Stable stalwart Thomas Darby spearheads Olly Murphy’s bumper squad of horses on Saturday afternoon, with the trainer poised to saddle key runners across the country.
The 11-year-old is part of the furniture at Murphy’s Warren Chase base and was one of the horses who helped put the trainer on the map when finishing second in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2019.
Since then the seven-time winner has been a regular on the big days and counts victory in Newbury’s Long Distance Hurdle as one of his greatest accolades.
He will now seek another major prize in the rearranged Unibet Veterans’ Handicap Chase at Warwick, returning to the scene of his comfortable course-and-distance success in November.
“He’s in good form and obviously he’s off a lofty mark now but he has course-and-distance form round Warwick and seems in good order,” said Murphy.
“He was second in a Supreme behind Klassical Dream and has had success at a high level throughout his career.
“He has been a very good horse, just probably 7lb short of being a proper Grade One horse. But we’ve had some very good days. He’s won a Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury and he’s run well on many occasions at the highest level so to win a nice handicap like this would be great.
“Harry Skelton rides him and if he gets into a good rhythm I don’t see why he wouldn’t have a good each-way chance in a valuable race.”
Sporting the same silks of owner Diana Whateley is Chasing Fire who has always threatened to be a quality operator and is upped in class at Wetherby for a shot at the Grade Two William Hill Towton Novices’ Chase.
“He definitely runs at Wetherby and is in good form,” continued Murphy.
“He’s a horse that hasn’t achieved what I think he should have achieved yet, but it is still really early days for him.
“It will be a competitive race, but we’re looking forward to it and Brian Hughes rides him.”
Meanwhile, Thunder Rock could be tasked with a stiff-looking recovery mission if taking his chance in Kempton’s Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase.
The eight-year-old fluffed his lines when sent off favourite for Cheltenham’s December Gold Cup prior to Christmas and with Murphy toying with the idea of reverting to hurdles, is keen to give his charge another chance to prove himself over fences back in a small-field contest.
“We’re short of options and running him back in a handicap is probably not the right thing to do with him at the moment,” explained Murphy.
“We would rather run in a smaller-field Graded race if possible, but options are far and few between.
“He’s in good form, he just got a terrible fright at Cheltenham last time. If he runs it will be very much a confidence boosting run.
“Unfortunately I think he’s rather well-handicapped but we’re not able to put that to good use just yet. He’ll have a run back over fences whether that is Saturday or not and see how we go, and if it doesn’t work out we’ll go back over hurdles.”
Rory McIlroy is focused on finding the “final piece of the puzzle” as he bids to end his major drought in 2024.
McIlroy won two Rolex Series events on the DP World Tour last year to claim the Race to Dubai for a fifth time and enjoyed a career-best performance to help Europe regain the Ryder Cup in Rome.
The world number two has also recorded seven top 10s in his last eight majors but remains without a win since the 2014 US PGA Championship at Valhalla, which will also host the second major of the year in May.
“I’m excited for the year,” McIlroy said before getting his season under way in the inaugural Dubai Invitational, with a title defence of the Dubai Desert Classic following next week.
“This is my 18th full season on tour, which is mad to think about. But I’m as excited as I was for the first one. I think every new year [brings] new opportunities, new goals.
“My consistency has really been there over the last couple of years, without winning one of the big ones.
“I think that’s the final piece of the puzzle for me, especially coming out of Covid and sort of going through some dips in my game and then coming back up and playing so well the last couple years.
“The final piece of the puzzle is trying to knock off one of those four.”
McIlroy’s Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood expressed similar sentiments as the Dubai-based world number 15 set his sights on a first tournament win since the Nedbank Golf Challenge in November 2022.
Fleetwood, who has recorded six top 10s in his last 10 starts worldwide, said: “I played really well last year, particularly from like early summer onwards, late spring. I think my consistency levels were great.
“Like most people in the world of golf, I don’t win anywhere near as much as I would like, so you’re always looking to that missing piece that would lead to you more victories.
“But overall, in terms of the depths of my performances throughout the year, I was very, very pleased, and to finish the world ranking in a high place again, knocking on the door of that top 10. Hopefully I can just carry on with that consistency and doing the right things and try to kick on.”
The Dubai Invitational features a 72-hole strokeplay tournament played concurrently with a three-day pro-am team event, with Sunday featuring professionals only.
Fontwell’s meeting on Thursday has been abandoned with parts of the course frozen and another cold night forecast.
Temperatures dipped to a low of minus 3.5C on Tuesday evening and were only due to rise to a high of 2C on Wednesday.
To make matters worse there was a windchill of minus 4C preventing conditions from improving.
Given it could get even colder on Wednesday evening all hope was lost that the track would thaw and having originally called an inspection for 8am on raceday, that was brought forward to 1pm on Wednesday and an early decision was made.
Wincanton on Friday is also under threat due to frost.
Having performed a minor miracle to get the course raceable on Saturday, clerk of the course Dan Cooper and his team now face a different problem.
The course is currently frozen in places and temperatures overnight could reach minus 3C before racing but a daytime high of 5C offers hope.
The meetings at Doncaster and Leicester on Wednesday both passed inspections before racing.
There were no issues at all at Doncaster but Leicester did need three inspections before getting the go-ahead, the latter at 12 noon.
Andy Farrell is expected to be named British and Irish Lions head coach for the 2025 tour to Australia on Thursday.
A month after agreeing a contract to remain in charge of Ireland until the end of the 2027 World Cup, Farrell is set to be confirmed as Warren Gatland’s successor in the Lions role at a lunchtime press conference in central London.
The 48-year-old Englishman is seen as the outstanding candidate for one of the game’s most prestigious posts, having masterminded last year’s Grand Slam and an historic 2-1 series victory in New Zealand in 2022.
Ireland also enjoyed a lengthy stay at the summit of the world rankings under his guidance until they were forced into second place by repeat World Cup winners South Africa last autumn.
Farrell would be leading the Lions for the first time, having impressed as an assistant coach under Gatland on the 2013 and 2017 tours, and his appointment would have the blessing of the Irish Rugby Football Union.
“We’d be ecstatic if Andy was named coach of the Lions so hopefully that accolade is the next one for him,” IRFU performance director David Nucifora said in December.
In addition to his management credentials, Farrell has the benefit of coaching the nation that is expected to provide the bulk of the touring party unless England, Scotland or Wales threaten Ireland’s ascendancy over the next 18 months.
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The dual code international won eight caps as a centre in 2007 following his move from Wigan rugby league club and then moved into coaching, first with Saracens and then with England, serving as an assistant under Stuart Lancaster.
He joined Ireland after the 2015 World Cup and succeeded Joe Schmidt as their head coach four years later.
An inspirational figure, he has yet to experience series defeat with the Lions having helped clinch a 2-1 victory over Australia in 2013 and a drawn series with New Zealand in 2017.
He was unavailable for the most recent tour to South Africa due to his commitments with Ireland but there is no objection this time from the IRFU, which is likely to grant him a sabbatical.
It will be the first time the Lions have been led by anyone other than Gatland since 2009, with Wales’ Kiwi boss having already ruled himself out of the running.
Next year’s tour schedule launches against Western Force on June 28, with the first Test taking place in Brisbane on July 19.
Fastorslow will have two options at next month’s Dublin Racing Festival, as Martin Brassil looks to put the finishing touches to his Cheltenham Gold Cup contender.
Having inflicted a shock defeat on Galopin Des Champs in the Punchestown Gold Cup in April, Fastorslow proved there was no fluke about that when again getting the better of last season’s Cheltenham hero in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase on his seasonal debut.
The trilogy was expected to take place in Leopardstown’s Savills Chase over the festive period, but Fastorslow was withdrawn on the morning of the race due to the deteriorating ground conditions.
In his absence, Galopin Des Champs got back on the winning trail with a brilliant victory, cementing his status in the eyes of the bookmakers as the one to beat in the blue riband at Prestbury Park in March, while trainer Willie Mullins is considering taking in the Irish Gold Cup before the defence of his Cheltenham crown.
Fastorslow is also in Irish Gold Cup contention, but Brassil will also consider the two-mile-one-furlong Ladbrokes Dublin Chase at the same fixture should testing conditions again prevail.
“The entries closed today for the Dublin Racing Festival, so we’ve entered him up for there,” Brassil told the PA news agency on Wednesday.
“He’s in the Irish Gold Cup and we’ve put him in the shorter race as well, just in case the ground came up heavy, then we might run in the shorter race with it being close to the (Cheltenham) Gold Cup.”
Brassil has no regrets about sidestepping the Savills Chase, adding: “It was a horrible evening there, I’d had a couple of runners in the Paddy Power Chase the day before and the ground had well opened up.
“We’ve never ran him on it (testing ground) before, we said we had another option (Dublin Racing Festival) and we said we’d take it.”
While admitting to being impressed by the 23-length success of Galopin Des Champs, he is not shying away from taking him on again.
He said: “He was great wasn’t he? He really was. It’s two-nil at the moment anyway.”
Emma Raducanu will no longer take part in the Kooyong Classic on Thursday.
The former US Open champion was set to take on 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the Melbourne suburbs but is not featured on Thursday’s schedule of play.
She withdrew from a charity match earlier in the week and was reported to have been feeling “sore” following practice on Monday.
Raducanu will continue to prepare for the Australian Open, which will be just her second tournament back from wrist and ankle surgery which decimated her 2023 season.
The Brit, currently ranked 299 but using a protected ranking for the first grand slam of the year, made her comeback in Auckland last week, losing in the second round to Elina Svitolina.
Raducanu has had a raft of injury problems since her breakthrough win in 2021 and ended last week’s match with Svitolina with strapping on her right leg.
The 21-year-old has since trained at Melbourne Park ahead of next week’s tournament, where she is in the main draw.
Anthony Davis and LeBron James felt the Los Angeles Lakers had impressively executed their gameplan to beat the Toronto Raptors, whose coach Darko Rajakovic hit out at the officials.
The Lakers have won back-to-back games for the first time in a month after edging to a 132-131 home win on Tuesday.
Davis scored 20 of his season-high 41 points in the fourth quarter and was was 13 of 17 from the field and 13 of 14 from the free throw line while adding 11 rebounds and six assists.
He made all eight free throw attempts in the final minute as the Lakers held on despite late 3-pointers by Toronto's Dennis Schroder and Gary Trent Jr.
LeBron James had 22 points and 12 assists to help the Lakers win their second straight after a four-game skid.
Scottie Barnes scored 26 points and RJ Barrett added 23 with 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who had won three of four.
The 14 free throw attempts for Davis were a season high and ultimately proved decisive.
"He was able to get a lot of touches and guys were finding him," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said about Davis.
"And it was his ability to get to the free throw line and knock down free throws. It is just a matter of reading the game and seeing how it's going."
Davis added: "It was all of us, it was not just me.
"We had big-time stops. We got rebounds, and they wanted me to get the ball as far as free throws, but the team was just making the right reads and trying to finish."
It was a welcome win for the Lakers after they had also narrowly defeated cross-town rival the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
They are now back to .500 at 19-19 for the season and 13-6 at home, as they look to put their miserable 3-10 run after winning the NBA Cup behind them.
"We knew we had an advantage on the interior and we just tried to get it to [Davis] early and often and late," said James.
Los Angeles hosts the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, while the Raptors are on the road against the Clippers a day earlier.
The Lakers shot 23 free throws in the fourth quarter and 36 overall, while Toronto shot only 13 in total, with Davis going 11-for-11 at the line in the final period.
"It's outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely B.S.," Rajakovic said, per ESPN.
"This is shame. Shame for the referees. Shame for the league to allow this. Twenty-three free throws for them, and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter?
"Like, how to play the game? I understand respect for All-Stars and all that, but we have star players on our team as well.
"How [is it] possible that Scottie Barnes, who is All-Star-caliber player in this league, he goes every single time to the rim with force and trying to get to the rim without flopping and not trying to get foul calls, he gets two free throws for a whole game?
"They had to win tonight? If that's the case, just let us know, so we don't show up for the game. Just give them a win. But that was not fair and this is not happening first time for us."
LeBron was asked about the Raptors complaints and simply replied: "I feel like they fouled and we didn't."
Fontwell’s meeting on Thursday must pass a precautionary inspection at 8am due to the threat of frost.
Temperatures dipped to a low of minus 3.5C on Tuesday evening and are only due to rise to a high of 2C on Wednesday.
It could get even colder on Wednesday evening but there is hope that a daytime high of 4C may help thaw the track in time.
Wincanton on Friday is also under threat due to frost.
Having performed a minor miracle to get the course raceable on Saturday, clerk of the course Dan Cooper and his team now face a different problem.
The course is currently frozen in places and temperatures overnight could reach minus 3C before racing but a daytime high of 5C offers hope.
The meetings at Doncaster and Leicester on Wednesday both passed inspections before racing.
There were no issues at all at Doncaster but Leicester did need three inspections before getting the go-ahead, the latter at 12 noon.
Jamaicans Tommi Gore and Senna Summerbell have partnered to drive an all-Jamaican entry in the 2024 ADAC GT4 Germany race series. They will be driving an Audi R8 GT4 prepared by the SAPE Motorsport race team.
The ADAC GT4 Germany is a grand tourer-based auto racing series that is largely held in Germany as part of the ADAC GT Masters, using GT4 vehicles. The 2024 series, intended as a springboard for young talents, has more than 30 vehicles from 16 teams from 5 countries registered and will feature six rounds of racing at legendary tracks throughout Germany and Austria.
Each round begins with two qualifying sessions and features two one-hour races per race weekend. A driver change must be made between the 25th and 35th minute of each race, which means that Gore and Summerbell will share driving duties for every race.
Speaking at a recent media event hosted by team sponsor Sherwin Williams, Tommi said he is “really grateful for the opportunity.”
For Summerbell, it was good to have the sponsors on board.
“Happy to have Sherwin Williams on board, hopefully we do well for them and well for ourselves. I’m proud to be part of this racing team with Tommi, we’ve been racing all of our lives together in go-karts and cars, and to drive with him and become teammates is a great feeling and hopefully we do it together in Germany and represent Jamaica," Summerbell said.
The duo’s first race is April 26-28, at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in Oschersleben, Germany.
This afternoon’s meeting at Doncaster will go ahead as planned but the card at Leicester must pass a third inspection at 12 noon.
Shortly after 7am Doncaster’s clerk of the course Paul Barker was confident temperatures had not dropped sufficiently to cause a problem but it was a different story for Jimmy Stevenson at Leicester.
By 8am the temperature on course had dropped to a chilly -4C but it is forecast to rise to 4C or 5C later on.
The track failed a second inspection at 10.30am but with temperatures slowly rising and a 1.05pm first race, officials are keen to give it every chance.
There are also issues at Wincanton on Friday where clerk of the course Dan Cooper and his team have called an 8.30am check for raceday.
The course is currently frozen in places with temperatures potentially going as low as -3C before racing.
An 8am precautionary inspection has also been called at Fontwell ahead of the meeting there on Thursday, also due to frost.
A community rugby league team established just a year ago primarily as a means to raise funds and awareness for mental health charities are preparing to make their debut in the Betfred Challenge Cup on Saturday.
South Wales Jets qualified by virtue of having soared unbeaten through their first season in the Welsh Premiership, and will take on seasoned Challenge Cup campaigners Stanningley in Ebbw Vale.
And while they harbour ambitions of bringing higher-level rugby league back to the region, the club’s founder Liam Price is determined that the mental health message will stay at the front and centre at the Jets.
Price, a former local rugby union player, told the PA news agency: “The idea to form a club came during furlough when I discovered how much I missed the social aspect of being involved in a rugby team.
“Before Covid I was something of a workaholic, and going from 80-hour weeks to nothing really affected me. I was one of those people who never really saw mental health as an issue, and all of sudden I found that I physically couldn’t get out of bed.
“After speaking to some of my friends who were going through a similar experience, the idea came up to start what would essentially be a charity sports team that would play a few union sevens tournaments raise some money and awareness.
“It got to the point where we decided to step up it and switch to league in order to enter the Welsh Premiership. But the mental health message will always remain central.”
Since their inauguration, the Jets have raised over £12,000 for a number of charities, chiefly the community-based Signposted Cymru, which has pride of place on the club shirts, and helped refer 17 young men for mental health counselling.
After a stellar first season, on-pitch ambitions involve a potential move to the Southern Conference League, but Price is wary of the fate that has befallen previous attempts to kick-start the sport in the region, most recently West Wales Raiders, who resigned from League One at the end of the 2022 campaign.
Four ex-Raiders are currently part of the Jets set-up, while former Super League players and Welsh internationals Ben Flower and Lloyd White have been working with the club to help prepare them for the daunting challenge of facing Stanningley.
Ebbw Vale itself is no stranger to league, having boasted a professional side that competed regularly in the Northern Union, and were the last Welsh club to be dissolved in 1912. But for Price there is still some way for the undoubted talent in the region to be realised.
“There’s a lot of talent in South Wales but the code is just severely under-funded,” said Price. “We looked at moving into the SCL but because of the distance between the teams it’s not financially viable at the current time.
“We’ve got a longer-term plan but we don’t want to make the same kind of mistakes that teams like the Raiders have done. We know we’re probably too strong for the Welsh league but it is important for the club that we do things properly.”
Former US Open champion Gary Woodland is determined to “jump start” his career as he returns to action following surgery to remove a brain lesion.
Woodland, who won his maiden major title at Pebble Beach in 2019, was diagnosed with the lesion in May last year but kept competing on the PGA Tour before undergoing surgery on September 18.
The 39-year-old will make his first start since August in this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, where world number eight Matt Fitzpatrick and Open champion Brian Harman head the 144-man field.
“They track it every three months now with an MRI and I had a little tough spell leading up to the MRI a couple weeks ago because I was a little nervous, but everything came back well,” Woodland said in his pre-tournament press conference.
“At the end of the day, I just want to prove you can do hard things. I want to prove to my kids nobody is going to tell you you can’t do anything.
“You can overcome tough, scary decisions in your life. Not everything is easy. This came out of nowhere for me, but I’m not going to let it stop me.
“I don’t want this to be a bump in the road for me. I want it to be a jump start in my career.
“At the end of the day, I’m here because I believe this is what I’ve been born to do, play great golf. I want to do that again. It’s been a while. Been a couple of years.
“Nothing is going to stop me. I believe that. I believe a lot of great things are ahead.”
Woodland revealed he first experienced symptoms shortly after last year’s Masters which included partial seizures in the night and “a lot of fear”.
“The lesion sat on the part of my brain that controls fear and anxiety,” Woodland said.
“The specialist in Kansas City explained everything to a T. He’s like, you’re not going crazy. Everything you’re experiencing is common and normal for where this thing is sitting in your brain.”
Remarkably, Woodland kept competing on the PGA Tour as he tried to treat the symptoms with medication, but struggled with a lack of energy and focus and would even forget which club he was about to hit while standing over the ball.
Another specialist in Miami eventually urged Woodland to undergo surgery to remove the lesion as its location was too risky to attempt a biopsy.
“He didn’t want to go in any more than he had to. So surgery and removal was the next step,” Woodland said.
“They couldn’t get it all out from where it was located (but) it was benign.
“If it was cancerous they would’ve removed it all. It’s up against my optic tract. They removed as much as they could and believe they cut off the blood circulation to what’s left.”
Dan Evans was beaten in the last 16 of the Adelaide International as Alexander Bublik came from behind to defeat the British number two.
After starting well to claim the first set, Evans was then broken to go 4-2 down in the second and he would secure only one of the games that followed as Kazakhstan’s Bublik surged to a 4-6 6-2 6-1 win.
Evans, returning to action at this tournament after his 2023 campaign was ended prematurely by a calf injury, had beaten Australian Rinky Hijikata in straight sets in the previous round.
The 33-year-old will be unseeded at a grand slam for the first time since 2019 at the Australian Open, with the draw taking place in Melbourne on Thursday.
British number four Jack Draper is through to the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International after saving two match points in a comeback win over Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.
Draper will face American Tommy Paul in the last eight after bouncing back from going a set down to earn a marathon 5-7 7-6 (9) 7-6 (7) victory in three hours and 39 minutes.
The Noel Fehily Racing Syndicate could be doubly represented in next month’s Betfair Hurdle at Newbury, with both Hansard and Kamsinas in line for the lucrative handicap.
Gary Moore’s Hansard showed his liking for the Berkshire track when landing the Gerry Feilden in November, since when he has finished a creditable fifth under a big weight in the Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot.
Kamsinas looked a potential star novice for Fergal O’Brien after landing a Grade Two prize at Haydock on his penultimate start, but having since come up short in the inaugural running of the Grade One Formby Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree on Boxing Day, he is set for a switch to handicap company.
“The plan at the moment remains for them both to run at Newbury, as long as everything stays okay between now and then,” Fehily confirmed.
“Hansard won the Gerry Feilden on his second to last start and I think the track suits him, so the Betfair Hurdle is very much the aim for him.
“Kamsinas won a Grade Two at Haydock, he was beaten in a Grade One last time out, but I think this race could just suit the likes of him as well. He is a novice and is hopefully still improving.”
Neil King is also considering another crack at handicap riches with his stable star Lookaway.
The seven-year-old completed a hat-trick of novice wins when beating Kamsinas in Grade Two company at Cheltenham towards the end of October.
He then performed with credit against seasoned campaigners when second in the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle back at Prestbury Park, only being headed on the run-in by Iberico Lord.
Lookaway filled the same position behind Captain Teague in the Grade One Challow at Newbury over the festive period and Britain’s most valuable handicap hurdle is now one of his upcoming options.
“We have the three options for him now following his huge run in the Challow Hurdle; we either go to Cheltenham Trials Day, back to Newbury for the Betfair Hurdle or the Sidney Banks Hurdle at Huntingdon,” said King.
“I thought Trials Day would come too soon after the Challow but he has come out of the race so well, I don’t think he had as hard a race as we anticipated, he is in great form.
“We will review entries and ground conditions and make a decision as to where we go next, but the Betfair Hurdle is very much an option.”
With a total prize fund of £155,000 up for grabs on February 10, the Betfair Hurdle has predictably attracted a strong book of entries.
Nicky Henderson has six of the 40 possible contenders, with the aforementioned Iberico Lord joined by Betfair Exchange Trophy one-two Luccia and Impose Toi, plus Under Control, First Street and Doddiethegreat.
Paul Nicholls has Elite Hurdle hero Rubaud and Long Walk Hurdle fifth Blueking d’Oroux, while Willie Mullins has three of the four potential Irish raiders in Alvaniy, French recruit Ocastle Des Mottes and Onlyamatteroftime.
Olly Murphy’s Go Dante is one of four early co-favourites with the sponsors and Betfair spokesman Barry Orr commented: “It’s a cracking list of entries and that’s reflected in the market at 8-1 the field.
“Last month’s Betfair Exchange Trophy, which was won by Luccia, could hold the key to this race, with eight of the nine runners entered here.
“The winner looked a different proposition at Ascot and she would be considerably shorter if taking up this engagement, while Onlyamatteroftime, Impose Toi and Altobelli will all be in the mix.
“Rubaud would also be an interesting contender having disappointed in this race last season as a novice but rated 19lb more in this renewal.”
Cameron Norrie continued his Australian Open preparations with victory over Frenchman Luca Van Assche in the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The British number one saw off his 19-year-old opponent 6-3 6-7 (6) 6-1 in just under two and a half hours to set up a quarter-final against Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo.
Having claimed the opening set, Norrie had match point in the tie-break before Van Assche came through to bring the match level.
He was then broken by Van Assche in the opening game of set three before hitting back emphatically, rattling off six games in succession to secure the win.
Norrie is seeded 19th for the Australian Open ahead of the draw taking place in Melbourne on Thursday.
This afternoon’s meeting at Doncaster will go ahead as planned but the card at Leicester must pass a second inspection at 10.30am.
Shortly after 7am Doncaster’s clerk of the course Paul Barker was confident temperatures had not dropped sufficiently to cause a problem but it was a different story for Jimmy Stevenson at Leicester.
By 8am the temperature on course had dropped to a chilly -4C but it is forecast to rise to 4C or 5C later on. Whether it rises in time remains to be seen.
There are also issues at Wincanton on Friday where clerk of the course Dan Cooper and his team have called an 8.30am check for raceday.
The course is currently frozen in places with temperatures potentially going as low as -3C before racing.
Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray are among seven British players who have secured direct entry into the Australian Open.
Cameron Norrie is the only seed while Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage are in the main draw on ranking for the first time.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the British contenders.
Cameron Norrie
The Mr Dependable of British tennis struggled during the second half of last season and admitted he felt a little burned out. Norrie does not have the luxury of a big weapon if his consistent game is not working but there were positive signs at last week’s United Cup, where he beat Alex De Minaur, that he may be close to finding his form again.
Dan Evans
Evans will be unseeded at a grand slam for the first time since 2019 after an inconsistent 2023 campaign ended prematurely by a calf injury. He is fit again and will be keen to try to climb back into the top 30. Now 33, Evans won the biggest title of his career in Washington last summer and also starred for Britain in the Davis Cup.
Andy Murray
It is 12 months since Murray’s extraordinary 4am victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis at Melbourne Park. His performances at the beginning of 2023 fuelled hope that he could push back towards the top of the game but it was largely a season of more frustration. There have been flashes of the old Murray but, at 36, time is very much running out.
Jack Draper
Could this be the year where Draper really makes a name for himself? The 22-year-old has been held back so far by injuries and missed a lot of last season but finished strongly and has all the tools to reach the very top of the game. A run to the fourth round of the US Open last summer is his best grand-slam showing so far.
Emma Raducanu
A raft of withdrawals have allowed Raducanu direct entry using the protected ranking of 103 from before her triple surgery. The hope is this can be a fresh start for the 21-year-old, who looked happy and relaxed on her return to the tour in Auckland last week, and showed in a close defeat to Elina Svitolina that she remains a high-class player.
Katie Boulter
Last season was by a distance the best of Boulter’s career. The 27-year-old won her maiden WTA Tour title in Nottingham and broke into the world’s top 50 for the first time. A supremely clean ball-striker, Boulter claimed the best win of her career over fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula at the United Cup last week for a dream start to 2024.
Jodie Burrage
Beaten by Boulter in the final in Nottingham, Burrage also achieved a long-term goal in 2023 by breaking into the top 100 for the first time. The 24-year-old will make her main-draw debut at Melbourne Park having fallen in the final round of qualifying 12 months ago.
Opportunities abound for returning stars and the usual suspects as the Australian Open kicks off the new grand-slam season.
Hopes that two of the highest-profile major champions would make their slam comebacks after long breaks were dashed when Rafael Nadal announced on Sunday that he had suffered another injury setback.
Having spent a year recovering from the hip injury he sustained in Melbourne 12 months ago, the hope is this latest blow will not prove to be nearly as serious and he can return within weeks.
The Spaniard impressed straight away with his level at the Brisbane International last week prior to a gruelling loss against Jordan Thompson.
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Question marks very much remain, though, over how well the 37-year-old’s body will hold up in the long term given the injury problems he has endured throughout his career.
“I have worked very hard during the year for this comeback and as I always mentioned my goal is to be at my best level in three months,” Nadal wrote on social media.
“Within the sad news for me for not being able to play in front of the amazing Melbourne crowds, this is not very bad news and we all remain positive with the evolution for the season.”
Naomi Osaka also returned in Brisbane, playing her first tournament since September 2022 following the birth of daughter Shai in July, and she will be a headline attraction in Melbourne.
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The 26-year-old, who won the Australian Open title in 2019 and 2021, was weighing up whether tennis was for her amid mental health struggles prior to her pregnancy but has returned to the tour with renewed desire.
She said after a narrow loss to Karolina Pliskova: “I think when I’m playing and I’m at my best, I’m just really putting my entire soul into every point. It was fun to play that and rediscover that feeling again.”
Also returning after having her first child is former Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion Angelique Kerber.
Emma Raducanu’s absence has not been as long as Nadal, Osaka or Kerber’s but it is still a chance for a fresh start for the 21-year-old.
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She snuck into the main draw using her protected ranking of 103 following withdrawals and will hope to build on a very promising return in Auckland last week.
“It’s pretty exciting for me,” said Raducanu. “I’ve only played two matches and also my court time has been pretty limited. To be back up to this speed after so little is a great sign. I’m looking forward to this season. It’s just the beginning. A lot more to come.”
Raducanu is one of seven British players in the main draw, with Cameron Norrie the only seed.
It was a difficult second half of 2023 for the British number one but victory over Alex De Minaur at the United Cup was a good way to start the year while Katie Boulter got off to a flyer with the best win of her career against Jessica Pegula.
The 27-year-old has reached the third round at the last two grand slams and will be looking for more of the same.
Andy Murray is a man in need of wins and must hope for a kind draw, while the same could lead to a big fortnight for 22-year-old Jack Draper, with Dan Evans and Jodie Burrage making up the British contingent.
Novak Djokovic will be favourite to claim an 11th Australian Open title, which would make him the first player in history to win 25 grand-slam singles crowns, although a wrist problem is a concern for the Serbian.
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev will be expected to provide the main opposition while in the women’s draw Aryna Sabalenka defends a slam title for the first time.
World number one Iga Swiatek is yet to lift the trophy in Melbourne and has begun 2024 in fine form, as has Coco Gauff, who is the most recent slam champion following her triumph in New York.
Domantas Sabonis notched his ninth triple-double of the season with 37 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 131-110 win over the lowly Detroit Pistons.
Sabonis shot 16 of 21 from the field, made his only 3-point attempt and was 4 of 4 from the free throw line. He moves within two triple-doubles of Denver’s Nikola Jokic for the league lead.
Keegan Murray scored 32 points on 13-of-17 shooting and De’Aaron Fox added 26 for the Kings, winners of five of seven.
Bojan Bogdanovic led Detroit with 26 points as the Pistons dropped their fifth in a row since ending their NBA-record 28-game losing streak.
Sacramento trailed by 20 points in the first quarter, led by 15 in the third, were tied in the fourth and then pulled away with a 9-0 run in the fourth.
Anunoby helps Knicks stay hot
OG Anunoby scored 23 points and Julius Randle added 20 with eight assists and seven rebounds as the New York Knicks won their fifth in a row, 112-84 over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Anunoby scored 16 points in the first quarter to help the Knicks open a 19-point lead. He shot 6 of 7 from the floor – 4 of 5 from 3-point range – and might have approached his season high of 29 points but the starters played sparingly in the second half.
New York is unbeaten since acquiring Anunoby from Toronto on Dec. 30.
Quentin Grimes had 17 points and Miles McBride had 16 as the Knicks moved a half-game ahead of Miami, Orlando, Indiana and Cleveland for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Davis shines in Lakers’ win
Anthony Davis scored 20 of his season-high 41 points in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors, 132-131.
Davis was 13 of 17 from the field and 13 of 14 from the free throw line while adding 11 rebounds and six assists. He made all eight free throw attempts in the final minute as the Lakers held on despite late 3-pointers by Toronto’s Dennis Schröder and Gary Trent Jr.
LeBron James had 22 points and 12 assists to help the Lakers win their second straight after a four-game skid.
Scottie Barnes scored 26 points and RJ Barrett added 23 with 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who had won three of four.
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