Police have charged an animal rights activist who ran on to the track at the Betfred Derby.
A man was filmed jumping the fence and sprinting on to the course at Epsom as the race – which was won by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Auguste Rodin – began on Saturday.
He was pursued by police as the crowd jeered, with some shouting “get him”, before officers tackled him and pulled him away.
Surrey Police confirmed on Sunday that Ben Newman, 32, from Hackney, east London, had been charged with causing public nuisance.
The protest occurred after the Jockey Club, which owns Epsom Downs, was granted an injunction prohibiting the Animal Rising group from intervening in the event, claiming the organisation had made “explicitly clear” that it intended to breach security.
Newman is one of 31 people arrested on Saturday including 12 on the racecourse grounds.
They included two women who were arrested as they tried to climb the fence and get on to the track.
A police spokesman said: “A total of 39 arrests were made over the course of the two days. Thirty-one of these arrests were made in connection with planned criminal activity at the Epsom Derby Festival, including two women who were quickly detained moments before they were able to get on to the track.
“Thirty have since been released on bail pending further inquiries.”
Chief Superintendent Clive Davies, who was in charge of the policing operation for the Derby, added: “I am incredibly proud of every single officer, staff member and volunteer who worked in the run-up to the event and at the event itself.
“They played a vital role in protecting the public and preventing and responding to criminality.”
After the Derby, the chief executive of the Jockey Club, Nevin Truesdale, praised the “swift and decisive” action of police in putting an end to the “deplorable and mindless actions” of the protesters.
Newman, who was named by Animal Rising on Saturday, has previously appeared on GB News.
He will appear at Guildford Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Elina Svitolina will take on Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open quarter-finals after continuing her brilliant return to grand slam tennis by beating Daria Kasatkina.
Svitolina will be the second Ukrainian opponent faced by Belarusian Sabalenka, who recovered from losing a 5-0 lead in the first set to beat Sloane Stephens 7-6 (5) 6-4 in the first night session women’s match.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz continued their march towards a probable semi-final meeting with identical 6-3 6-2 6-2 victories – Djokovic over Juan Pablo Varillas and Alcaraz against Lorenzo Musetti.
Picture of the dayTweet of the day
Djokovic had some help warming up for his match from his eight-year-old son Stefan.
Stat of the dayGreat Danes
The past and the present of Danish tennis met at Roland Garros on Sunday. Caroline Wozniacki is now a mother of two and is playing in a slam legends event for the first time.
Fallen seeds
Men: Lorenzo Musetti (17)
Women: Daria Kasatkina (9), Elise Mertens (28)
Who’s up next?
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Victories for Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff on Monday would set up a rematch of last year’s final.
Swiatek takes on Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, who will be looking to join Svitolina in the last eight, while Gauff meets Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
In the men’s event, fourth seed Casper Ruud meets Nicolas Jarry and sixth seed Holger Rune plays Francisco Cerundolo, while Alexander Zverev features in the night session again, this time up against Grigor Dimitrov.
The first-place Arizona Diamondbacks have given manager Torey Lovullo a contract extension through the 2024 season.
The deal, which was announced Sunday, is the third straight one-year extension for Lovullo.
A year after finishing in fourth place in the NL West and two years removed from a 110-loss season, the Diamondbacks enter play Sunday with a 35-24 mark to tie the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the league.
It’s the first time Arizona has 35 wins through 59 games since 2007, when the team won the NL West with a 90-72 record and reached the National League championship series.
With their 5-4 walkoff win over the Rockies today, the Diamondbacks ended a streak of 69 consecutive home series of four or more games without a sweep.
That was the longest such streak by an NL team since the Boston Braves (also 69, 1937-1946). pic.twitter.com/nOi9XpTlul
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 1, 2023
New mother Elina Svitolina continued her incredible grand slam return by defeating Daria Kasatkina to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open.
The Ukrainian gave birth to daughter Skai in October and played her first tournament in more than a year at the beginning of April.
She arrived in Paris on the back of a WTA title in Strasbourg and, watched by husband Gael Monfils, extended her winning run to eight matches with a 6-4 7-6 (5) success against ninth seed Kasatkina.
“Definitely I wouldn’t dream about this when I was giving birth in October last year,” said Svitolina.
“It’s unbelievable for me to be able to compete here and to get to the quarter-final is special. Hopefully I can push further. I’m really motivated to give my everything for the next matches.”
The former world number three, who can match her best ever grand slam run by making the semi-finals, overcame nerves at the end, twice failing to serve it out, before clinching victory in a tie-break.
Svitolina spent four years in the top 10 and is enjoying being able to play without so much expectation, saying: “I think this is one of the things that I noticed that right now I don’t have that pressure that I used to have before.
“Of course, me personally I put pressure for myself because I want to win a slam. This is the ultimate goal for me.
“But definitely not the pressure from outside. No one expects that I’m going to come into Roland Garros and make quarter-final at the beginning of the tournament.
“That’s why I feel like this really helps me. I feel almost like I’m 17 again coming on the tour fresh. I’m not defending any points. Not here, not next week. I feel more free.”
Kasatkina has been the most outspoken Russian player against the invasion of Ukraine and earned praise from Svitolina ahead of the contest.
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She knew Svitolina would stick to the Ukrainians’ policy of not shaking hands with Belarusian and Russian opponents, though, and gave a quick thumbs-up before heading straight to her chair.
One Russian is through to the last eight, with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova arguably even more of a surprise than Svitolina.
The 31-year-old achieved the best result of her career here two years ago by reaching the final but underwent knee surgery last year and is ranked down at 333.
She recently lost 6-0 6-0 to Iga Swiatek in Rome but took out her third seed of the week with a 3-6 7-6 (3) 6-3 victory over Elise Mertens.
“I had a fear and doubts that maybe I will never win a match again,” said Pavlyuchenkova. “Maybe I will never get my good form back or I will never be fit again. What if I start playing again and the pain comes back and my knee is bad again?
“But I guess this motivation and this desire of coming back and competing again and being on these big stages again and playing three-hour matches like today, there was a lot more weight on that. So that kind of pushed me.
“I believed, I worked so hard and, even with all the failures that I had this year – and there were sometimes ridiculous matches that I lost – still kept on believing, working hard, and just persistence and patience.”
Pavlyuchenkova will next meet Czech Karolina Muchova, who reached her first French Open quarter-final with a 6-4 6-3 win over Elina Avanesyan.
Adelaide Thunderbirds suffered their third loss of the season and have fallen to second place when they went down 53-50 to bottom-placed Collingwood Magpies on Saturday.
Shimona Nelson scored 44 goals and Sophie Garbin nine, in a 100 per cent shooting effort as the Magpies in their final season in the Suncorp Super Netball league overcame the defensive efforts of Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson.
Collingwood led 16-12 after the first quarter and held a 27-23 lead at half time.
Collingwood widened their lead with another 16-12 effort in the third quarter and held on for the win despite a fourth-quarter rally from Thunderbirds who outscored Collinwood 15-10.
Eleanor Cardwell scored 27 goals from 29 attempts in the loss that saw Thunderbirds’ record fall to second place in the league table with eight wins, one draw and three losses this season.
The new league leaders are the New South Wales Swifts who defeated GIANTS 68-63 thanks in part to Romelda Aikens-George’s 32 goals from 39 attempts and Helen Housby’s 100 percent shooting for 18 goals.
Matisse Leatherbarrow and Jo Harten each scored 13 goals while Sophie Dwyer had 11 from 13 in the losing cause.
The Swifts now boast a record of nine wins, one draw and two losses after 12 rounds.
In the other game on Saturday, Queensland Firebirds defeated Melboune Vixens 76-71.
Lando Norris wanted to turn the air blue following his accident with Lewis Hamilton at the Spanish Grand Prix – but stressed his compatriot did not do anything wrong.
Norris started third after a fine performance in qualifying, but his race was over inside two corners when he drove into the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Norris was forced to pit for a new front wing, relegating him to the back of the field. The 23-year-old Briton eventually took the chequered flag in 17th place. Hamilton continued without damage, finishing runner-up to Max Verstappen.
Asked what went through his mind following his first-lap prang, Norris said: “F***. Max [Verstappen] went off the track and a bit wide, so he had to bounce over the kerb at Turn 2. Everybody checked up and I was too close to Lewis to react and brake so it was just unlucky in my opinion, and a racing incident.
“Lewis didn’t do anything wrong. I touched his wheel, nothing happened to him, maybe it made him quicker today.”
Following a brief resurgence, McLaren are on something of a downward spiral. Norris has scored only a dozen points from the opening seven rounds, leaving him 11th in the standings.
And the highly-rated Briton, who is under contract with McLaren until the end of 2025, painted a gloomy picture for the remainder of the campaign.
“The pace was as expected as it was today which was bad,” he said. “I don’t think we expected anything else.
“We were slow and we have been all year. Yesterday was a special day. Some of the good teams struggled and some of the worst teams did a better job. People made mistakes and we capitalised on that.
“But we are clearly nowhere near as quick as the top-five teams so there is no point thinking about finishing in the points because we are not quick enough.
“There are no new parts on the car. We had a upgrade in Baku and that was about it. It maybe brought us half-a-tenth to a tenth.
“A lot of teams have brought upgrades to the last few races and we haven’t. We are not expecting anything more than we are doing and if we get in the points it is an amazing day but the expectation is that we won’t.”
A Josh Griffin hat-trick denied Warrington the chance to go back to the top of the Betfred Super League table as they were beaten 30-18 in a tight clash by Hull.
A thrilling final match at Magic Weekend saw Wolves open well, but Hull’s stellar start to the second half which saw them score three tries in 11 minutes turned the game around.
It was a missed opportunity for Warrington, who now sit just behind Catalans Dragons in the table, while Hull continued their good run as they made it four wins in their last five league games.
A persistent spell of pressure inside the Hull 10 metre area saw Warrington draw first blood just three minutes in. A neat high kick from George Williams was held by Connor Wrench and the winger was able to reach over the line to ground the ball, with Stefan Ratchford adding the extras.
The Wolves’ speed on the attack was rewarded in the 12th minute when Williams pounced on a loose pass, scooping the ball up and sprinting to touch down between the posts.
Hull continued to battle and a great move saw Tex Hoy kick across goal, the ball parried down for Danny Houghton to latch on to in mid-air to cross before Jake Clifford converted.
Matt Dufty regained possession for Warrington with an excellent run from a Hull kick, but the Wolves were kept at bay by a solid Hull defence, who made some great last-ditch blocks on their own try-line.
The Black and Whites were unable to make the most of some good chances in the final minutes of the first half, but they were straight on the attack after the restart and nearly had a try through Griffin, who fell just short.
Their energetic start saw Hull score again in the 43rd minute when Clifford’s grubber-kick was chased down by Adam Swift on the wing and he did well to hang on to the ball to cross in the left corner.
The tries began to flow as Hull added another two minutes later after an excellent move saw Griffin find a gap to cut in from the left and go over, giving Hull the lead for the first time in the game.
The second rower then struck again in the 51st minute, getting on the end of Jake Truman’s cross-field kick and spinning around to touch down.
Warrington responded five minutes later with a good string of passes towards the right and Wrench made no mistake charging forward to ground in the corner for his second try of the game.
Griffin completed his hat-trick following a fine team move which saw Hoy break forward from a Warrington kick to reach the halfway line before offloading to Swift, who found Griffin and he powered over.
Hull’s defence continued to show resilience on the try-line to deny Warrington in the final 10 minutes before Hoy added a fifth try for the Black and Whites, bursting through the Warrington defence to seal victory.
Lewis Hamilton has vowed to continue in Formula One for as long as he can in order to challenge Max Verstappen for the world championship again.
Hamilton finished runner-up to Verstappen at Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix as the Red Bull star delivered another knockout display to claim his fifth win from seven rounds. George Russell completed the podium positions on a strong afternoon for Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion’s contract expires at the end of the year, but the 38-year-old revealed on Sunday night that he is meeting Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff on Monday to thrash out a new deal.
The British driver is in the leanest spell of his life. Twenty-nine races have passed since he lost to Verstappen at the controversial 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi, and the record-breaking driver has not won a race since.
But following his team’s revitalised performance at the Circuit de Catalunya, Hamilton allowed his mind to wander to the prospect of a title rematch with Verstappen that both he, and the sport, so desperately craves.
“I want to keep going for as long as I can,” said Hamilton, sitting alongside Verstappen.
“But I want to be where he (Verstappen) is, or racing him at least, and I am super-focused on getting to that point. There is a long way to go, but there is time.”
Hamilton will be 39 in January but he remains fuelled by a desire to be crowned champion of the world for a record eighth time.
“My hunger has never shifted,” he added. “I am in a great place in my life, and I am really happy where I am in my life. I have got all the ducks in a row so I can focus.
“I have not signed anything yet, but I am meeting with Toto (on Monday) so hopefully we can get something done.
“We have had so many meetings. And this is another meeting. But the contract is always at the back of your mind, so once it is done then I can focus more on the future.”
Verstappen might have finished 24 seconds up the road, but the feeling in the Mercedes camp is that they might have turned the corner following a turbulent period for the grid’s once-dominant team.
In the days leading up to Sunday’s race, Hamilton said their revamped machine – which made its debut in Monaco a week ago – had not provided him with the step forward he wanted.
But this was Mercedes’ strongest display of the year. Hamilton breezed past Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to take second, while team-mate Russell waltzed his way through the field from his lowly starting slot of 12th.
“It is definitely the best the car has been for the past year and a half,” Hamilton added. “That is kudos to the amazing group of people back at the factory.
“It is super-encouraging, not only for me, but for everyone in the team. This is a big boost for everybody’s morale and we are going to take that energy on to developing the car.
“I know we have something in the pipeline moving forward and I am hoping by the end of the year we can challenge.
“Red Bull are so far ahead and Max will continue to win this year. That means they can start on their development for next year, if they have not already, and that is the danger.”
Red Bull have won all seven rounds this year, and 17 of the last 18 races contested, and their stranglehold on the sport shows few signs of easing.
A day on from crushing his opposition to take pole, Verstappen held off the advances off Sainz on the long run to the opening corner and from there, his 40th career victory – which takes him just one shy of Ayrton Senna’s career tally – never looked in doubt.
After Sergio Perez fought back from 11th to fourth, Verstappen’s title lead over his Red Bull team-mate now stands at 53 points, with a week off before the next round in Canada on June 18.
Novak Djokovic surpassed Rafael Nadal’s all-time record by reaching his 17th French Open quarter-final.
The 22-time grand slam champion defeated Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3 6-2 6-2 to maintain his run of not having lost before the last eight at Roland Garros since 2010 and set up a clash with 11th seed Karen Khachanov.
Djokovic is still 12 Paris titles behind Nadal though, and, with the Spaniard missing for the first time since 2004, his great rival knows what an opportunity this is.
He said: “I’m proud of it, but my attention is already on the next match. Obviously quarter-finals, Khachanov, I know what my goal is here. I’m trying to stay mentally the course and of course not look too far.
“Obviously the performance of today gives me a great deal of confidence about how I felt, about how I played. So I’m looking forward to the next match.”
Peruvian Varillas, ranked 94, has enjoyed the best week of his career but he had needed five sets to get through all three of his previous matches and was unable to trouble Djokovic.
The third seed had been pushed extremely hard by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his previous match and struggled physically, so this was a very welcome easy afternoon.
Djokovic raced into a 4-0 lead and the only time he looked in any discomfort was when Varillas won two games in a row and forced a break point in the next one.
The third seed, who criticised the crowd for booing while he took a medical time-out in his previous match, was again jeered for his reaction and cupped his hand to his ear after winning the next-but-one point.
There were plenty of cheers at the end, though, as Djokovic wrapped up the victory after an hour and 57 minutes.
He said of the crowd: “I thought they were great, especially at the end. They gave me a very nice chanting and support and, as a player, you always want to receive that love from the crowd.”
A semi-final blockbuster against Carlos Alcaraz is looming ever closer, and the Spaniard continued to look every inch a potential champion in a 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory over Lorenzo Musetti.
The 21-year-old Italian is a big talent, especially on clay, and this was a crowd-pleasing encounter, with Alcaraz pulling off several shots through his legs.
Ultimately it was a straightforward win, though, as world number one Alcaraz, who missed the Australian Open through injury, stayed on track for a second successive grand slam title.
Khachanov is bidding to reach the semi-finals at a third straight major tournament and he recovered from a poor first set to beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7) 6-1.
Tommy Makinson contributed 28 points as St Helens showed signs of shaping up for their customary Betfred Super League title push with an emphatic 48-6 win over Huddersfield Giants in Newcastle.
Saints’ quest for a fifth straight crown may have been slow to click into gear since their sapping pre-season trip Down Under to win the prestigious World Club Challenge over Penrith Panthers.
But bolstered by the brilliant Makinson, who crossed four times and added six conversions, Paul Wellens’ men turned on the style in the second half to ultimately coast to victory against the below-par Giants.
It was a performance far removed from the inconsistencies that have blighted their campaign so far, illustrated by indiscipline in their Challenge Cup win over Halifax, and errors that almost cost them in last week’s dramatic golden point win at Leeds.
Saints did take some time to click into gear, but they turned a 10-point half-time advantage into a nine-try romp to simply flatten Ian Watson’s strugglers, who had set out in the opening 10 minutes with plenty of intent.
The Giants have singularly failed to live up to their own pre-season expectations this season and may have harboured a glimmer of hope of a change in fortunes themselves after Kevin Naiqama put them in front on six minutes.
The Fijian star reacted fastest to flop onto Tui Lolohea’s clever kick once it narrowly eluded his team-mate Jake Bibby, and Jake Connor kicked the conversion.
But Saints responded swiftly when Jack Welsby sent Konrad Hurrell zeroing in on the diagonal to haul them back within two points, and from the moment Welsby sent Mark Percival scurrying over against the run of play with 20 minutes gone, there only looked to be one winner.
The Giants’ cause was not helped by a yellow card for Luke Yates for diving in late on Makinson, and Makinson responded by lurching into the corner off a long Welsby pass to extend his side’s lead just past the half-hour mark.
If Huddersfield still felt in with a shout trailing 16-6 at half-time, it was swiftly extinguished when Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook bustled over from Dodd’s inside ball within five minutes of the restart.
The Londoner’s effort opened the floodgates, as Makinson crossed for his second off a neat pass from Lomax, moments after having been denied an almost identical try for a questionable forward pass.
Hurrell went over and Makinson completed his hat-trick – all down the over-exploited right flank – as Saints went through the gears and extended their lead to over 30.
The one-man show continued as he crossed for his fourth off a Jonny Lomax pass with 12 minutes left on the clock, then his delicious backhand pass sent Joey Lussick galloping over before the 31-year-old fittingly rounded off the rout by arrowing over his sixth conversion from the touchline.
Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin produced a stunning approach to the final hole to seal his maiden DP World Tour title in style in the Porsche European Open.
McKibbin carded a final round of 70 in Hamburg to finish nine under par, two shots ahead of home favourites Marcel Siem and Max Kieffer and France’s Julien Guerrier.
The 20-year-old, who learned the game at the same club as four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, began the day in a six-way tie for the lead but birdied the fourth, seventh and ninth to move two shots clear.
Bogeys on the 11th and 13th, coupled with Kieffer’s birdie on the 16th, saw the pair tied at the top of the leaderboard, but McKibbin edged back in front with a birdie on the 15th and set up another on the par-five 18th with a nerveless second shot from 203 yards.
McKibbin, who graduated from the Challenge Tour last year and was making just his 26th start on the DP World Tour, told Sky Sports: “It’s pretty amazing.
“It was just nice to go out there and put a really, really nice round together. I always thought I was good enough to win but to prove it today was pretty special.
“I’ve learned a lot from failures, missing cuts by a shot, missing things very slightly so to take all those things I’ve learned and put them into play today was really nice.
“It probably won’t sink in until tomorrow but to have my dad here – he comes most weeks – is pretty special. To win in front of him is amazing.”
Asked about his second shot to the 18th, McKibbin added: “It’s probably one of the best shots I’ve hit.
“It was sort of tricky and it wasn’t. I was trying to hit just at the right edge of the green and if it turned over I knew the water wasn’t in play because if I turned it over it would have went further.
“It looked really good on camera I’m sure, but it was an easier shot than laying up and hitting over the water I thought.”
Russian and Belarusian players are experiencing delays obtaining UK visas in time for Wimbledon.
The All England Club and the Lawn Tennis Association reversed last year’s ban on competitors from the two countries following the invasion of Ukraine but there appears a chance some may not make it anyway.
Sixteen-year-old Mirra Andreeva is due to make her Wimbledon debut in qualifying but said after losing to Coco Gauff in the third round in Paris on Saturday that she was still waiting to be granted a visa.
Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has also spoken about not having received her visa while world number two Daniil Medvedev pointedly said “if I’m able to come to UK to play Wimbledon” when talking about the grass-court season.
The Home Office is carrying out additional checks on Russian and Belarusian nationals, extending a wait that is currently at least six weeks, while fast-track options are not available to people from the two countries.
Wimbledon begins on July 3 and, speaking after reaching the French Open quarter-finals, Russian Karen Khachanov, who still has a visa from previous years, said: “I heard that it takes much longer to issue the visa.”
Under normal circumstances, Andreeva would be a strong candidate for a Wimbledon wild card, but it appears hugely unlikely the All England Club would offer such help at the moment.
Fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, meanwhile, is set to miss the tournament because she is not currently ranked high enough to get into the main draw or qualifying.
Pavlyuchenkova is a former French Open finalist but was sidelined long term following knee surgery.
She is showing strong form in Paris, making it through to the quarter-finals, and was asked whether she could seek a wild card.
Pavlyuchenkova said incredulously: “Are you serious? Do you think after the situation last year they would give me a wildcard this year?”
Stenton Glider produced a fine run to finish second to all-the-way winner Habana in the German 1000 Guineas at Dusseldorf on Sunday.
The Hugo Palmer-trained daughter of Dandy Man, who was well held by Mawj in the English equivalent in soft ground at Newmarket on her previous run, the Fred Darling runner-up showed her true metal with a powerful display under Andrea Atzeni.
From an unpromising wide draw in stall 10, Atzeni was forced to make more use of her than he would lave liked early in the mile contest in order to get a good position.
Stenton Glider settled well in third behind the Andreas Wohler-trained Habana and although briefly losing momentum as they crossed the path shortly after turning for home, she stayed on well to take second ahead of the Charlie Appleby-trained Dream Of Love, who was sent off the 6-4 favourite under William Buick.
“That’s the luck of the draw, but the two big questions we wanted answered going there was whether she was a miler and whether she would handle fast ground,” said Palmer.
“They were giving the ground as good, but both Andrea Atzeni and William Buick both agreed the ground was firm, it may have been good to firm.
“She skipped off it and her best furlong was her last furlong, and she has now shown Group form on firm ground and heavy ground, and I’m sure she will be fine on anything in between, so that’s a massive box ticked for us.
“The winner had the run of the race and kicked clear – and the winner is clearly a very good filly – but she kicked clear when we were still behind horses turning for home.
“We were never going to catch her, but we were reducing the deficit all the time, and we’re obviously delighted with how she has run. Hopefully, her first stakes victory won’t be far away.”
Though beaten three lengths by Eduardo Predroza’s mount, there was plenty to like about the fillies who filled the places, and Palmer, who had won the Group Two contest twice before with Hawksmoor (2016) and Unforgetable Filly (2017), has not ruled out a trip to Royal Ascot with Stenton Glider.
He added: “This is the first time she has run on fast ground and Andrea said that when she went to let down on it, it was a new sensation for her and she just took a stride or two to hit top gear and realise she did enjoy it, and could handle it. She stretched all the way to the line.
“That path is a very difficult challenge of the race, like the ridges at the bottom of the hill at Sandown.
“I remember when we won it before, James Doyle made a particular issue of it. He was more prominent than we were today and he made sure that as soon as he crossed the path on the bridle, he kicked and took the momentum away form the others. It is one of the idiosyncrasies of the track.
“We weren’t in that position and we were chasing, so we had to go from there, but I’m absolutely delighted.
“We will see what the handicapper does, if we didn’t move too much and she came out of the race OK, then the Sandringham would still be a possibility.
“Potentially, there’s the Listed race at Carlisle (Eternal Stakes, over an extended six and a half furlongs) at the end of the month.
“I’ve always thought the Dick Hern at Haydock in early August might suit her very well. I suppose potentially the Thoroughbred Stakes at Goodwood – I’m talking off the top of my head – she could take on colts.
“The priority is she needs to be a stakes winner. Once she is, then the world really is her oyster. Then we can have fun – not that we are not having fun at the moment!”
Buick was far from unhappy with the performance from Dream Of Love, who had been a place and a length in front of Stenton Glider when 12th in the fillies’ Classic at Newmarket.
Prominent near the rail throughout, she stuck to her task well to finish two-and-a-quarter lengths further back in third.
Buick said: “She ran very well. I thought it was a competitive race on fast ground.
“Everything went smooth and she has probably taken another step up on what she has achieved in the past.”
Max Verstappen recorded a dominant victory at the Spanish Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished second and third for Mercedes.
Verstappen led all 66 laps at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya to record his fifth win from the opening seven rounds and extend his championship lead.
Hamilton started fourth but finished runner-up, with team-mate Russell completing the podium places on a strong afternoon for the Silver Arrows.
Sergio Perez secured fourth spot after moving ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz with a dozen laps remaining.
Verstappen’s title lead over his Red Bull team-mate now stands at 53 points, with a week off before the next round in Canada on June 18.
Jean-Claude Rouget’s Ace Impact extended his unbeaten record with a brilliant performance to land the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly.
Having completed a hat-trick on his previous run over 10 furlongs at this track last month, he gained a fourth success in scintillating fashion, coming from well off the pace in the hands of Cristian Demuro to collar long-time leader and favourite Big Rock inside the final furlong.
The additional half-furlong certainly helped the son of Cracksman, as Ace Impact looked better the further he went.
British raider Epictetus, trained by John and Thady Gosden, held every chance turning in, but Frankie Dettori’s mount faded to finish fifth, while Aidan O’Brien’s Continuous was in third throughout, before failing to see out the final furlong, eventually finishing eighth of the 11 runners.
Dubai Mile will be aimed at the Grand Prix de Paris with the possibility of a run at Royal Ascot in between.
The Ahmad Al Shaikh-owned colt, a son of Roaring Lion, won twice last season – including in Group One company – and then finished an excellent fifth to Chaldean in the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on his three-year-old debut.
Sent off a 25-1 chance on Daniel Muscutt’s first Betfred Derby ride at Epsom on Saturday, he was prominent on the inside rail before fading into ninth once the pace quickened.
Trainer Charlie Johnston said: “I think it was a great position to have got into and saving ground.
“I didn’t think they were going that quick, so you have to be handyish – that is what I felt at the time. The winner (Auguste Rodin) and the second (King Of Steel) have come from a long way back.
“I could feel he was in a bit of trouble about six to five (furlongs) out, just as the pace started to lift.
“He wasn’t sitting there full of horse under him. He was hitting that flat spot he hits and whereas on other tracks you can hit a flat spot and get away with it, here you hit a flat spot and the race happens, then you run on when it is all over.
“The pacemaker couldn’t decide whether to go inside or outside and that didn’t help him, but only cost him a length or two – it wasn’t a significant reason for where he finished.
“Albeit we have had and have plenty of confidence in the horse, he was still a 25-1 shot in the Derby.”
Dubai Mile holds engagements in the Group Two King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 23 and also the Irish Derby at the Curragh on July 2.
However, Johnston is keen to head to ParisLongchamp for the Grand Prix de Paris, over the same mile-and-a-half trip on July 14.
“We will see about Ascot and I’ve always thought the Grand Prix de Paris was a race that would really suit him,” said Johnston. “I’d like to have that as part of his plans.
“Whether or not he goes to Ascot in between, we’ll see.
“If he did everything, it would be three weeks and three weeks – it is six weeks until Paris.”
King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Pyledriver is on course for the defence of his title and could use the Hardwicke Stakes as a stepping stone as he nears a return from injury.
William Muir and Chris Grassick’s stable star has not run since taking the all-aged midsummer Group One highlight last July.
He was being prepared for a tilt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe when he suffered setback and plans for a return to the Dubai Sheema Classic, in which he finished fourth in the spring of 2022, were similarly scotched when he met with an injury to his near foreleg.
Pyledriver, who runs in the colours of the La Pyle Partnership, also won the Coronation Cup in 2021 and finished second in that race to Hukum last year.
Muir is hopeful the six-year-old can return to Ascot for the Group Two Hardwicke on June 24.
“Pyledriver is just starting to come along now,” he said. “He did his first piece of work on Friday.
“We have brought him along nice and gently this time and he’s doing it really nicely. He is doing plenty of cantering.
“He did his first gallop on Friday and he swims every night, which is something a bit new, because we have not done that before, but we thought we would try to get him to the Hardwicke, which is just under three weeks away.
“He swims like a natural. It scares me, because I don’t like going swimming, but he doesn’t mind it.”
However, the Lambourn trainer is mindful the gelding’s primary targets are towards the end of the year and the option of missing his King George prep is still on the table.
“It is not a big issue if he doesn’t go there, but he’ll only go if I’m happy he’s 90-95 per cent straight fitness-wise,” Muir added.
“Those type of races are big races. The object was to go to the King George again, then prioritise getting to the Arc. Then you have all these international races at the back-end of the year.
“The Hardwicke, though it sounds stupid to say it, is a race to bring him on for the King George.
“The best races for him, and for the prize-money, are later on in the year, so the longer I wait now, he won’t be over the top when we get to the end of the year.
“You can over-do it by racing a lot, and when you get to internationals like Kong Kong and the Breeders’ Cup, you can go past your best.
“If in the next two weeks we can get him where we want him – which we can do, as when we were getting him ready for Lingfield I thought I was struggling to get to the Winter Derby, he had two gallops and then ‘bang’ he was there and he was bouncing – if he says to me ‘yes’, he’ll be there.
“And if he says ‘no’, he won’t be. We’ll see how he gets on, but there’s no big issue if he doesn’t go to the Hardwicke.”
A doubles pair were defaulted from the French Open on Sunday after Japanese player Miyu Kato hit a ball girl in the head with a ball.
Kato and her Indonesian partner Aldila Sutjiadi, the 16th seeds, were leading Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-6 (1) 1-3 in the third round of the women’s doubles when the Japanese player hit the ball down to the other end of the court at the end of a point.
Unaware that the ball was coming, the ball girl was struck directly on the head and began crying.
The umpire originally gave Kato a warning but, with Czech Bouzkova and Spaniard Sorribes Tormo pointing out the girl’s distress, the supervisor and referee were called to Court 14.
Kato apologised to the ball girl and lengthy discussions took place before the decision was made to disqualify the pair, who appeared incredulous, amid booing from the crowd.
The incident comes a day after 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva admitted she feared she would be defaulted after she angrily swiped a ball into the crowd during her singles match with Coco Gauff.
It is three years, meanwhile, since Novak Djokovic was defaulted from the US Open after hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball swatted away in annoyance.
Kia Joorabchian has likened King Of Steel’s Betfred Derby near-miss akin to “missing the last penalty in a Champions League final”.
The high-profile football agent and founder of Amo Racing saw the 66-1 chance collared late on by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Auguste Rodin at Epsom on Saturday, with the pair well clear of White Birch in third.
The Roger Varian-trained King Of Steel, an imposing son of Wootton Bassett, was having the first run of the season, having previously finished almost 10 lengths behind the winner in the Vertem Futurity Trophy over a mile at Doncaster last October.
He missed his intended Derby prep when failing to load into the stalls ahead of the Dante Stakes at York.
Kevin Stott, having his first ride in the Classic, poached a lead with two furlongs to run, only for Ryan Moore’s mount to overcome the deficit inside the last half-furlong.
It was the second big-price runner-up finish in the last three renewals of the blue riband for the owner, whose distinctive purple colours had come close to landing the Derby with Mojo Star, a 50-1 runner-up to Adayar in 2021.
“I was delighted,” Joorabchian said King Of Steel’s half-length defeat. “Although I feel like I’ve done a few rounds with Mike Tyson!
“It was great. He had a fantastic run. We loved him from the first day we found him in Keeneland.
“He was a big horse – he looked bigger than everything else there and he still is. Roger loved him all this year.
“We had an unfortunate incident in the Dante, but we knew what we had on our hands at home.
“He was a big price. Mojo was a big price. Maybe the next Derby they won’t price us out at 100-1.”
He added: “You have got to remember this was just the third run in his life – and actually it was Mojo’s third run in his life, so maybe there’s something about that. You know a good horse when you have one and this is a good horse.”
Asked to compare his emotions with his football experiences, he laughed: “It is like missing the last penalty in a Champions League final – that’s what it felt like!”
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