Via Sistina will head straight for the Prix de l’Opera on Arc weekend following her narrow defeat at Deauville.
So impressive when winning the Group Two Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket in the spring, George Boughey’s star mare subsequently struck Group One gold in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.
The five-year-old was out of luck when dropped back from 10 furlongs to a mile in last month’s Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, but looked set to double her top-level tally on her return to a mile and a quarter in the Prix Jean Romanet, only to be denied in the final stride by Andre Fabre’s Mqse De Sevigne.
While frustrated by the nose defeat, Boughey was delighted with Via Sistina’s performance and is now targeting a return to France on the first Sunday in October.
“We were obviously delighted to see her produce what was arguably another career-best really,” he said.
“The Fabre filly looks progressive and I think we were arguably unlucky in defeat. She was in front a long time as we just wanted to have a clear run at it.
“I think we’ll go straight to the Opera on Arc day and I think we’ll probably ride her with a little bit more patience. We’re always learning in this game and I think just holding on to her a bit longer and using that wicked turn of foot over that trip will suit.
“The Opera has been a long-term target for a long time. The Romanet was the immediate target and is possibly the one that got away, but we’re very proud of her.
“She’s finished first, second and third in three Group Ones this year, having won a Group Two beforehand, so she’s been a real star for us.”
Three weeks after the Prix de l’Opera, Via Sistina could make an appearance on Qipco Champions Day at Ascot, where she is doubly engaged.
She could take on the colts in the Qipco Champion Stakes or step up to a mile and a half for the British Champions Fillies And Mares Stakes.
Boughey is in no rush to nail his colours to either mast at this stage, adding: “Hopefully we’ve got another run or possibly two if she turns up on Champions Day. I think it would be very exciting to see her run on very soft ground as it usually is at Ascot.
“We’ve put her in the Champion Stakes and the Fillies And Mares and I know we ran her over a mile in the Falmouth, but if it did look the right spot for her, I would be interested to see her dropped out stone cold last over a mile and a half on soft ground and waited with.
“She’s by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare, so there’s a chance she might stay, and the fillies’ division would look notably weaker than the Champion Stakes.”
Via Sistina will head straight for the Prix de l’Opera on Arc weekend following her narrow defeat at Deauville.
So impressive when winning the Group Two Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket in the spring, George Boughey’s star mare subsequently struck Group One gold in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.
The five-year-old was out of luck when dropped back from 10 furlongs to a mile in last month’s Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, but looked set to double her top-level tally on her return to a mile and a quarter in the Prix Jean Romanet, only to be denied in the final stride by Andre Fabre’s Mqse De Sevigne.
While frustrated by the nose defeat, Boughey was delighted with Via Sistina’s performance and is now targeting a return to France on the first Sunday in October.
“We were obviously delighted to see her produce what was arguably another career-best really,” he said.
“The Fabre filly looks progressive and I think we were arguably unlucky in defeat. She was in front a long time as we just wanted to have a clear run at it.
“I think we’ll go straight to the Opera on Arc day and I think we’ll probably ride her with a little bit more patience. We’re always learning in this game and I think just holding on to her a bit longer and using that wicked turn of foot over that trip will suit.
“The Opera has been a long-term target for a long time. The Romanet was the immediate target and is possibly the one that got away, but we’re very proud of her.
“She’s finished first, second and third in three Group Ones this year, having won a Group Two beforehand, so she’s been a real star for us.”
Three weeks after the Prix de l’Opera, Via Sistina could make an appearance on Qipco Champions Day at Ascot, where she is doubly engaged.
She could take on the colts in the Qipco Champion Stakes or step up to a mile and a half for the British Champions Fillies And Mares Stakes.
Boughey is in no rush to nail his colours to either mast at this stage, adding: “Hopefully we’ve got another run or possibly two if she turns up on Champions Day. I think it would be very exciting to see her run on very soft ground as it usually is at Ascot.
“We’ve put her in the Champion Stakes and the Fillies And Mares and I know we ran her over a mile in the Falmouth, but if it did look the right spot for her, I would be interested to see her dropped out stone cold last over a mile and a half on soft ground and waited with.
“She’s by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare, so there’s a chance she might stay, and the fillies’ division would look notably weaker than the Champion Stakes.”
Arrest is likely to be Juddmonte’s Betfred St Leger hope after his Newbury success left him on track for the Doncaster Classic.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the Frankel colt won won the Chester Vase by a good margin in May when the race was run on soft ground, but could finish only 10th in the Derby at Epsom and fifth in the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot.
Both of those runs were on good to firm ground and on good to soft at Newbury, he looked more at ease when winning the Group Three Geoffrey Freer Stakes by a length and a half in the hands of Frankie Dettori.
The Leger is now on the agenda, but he will require a reasonable amount of give in the ground if he is to run.
“He’s obviously won his trial well and we know he likes a bit of ease in the ground,” said Barry Mahon of Juddmonte.
“I think as long as there’s that ease in the ground, the owners have said they’d like to go the Leger route, so that’s the way we’ll go.”
Juddmonte seem to have another promising horse on their hands in Macduff, a comfortable winner on debut at Newmarket earlier in the month.
The Sea The Stars colt beat a field of well-bred horses and has a notable pedigree himself as he is out of a mare named Present Tense, a half-sister to the great Kingman.
Connections were pleased with his maiden success but there will be little pressure put on him as he is expected to blossom as a three-year-old.
“It was a lovely debut, he’s a nice horse,” Mahon said.
“He’s a big horse, he won’t have a lot of racing this year, Ralph is taking his time and we’ll probably see how he is in the middle of September and pick another race.
“He’s from a good family, his mother is a sister to Kingman. He’s a nice horse that’s just full of potential, next year is going to be his year and I’d imagine that we won’t over-race him this year.”
George Ford admits England must conduct an uncomfortable inquest into Saturday’s Fiji debacle if they are to halt their freefall in time to make an impression on the World Cup.
Twickenham was stormed 30-22 by the Islanders as England fell to a current tier two nation for the first time in their 152-year history, registering a fifth defeat in six matches.
Fiji’s magnificent victory has heightened the sense of crisis at the Rugby Football Union with the pivotal World Cup opener against Argentina on September just two weeks away.
Even the Pool D fixtures against Japan and Samoa are fraught with danger given the depth of England’s current malaise and Ford insists that only by confronting hard truths will disaster be averted in Marseille.
“We don’t want the benefit of the doubt, we know we haven’t played well enough and know the results haven’t been good enough,” Ford said.
“When you lose for England you understand what’s going to come with it. We’re not shying away from that.
“We’re going to stick together and sort ourselves out in terms of making our preparation as good as it can be for Argentina. I’m comfortable we’ll be in a good place.
“What separates good teams from the great is that when things aren’t going well and you need to front a few things up and be honest, you do that.
“Look it square in the face because you can’t ignore those things – if you do then they will come back to haunt you later on.”
Head coach Steve Borthwick repeatedly highlighted the error count and missed tackles when explaining the nation’s first ever loss to Fiji, whose customary magic in attack was matched by tactical cohesion and smart decision-making.
England started like a freight train with Manu Tuilagi and Ollie Lawrence running on to Ford’s fizzing passes, Jonny May crossing in the left corner and the breakdown being bossed by a high-energy pack.
But as a downpour of heavy rain came and went, Fiji took control to expose a defence that has now conceded 30 tries in nine matches under Borthwick.
In recent weeks England have repeatedly stressed the quality of their training, suggesting the performances on a Saturday were an anomaly, but Ford insists practise has also been sub-par.
“Any time you play for England – especially at Twickenham – you you’ve got to pull out on the right side of the scoreboard and unfortunately we had a lot of errors against Fiji,” Ford said.
“We’re making too many errors. Now what the reason for that is I can’t be sure. Maybe it is a little bit of over eagerness or a little bit of inaccuracy, or maybe it is a little bit of understanding.
“It’s probably a little bit of all of it, to be honest. But one thing for sure is we can’t keep doing it.
“When it comes to our plan for Argentina and our understanding of what we need to do to win that game, we’ll be crystal clear on it. I’m more than confident we’ll be able to get it right for that game.
“We understand that we need to make fewer mistakes. There’s an urgency that we need to fix it and get better.
“The way you do that is to be more consistent in training. We’re clearly not consistent in training, there are probably too many errors in training. We’re playing the way we train at the minute, which is not good enough obviously.”
Jamie Ritchie declared Scotland were “ready to go” ahead of the World Cup after a largely encouraging summer campaign ended with a 33-6 win over Georgia.
Gregor Townsend’s team head to France next weekend for the global showpiece on the back of three home wins – all after trailing at half-time – and a narrow defeat away to the host nation from their four warm-up matches.
Captain Ritchie is now relishing the prospect of leading the Scots into the tournament, with their first game against South Africa in Marseille on 10 September.
“I’m really chuffed but probably the predominant emotion now is excitement – we’re just ready to go,” he said.
“I feel we’ve built well. We’ve not had a perfect performance yet but for me that’s a positive thing because we know there’s one coming.
“I’m glad we had a little bit of a tough test in that first half against Georgia. We had to manage ourselves through that and then we stepped up in the second.”
Despite their first-half struggles throughout the summer, Scotland scored 15 tries in their four summer Tests against Italy, France (home and away) and Georgia, with 13 of them coming in the second half.
“Positive,” said Ritchie, when asked to sum up the warm-up campaign.
“I think we’ve shown that we can play really well, we’ve shown that we can come back from adversity, which I think is a really positive thing, and we’ve played some really good rugby.
“We’ve shown how we’ve grown over this period in terms of how we’ve wanted to build when we’ve had this extended period of time together and we’re really clear on how we want to play.
“It’s not been perfect but we’ve had more positive results and positive performances than not and we’re really excited for this first game.”
For all that Scotland go into the tournament in good fettle, their first opponents South Africa have sent out an ominous warning with back-to-back destructions of Wales and New Zealand over the past two weekends.
Ritchie insists his team – who watched the Boks’ 35-7 annihilation of the All Blacks on Friday together in their hotel – will learn from having seen how the world champions are going about their business in the lead-up to the tournament.
“The main thing for us is it’s been great learning for us to see what they might bring to a game,” he said.
“It’s pretty clear how they want to play and for us, we’re looking to exploit that and match them in certain areas so these games have been great for us to learn from them.
“They’ll be riding high off the back of them but we do well with an underdog tag and I’m really excited for it.”
Stand-in captain Iain Henderson insists looming World Cup selection was not a factor in Ireland’s underwhelming performance in scraping past Samoa.
Ireland were far from convincing in rain-soaked Bayonne but ultimately emerged with a 13th consecutive win on the eve of Andy Farrell naming his 33-man squad for France.
Second-half tries from Conor Murray and Rob Herring earned an unconvincing 17-13 success after Samoa battled back to lead following Jimmy O’Brien’s early score.
Six Ireland players are set for disappointment on Sunday afternoon when Farrell announces his final squad.
Yet Henderson, who skippered a mix-and-match line-up at Stade Jean Dauger, does not feel that situation contributed to a disjointed display which almost ended in an upset.
“No and if it did it’s probably one of the adversities that Faz (Farrell) would like us to be tested by,” said the lock.
“That’s not the most difficult thing we’re going to face over the next number of weeks.
“It’s an incredibly strong group of guys and the guys who’ve been waiting to find out their fate have probably carried themselves as well as you could have expected them to throughout training.
“The guys who are nervous about selection, who might be carrying that anxiety have trained well, everyone’s been on time, been as diligent as possible throughout the reviews, staying on top of stuff.
“It’s been a well-prepped Test week for us, so hats off to those guys who’ve been prepping so well.
“I think it’s not that side of things that affected us, it was a handful of other things like conditions, probably great pressure brought by Samoa.”
Head coach Farrell is awaiting injury news on prop Cian Healy.
Veteran loosehead Healy hobbled off in the first half with help from medical staff due to a calf issue, throwing his participation in a fourth World Cup of his career into doubt.
Henderson, who has endured plenty of his own fitness issues in recent times, empathised with his Ireland team-mate.
“I’ve felt it a handful of times this campaign,” he said.
“It’s worse when it’s a team-mate but even watching other guys from other nations who are looking to play at a World Cup, whether it’s their first, second or third, pick up an injury it’s not nice.
“It’s a crescendo of hard work over four years and to see that pulled away from someone in the dying minutes of that four-year cycle is not nice.
“Again, it’s the game we’ve all signed up to and, again, that’s the reason what we do is so special, it means so much to us because it’s so fragile sometimes.”
Norwegian Viktor Hovland is closing in on his first FedEx Cup title as he surged to a six-stroke lead in Atlanta on Saturday.
Hovland started the Tour Championship tournament on eight under par on the handicap system as the number two seed due to his good form over the year, and pushed away from American Xander Schauffele who sits in second place.
He said the tournament has felt like more of a sprint then a marathon but “it’s hard to win the FedEx Cup if you haven’t played well the last few weeks”.
“It’s just a great list of names that’s won the tournament… and it would be awesome to have my name on there.
“Like, putting it all together, I don’t think I’ve ever played this well before, with this stretch, just putting all the short game and stuff together.”
The 25-year-old hit a four under par 66 to finish the day on 20 under, landing five birdies and one bogey to get closer to the 18 million dollar prize that comes with the trophy.
Rory McIlroy won the title last year and holds the most FedEx Cup wins with three, but sits tied for eighth on nine under par.
Hull ended a 74-year wait for a Wembley victory as they came from behind to beat favourites Warrington 12-10 in a classic Challenge Cup final on this day in 2016.
It was Hull’s fourth Challenge Cup triumph, but their first at the national stadium as the Wolves suffered their first defeat in four trips to Wembley under coach Tony Smith.
The agony looked set to continue for the Black and Whites when they trailed 10-0 after an hour, but tries in the last 13 minutes from centre Mahe Fonua and full-back Jamie Shaul brought them level and half-back Marc Sneyd kicked the winning goal to settle a 114th cup final that lived up to all the pre-match hype.
Sneyd was named the Lance Todd Trophy winner as man-of-the match, two years after being substituted in Castleford’s defeat by Leeds, and his joy was in sharp contrast to Warrington’s goalkicker Kurt Gidley, whose simple penalty miss early in the second-half proved costly.
Gidley, who had done much to earn his side their 10-point cushion, kicked just one goal from three attempts and missed the last 22 minutes of the match with a head injury as the Wolves lost their way towards the end.
In a contest of epic twists and turns, Hull were indebted to hooker Danny Houghton’s last-ditch tackle – his 52nd of the match – that denied Warrington second rower Ben Currie what looked like the match-winning try two minutes from the end.
Hull coach Lee Radford said: “This is history-making. So many teams prior to us, so many unbelievable players, have not achieved what we did today. I feel privileged and proud putting this group of players together.
“You can’t manufacture chemistry and friendship. We have been mocked, but that togetherness won us the cup final.
“Throughout this competition we have been clinical and dominant, and nobody can begrudge us taking that cup back to Hull. My greatest achievement is putting that together.
“A mention to Danny Houghton, who came up with that tackle. That is the most important tackle in any game I have been involved in.”
Teoscar Hernandez hit two of the Seattle Mariners’ franchise record-tying seven home runs in a 15-2 drubbing of the Kansas City Royals.
Hernandez hit a grand slam as part of a seven-run third inning and belted a 446-foot shot off infielder Matt Duffy in the eighth.
Josh Rojas, Mike Ford, Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Cade Marlowe also homered as the Mariners improved to 10-1 in their last 11 games and remained tied with Texas atop the AL West.
Seattle hit seven home runs in a game for the fifth time, also done in 2002, 1999, 1996 and 1985.
Logan Gilbert didn’t need all the offense as he limited the Royals to one run and two hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out seven to win his sixth straight decision.
The Mariners broke open the game with three home runs and seven run off 15-game loser Jordan Lyles in the third inning.
Rojas led off with a home run, Hernandez connected for his third career grand slam and Ford’s two-run blast made it 7-0.
Rodgriguez’s fifth-inning solo homer made him just the second player in history with at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in his first two seasons.
The other is Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., who totaled 67 homers and 53 steals over his first two seasons in 2018 and 2019.
Reds get help from balk to cool Diamondbacks
TJ Friedl scored the go-ahead run in the 11th inning on a balk and the Cincinnati Reds pulled out a wild 8-7 win to end the Arizona Diamondbacks’ six-game winning streak.
Arizona trailed 7-4 in the 10th but rallied for three runs, helped by an error from Reds second baseman Matt McLain. Christian Walker’s sacrifice fly tied it at 7.
Cincinnati closer Alexis Diaz suffered just his second blown save of the season, though all three runs were unearned.
Arizona’s Paul Sewald failed to protect a 4-2 lead in the ninth, as Tyler Stephenson doubled home a run before Friedl singled and McLain knocked in the tying run with a soft groundout.
Brewers edge Padres for seventh straight win
William Contreras delivered a two-run double in a five-run fifth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers held off the San Diego Padres, 5-4 for their seventh consecutive victory.
Mark Canha, Brice Turang and Andruw Monasterio opened the fifth with three straight singles.
With one run already home, the Brewers pulled off a double steal and an errant throw by catcher Luis Campusano produced another run. After Christian Yelich walked, Contreras doubled down the left-field line to make it 4-1.
Freddy Peralta struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs to improve to 5-0 in five starts this month.
Daniel Dubois’ camp said they are lobbying for a no contest following a controversial low blow call in the British boxer’s loss to world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in Wroclaw.
A ninth-round knockout ensured Usyk kept hold of his WBA, IBF and WBO belts with a 14th knockout win in 21 fights, much to the delight of the large contingent of his fellow Ukrainians who have resided in Poland since Russian’s invasion of their country last year.
However, promoter Frank Warren told reporters at the post-fight press conference that the contest was spoiled by the referee’s decision to allow Usyk to recover after he was buckled by a low blow from Dubois in the fifth.
The shot was deemed accidental, but Warren said his camp would be taking action seeking either a no contest or rematch.
He said: “The situation is that we will be lobbying the WBA to declare this as a no contest.
“The knockdown which the referee said was below the belt… the punch actually landed on the waistband of his shorts.
“The criteria, as is explained at the rules meeting, waist is the mid-point of your hips. So it’s much lower.
“That was a legitimate blow and (the fight) should’ve been stopped. He got three minutes and 46 seconds recovery time, which was wrong. He got it wrong the referee and I still don’t understand, if it was a low blow, why he didn’t take any points off him.”
Warren added: “I don’t think (the referee’s) crooked, I think he just got it totally wrong.
“As a result, it should be declared a no contest in the worst case, or a rematch ordered.”
Dubois did not attend the press conference, but earlier told talkSPORT: “It wasn’t to be my night. But that wasn’t a low blow, it was a body shot. I’m gutted.”
Dubois was the overwhelming underdog but he had tipped the scales on Friday almost a stone heavier than Usyk’s 15st and 10lbs frame, and the Londoner did himself justice with a battling performance.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky appeared on the giant screens before the fight to deliver a rallying cry for his country in their war with Russia.
The crowd at the Tarczynski Arena chanted “Usyk, Usyk, Usyk” as the action got under way with Dubois determined not to be overawed.
The 25-year-old tried to hold the centre of the ring but Usyk’s accurate jab saw him shade the opening round.
Dubois was more adventurous at the start of the second but was briefly set back on his heels by some powerful shots.
Usyk stayed on the outside to dominate the next two rounds but Dubois was proving many pre-fight predictions wrong by remaining in the contest.
Usyk was put down by the accidental low blow in the fifth, but was given time to recover.
However, Dubois sensed this was his moment and the pair traded heavy punches.
The bad feeling between the pair was evident as the bell sounded and Dubois continued to focus on the Ukrainian’s body in the sixth.
Usyk upped the pace in the seventh, forcing Dubois to take a backward step and leaving the Londoner marked for the first time.
Dubois recovered in the eighth but in the final 10 seconds he was dropped to the canvas.
He managed to get back to his feet as the bell sounded but there was to be no respite for Dubois.
Usyk charged in again and put down Dubois again for the referee Luis Pabon to wave the fight off.
Starting the day on 99 wins, jockey Raddesh Roman would have been brimming with confidence that his 100th career win would come on Saturday's 10-race card at Caymanas Park, and so it did, as he guided favourite Runaway Algo to an easy triumph in the She's A Maneater feature.
Perfectly placed in the early stages of the one-mile (1,600m) contest, the Dale Murphy-conditioned Runaway Algo surged through approaching the half-mile and later coasted to a comfortable eight-length win in the three-year-olds and upward Graded Stakes/Open Allowance event, at odds of 3-5.
While Roman, who started his riding career in 2018, celebrated the milestone, he also beamed about the fact that it was a third consecutive win aboard the Lanmark Farms-owned American-bred charge, who again demonstrated his class among his peers.
Running from the number one draw in the six-horse field, Runaway Algo, a four-year-old colt by Algorithms-Misunify, was uncharacteristically slow out the blocks, allowing the Jason DaCosta pair of Outbidder (Jordan Barrett) and joint favourite I am Fred (Reyan Lewis) to dictate terms in the early exchanges.
In fact, at that point, it seemed the usual cat-mouse tactics of the DaCosta stables would again be on show, but it proved futile on this occasion, as Roman sensed the ploy and soon forced his way between the two to assume the ascendancy.
So confident was the Roman that he even glanced across at Lewis aboard I am Fred, as he went through, almost indicating that the race was all but done and dusted from there, as he moved two lengths clear.
As they approached the homestretch, Lewis rallied with a challenge on the outside but by the time the straightened and Roman released the reins on Runaway Algo, the fleet-footed footed colt went about business to secure the lion's share of the $1.75 million purse for his connections.
He completed the distance in a time of 1:38.0, behind splits of 24.2, 46.4 and 1:11.3.
I Am Fred and stablemate Outbidder stayed on for second and third respectively, with D Head Cornerstone (Sadiki Blake) in fourth.
"I am pleased and very proud of myself, it took a lot of hard work to get here, and I am just hoping there will be many more wins to come. I am just going to remain focus and continue putting in the hard work hard," Roman said in a post-race interview.
Meanwhile, trainer Howard Jaghai also registered his 100th career win courtesy of Premier Identity in the sixth event.
Premier Identity was also one of three winners for jockey Tevin Foster, who was the pick of his peers on the day. Foster's other winners were Buckaluck in the third event for trainer Adrian Prince and the Anthony Nunes-trained Milos in the ninth race.
Racing continues on Sunday with another 10-race card.
Norwegian Viktor Hovland is closing in on his first FedEx Cup title as he pushed out to a six-stroke lead in Atlanta on Saturday.
Hovland started the Tour Championship tournament with eight under par as the number two seed due to his good form over the year, and pushed away from American Xander Schauffele who sits in second place.
He said the tournament has felt like more of a sprint then a marathon but “it’s hard to win the FedEx Cup if you haven’t played well the last few weeks”.
“It’s just a great list of names that’s won the tournament… and it would be awesome to have my name on there.
“Like, putting it all together, I don’t think I’ve ever played this well before, with this stretch, just putting all the short game and stuff together.”
The 25-year-old hit a 66 four under par to finish the day with 20 under, landing five birdies and one bogey to get closer to the 18 million dollar bonus that comes with the trophy.
Rory McIlroy won the title last year and holds the most FedEx Cup wins with three, but sits tied for eighth spot with nine under par.
By all indications, the Sandals Latin American Travel Agents Golf Tournament is not all about fun and games.
There is a serious side to the annual tournament.
Apart from serving as a common unifying force where Latin American-based travel agents meet to get their swing on and view close-up the exquisite Sandals Resorts International properties, the tournament also boasts a charitable side.
Financial proceeds raised, especially from a side-show putting contest, will go to the Sandals Foundation, which nourishes a robust junior golf programme that spawned the likes of Jamaican pro Wesley Brown.
Beyond that, Arlenes Garcia, director of sales and marketing for Latin America, pointed out that promoting the island as a major sports tourism attraction is of vital importance and the annual golf tournament presents the opportunity for travel agents to do so.
This year's ninth staging of the LatAm tournament attracted 98 agents from countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and Mexico, who graced the Sandals Golf and Country Club in Upton, St Ann.
“The Caribbean and Jamaica is our home and so we are always pleased to be here spending time with our travel advisors and, more importantly, showing them the product. Being here is the opportunity to actually see the resorts and experience the Sandals product because seeing is believing,” Garcia said.
“So, when the travel advisors go back home, this is what they are going to talk about. Also, to be here playing golf on this fantastic golf course is the opportunity for them to actually grow that niche, as they make the most of the opportunities to bring tourism to this beautiful island,” she added.
While the putting contest – which sees the travel advisors contributing a small fee to participate –created some excitement of its own, there was also fireworks in the major four-member scramble tournament, as the two-day event picked up momentum on Saturday’s final day.
The team of Breno Luz, Ricardo Dantas, Denilson Milan, Raphael Abreu, were front runners from the start, while the trio of Artur Costa, Ricardo Silva, Marco Oliveira, and the quartet of Jorge Bardot, Jose Cabrera, Leonardo Curutchague and Andres Elissalde, also proved competitive.
Still, Garcia reiterated that camaraderie witnessed during golf, is just a small taste of how they work together to achieve a common goal.
“Year over year we see the increase of the tourism from the (Latin American) region into the Caribbean, especially Jamaica. We are one team promoting the life at Sandals beautiful resorts, this fantastic golf course and everything that we do day-by-day and so for me, Sandals has provided a career and the opportunity to grow,” she ended.
Oleksandr Usyk ended Daniel Dubois’ world heavyweight title dream with a ninth-round knockout in Wroclaw.
Usyk kept hold of his WBA, IBF and WBO belts with a 14th knockout win in 21 fights, much to the delight of the large contingent of his fellow Ukrainians who have resided in Poland since Russian’s invasion of their country last year.
Dubois was the overwhelming underdog but he had tipped the scales on Friday almost a stone heavier than Usyk’s 15st and 10lbs frame, and the British boxer did himself justice with a battling performance.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared on the giant screens before the fight to deliver a rallying cry for his country in their war with Russia.
The crowd at the Tarczynski Arena chanted ‘Usyk, Usyk, Usyk’ as the action got under way with Dubois determined not to be overawed.
The 25-year-old Londoner tried to hold the centre of the ring but Usyk’s accurate jab saw him shade the opening round.
Dubois was more adventurous at the start of the second but was briefly set back on his heels by some powerful shots.
Usyk stayed on the outside to dominate the next two rounds but Dubois was proving many pre-fight predictions wrong by remaining in the contest.
Dubois caught Usyk with a low blow in the fifth that put the Ukrainian down but was deemed accidental.
While some observers might have considered the punch to be on the belt line, Usyk was given time to recover. But Dubois sensed this was his moment and the pair traded heavy punches.
The bad feeling between the pair was evident as the bell sounded and Dubois continued to focus on the Ukrainian’s body in the sixth.
Usyk upped the pace in the seventh, forcing Dubois to take a backward step and leaving the Londoner marked for the first time.
Dubois recovered in the eighth but in the final 10 seconds he was dropped to the canvas.
He managed to get back to his feet as the bell sounded but there was to be no respite for Dubois.
Usyk charged in again and put down Dubois again for the referee Luis Pabon to wave the fight off.
Dubois told talkSPORT: “It wasn’t to be my night. But that wasn’t a low blow, it was a body shot. I’m gutted.”
Andy Farrell is anxiously awaiting injury news on Cian Healy ahead of naming his World Cup squad after the veteran prop hobbled off during Ireland’s underwhelming 17-13 success over Samoa.
Loosehead Healy had to be helped from the field by medics in rain-soaked Bayonne, having suffered a calf issue which left him in obvious distress.
Head coach Farrell is poised to announce his final 33-man selection for the upcoming tournament in France on Sunday afternoon in Dublin.
Second-half tries from Conor Murray and Rob Herring saw Ireland scrape a record 13th straight win after Samoa threatened an upset at Stade Jean Dauge by battling back to lead following Jimmy O’Brien’s maiden Test score.
“Well, you saw what I saw – he pulled up sharpish, didn’t he, and then struggled to walk off,” Farrell said of Healy.
“It’s his calf so there’s something going on there but rather than guess we have to take a picture and see how it goes.”
Asked if he is hopeful Healy will be available to go to the World Cup, Farrell added: “I don’t know, I wouldn’t know.
“We’ll get him back to Dublin and get him scanned and we’ll know soon enough.”
Healy departed just 21 minutes into his 125th Test outing to add to Ireland’s front-row concerns.
Fellow loosehead Dave Kilcoyne and hookers Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher are already undergoing treatment for ongoing injury issues, although the trio are expected to be available in the coming weeks.
Keith Earls pulled out ahead of the game due to a niggle, while his replacement Jacob Stockdale felt a hamstring problem.
Opening try-scorer O’Brien (clavicle) and centre Robbie Henshaw (shin and ankle) were also feeling the effects of a physical encounter in south-west France.
Farrell, who was generally upbeat on those issues, praised his players for not panicking as they avoided an upset to maintain momentum.
“Delighted to get the win,” he said. “It was a proper Test match, wasn’t it? I said during the week that it would be good if it rained to find out about ourselves.
“It was difficult conditions and things weren’t always going to go your way, especially against a good side like that. They’re going to shock a few teams.
“In the end, I was pleased with our mentality – as in no panic, finding a way.
“Test matches are tough to win in conditions like that and we managed to find a way again. I’m pleased really.”
Duncan Paia’aua’s fine breakaway try and eight points from the boot of Lima Sopoaga had Samoa in front until 17 minutes from time.
Cian Healy suffered an injury scare on the eve of Ireland’s World Cup squad announcement during an unconvincing 17-13 success over Samoa in rain-soaked Bayonne.
Veteran prop Healy was helped from the field in obvious discomfort less than 24 hours before Andy Farrell names his final 33-man selection for the upcoming tournament in France.
Despite Jimmy O’Brien’s early try, Ireland trailed at the break in their final warm-up fixture, before battling back to scrape a 13th straight win thanks to further scores from Conor Murray and Rob Herring.
Yet the result at a sold-out Stade Jean Dauger could come at significant cost after Healy, who departed just 21 minutes into his 126th Test outing, added to Ireland’s front-row concerns.
Farrell’s planning has already been complicated by ongoing injury issues for Healy’s fellow loosehead Dave Kilcoyne and hookers Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher, although he expects the trio to be available in the coming weeks.
The head coach, whose side begin the World Cup on September 9 against Romania in Bordeaux, was also forced into a change ahead of kick-off as a “niggle” for wing Keith Earls afforded a chance to Jacob Stockdale.
Heavy rain and forecasts of thunderstorms in south-west France did not deter a capacity crowd from turning out, with the slippery conditions contributing to a series of fumbles.
A fine Murray tackle denied Samoa an early lead before Jack Crowley’s pinpoint cross-field kick allowed Mack Hansen to gallop down the right wing and give full-back O’Brien a simple finish for his maiden Test try.
Ireland have unsettling memories of this stadium, having endured a bruising affair – dubbed the Battle of Bayonne – against the host club ahead of the 2007 World Cup.
Physicality was at the forefront of this encounter and Farrell’s men suffered a setback when the hobbling Healy was assisted off the pitch by medical staff and replaced by Jeremy Loughman.
Unfamiliar in white shirts and blue shirts, Ireland’s mix-and-match line-up were struggling to find their rhythm.
They ended the half 10-7 behind after Duncan Paia’aua intercepted a Stuart McCloskey pass inside his own half to brilliantly race clear and dive over, before Lima Sopoaga added the conversion and a subsequent penalty.
Samoa, who will be England’s final pool-stage opponents in early October, were facing a tier one nation for only the second time since losing 47-5 to Ireland at the 2019 World Cup.
A second penalty from former Wasps fly-half Sopoaga stretched their lead early in the second period before Stockdale’s kick over the top was gleefully dotted down by the diving Murray, albeit Crowley’s wayward conversion left Ireland a point behind.
The world’s top-ranked side finally regained the lead 17 minutes from time when replacement hooker Herring bulldozed over from a line-out maul.
Crowley’s conversion attempt was charged down before James Ryan was held up on the line to keep the contest firmly in the balance.
Roared on by the mostly-French crowd, Samoa refused to roll over and continued to cause problems.
Yet, on a day when Fiji stunned England at Twickenham, they ultimately fell short of producing a further major shock as Ireland survived a significant wake-up call which could yet prove expensive due to Healy’s premature exit.
The Las Vegas Raiders and running back Josh Jacobs have agreed to a one-year contract, bringing the reigning rushing champion back to Las Vegas and allowing Jacobs to avoid playing under the franchise tag.
Jacobs broke the news first on social media by simply saying, “I’m back.” The team later confirmed the re-signing.
The deal will pay Jacobs up to $12million, multiple media outlets reported, a moderate raise over the $10.1million he was scheduled to make under the franchise tag. The base value of the contract is reportedly $11.8million with $200,000 in performance incentives.
Jacobs’ deal, unlike the franchise tag, reportedly includes a signing bonus.
Jacobs had publicly expressed his disapproval of playing under the franchise tag and had hoped to sign a multi-year deal.
After missing the July 17 deadline, however, Jacobs’ only choices were to continue his holdout, play under the tag or sign a new one-year deal independent of the tag.
Star wide receiver and teammate Davante Adams was among those who celebrated the end of Jacobs’ holdout on social media, posting a picture of the two players with the caption, “Back in [business].”
Jacobs rushed for an NFL-high 1,653 yards last season, and Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels said during training camp that Jacobs’ role would remain the same in 2023.
Jacobs was drafted in the first round out of Alabama in 2019 by the Raiders’ previous regime of Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock.
After Dave Ziegler took over as general manager, the club declined the fifth-year option on Jacobs’ rookie contract, leading to the application of the franchise tag earlier this offseason.
In 60 career games, Jacobs has 4,740 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
Gregor Townsend expects Darcy Graham to be available for Scotland’s World Cup opener against South Africa after the wing missed Saturday’s 33-6 win at home to Georgia with a quad strain.
The 26-year-old was named in the starting XV on Thursday but subsequently removed from the squad on Friday after getting injured in training, raising concerns about his availability for the Scots’ first match of the global showpiece in Marseille two weeks on Sunday.
Asked after the Georgia game if he was confident the talismanic Graham, who has 19 tries for Scotland would be ready to face the Boks, Townsend said: “Yes. I don’t want to say that and jinx it, but the indications would be that by the end of this week – potentially Thursday – he’ll be back to full fitness, if not it will be the following week.
“We’re training Tuesday and Thursday this week and then the guys will have Friday and Saturday off so we’re aiming for Thursday for Darcy. If he’s not able to train Thursday, it will be the following Monday in France.”
Scotland scored five tries in the second half as they fought back from 6-0 down to defeat Georgia in their final warm-up match.
It was the fourth time in four summer Tests they had trailed at the break and the third time they had fought back to win.
Although the Scots failed to fire before the break, Townsend was heartened by the way they blew their visitors away after the interval.
“I believe it was probably better for us going six points down because it meant we had to improve certain areas, our fitness would have to come through and it did, and our bench did really well too,” he said.
“We know also that playing against South Africa is a different game, but Georgia didn’t score a try so that was a pleasing aspect too.
“We’re still working for that performance we can be happy with over the 80 minutes. It is never going to be the complete performance, because opposition are going to have their moments.
“Georgia are a very good team. They’ve beaten Wales and Italy (over the last year), and they are outstanding in that contact area, so we have to give them credit too – but we know that certain aspects will have to improve. And at least we saw that improvement in the second half which was pleasing.”
Townsend – who leads his squad to their World Cup training base in France next Sunday – is close to crystalising his starting XV for the South Africa game, although he still feels he has big calls to make about who will be on the bench.
“It’s probably not set in stone,” he said. “We’ll have a good look at that game again in depth.
“I’m more clear on the 15 than the 23, and I know there are players who have put their hand up today to come into the mix, whether in the 15 or more likely the bench.
“That’s been a really positive outcome of these four games – our bench has played really well, and we’ve finished every game stronger than our opposition.
“That’s a credit to the fitness of the squad and what they’ve done during the (summer) campaign, but also the eight guys making a difference in the last 20 minutes of games and they certainly did that today.”
Andy Murray is confident the injury which interrupted his US Open preparations has cleared up just in time for the main event.
The three-time grand slam winner, champion at Flushing Meadows in 2012, had to withdraw from this year’s warm-up tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati.
Murray, 36, was unable to serve in practice until this week due to what he revealed turned out to be a torn abdominal muscle.
“The first five or six days were a bit complicated. There were lots of different opinions,” said the Scot.
“It is quite a difficult place to scan, the ab, so we weren’t really sure the first few days. And then I came to New York pretty early and went to one of the hospitals here and had the radiologist from back home who looks at my scans check them.
“I had a small tear, which is healing. And the last five or six days of practice have been really good. I have not had any issues serving.
“It is just obviously that you don’t take a week off from serving then go full into it. You need to build up a little bit. It has not been perfect in that sense but my ab has been OK.”
Murray begins his latest New York campaign against Corentin Moutet, the world number 71 from France, on Tuesday.
If he comes through that, a tasty second-round meeting with Bulgaria’s 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov is on the cards.
There will be seven Brits in the main draw after Lily Miyazaki came through qualifying.
The 27-year-old, who was born in Tokyo, beat Viktoria Hruncakova of Slovakia in three sets, 6-3 4-6 6-4.
It will be Miyazaki second appearance at a grand slam after she received a wild card for last year’s Wimbledon.
But Liam Broady was unable to join Murray, Miyazaki, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Jack Draper, Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage in the main draw after losing in the final round of qualifying to Sho Shimabukuro of Japan, 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Novak Djokovic, back after missing last year’s US Open due to his vaccination status, is in action on Monday night against France’s Alexander Muller on Arthur Ashe.
The 23-time grand slam winner can take over from US Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the men’s rankings just by winning his first-round match.
Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek, the reigning champion, opens proceedings on Ashe against Rebecca Peterson of Sweden.
Meanwhile Canadian Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 winner, has withdrawn from the tournament due to an injury.
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