with Golf Channel which he subsequently posted on his official account on X, formerly Twitter.
“I’ve never been offered a number from LIV and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV.
“I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.
“Doesn’t mean that I judge people that went and played over there, I think one of the things that I’ve realised over the past two years is people can make their own decisions for whatever they think is best for themselves and who are we to judge them for that?
“But personally for me my future is here on the PGA Tour and it’s never been any different.”
Asked if he knew where the rumour had originated, McIlroy said: “No, no idea.
“Jeez, I think over the last two years there’s been so many rumours of guys… and I think the one thing I’ve realised as well is guys need to keep an open mind and I’m sure there’s been players who are still playing on the PGA Tour that have talked to the guys from LIV and had offers and whatever.
“But I have no idea. It’s never even been a conversation for us and it’s one of those things.
“It’s unfortunate we have to deal with it and this is the state that our game’s in but I’m obviously here today, playing this PGA Tour event and I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career.”
Rafael Nadal made a triumphant return to the match court with victory over Flavio Cobolli in the first round of the Barcelona Open.
The 37-year-old was playing just his second tournament in 15 months after suffering another injury problem in his hip muscle at his comeback event in Brisbane in January.
Nadal only committed to playing at the tournament he has won 12 times on Monday but there was not much rust on display as he eased to a 6-2 6-3 victory over 21-year-old Italian Cobolli in his first match on clay since he won his 14th French Open title in 2022.
Nadal received a hero’s welcome as he strode out onto the court that bears his name and, although there were a few loose forehands in the early stages, the former world number one was too solid for Cobolli.
Cobolli understandably looked nervous and contributed to the scoreline with far too many errors, but a big factor in that was the pressure being exerted from the other end of the court.
A blip came when Nadal, who is set to retire at some point this season, played a poor game to drop serve for the first time in the third game of the second set but he had already broken Cobolli and quickly restored his advantage.
There were some vintage forehands from Nadal in the final stages and he clinched victory when Cobolli netted a final backhand, thrusting his fist into the air.
The home favourite faces a real test next, though, when he takes on in-form fourth seed Alex De Minaur.
Meanwhile, second seed Andrey Rublev destroyed his racket at the end of a 6-4 7-6 (6) defeat by Brandon Nakashima that continued his poor run of form.
Kikkuli ensured a notable family line and famous silks returned to the winner’s enclosure by claiming the Alex Scott Maiden Stakes at Newmarket in promising fashion.
The Harry Charlton colt, who is a half-brother of the great Frankel, shed his maiden tag with a gutsy performance during the seven-furlong contest in the green and pink colours of Juddmonte Farms in the hands of Ryan Moore.
He was placed in midfield for much of the race, where Manhattan Mirage flew into a huge lead but quickly weakened, before Moore found a gap for Kikkuli to power through.
Market leader Creative Story threatened to spoil the party by getting his nose in front at one point, but Kikkuli fought back to regain the lead and prevailed by a neck at 5-2, as he built on his encouraging debut last year with his first success.
“It’s wonderful to have him in the yard, but it comes with a little bit of added pressure. It means a lot to the family and a lot to racing,” Charlton told RacingTV about training Frankel’s half-sibling.
“We were hopeful we would see a similar performance to last year with that finish and I think with that final furlong, we saw that strength come through.
“There’s no immediate plan. Ryan said there is something in there but bide your time, he will be even better next year. No grand plans immediately but Ryan was hopeful we will get there one day.”
Ten Bob Tony (7-1) produced a fine one-length success in the bet365 EBF Conditions Stakes to complete a quickfire double for Ed Walker.
The three-year-old contested the lead with Bold Style on the near rail before the challenger moved two lengths clear. Ten Bob Tony then clawed back the advantage with two furlongs to go, as odds-on favourite Boiling Point made headway to try and dispute.
Roger Varian’s colt got to within half a length of the leading pair before jockey Tom Marquand judged the ride perfectly for Ten Bob Tony to finish strongly.
Walker hinted at a tilt at the Qipco 2000 Guineas, where his charge is now priced at 40-1 from 100-1 with Betfair and Paddy Power.
“He just showed a great attitude there, didn’t he?” Walker said. “Tom gave him a perfect ride and got the fractions right, and he hit the line really well.
“I think it has to be (targeting the 2000 Guineas). First horse for a new owner and the dream’s alive – and I think it has to be if he comes out of it well. He loves the track, so why not?”
Walker’s first triumph of the day came through 20-1 shot Hafeet Alain, who literally got his nose in front when it mattered most to land the Mutasaabeq New For 2024 Handicap.
Jockey Saffie Osborne was off the bridle with three furlongs left as Hafeet Alain swooped to the outside and started to gain on the challengers, getting ahead of Majestic inside the final 200 metres.
He battled gamely to move clear but Dutch Decoy was powering home and was a touch unlucky to be beaten by a nose, with Daysofourlives and Theoryofeverything close behind in third and fourth respectively.
“He’s a star,” Walker said of Hafeet Alain. “Last season, he had a great season and he just loves his racing, he is so game. He’s such a game horse, he’s a legend. A real yard favourite.”
Arran ensured Paul and Oliver Cole remained unbeaten with their juveniles so far this season by claiming the British Stallion Studs EBF Novice Stakes.
The colt – sired by Havana Grey – grabbed the early lead, which he never relinquished.
He held off a late charge from The Actor to win by a neck at 6-1 for the Coles’ second success with two-year-old runners this campaign. Hallasan, who is by multiple Group One winner Pinatubo and went off as market leader, finished in third.
Hugo Palmer got his first winner on the turf this season as Watcha Matey powered to a two-and-a-quarter-length victory in the JRA Handicap.
The three-year-old was prominent throughout the mile contest and did not panic when the aptly-named Crown Estate hit the front three furlongs out in the Royal colours.
However, that runner quickly weakened, leaving Watcha Matey, The Camden Colt and The Ice Phoenix battling for the lead in the closing stages, before the eventual winner kicked on for a convincing triumph.
Tees Spirit (10-1) ran out a good winner under the guidance of Mia Nicholls in the It’s Never Ordinary At bet365 Handicap.
The six-year-old, who had placed just once since his last win in August 2022, established an early lead on the far rail and was three lengths clear by the time they hit the halfway mark in the five-furlong race.
He weakened and drifted inside late on, but still crossed the line one and three-quarter lengths ahead of the strong-finishing Navello.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is reportedly unlikely to play when the Milwaukee Bucks open the NBA play-offs.
The Bucks expect to be without Antetokounmpo for the start of their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Tuesday.
The two-time league MVP will continue to go through treatment on his left calf strain, and the team remains hopeful he'll be able to take the court at some point during the series against the sixth-seeded Pacers.
Game 1 tips off Sunday in Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo missed the final three games of the regular season after he strained his left calf in the third quarter of Milwaukee's 104-91 win over the NBA-best Boston Celtics on April 9.
It was a non-contact injury for Antetokounmpo, who was heading up the court when he awkwardly went down grabbing his left calf.
An MRI later confirmed it was a calf strain.
The eight-time All-Star is coming off another outstanding season, ranking second in the NBA in scoring with an average of 30.4 points per game and sixth in rebounding at 11.5 boards per game.
The Bucks lost two of the final three games of the season with Antetokounmpo injured to slip from second place in the Eastern Conference to the third seed.
On the season, the Bucks went 4-5 in games he missed and 45-28 in games he played.
Making matters even more difficult for Milwaukee is the Pacers went 4-1 against the Bucks in the 2023-24 regular season.
Daryl Jacob will not return to action for the end of the jumps season as he continues to recover from a broken collarbone.
The jockey, who is one of the most experienced in the weighing room, fell along with Henry Daly’s Moon Hunter in late March and incurred the injury.
He has since had to sit out as horses owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, to whom he is a retained rider, have gone on to win in his absence.
That absence will last a little longer than initially thought and Jacob will not be able to return to the saddle before the season is out.
He told sportinglife.com: “Because of the nature of the break, and where it is, I need to go back (to the specialist) again in three weeks.
“The injury is healing but is going to take a little longer than I originally hoped.
“I’ve been working hard in the gym to try and get ready but now I need to have a quiet week and then get going again.
“It’s frustrating but I’m going to give it all the time it needs and will be raring to go once I’ve been given the green light.”
Last season’s Cambridgeshire hero Astro King returns to headquarters to contest the bet365 Earl Of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket on Wednesday.
The seven-year-old enjoyed a hugely productive 2023 campaign for Daniel and Claire Kubler, with a nose defeat in the John Smith’s Cup followed by lucrative wins back at York and on the Rowley Mile.
Astro King has since enjoyed winter trips to the Middle East, running with credit in both the Bahrain International Trophy and the Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia, and connections are looking forward to seeing him return to competitive action on home soil.
Claire Kubler said: “It’s obviously the same course and distance as the Cambridgeshire and it will be nice to get him back there, he’s in good form.
“It was a big ask to travel abroad, but he ran a great race in Bahrain, he was just a bit unlucky with the draw and got stuck against the rail. There was lots of promise there and we’re looking forward to another good campaign with him this year.
“It will be interesting to see how he runs, I just wonder what the ground will be like. The way it’s drying out, it might just be a bit holding, which is not ideal, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Karl Burke has declared Royal Rhyme to make his first appearance since finishing fifth in last season’s Qipco Champion Stakes, but his participation is far from certain due to the drying ground.
“He’s in good shape, but I’d be a bit worried about the ground and if we’re not happy with it, he’s a possible non-runner,” said the Spigot Lodge handler.
“If it goes on the firm side, he definitely wouldn’t run and really, to be at his best, he wants a bit of soft ground.”
Charlie Appleby and William Buick have teamed up to win the last two renewals of the Earl Of Sefton, with Master Of The Seas and Ottoman Fleet, and the latter returns to headquarters to defend his crown.
The five-year-old has enjoyed a productive winter campaign in Dubai, placing at Group Two and Group One level before failing to fire in the Group Two Singspiel Stakes on his most recent start in February.
“Ottoman Fleet put up a couple of decent runs in Dubai and we gave him a nice break since he disappointed slightly in the Singspiel Stakes,” Appleby said on the Godolphin website.
“He has freshened up again and we know that he runs well at the track. Some ease in the ground won’t do him any harm.”
Other contenders include Roger Varian’s Embesto, who dead-heated for victory in the Group Three Sovereign Stakes at Salisbury last summer, and Sir Michael Stoute’s admirable veteran Regal Reality.
Ryan Moore, who rides Regal Reality, told Betfair: “He has run some good races when fresh in the past and hopefully the ground remains decent for him, though he has winning form with a bit of dig, too.
“As a nine-year-old, he has to give a few years to all of his rivals and he would be vulnerable to an improver like Royal Rhyme, but he has run some very good races on this track, including when a narrow second in the Joel Stakes here in September. He is among the form horses here on that run.”
Paddy Twomey looks set to have no less than three runners in the Irish 1,000 Guineas as his yard is well-stocked with promising fillies.
The unbeaten A Lilac Rolla is the horse most recently seen from the trio, winning the Group Three Priory Belle at Leopardstown ahead of Natalia Lupini’s Kitty Rose when starting her campaign on heavy ground.
That run followed a juvenile season in which she was two from two, winning on debut at Cork and then taking a Curragh contest ahead of subsequent Newtownanner Stud Stakes and Prix Marcel Boussac winner Opera Singer.
“I was very happy with how she did it in the Guineas trial the other day at Leopardstown, she had two good runs last year and she backed that up,” Twomey said of the filly.
The trainer now considers the Irish 1,000 Guineas to be the right Classic for the bay and she is likely to head there instead of the English edition at Newmarket.
“I’d say the Irish 1,000 Guineas is the race she’ll go for next, she’s entered there and she’s not entered in Newmarket,” he said.
“She won the other day in spite of the ground I would say, she’s got form last year where she beat Opera Singer on pretty quick ground and then she’s won on heavy ground, so she’s pretty versatile.
“She’s a classy filly and every time she’s started a race, she’s done exactly what we thought she would do.
“The two fillies pulled away the other day and she had every chance to curl up, Natalia’s filly was very good on the day but she put her head down and the two of them passed the line well clear of the field. She was brave to win.”
Joining A Lilac Rolla in the race is likely to be Purple Lily, the winner of a Galway maiden last season and impressive when taking the TRM Equine Nutrition Race by three lengths at Naas on her first start this year.
As she is lightly raced, Twomey would like to take his time and target the Irish 1,000 Guineas, which is three weeks later than the Newmarket contest.
“Purple Lily is an exciting filly, she went to Galway ready to run and was impressive I thought,” he said.
“She did everything back to front and still won, I was keen to run her back this season in a winners’ race as opposed to a Stakes after having just one run as a two-year-old.
“She’s a filly that came from the breeze-ups, she’s a big, strong filly, so I wasn’t in a hurry to give her another run.
“We decided that she’d go to Naas and take on the colts, as I thought she might be fit to do it, and you’d have to be very happy with what she did on the day in the ground against highly-rated colts. She was impressive.
“She will go for an Irish Guineas and not an English Guineas, and she’s a filly that will stay 10 furlongs in time. She’s very exciting.
“I’d like to get another run into her of some description but she could go straight to the Guineas now.”
Finally, there is One Look, another real prospect who commanded a great deal of respect when running away with the Goffs Million by six lengths on her only start as a two-year-old.
Naturally, she was a very warm order when making her debut at three at Cork and she did not disappoint, winning by three lengths on heavy ground over seven furlongs.
She too is on the path to the Irish 1,000 Guineas, with either the Athasi Stakes or the Cornelscourt Stakes the probable port of call along the way.
Twomey said: “One Look won the Goffs Million last year, I didn’t feel like running her again after that. To go to the race in September and to win as impressively as she did, if you give her a month after winning, you were into November and there’s not really anywhere to go.
“I was keen then this year to run her in a winners’ race rather than going straight to a Stakes, she had her one day at the races and she won very impressively, but it all happened quickly and I wanted her to have some more education.
“We took her to Cork ready to run, the ground wasn’t what we’d be looking for but she did what we hoped she’d do. She was the 1-20 favourite and my first runner on the day had been beaten, so I wasn’t feeling great about it! But she went and did it, it was a good educational day out for her.
“My thinking now is that she won’t go to Newmarket, I think she’ll stay in Ireland and either go to the Athasi Stakes or more likely the Cornelscourt Stakes at Leopardstown, with a view to going to the Irish Guineas.
“I feel that I’d like to educate her a bit more along the way, I don’t want to land her into an English Guineas just now. Those are the two races I would run her in if she is going to run before the Irish Guineas and the preference would be the three-year-old only race (Cornelscourt).
“I think she needs faster ground. I know that it wasn’t fast the day she won the Goffs Million but the way she accelerated on that slightly softer ground, I think she’ll get a mile and I think that she’ll get further than a mile, she’s light on her feet and she’s athletic and I think fast ground would be a real plus for her.
“She’s one that I would hope will progress all year, I’m just not in a hurry to rush off to England and give her a grueller. I would like to take the next step with her career in mind.”
Britain’s oldest professional jockey Jimmy Quinn has confirmed his intention to continue riding until the end of the season, having initially planned to announce his retirement at Newmarket on Tuesday.
The 56-year-old has enjoyed multiple big-race victories during a 40-year career, most notably making the most of his light weight when coming in for the ride aboard John Best’s rapid two-year-old Kingsgate Native, who provided him with a first Group One victory in the 2007 Nunthorpe Stakes at York.
With the Charlie Hills-trained Bodorgan his only booked ride at this year’s Craven meeting, Quinn felt the time had come to call it a day, but he has now been persuaded to carry on for the rest of the year.
“It (licence) runs out today and word got out on the street pretty quick (regarding the planned retirement),” he told Racing TV.
“I got a few phone calls, positive ones from senior riders and other people riding, and one of them said ‘why are you packing up at the start of the season, why not ride for a bit longer in the summer?’
“I’m going to reapply for my licence again and ride until probably the end of the season on the turf and then say thank you very much.
“I’ve had a lot of support over the years and I’ve had a few good phone calls to say keep going with it. I have no weight issues, I’m pretty fit and ride out every day.
“Even if I get 20 rides between now and then, it’s 20 rides. I enjoy it a lot still, it’s a great job and it keeps you young. It keeps you active and gives you something to aim at every day.”
In Excelsis Deo will not be winning out of turn if he can belatedly open his account for the season in the Matt Hampson Foundation Silver Trophy Handicap Chase at Cheltenham.
Although winless since making a successful British and chasing debut for Harry Fry at Hereford in December 2022, the JP McManus-owned six-year-old has run several good races in defeat and his trainer feels he is due a change of fortune.
Placed on his first two starts of the current campaign at Cheltenham, the Saddex gelding may well have secured top honours on his next appearance at Sandown but for unseating Jonathan Burke at the final fence.
He then did well to finish as close as he did when fifth at the Cheltenham Festival last month after being hampered by a faller four fences from home.
Fry feels In Excelsis Deo has more than enough ability to claim victory in Wednesday’s Grade Two feature if getting the rub of the green.
“He bumped into Madara in December, who then went and won at the Dublin Racing Festival, and we obviously unseated when with every chance at the last at Sandown on his next run,” said the trainer.
“I think it’s fair to say he hasn’t necessarily had luck on his side or the rub of the green this season, but he’s been running well in defeat and, with a bit of luck in running, hopefully he won’t be too far away in this.
“Hopefully he can put it all together and he’ll be in there with every chance.”
The title-chasing pair of Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls are both represented in the £70,000 contest, with Skelton saddling Sail Away and Nicholls running course-and-distance winner Il Ridoto.
Sail Away returns to handicap company after finishing last of four in the Grade One Ascot Chase, while Il Ridoto has been placed in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, the December Gold Cup and on Festival Trials day at Cheltenham this season, but could finish only eighth in the Plate on his latest visit.
“He’s a standing dish at Cheltenham and usually runs very well in these two-and-a-half-mile handicaps,” Nicholls told Betfair.
“It didn’t quite happen for him last time at the Festival, when he was towards the rear in the early stages before staying on at the finish. He has his chance, but is probably still on a stiff enough handicap mark.”
Scarface has won three of his last four starts over fences for Joe Tizzard and faces a rise in class.
Tizzard said: “He’s done nothing wrong and we were tempted to wait for Sandown next week, but the forecast is drying out all the time and we thought we’d have a go here.
“It’s a step up, but he’s in cracking form and he’s on the upgrade.”
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