After shooting an opening 66 at the Chevron Championship in Texas on Thursday, American golfer Lauren Coughlin has a first-round lead for just the second time in her career.
Coughlin went bogey-free with three birdies on the front nine and three on the back nine on the first day of the tournament.
She hit 14 of 18 greens, recorded 10 one-putts and needed just 26 putts overall to get through her first round.
“I think my husband and I had a really good game plan, and I wasn’t trying to be too aggressive out there. Just trying to take a 30-footer or, I might have a chip here or there, just knowing that that’s the appropriate place to be,” she said.
Her husband, John Pond, recently started caddying for her.
She added: “Not trying to be too aggressive in certain spots and taking what, certainly there’s some holes, good pins and stuff that you can go at stuff, but overall, I was just trying to take what it would give me and not trying to force anything.”
Coughlin is making her 11th appearance in an LPGA Tour major championship this week. The American has made the cut in just two of her 10 previous starts in majors, but finished T15 and T16, respectively, in the 2023 and 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Two strokes behind Coughlin are two-time LPGA Tour winner Marina Alex, eight-time JLPGA winner Minami Katsu and major champion Nelly Korda, who is chasing her fifth win in as many consecutive starts on Tour.
Defending champion Lilia Vu withdrew from the Chevron Championship moments before her first-round tee-off on Thursday due to a back injury.
Nathan Aspinall earned his second Premier League darts victory this season with a 6-4 victory against Michael Smith in the Night 12 final in Rotterdam.
Smith beat Gerwyn Price in the semi-finals to reach Thursday’s showpiece against the Asp, who pulled off an amazing comeback to beat Luke Humphries 6-4.
Aspinall took the first two legs in the final and although Smith started to grow into the match the Asp remained in control to take a two-leg lead.
Bully Boy capitalised on outer ring misses to pull a leg back before Aspinall responded to lead 5-3.
Smith continued to fight back and hit a stunning 170 checkout the following leg, but after missing three match darts the Asp eventually wrapped up victory with double eight.
The result means that Aspinall climbs into third in the table and believes his 140s helped him throughout the final.
He told Sky Sports: “Everyone knows me and Smithy are really good mates, we’re actually going on holiday next week together- so it might be a bit awkward!
“I came from behind against Luke and I’m thinking ‘don’t ruin this opportunity, you’ve been given a good chance here’ and I thought I played well.
“I thought I controlled the final, I didn’t play amazing, but my 140s were fantastic in that final and I know if I’m scoring well there’s not many people can beat me.”
Arguably Aspinall’s highlight of night 12 came against Humphries in their semi-final meeting.
Humphries spoiled Michael van Gerwen’s Rotterdam homecoming with a 6-5 victory, fending off a late comeback from the Dutchman to meet Aspinall in the final four.
“Cool Hand Luke” got off to a quick start with a two-leg lead, but the Asp began to creep back into contention, taking advantage of Humphries’ misfortune on the outer ring to come from 4-1 down to draw 4-4.
Finishing with a 97.18 average, Aspinall hit double 20 to secure his spot in the final.
Reflecting on that victory, the Asp added: “I’ve got a reputation of being behind, digging deep and winning games.
“What I always say is my opponent might be 4-0 up, but I know I’m better than you in my head.
“So if you can win four legs, I can win four legs and that is always what I try and tell people.
“Luke’s 4-1 up there, he wasn’t playing great, I saw him go and I’m thinking ‘yeah you’re the world champion, but if I play my game I’m as good as you’.
“That’s what I keep telling myself throughout the game and that was a big win against Luke tonight.”
After reaching the last three successive Premier League finals, Luke Littler was knocked out in the first quarter-final of the evening following a 6-3 defeat to Smith.
Smith met Price in the semi-finals after the Iceman claimed a 6-3 win over Rob Cross and he subsequently took Smith all the way in their final four meeting to force a deciding leg.
Bully Boy then hit a 74 checkout to squeeze into his fourth final of the campaign and he sits fifth in the standings.
Just as they did in the Urban Area competition, Wolmer’s completed the ISSA all-island girls’ and boys’ U-19 Table Tennis double at the GC Foster College Auditorium on Wednesday.
The girls’ team secured a dominant 3-0 win over St. Mary High to claim their third straight all-island crown while the boys’ team defeated Titchfield High 4-1.
Jamaica College defeated Titchfield 5-0 to win the U-16 boys’ title while Immaculate Conception beat St. Hilda’s 3-1 to win the U-16 girls’ crown.
For Wolmer’s Girls’ team members Gianna Lewis and Liana Campbell, this win was an excellent way to close out their respective high school careers.
“Very relieved to be closing out with the all-island title,” Lewis told Sportsmax.tv.
“My team and I knew we had to bring our A game one last time and we did so,” she added.
Campbell called securing all-island success for the final time a “surreal feeling.”
“We embodied our school’s motto, ‘Age Quod Agis.’ Whatever you do, do it well. I am so proud of the team and myself and we’ll continue to excel in this sport,” she added.
The team’s third member, reigning JTTA National Champion Tsenaye Lewis, also reacted to the win.
“I am very, very happy with this victory especially since this is my last year playing alongside Liana and my big sister Gianna,” she said.
Lewis will still be at the school next year and hopes for continued success going forward.
“This is definitely how I envisioned the end of this era but now I hope we can defend our title for my final year next year,” she added.
The Lewis sisters will now turn their attention to national duty when they represent Jamaica at the Caribbean Youth Championships in Santo Domingo next week.
“We are looking forward to competing and representing our country again,” Tsenaye Lewis said.
Emma Raducanu says the best is yet to come as she continued her excellent form by making it through to the quarter-final of the Stuttgart Open.
The 2021 US Open champion beat Linda Noskova 6-0 7-5 in Germany to set up a mouth-watering last-eight tie with world number one Iga Swiatek on Friday.
Raducanu is making her way back after a torrid 2023 but looked excellent in winning her two ties in the Billie Jean King Cup at the weekend and then followed that up by swatting home favourite Angelique Kerber aside in Wednesday’s first round.
She stepped it up again to dispose of the world number 31 to set up a repeat of the 2022 quarter-final with Swiatek.
Despite all her troubles since winning the US Open in 2021, Raducanu never doubted the good times would return.
“I am not too surprised because I have been working really hard on the training court and I knew it was just a matter of time,” she said in her on-court interview.
“This isn’t my best I still have a long way to go. I am just really happy the rewards are starting to come on the match court.
“You know how it is when you are training day in, day out you feel like the results aren’t going your way. It is never that far away, that is something I am learning.
“Going through everything I have been through gives you a different appreciation, there is nothing like playing in front of fans and playing good tennis.”
Her progress will face its toughest test when against the Polish world number one, who is a master of the clay court, but the Briton knows she is not under any pressure.
Raducanu, whose world ranking of 303 will shoot up, added: “We played here two years ago in the quarters, I have come a long way in two years, and she has achieved a lot, I have nothing to lose, I can swing and enjoy it.
“Hopefully recover in time. I’m good.”
Dejounte Murray declared "the sky's the limit" for Coby White after his career-best performance guided the Chicago Bulls past the Atlanta Hawks in the Play-In Tournament on Wednesday.
The Bulls clinched a 131-116 win over Atlanta at a sold-out United Center in their first Play-In game, teeing up a rematch with the Miami Heat – who eliminated them from last year's Play-In Tournament – for Friday.
White had a career-high 42 points, the second-best tally ever recorded in a Play-In contest, after Jayson Tatum's 50 against the Washington Wizards in 2021, and went 15-of-21 from the field.
His stunning performance meant Murray's own 30-point showing counted for nothing, with Atlanta always fighting an uphill battle after going 18 points down in the first quarter.
Asked about White after the game, Murray said: "I root for guys that work hard and are great people.
"[Bulls forward] DeMar DeRozan's a brother to me and he speaks highly of him. He says he works hard, he's a great guy, he's handled his business, he's a professional on and off the floor.
"When I hear those things, I root for guys around the league just to have success.
"I think he's always been good. He never really got the opportunity to showcase what he's showcasing now, and the sky's the limit."
It was something of a breakout performance for White, who averaged just 8.4 points per game in his only previous playoff series, a 4-1 first-round defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022.
He was also part of the Chicago team beaten by the Heat in last year's Play-In Tournament, and they will get a chance to avenge that loss when they go to Kaseya Center on Friday.
"I'm just grateful to be where I'm at. That first playoff series I ever had in my career didn't go how I wanted it to go," White said.
"Then last year, I played better in the Play-In, but this year, I didn't come into the game saying I was going to put the team on my back.
"I just wanted to be aggressive and take what the defense gave me and try to lead."
DeRozan is glad to have the opportunity to banish the ghosts of last year's loss in Miami, saying: "I remember that plane ride back home vividly, everybody was just frustrated.
"That feeling sucked. I know for me that was one thing that was on my mind once I realised we were going back to Miami, not to have that same feeling."
Endless Victory struck the front in the nick of time to book his ticket to a Classic trial by winning the bet365 EBF ‘Confined’ Novice Stakes at Newmarket.
Trained by Charlie Appleby, the son of Teofilo was well-backed prior to the 10-furlong event and was sent off the even-money favourite in the hands of Godolphin number one William Buick.
A taking winner on his debut at Wolverhampton in the winter, he confirmed that promise by pulling out all the stops to run down Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Salamanca, with the winning distance only a short head.
The colt – a full-brother to Appleby’s Melbourne Cup hero Cross Counter – holds an entry in the Dante, but the Moulton Paddocks handler suggested it could be the Lingfield Derby Trial on May 11 that proves his next port of call as he shuffles his swelling Classic hand.
Appleby said: “They’re all in the same boat, he had obviously just won around Wolverhampton (previously) and has come here for his first start on turf.
“It looked a sensible race on paper and they are probably a nice field of horses going forward and for our fellow to do what he’s done, I’m very pleased.
“I think he is a horse that will progress as we go up in trip. Everyone will be asking is he a Derby horse? Well, he’s still got a bit to do yet and we’ll see how much he improves for this run and whether we look at one of the trials.
“Arabian Crown will probably go to Sandown and maybe this horse can go to Lingfield or something like that, a race we like to support if we can.”
Chapple-Hyam may have missed out on a double with the narrow defeat of Salamanca, but can take comfort that her Rolica booked her ticket to the Qipco 1000 Guineas when Hollie Doyle got the better of husband Tom Marquand.
A 9-2 chance for the Rossdales Maiden Fillies’ Stakes, the daughter of Lope De Vega was a beaten favourite on debut at Nottingham last autumn, but was a sharper model on her three-year-old bow, showing a good attitude to wear down the Marquand-ridden 9-4 joint-favourite Vicario.
“We got confidence from her galloping companion Mallavelly who was second yesterday in the mile maiden and thankfully she has done the job,” said Chapple-Hyam.
“I think Mallavelly has shown she wants further, so if Mr Harris (Peter, owner) is happy I would like this filly to take her chance – she’s a Guineas filly.
“She was third at Nottingham on a very heavy track, but she’s wintered well and done everything right and I’m just thrilled to have this Lope De Vega.”
Although unsuccessful aboard Vicario, Marquand did find the scoresheet with Woodhay Wonder as Tom Ward’s star filly sprinted to a third straight win in the opening bet365 Handicap.
A real money-spinner for connections last term, she proved could still be a forced to be reckoned with at three as she led from start to finish in the six-furlong event.
“She’s been great and a lot of fun and they’ve done a fantastic job with her to get her ready to go ‘bang’ on her first start of the year,” said Marquand.
“She paid her way just fine last year and after a year like that there is always the question of if they will train on and do the same, but she’s started on the right path and hopefully she will keep on improving.”
The concluding Consign With The National Stud Handicap went the way of Karl Burke’s Poet Master (100-30 favourite) who was registering his fourth win in five starts off a mark of 100.
He could now have bigger assignments in store and his handler said: “He’s got a lot of ability and I think he’s a Group horse in the making. We thought he would be very competitive off 100.
“I would say he will go to the Listed race at Haydock (Pertemps Network Spring Trophy Stakes) in a few weeks’ time. That would be a lovely track for him, a real front-runners’ track and he’s a horse to just let him do his own thing. A nice, level track like Haydock will be perfect for him.”
Klay Thompson says winning remains his priority as he prepares to enter free agency and is grateful to hear the Golden State Warriors are keen on keeping him in San Francisco.
Thompson's five-year contract with the Warriors – who selected him 11th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft – is due to expire following an abrupt ending to their 2023-24 campaign.
The Warriors were eliminated from the Play-In Tournament by the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, with Thompson shooting 0-for-10 from the field in a 118-94 defeat at Golden 1 Center.
The four-time NBA champion is yet to agree fresh terms and has already been linked with the Orlando Magic and the Dallas Mavericks.
Asked what the future holds in his exit interview on Wednesday, the 34-year-old said the ability to compete for a fifth championship would play a huge role in determining where he will play next year.
"Considering it's April 17, I don't think I have to pivot that quickly," Thompson said. "When is free agency? July 1? Yeah, I've got some time.
"I want to keep winning. When you've been a part of winning seasons, you don't really want to go away from that. So I would like to win again. One for the thumb would be nice.
"I still think it's within reach. Other than that, you've just got to think about what will really make you happy in the last few years of your career.
"Every year I give my best effort, and the ownership group has been great. I have nothing but positive things to say about them.
"It's up to them, but at the end of the day, whatever happens, it's all gravy. It's been such a special run."
Several key figures around Golden State have outlined the importance of keeping Thompson. After Tuesday's Play-In elimination, Stephen Curry said he couldn't imagine playing without him, while Draymond Green insisted "there isn't any scenario" where he moves on.
Head coach Steve Kerr also said the Warriors need Thompson to return, and those comments have gone down well with the soon-to-be free agent.
"It means a lot," Thompson said when those quotes were put to him. "I mean, we've been through the highest of highs and lows.
"Whether it's losing a championship, winning a championship, missing the playoffs, we've been through everything together, so that does mean a lot.
"It makes me grateful to have the times I've had with them. Like, that was pretty historic stuff."
Jeremy Scott’s Golden Ace continued to impress as she cruised to victory on her return to Cheltenham.
The six-year-old is a daughter of Golden Horn and has enjoyed a superb campaign, living up to the promise shown when she was second in the Grade Two mares’ bumper at Aintree the season prior.
The winner of two Taunton novice hurdles earlier in the year, the mare then went to the Cheltenham Festival to contest the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle under usual rider Lorcan Williams.
While she did not face her Aintree conqueror Dysart Enos, she still crossed paths with some highly-regarded mares in Gordon Elliott’s Brighterdaysahead and Willie Mullins’ Jade De Grugy.
Neither could outperform Golden Ace, however, and she triumphed by a length and three-quarters on a day to remember for Scott and the team at Holworthy Farm.
She was then aimed at the Grade One Top Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree’s Grand National meeting, but that plan was scuppered when she suffered a bruised foot and was therefore withdrawn.
The Listed Changing Young Lives At Jamie’s Farm Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham was the alternative outing and her prior successes saw her line up the 4-9 favourite, on what was a step up to two and half miles.
In a field of nine she was an effortless winner, striding up the hill to cross the line eight and a half lengths ahead of Ben Clarke’s Ooh Betty.
The form from her Festival win now looks rock solid, with Brighterdaysahead and Jade De Grugy both taking Grade One events since – the same level Golden Ace will be aimed at next year.
“She was very good, there were a couple of sketchy jumps but she always had everything covered,” said Scott.
“Once the Aintree plan fell through this is what we were thinking of for her.
“Lorcan said that if anything she’d probably be happier on slightly softer ground, so we’ve learnt that, but she came up the hill very well.
“We’ll aim at the two-and-a-half-mile race (Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle) here next year if we’re lucky enough to be in that position.”
Of the subsequent performance of the Elliott and Mullins mares, Scott added: “They’ve looked very, very impressive and it was just so frustrating not being able to go to Aintree, but that’s just horses I’m afraid!
“It’s been a very, very good season for her. She’s been great.”
There was some minor movement in the trainers’ championship table, as Dan Skelton collected small amounts of placed prize-money across the afternoon.
Notnowlinda finished fourth in the Catesby Estates Mares’ Challenger Series Final Handicap Hurdle and Sacre Coeur was runner-up in the NAF Mares’ Handicap Chase, reducing the gap between Skelton and table-leader Mullins by just over £9,000.
John Mitchell has instructed England to continue playing on the edge despite the disciplinary issues that have marred their Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
The Red Roses have been shown two red cards in three matches, with number eight Sarah Beckett dismissed in the opener against Italy and hooker Amy Cokayne sent off against Scotland.
Both opponents were crushed despite England being reduced to 14 players as they continue their march to a sixth successive Championship title with the visit of Ireland to Twickenham on Saturday.
While Mitchell wants technique to be refined where needed, he views his team’s physicality as an important weapon.
“I want us to continue to play on the edge, but I also want us to be aware around how we need to change our behaviour,” the Red Roses head coach said.
“In Amy’s incident, she needs to get her head under the ball. Obviously that’s something you put the ownership on the individual to change.
“We probably let the pressure off on Scotland. There were a number of times when we had the foot on their throats. We’d rather that turn into attack for us.
“There’s some good things we’ve learned from it, but we’re certainly not going to go away from being on the edge. It’s what drives us. It’s what the game’s all about and we want to defence into points.”
Beckett received a three-match ban for a dangerous clearout while Cokayne’s two yellow cards for a dangerous clearout and dangerous tackle resulted in a one-game suspension.
Both players will be available for the probable Grand Slam decider against France on Saturday week.
England had rehearsed for the eventuality of losing their number eight and hooker in the build up to each game after defence coach Sarah Hunter had presented them as scenarios in training.
“We’ve told Sarah Hunter not to give us any more scenarios!” captain Marlie Packer joked.
“So she might have said at the beginning of the Six Nations ‘eight go off the pitch’. That might have happened.
“And then last week ‘hooker you’ve got a card, go off’. And that might have happened in a game. So we’ve kind of told Sarah not to do that any more!”
Almost 50,000 are expected at Twickenham on Saturday and in anticipation of the atmosphere, England have adapted training at their Surrey base.
“Early on in the week, when we do more low-key training in the barn inside, we can put crowd noise in. I personally loved it,” he said.
“It paints a different picture for us. It’s been a new thing that we’ve brought in this week which has raised our game. Hopefully we can put it out on the pitch on Saturday.”
Packer has been restored at openside for the visit of Ireland, forcing Zoe Aldcroft to move from back row to lock, while Lark Atkin-Davies replaces the suspended Cokayne at hooker.
Haatem could join esteemed stablemate Rosallion in next month’s Qipco 2000 Guineas after throwing his hat into the ring with a dominant victory in the bet365 Craven Stakes at Newmarket.
Rosallion, who won three of his four juvenile starts including the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc weekend at ParisLongchamp, is very much Richard Hannon’s first string for the season’s first Classic on May 4, with only the unbeaten and much-vaunted City Of Troy ahead of him in ante-post lists.
Haatem himself kept good company during a busy two-year-old campaign, most notably winning the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood as well as finishing second and fifth behind City Of Troy in the Superlative and Dewhurst Stakes respectively, but looked more exposed than most ahead of his three-year-old debut.
Making his reappearance and 10th career start in one of the key Guineas trials, Haatem was sent off at 17-2 in the hands of Sean Levey and quickened up smartly racing out of the dip to pull three and a half lengths clear of Dewhurst third Eben Shaddad.
“The way he did it has surprised me, but you can’t say that was a fluke. He’s obviously improved a lot physically – he’s a big, strong, impressive horse,” said Hannon.
“He’s a good horse and he’s just won a Craven by three and a half lengths. He won a Vintage Stakes with the subsequent Champagne Stakes winner behind him and he was fifth in a Dewhurst.
“Funnily enough, I said to Sean after the last race I thought he’d get the trip well and it seems the horses who have been making the running all week have been winning and have been hard to peg back. I know he didn’t make the running, but I don’t think you can say that is an average performance, he was pretty good there.”
Coral cut Haatem to 25-1 from 66-1 for the 2000 Guineas, with Aidan O’Brien’s City Of Troy their 4-6 favourite and Rosallion rated his biggest threat at 5-1. Betfair and Paddy Power make Haatem a 20-1 chance.
Hannon is ready to let both of his pair line up at Newmarket next month, but did mention a couple of potential alternatives for Haatem.
He added: “This is the racecourse and this is where it matters and on what he has done today, the 25-1 on offer for the 2000 Guineas could be generous to me.
“Rosallion is a horse that contains an awful lot of speed, whereas this is a horse who gets the trip extremely well. Rosallion will get the mile and they will both probably run (in the Guineas).
“We’ve made no secret about how good we think Rosallion is. This horse has surprised me in the manner in which he did it, but I don’t think he should ever have been a 20-1 shot for the race like he was yesterday. It’s nice to have two very good milers on our hands and two with very good chances in the Guineas – one with an exceptional chance and one with a better chance than he had before.
“He’s in the German Guineas and Irish Guineas as well and I think he will be a force to be reckoned with wherever he goes. I’m delighted and the owners are delighted – they deserve it.”
Levey said: “No doubt he (Haatem) is exposed, but I thought he brought a lot of good form to the table. He was a big horse last year and I always thought he was doing well to do as well as he did because I knew he would get better in time.
“I wasn’t expecting that sort of run today, he’s obviously been hiding a bit from me at home. I thought he wanted a mile and a quarter, but I think he has done that really well and he’s going to show his hand in the Guineas now.
“Rosallion is a good horse and it gives you a bit of confidence to see this lad win the way he did. I hope I’m right (when I say) that he (Rosallion) is exceptional.”
The Miami Heat won’t have injured leading scorer Jimmy Butler in the lineup when they host the Chicago Bulls in Friday’s Eastern Conference do-or-die play-in tournament game.
Butler will be sidelined for several weeks due to a right MCL injury sustained in Wednesday’s 105-104 road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, who clinched the No. 7 seed in the East.
Butler was hurt late in the first quarter when he tried to fake out Philadelphia’s Kelly Oubre Jr. and his knee buckled, causing the six-time All-Star to fall to the court.
A hobbled Butler remained in the game and wound up playing 40 minutes. He scored 19 points but shot 5 of 18 from the field.
Butler led Miami in the regular season with 20.8 points, 5.0 assists and 1.32 steals per game while also averaging 5.3 rebounds.
Last season, Butler won the Larry Bird Trophy as the MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals as No. 8 seed Miami advanced to the NBA Finals before losing in five games to the Denver Nuggets.
The winner of Friday’s matchup between Miami and Chicago will capture the No. 8 seed in the East and move on to play the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
Washington Heights dug deep from the front to provide trainer Kevin Ryan with a record fifth victory in the Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes at Newmarket.
Previously successful in the Group Three contest with Hamza (2014), Astaire (2015) and the popular dual winner Brando (2017 and 2018), Ryan this year fielded a widely unconsidered 33-1 shot who had been off the track since landing a Listed event at Bro Park in September.
Prior to his Swedish success the four-year-old had been placed in a number of competitive sprint handicaps and looks set to ply his trade at Pattern level from now on judged on a fine comeback win on the Rowley Mile under a well judged ride from Tom Eaves.
Mill Stream also made a promising start to his campaign in second, beaten three-quarters of a length, as did Spycatcher who was only a short head further behind in third.
Adam Ryan, assistant to his father Kevin, said of the winner: “He was a bit of an unlucky horse last year and he bumped into Shaquille first time out giving him weight.
“The good thing about him is he is very consistent and he deserved to get his head in front in Sweden. This year was always going to be about if he could take the next step up and he has certainly done that.
“He’s such a genuine horse and if you had 100 like him it would be an easy game. He’s always going to give you 110 per cent and once his head is in front he is always going to be hard to pass.
“It’s a good starting point to the year and generally at this time of year the weather can be a bit in and out, but it’s usually all right here and it’s a nice place for these sprinters to start.
“The Duke Of York or the Greenlands Stakes in in Ireland could be the next port of call and he’s an exciting horse to look forward to.”
Cosmo Charlton, representing the winning owners, Hambleton Racing Ltd, said: “We’ve got quite a few of the syndicate here today and everyone was really excited.
“He’s done well over the winter and was impressive over in Sweden last year so we were hoping he was going to run above his odds today.
“He’s a horse who tried very hard in his races and he’s run loads of really good races for us. It was a strong Group Three today and almost a Group Two on paper and he just has a tremendous attitude and Tom just said he tries very hard for you and digs deep. I sort of knew he had won a furlong out to be honest.
“Tom has given him a great ride from the front and has got the job done and he looks like a sprinter to follow for the season.
“Kevin wins this race a lot and is a fantastic trainer of fast horses and it looks like he’s bought another really nice one for us. The owners have really bonded with him and to come here and win in Group company, hopefully there are exciting things ahead.
“He has options and he’s in the Duke Of York and the Greenlands. They have great prize-money and will be fun days out and the dream is very much alive with this horse about where he could take us in the future.”
The front-running First Conquest narrowly denied the promising Lead Artist in a thrilling renewal of the bet365 Wood Ditton Maiden Stakes at Newmarket.
The one-mile contest for unraced three-year-olds has been won by a whole host of high-class performers over the years, including 12 months ago when subsequent Dante third and Derby runner Passenger made a winning debut for Sir Michael Stoute.
Representing the formidable combination of Charlie Appleby and William Buick, First Conquest was unsurprisingly prominent in the market for this year’s renewal at 4-1 and having dictated affairs from the off, had most of his rivals in trouble racing out of the dip.
Lead Artist and Earl Of Rochester, two sons of Dubawi trained by John and Thady Gosden, came from the chasing pack to throw down a challenge with the former emerging as the biggest threat in the Juddmonte silks, but First Conquest dug in to prevail by a nose.
As a gelding this year’s Wood Ditton winner does not have Classic aspirations, with Appleby eyeing a more low-key campaign.
He said: “He’s been schooled up there at home and is from a family we have known. He worked with a nicer horse that ran well earlier in the week as well so we were confident, barring greenness. He hit the lids and was very professional throughout.
“At the moment I hope he will be a nice, progressive handicapper and stepping up in trip in time he can be a proper mile-and-a-quarter type of horse.
“The thing about the Wood Ditton is years ago when you’d win it you would have to throw them in at the deep end, but now with the change of the programme we can give these horses a chance and let them develop in their own manner.”
Charlie Hills’ highly-regarded Cicero’s Gift is back in training with his handler confident he can make his mark at the highest level.
A winner of his first three starts, the son of Muhaarar impressed when bringing up his hat-trick in a Goodwood conditions event – a performance which earned the colt a shot at the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
A finishing position of seventh belies the true tale of that outing, with Cicero’s Gift catching the eye when having his passage repeatedly blocked in the closing stages of the Group One contest.
That was the final time he was seen last season with a setback curtailing his progress, but his trainer now has high hopes as he prepares to recommence his career at four.
Hills said: “He will have his first canter back this week and he’s a horse who had a problem last year so we threw him into a paddock for five months and gave him some time off. Hopefully, fingers crossed, we can get him back on track.
“We’ll go nice and gentle and keep him off fast ground.
“He ran a really nice race in the St James’s Palace last year, he was a bit unlucky in running and I think he can be a Group One horse. It will probably be over a mile, but the stallion is getting them to stay.”
Ashton Golding has vowed to put thoughts of overdue silverware aside as he prepares for a match that means more to him than any other when Huddersfield face Leeds in the Betfred Super League at Headingley on Friday.
For Leeds-born Golding it does not get any bigger than a return to face the Rhinos, his boyhood idols and the club for whom he made more than 50 appearances before making the difficult decision to leave to further his career in 2019.
“This is my personal Grand Final,” Golding told the PA news agency. “There’s no other game in the calendar that beats it. I live two minutes away from Headingley and I love Leeds, it’s my city, I was born there and I will probably die there.
“I’ll follow anyone that plays for any Leeds team. I’m fond of the Rhinos any day I’m not playing them, but as soon as it’s game day against the Rhinos, they’re my enemy and I’m a Giant.”
Having played at full-back for Leeds, Golding has proved a versatile interchange under Ian Watson as he looks to re-establish himself after two years battling a series of minor injuries.
The Giants too have shown signs of rebounding from a disappointing 2023 campaign and go to Headingley on the back of two straight Super League wins plus a stunning 34-6 success over Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
It was a result that raised plenty of eyebrows outside the Giants’ dressing room, but Golding added: “We know our own ability and we don’t need everyone else telling us how good or how bad we are.
“We understood that last year was not reflective of us and the work we had put in. We’ve got a group of good honest players who know they can all depend on each other, and we are excited to find out how far we are able to go.”
Huddersfield will face Warrington in the semi-finals next month as they look to book a second Wembley trip in two years. And victory would finally snag some silverware for Golding, who admits his experience at Leeds, when he was often benched for the biggest games, instilled him with plenty of hunger for more.
“I have absolutely fond memories of playing for the Rhinos, but it is also the experiences when I didn’t play that helped me overcome adversity in certain situations,” Golding said.
“Missing out on the Grand Final in 2017, 18th man in the World Club Challenge, it either makes you or breaks you and I felt like it gave me more. I think it was the best thing that I took away from Leeds and I can’t wait to go back there and play in that brilliant stadium again on Friday night.”
Willie Mullins will saddle six runners in the the Coral Scottish Grand National at Ayr on Saturday as he looks to extend his lead in the race to be crowned champion trainer in Britain.
The Grand National success of I Am Maximus at Aintree saw Mullins sweep past perennial champion Paul Nicholls and his former pupil Dan Skelton and he is now a hot favourite to become the first Irish-based trainer to claim the British title since Vincent O’Brien did so in successive seasons in the 1950s.
The Closutton handler is represented in each of the eight races on Saturday’s Ayr card and is responsible for six of the 26 declared for the £200,000 feature.
The trainer’s two leading contenders appear to be recent Fairyhouse scorer Macdermott and Mr Incredible, who turns out just seven days after unseating his rider at The Chair. Ontheropes, Spanish Harlem, Klarc Kent and We’llhavewan complete the sextet.
Mullins is unlikely to have things all his own way, however, with Nicholls represented by the high-class top-weight Stay Away Fay and Broken Halo, while Skelton will be hoping Ballygrifincottage can put him back on top of the table.
Brian Ellison’s Eider Chase winner Anglers Crag and the Jamie Snowden-trained Git Maker also feature.
The title-chasing trio all fire major bullets at the £100,000 Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle, with Mullins running Westport Cove, Bialystok and Alvaniy, Nicholls saddling last year’s winner Rubaud and his stablemate and Afadil with Skelton relying upon County Hurdle runner-up L’Eau du Sud.
Also among a total of 18 runners on the afternoon for Mullins are Uncle Phil in the opening Scotty Brand Handicap Chase, popular veteran Sharjah in the CPMS Novices’ Champion Handicap Chase and impressive Punchestown winner Billericay Dickie in the Tennent’s Novices’ Hurdle.
Lewis Hamilton said “people continue to talk s***” about him amid his worst start to a Formula One season.
The 39-year-old has scored just 10 points from the opening four rounds following his Mercedes team’s misfiring campaign.
Hamilton has failed to finish in the top six so far, and crossed the line a distant ninth at the last round in Japan a fortnight ago.
Hamilton, who is moving to Ferrari next year, was asked if Mercedes’ early-season troubles vindicated his decision to quit the team, which carried him to six of his record-equalling seven world championships.
“I don’t feel like I need my decision vindicating,” he said. “I know what is right for me, and that hasn’t changed from the moment I made the decision.
“There’s not been a moment that I’ve questioned it, and I’m not swayed by other people’s comments.
“Even today, there’s people continuing to talk s***, and that will continue on for the rest of the year.
“I’ll have to just do what I did the previous time (when he moved to Mercedes from McLaren). Only I can know what’s right for me, and this (joining Ferrari) will be an exciting time for me.”
Hamilton, who was speaking ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix – the first staged here since 2019 – was asked what he meant by “people taking s***”.
“Just read what’s out there,” he replied.
Hamilton will be 40 when he makes his debut for Ferrari in Australia next March.
Fernando Alonso announced last week that he will remain in the sport beyond his 45th birthday after agreeing a contract extension with Aston Martin. The Spaniard, 43 in July, will become the oldest driver of the modern era.
And Hamilton added: “I’m going to be racing for quite some time still, right into my 40s, so it’s definitely good Fernando is still around and keeps going on for a bit longer.
“I never thought I’d be racing into my 40s. I’m pretty sure I said I wouldn’t. But life is such a crazy trick. I don’t feel like I’m nearing 40. I feel like I’m pretty young.
“It’s a real positive that Fernando is staying because it means I’m not the oldest driver here.
“But also Fernando is one of the best drivers we’ve had in the sport so for him to continue to be here and continue to have the output that he’s had just shows what’s possible.”
Hamilton, who has won a record six times in China, will be back on track on Friday in qualifying for the first sprint round of the season.
In a rejig of the format this year, the grid for Sunday’s main event will now be determined after the 19-lap race which gets under way at 11:00am (4am BST) on Saturday.
Lucinda Russell will consider a tilt at the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup with Corach Rambler following his first fence exit in the Grand National last weekend.
Following a highly creditable third place finish in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the 10-year-old was well fancied by many to claim back-to-back victories in the Aintree spectacular, but parted company with Derek Fox at the first obstacle and then fell riderless at the second.
Thankfully Corach Rambler returned to Scotland unscathed and having pleased in a midweek schooling session, Russell is not ruling out an end of season trip across the Irish Sea.
“When Corach Rambler unseated Derek at the first in Saturday’s Grand National, it certainly wasn’t the fairytale result the team and I had dreamt about for our pride and joy! It was naturally very disappointing, but I’m delighted to report that he came home safe and sound,” she told William Hill.
“We schooled him on Wednesday morning to make sure he hadn’t lost any confidence after Aintree, and he seems really happy. He’s very pleased to be back in work and there are no ill-effects from Liverpool, which is fantastic.
“Regarding future plans this season, he’s still got an entry in the Punchestown Gold Cup. Immediately after the Grand National, I wasn’t that keen to run him again this term, but if he’s very fresh and feels good, we’ll think about taking him to Ireland.
“We’ll see what each day brings and decide nearer the time, but I certainly wouldn’t rule it out.”
History-chasing Ronnie O’Sullivan will start the World Snooker Championship against Jackson Page as reigning champion Luca Brecel faces David Gilbert.
The sport’s best take to the green baize at the Crucible from Saturday, with the winner crowned in Sheffield on Sunday, May 6.
Seven-time world champion O’Sullivan begins his quest for an unprecedented eighth title of the modern era against 22-year-old Welshman Page this weekend.
Brecel beat Mark Selby in last year’s final and the Belgian gets his defence under way against Gilbert.
Last year’s runner-up Selby will take on Joe O’Connor in all-Leicester encounter, while third seed Judd Trump will play Hossein Vafaei in an exciting first-round clash.
Fourth seed Mark Allen faces Robbie Williams in the first round, with sixth seed Mark Williams taking on Si Jiahui.
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