A tilt at Group One glory in the Nunthorpe at York is on the agenda for Regional following a clear-cut victory in the Sky Bet Achilles Stakes at Haydock.

Placed on multiple occasions last season, including a runner-up finish in a valuable race in Qatar before finishing third in the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood, Ed Bethell’s speedster made a successful start to his five-year-old campaign in handicap company at York last month.

He faced a rise in class in this five-furlong Listed event, but proved more than up to the task in the hands of Callum Rodriguez.

The 5-1 shot blazed a trail down the centre of the track and while Frankie Dettori did his best to get 3-1 favourite Equilateral on terms against the stands’ rail, Regional was ultimately well on top as he passed the post with a length and a quarter in hand.

“He’s a really fun horse and fast ground and flat tracks are his thing, so we’ll just try to keep him at that now,” said Bethell.

“We took him to Qatar last winter and finished second and he never really came back the same horse after that. I appreciate he came second at Doncaster and third in the Stewards’ Cup, but he wasn’t the same horse he is this year.

“We gave him a winter out and he’s just thrived. He’s enjoying his racing and Callum is riding out of his skin for me.”

With Regional not entered at Royal Ascot later this month, the North Yorkshire handler plans to give his stable star another run elsewhere before sending him back to York in August.

The trainer’s father James saddled Moss Gill to finish third in the Nunthorpe three years ago and Bethell junior is keen for Regional to head down the same path.

He added: “I’d imagine we’ll look at the Nunthorpe, that looks like a logical target. What we do in the meantime is between me and the guys (owners). We’ll sit down and have a chat, but I’m just delighted for everyone at home.

“They’re very different types of horses. Moss Gill had the most economical stride I’ve ever seen in our yard, whereas this fellow doesn’t have an economical stride at all, he’s just quick!

“It’s very exciting for everyone to be involved in a horse like this. He’s not entered at Ascot. He was in the Wokingham, but is probably too quick for that so I took him out.

“I could tell the owners they could supplement (for the King’s Stand), but it’s probably quite a lot of money, it’s a deep race this year and I think the Nunthorpe is more his race.

“In the interim I might go to York for the City Walls with a penalty and I might enter him in the King George sprint at Goodwood, those are two options.

“What I want to do is make sure there is a good gap between his next race and the Nunthorpe, that’s the imperative thing.”

Katie Swan secured her place in the final of the Lexus Surbiton Trophy, but Katie Boulter’s hopes of an all-British showdown were ended by defeat to veteran Belgian Yanina Wickmayer.

For the first time in the tournament’s history, Great Britain had three women’s players through to the semi-finals.

Swan was in determined mood for Saturday’s opening match on Centre Court as she completed an impressive 6-1 6-0 victory over British number seven Lily Miyazaki in just over an hour.

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The 24-year-old, who had knocked out first seed Tatjana Maria in the last round, built on an early break to swiftly open up a 5-0 lead before closing out the opening set.

It remained one-way traffic in the second as Swan kept the pressure on Miyazaki’s serve with three straight breaks.

Miyazaki looked like she would break back in the sixth game, but Swan – who can secure the British number one spot by going on to win the title – twice recovered to level at deuce before clinching the match when a return went into the net.

“Today was probably one of the best matches I’ve played in my career – it was near perfect,” Swan said in her court-side interview broadcast by the LTA.

“I am really happy that I was able to produce that and I can’t wait to play in the final tomorrow.”

Boulter was in pole position to go on and cement her place as British number one, but Wickmayer proved too strong as the 33-year-old closed out a 6-3 6-2 win.

The opening set remained on serve with no break opportunities until the eighth game when Wickmayer capitalised on some wayward returns from Boulter to take a decisive lead and then close things out 6-3.

Boulter made an important hold in the first game of the second set, but the Belgian kept the pressure on to break in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead as another return from the Briton flew wide.

Wickmayer – who won the doubles title with Sophie Chang on Friday – held and then battled back from 15-40 down to break Boulter again in the seventh game.

Although Boulter saved one match point, it was only delaying the inevitable as a return into the net saw Wickmayer progress to Sunday’s final against Swan.

“I am really enjoying my time on the grass, so am really happy to have gotten a lot of matches this week,” Wickmayer said following her win.

“I am really happy to be in another final here and just going to enjoy one more.”

A decade may have passed since Justin Rose won the US Open, but unsurprisingly memories of his momentous achievement at Merion quickly come flooding back.

“It turned into a magical week and there were so many factors in play,” Rose told the PA news agency in an exclusive interview.

“It was one of the first majors that I really identified as a huge opportunity and I really went out of my way to prepare for, really did things a little bit differently that week.

“There was some great preparation mixed in with kind of a mystical side of it being Father’s Day, me feeling like my dad was watching down and being very much a motivating factor for me that week.”

Yet it was a week which could easily have turned out so differently.

The preparation Rose alluded to was three full days spent at Merion the week before the championship, only for the conditions to change significantly following a downpour caused by the remnants of tropical storm Andrea.

With torrential rain continuing to fall on the East Course, plans were even put in place to use two holes on the West Course, while Ian Poulter offered an illuminating response when asked whose game would be suited to the test.

“Someone who can use flippers and snorkel the best,” Poulter replied.

“That was fortuitous that the bad weather came in and I wasn’t around for it, but in some ways it made me doubt my preparation because I’d seen Merion in a certain way,” Rose recalled.

“The course was playing fantastically and it was a US Open so you build your game plan in a way to think, ‘How can I get round this course without making mistakes and shoot even par?’

“Then all the rain came down and softened up the course and all the Golf Channel pundits are saying it was going to be a bloodbath, birdies everywhere and double digits under par was going to win.

“I was like, ‘Oh well, that was a bit of a waste of time then,’ but it was too late to change my game plan so I stuck with it and, lo and behold, one over par won the golf tournament.”

That winning total belonged to Rose following a dramatic final round played out alongside Luke Donald, the English duo starting the day two shots behind Phil Mickelson, who was celebrating his 43rd birthday.

Mickelson double-bogeyed the third and fifth to limp to the turn in 39 before holing out for an eagle on the short par-four 10th, only for Rose to immediately respond with birdies on the 12th and 13th to reclaim the lead.

Two bogeys in three holes from both players left Rose one ahead on the 18th tee, from where he hit a perfect drive to within a few yards of the plaque which commemorates Ben Hogan’s one-iron to the 72nd hole of the 1950 US Open, which helped get the American into a play-off the following day which he went on to win.

“I hit probably the best shot of my life at the right time which ultimately ended up missing the green, which shows you how hard that shot is in there,” Rose laughed.

“I left myself in the perfect spot really to make an easy four which I hoped was going to be good enough.”

After tapping in for par, Rose raised his fingers to the sky in tribute to his father Ken, a massive influence on his career who died from leukaemia in 2002.

“Being a father myself by that point in my life, it was very special,” he said.

“My coach at the time, Sean Foley, sent me a really great message the morning of the final round making it clear what a good day would look like.

“It wasn’t necessarily based upon the result, it was more about going out there and carrying myself in a way that would make not just my dad proud, but my kids, being a role model for them and showing them how to carry yourself in pressure situations.

“Obviously I had to wait for the final groups to finish, so there was some nail biting going on because I felt like I had done enough and you can almost taste victory at that point.

“I would have hoped it would have been the catalyst to go on and win some more majors, but that obviously isn’t the case yet.

“Having that monkey off the back was a huge relief at that point in my career. It came before there were any questions on being the best player not to have won a major – it was nice to take care of business and I hoped the freedom of that would have kicked me on to win more.

“I’ve had a few opportunities and that’s where majors are hard to win because yes, you have to play great golf, but you also need that little moment of brilliance or luck right at the end that gets the job done.”

Andy Murray will continue his preparations for Wimbledon by playing at the Rothesay Open Nottingham next week.

The former world number one has taken a wildcard entry for the challenger event after selecting to play there rather than at the Stuttgart Open.

Murray, who has advanced to the semi-finals of the Lexus Surbiton Trophy this weekend, last year chose to play in Stuttgart and beat top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios on his way to the final before losing to Matteo Berrettini.

He had been weighing up a return to Germany, but had said he was tempted by Nottingham as it would cut down on travel, while the playing surface is more similar to Queen’s and Wimbledon.

British number two Dan Evans, who has won the title in two of the last three editions, had already been confirmed for Nottingham.

Murray reached the last four in Surbiton with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Australian Jason Kubler on Friday.

Lewis Hamilton won his first Formula One race at the Canadian Grand Prix, on this day in 2007.

The then 22-year-old took first place in only his sixth grand prix after a series of podium finishes in his debut season for McLaren.

Hamilton took pole position over team-mate Fernando Alonso, who qualified second on the grid, and the Briton controlled the race from the moment the lights went out, keeping in front of the Spaniard at Turn One and again on the inside line for Turn Two.

Alonso was hunting down his third world title and may have expected Hamilton to make way but the pair battled again before Alonso ran into the grass and dropped back in among the rest of the field.

Two safety cars were called when Robert Kubica ran his BMW into a concrete barrier after Adrian Sutil crashed his Force India, but Hamilton defended well in both situations to retain the lead and take home his first race victory.

After the race in Montreal, Hamilton said: “I’ve been ready for this for quite some time, ready for the win – it was just a matter of where and when.

“I have to dedicate this win to my dad – without him this wouldn’t have been possible.

“The last few laps were just a case of counting them down and it really was just about enjoying it.”

Hamilton took the chequered flag 4.343seconds ahead of Nick Heidfeld in the BMW, while Williams’ Alexander Wurz crossed the line in third.

Hamilton has since become a record-equalling seven-time world champion and has won the Canadian Grand Prix a further six times during his career to date.

Aaron Gordon provided a huge lift with 27 points and the Denver Nuggets received contributions from several sources in a 108-95 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday to get within one win of the franchise’s first NBA championship.

Nikola Jokic worked around foul trouble to tally 23 points and 12 rebounds and Bruce Brown scored 11 of 21 points down the stretch to help the Nuggets take a 3-1 lead in the series. Denver can wrap up the title at home in Game 5 on Monday.

Jamal Murray scored 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting but had 12 assists. His shooting struggles were offset by Gordon, who was 11 of 15 from the field with six rebounds and six assists. Brown connected on 8 of 11 field goals and his third 3-pointer of the night with 1:21 left pushed the advantage to 108-91.

Jokic went to the bench with 9:24 to play after he committed his fifth foul with Denver holding a 10-point lead. He checked back in just over five minutes later with the Nuggets leading 96-87.

Jimmy Butler scored 25 points and Bam Adebayo added 20 with 11 rebounds, but the Heat had their final lead at 23-20 early in the second quarter. They cut the deficit to 94-87 midway through the fourth before Brown scored Denver’s next eight points to make it 102-91.

Miami appears to be wearing down with its sixth loss in eight games since taking a 3-0 lead over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.

Rory McIlroy boosted his chances of a third consecutive RBC Canadian Open title with a flawless second round of 67 in Ontario.

McIlroy recorded five birdies at Oakdale Golf and Country Club to improve to six under par, three shots off the halfway lead held by China’s Carl Yuan.

The world number three first won the tournament by seven shots in 2019 but it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. McIlroy carded a closing 62 to win at St George’s 12 months ago.

Asked about trying to win the title for a third time on a third different course, McIlroy said: “I sort of like it.

“I like reacting to what I’m seeing out there and targets. And I’m not a great player at playing a course by memory.

“There’s certain venues on tour that I go back to and I play well, but it’s not really because I remember how putts are breaking or where to miss it. It’s just I feel comfortable at that venue.”

Rounds of 68 and 67 gave Yuan a one-shot lead over home favourite Corey Conners, C.T. Pan and the English pair of Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai.

Hatton, who fired six birdies in seven holes from the seventh in his 64, said: “A lot of putts went in, which was nice.

“The greens were a bit funky this afternoon; I managed to hit my start line, they’d bobble off line and thankfully they bobbled back on line and went in. Just happy to see the ball go in the hole and have a decent day.”

Rai was three over par after six holes of his opening round, but has played the next 30 in 11 under in pursuit of his first PGA Tour title.

“It’s a funny game and you can sometimes be playing great but sometimes be doubtful in the mind and not feel amazing over certain shots,” Rai said.

“You can sometimes be playing quite poorly but then kind of flick a switch in the mind and feel very positive about what you’re doing and what’s to come.

“So I think that was the biggest thing that even on hole number seven (on Thursday), although I was three over I felt pretty calm and pretty settled in the situation we were in. I think that was key for then finishing off the round very strongly.”

The New York Mets will be without first baseman and Major League home run leader Pete Alonso for the next few weeks due to a wrist injury.

Alonso was placed on the injured list Friday with a sprained left wrist and bone bruise. He will be re-evaluated in three or four weeks.

Alonso suffered the injury when he was hit by a 97-mph fastball during Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Braves.

While X-rays showed no fractures, further testing revealed the injuries that will keep the Mets’ best slugger out for the next month.

The Mets entered play Friday with a 30-33 record and in fourth place in the National League East. They will now be without Alonso, who leads the majors with 22 home runs this season.

The news of Alonso’s absence comes while the Mets are mired in a season-long six-game losing streak.

The Mets called up infielder Luis Guillorme to take Alonso’s roster spot, while duties at first base are expected to be handled by Mark Vientos and Mark Canha.

Alonso is batting .231 this season with an .872 OPS, while his 49 RBIs are the most in the NL.

Since he made his debut in 2019, Alonso has hit 168 home runs and driven in 429 runs, both MLB highs over that span.

The Houston Astros will be without one of baseball's best hitters for the foreseeable future after placing slugger Yordan Alvarez on the 10-day injured list with right oblique discomfort.

The Astros announced the move on Friday and said Alvarez will head back to Houston for further evaluation.

A timetable for a return won't be made until after he's evaluated, though Astros second baseman Jose Altuve suffered a mild oblique injury while swinging a bat on June 2 and ended up missing only four games.

It's possible Houston believes Alvarez's injury is more serious, however, seeing as the team already placed him on the injured list. The recovery time for oblique strains is typically four-to-six weeks.

Alvarez exited Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays after experiencing discomfort in his right oblique during his at-bat in the first inning.

He said he initially felt soreness in the oblique on his final swing in the batting cage before the game.

Alvarez ended up grounding out on his first-inning at-bat, ending a 19-game on-base streak in which he slashed .246/.383/.646 with eight home runs, 16 RBIs and 18 runs.

Alvarez leads the majors with 55 RBIs and his 17 home runs trail only New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge's 19 for the most in the AL.

Since the start of the 2021 season, Alvarez's 87 home runs are seventh in MLB.

The 25-year-old won the AL Rookie of the Year in 2019 and made his first All-Star Game last season after hitting 37 home runs - the most ever by a left-handed hitter in Houston franchise history.

Thursday's setback was the third straight loss for the Astros, dropping them to 36-27 - five games behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL West.

Andy Murray has set his eyes on the Lexus Surbiton Trophy final after he beat Australian Jason Kubler to advance into the last four.

Murray fought back from a set down to beat Kubler 3-6 6-3 6-4 and showed signs of his best as the two-time Wimbledon champion progressed into the competition’s penultimate day for the second straight year.

The second seed, who fell at the semi-final stage in 2022, credited his opponent after their two-hour battle which furthered Murray’s hopes of earning a seed for next month’s Wimbledon championships.

The 36-year-old said: “I knew it was going to be hard. He (Kubler) played well and has a lot of variety in his game and was one of the best juniors in the world but has had some problems with injuries.

“He has beaten some good players, he likes to play on this surface so I was not expecting an easy one. Having to come back from a set down against a player as good as him on these sorts of courts is a positive.

“I did fine, it was very windy and gusty a lot so tough to feel great when it is like that, but I did well in the important moments.

“Most of the tournaments you play on tour are in purpose-built facilities whereas coming here, you all love tennis and are probably members, so it’s always nice to play at clubs like this.

“It has been a good run so far and hopefully I can go a bit further than last year.”

Murray will face the defending champion Jordan Thompson in Saturday’s semi-final.

But before then he needs to decide where he will play next week, with his options being the Rothesay Open in Nottingham or the Stuttgart Open.

The Briton enjoyed last year’s event in Germany, where he beat top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and eventual Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios before losing to Italian Matteo Berrettini in the final.

He added: “I need to make a decision whether I will go to Nottingham or Stuttgart. There’s pros and cons to both, they’re both good decisions.

“There are higher rewards in Stuttgart and Nottingham there’s less travel and the courts are probably a little more similar to Queen’s and Wimbledon.

“I feel like I should be playing at the highest level that I can and competing on the tour is ultimately what I want to do.

“I liked the tournament in Stuttgart last year – I played really well there so I wish I could make a decision after the next couple of days, but it has to be tonight.”

The match of the tournament had an anti-climactic ending as Carlos Alcaraz was hit by cramp in his French Open semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic.

After levelling the contest in a brilliant second set, the 20-year-old found himself barely able to move early in the third and fell to a 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 defeat.

On Sunday, Djokovic will face Casper Ruud, who is through to the final here for the second year in a row after beating Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4 6-0.

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Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid will play Martin De La Puente and Gustavo Fernandez for a 17th grand slam title in wheelchair doubles. Andy Lapthorne is also through to the quad doubles final with South African Donald Ramphadi.

Who’s up next?

The women’s champion will be crowned on Saturday afternoon as world number one Iga Swiatek takes on Karolina Muchova. Swiatek is looking to win the title for the third time in four years while Czech Muchova can become the latest surprise major winner. Hewett bids for a third consecutive slam title in wheelchair singles when he meets Japanese teenager Tokito Oda.

Carlos Alcaraz admitted tension got the better of him after he was hobbled by cramp in his hotly-anticipated French Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic.

The 20-year-old had just won an electrifying second set to level the contest and looked like he might be grabbing the ascendancy when, after hitting a return in the second game of the third, his whole body seized up.

Alcaraz managed to carry on but won only one more game as Djokovic triumphed 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 to reach a 34th grand slam final.

The Spaniard did look a lot more anxious than usual at the start of the biggest match in men’s tennis for a year and, asked what had caused the cramp, he said: “The tension of the match.

“I started the match really nervous. The tension of the first set, the second set, it was a really intense two sets, as well. I have never felt something like I did today. I have never felt that tension that I did in that match.

“I disappointed myself, and in a match like this, coming to this match with great feeling, feeling great physically, and cramping at the end of the second set, beginning of the third set. It was really disappointing.”

This was only the second time Djokovic and Alcaraz had played each other and the first at a slam, with the young Spaniard having prevailed in Madrid last year.

The 16-year age gap was the biggest in any Roland Garros semi-final in the open era and it seemed a pivotal match in the generational battle going on in men’s tennis as well as for Djokovic’s hopes of pulling away from his rivals at the top of the all-time lists.

“It’s not easy to play against Novak,” said Alcaraz, who won a series of long matches to claim his first grand slam title at the US Open last year, where Djokovic was absent because of his vaccination status.

“If someone says that he gets into the court with no nerves playing against Novak, he lies.

“Of course, playing a semi-final of a grand slam, you have a lot of nerves, but even more with facing Novak. Next time that I’m going to face Novak, I hope to be different, but the nerves will be there.”

Djokovic was the better player in the first set but the second was a tremendous contest, with Alcaraz showcasing his spectacular brand of tennis, not least a stunning winner in the third game when he chased back towards his own baseline and somehow flicked the ball inside the sideline on the turn.

Djokovic was the first to call the trainer for treatment to his right forearm and Alcaraz broke for 5-3 before holding three set points two games later, but each time his opponent fought back.

Alcaraz did finally take his fourth set point on Djokovic’s serve at 5-6 but several minutes later the match was effectively over.

The Spaniard had to forfeit a game to have treatment, drawing loud and prolonged boos from the crowd when they realised what had happened, but that was the least of his worries.

He could barely move during the rest of the third set and, although he rallied at the beginning of the fourth, it was nowhere near enough to turn it back into a contest.

“I started to cramp in my arm,” explained Alcaraz. “At the beginning of the third set I started to cramp in every part of my body, not only the legs.”

Asked if he considered not finishing the match, the 20-year-old said: “I would have felt sorry about myself if I would retire. I’m in a semi-final of a grand slam. I thought that probably I have one per cent chance to come back.”

Djokovic, who has not lost a slam match for more than a year, will now be an overwhelming favourite to become the first man to win 23 grand slam singles titles in the final on Sunday.

He had sympathy for his opponent, saying: “First and foremost I have to say tough luck for Carlos. At this level, the last thing you want is cramps. I feel for him, I feel sorry and hope he can recover and come back very soon.

“I told him at the net, he knows how young he is. He’s going to win this tournament I’m sure many, many times. He’s an unbelievable player.

“It’s tough obviously for him to not know whether he should finish the match but congratulations to him for the fighting spirit.

“Towards the end of the second set I wasn’t feeling fresh at all. We went toe to toe and then this thing happened. I just tried to stay focused. I saw that he’s struggling but I didn’t want to think too much what’s going on on the other side of the net.

“I’m incredibly proud to reach another final.”

Not for the first time this fortnight, Djokovic was booed on several occasions throughout the match, including when he celebrated winning points in the fourth set.

“I don’t mind,” he said with a wry smile. “It’s not the first (time), probably not the last. I’ll just keep winning.”