Dubai Honour booked a return to Hong Kong in pleasing William Haggas with a successful reappearance in the Virgin Bet Every Saturday Money Back Magnolia Stakes at Kempton.
Last seen running at Ascot on British Champions Day, the globetrotting six-year-old has remained at Somerville Lodge this winter rather than venturing to Australia and was by far the best horse in the race on both career achievements and official ratings ahead of his return in the 10-furlong Listed event.
The 4-6 favourite duly obliged in good style, defying early-season freshness under Ryan Moore to hand his trainer a fourth success in race, scoring by an impressive three lengths.
He will now return to overseas action with Dubai Honour set to be tasked with going two places better than his 2023 QEII Cup third at Sha Tin later this month.
Haggas said: “I was very pleased with him and he looked a bit fresh having not run for a bit. But I thought he was always looking comfortable in a race that had the potential to be messy – and probably was – despite the nice gallop.
“I haven’t spoken to Ryan yet, but I’m not sure he was where he wanted to be early on. Still, the horse picked up well and he did it nicely, as he should do at the weights. But I was very happy with him and it was exactly what I hoped for.
“He’s going to Hong Kong all being well – he’s been invited and we’ve accepted. Providing he’s fit and well he will go over there on April 28 for the QEII Cup, the mile-and-a-quarter race he was third in last year.
“He’s won over £3million in prize-money now and he’s a thoroughly nice horse who has been great fun, we think the world of him. He’s a kind horse, too.”
Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid is expected to return to the Philadelphia 76ers’ lineup this week for the first time since sustaining a left knee injury that required surgery in early February, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Monday.
Embiid last played on Jan. 30 and underwent surgery on Feb. 6. He averaged 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.76 blocks in 34 games before getting injured.
Embiid’s return will be a welcome sight for the 76ers, who currently sit in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia is 26-8 this season with Embiid in the lineup and 14-27 when playing without the seven-time All-Star.
The 76ers are in action four times this week. They host the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday before a three-game road trip that features matchups with the Miami Heat on Thursday, the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday and the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
LeBron James suggested he is still not respected by some opponents after matching a Michael Jordan achievement with a 40-point showing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The 20-time NBA All-Star registered a career-high nine 3-pointers in the Lakers' 116-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Sunday.
That helped James to equal Jordan in becoming the only two NBA players ever to record multiple games of 40-or-more points after turning 39.
James, who went 13-for-17 from the floor and 9-for-10 from deep, felt he proved a point with his performance against the Nets.
"I don't ever have to lean on [3-pointers] because I can do so much," said James, whose 3-point percentage of 41.6 per cent for the season is the best of his career.
"I can score on any level on the floor basically once I cross half court. But being able to have a growth mindset and be able to work on things that the league is changing to, the league is a heavy 3-point shooting league.
"I'm not one of those guys that wants to go out there and shoot 12, 14 or 15 3s per game. But I want to be respected, and teams have to play me from the outside.
"That's still kind of one thing teams think. 'If we have to give up something, we'd much rather him shoot the ball from the outside'."
James has been nursing an ankle issue for much of this season, but he showed no signs of being below full fitness against the Nets.
"My foot has felt a lot better," James said. "I didn't have much time to really rep a lot last year because I had to make sure I could be on the floor running around or [not] putting much pounding of my foot on the floor.
"I've had a lot of opportunity to get on the floor. You probably see me before every game out on the floor, working on my game, working on my craft. That's helped out a lot, too.
"And just trying to stay consistent with my shot, do the same shot every time. And just work. Just work, work, work, work."
James scored 17 of his points in the fourth quarter as he helped the Lakers get over the line after their lead was reduced from 26 points to just eight at one point.
"It's incredible," coach Darvin Ham said. "I told him in the huddle before his last little stretch and we ultimately subbed him out that I was just extremely thankful that he packed the cape on the road trip. We needed all nine of those 3s."
Los Angeles have now won six of their last seven and are 42-33 for the season, placing them ninth in the Western Conference with seven regular-season games to go.
Roger Teal’s Dancing Gemini could start his campaign in either the French or the English 2000 Guineas.
The Camelot colt was twice a winner as a juvenile, taking a Newbury maiden and then the Listed Flying Scotsman at Doncaster.
He then stepped up to Group One level to contest the Kameko Futurity Trophy back at Doncaster, a mile event run on heavy ground in October.
There he finished fifth as Charlie’s Appleby’s Ancient Wisdom took first place, a run Teal has taken the positives from as Dancing Gemini gained experience ahead of his three-year-old campaign.
“Conditions were soft when we won the Listed race but it wasn’t as bad as when we ran him in the Group One,” he said.
“We perhaps committed him too soon and then there was the horse that got upset in the stalls, so there was a delay as they’d all been loaded.
“He probably used up a bit of nervous energy, but he didn’t run bad at all in those conditions.”
Teal is pleased with how the colt has developed over the winter and is taking aim at either the French or English Guineas as his opening run of the season.
“He’s taken his work very well, he looks like he’s come forward so we’re really happy,” he said.
“He’s in both Guineas, French and English, so that’s what we’re aiming at. We’ll see a bit closer to the time which one we’re going to go for.
“He’s by a Derby winner and out of an Australia mare, so he’s bred to get the trip. Fingers crossed he goes well in the Guineas so we can start to dream big.
“He was a bit of a frame last year but he was always growing, he was a bit bum high but he seems to have levelled off now.
“He’s done very well, we’re very happy with him. He’s not a massive horse but he is a nice stamp, a nice athletic animal.
“He’s a Camelot and he tends to stamp them as good-looking horses.”
Constitution Hill is back at Nicky Henderson’s yard after a colic scare, with any thoughts of a trip to the Punchestown Festival now firmly ruled out.
The Seven Barrows handler announced on Sunday that his superstar hurdler had been taken to a veterinary hospital due a suspected colic on Wednesday night, describing it as a “few traumatic days” with the unbeaten gelding.
Henderson issued an upbeat bulletin on Monday with Constitution Hill returning to the Lambourn yard to continue his recovery, although the 2023 Champion Hurdle hero is in need of an extended period of rest.
That means a potential clash with last month’s Cheltenham victor State Man is now off the agenda until next term.
In a statement posted on X, Henderson said: “Constitution Hill returned to Seven Barrows this morning and it is wonderful to have him home after what he has endured.
“He resumed normal feed yesterday with no further ill effects and had a nice pick of grass in the welcome sunshine.
“Hopefully this is all behind him now but I am afraid it is easy to see he had a difficult week and the reality is he is going to take some time to recover and put some weight back on again.
“Therefore our much anticipated match with State Man will have to wait until next season.”
Constitution Hill has run just once this season after cold weather scuppered his initial planned return in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, with deep ground seeing him bypass the rescheduled event at Sandown.
He won the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day in a canter, but an unsatisfactory scope saw him miss an intended Trials day run at Cheltenham before a respiratory infection ended his hopes of a Champion Hurdle defence last month.
The Fighting Fifth is pencilled in as a starting point for next season, though Henderson’s main priority remains Constitution Hill’s health.
He added: “As long as he is OK that is all that matters, but it has been a horrible few months since his great performance in the Christmas Hurdle. It is time for him to have a summer holiday now look forward to his return, hopefully in the Fighting Fifth.”
One-time Classic contender Passenger could make his return to action in France next month after being entered for the Prix Ganay at ParisLongchamp.
An impressive winner of the Wood Ditton on his racecourse debut at Newmarket last spring, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt subsequently finished a luckless third when favourite for the Dante at York, earning himself a place in the Derby.
Passenger was disappointing in Epsom’s premier Classic, but rounded off his three-year-old campaign with a narrow verdict in the Group Three Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor – beating subsequent Caulfield Cup runner-up West Wind Blows – and the son of Ulysses appears to be closing in on a comeback.
“Passenger’s in good form, we’re just coming out of the winter and Sir Michael has made an entry for him in the Ganay,” said Alan Cooper, racing manager for owners the Niarchos Family.
“There’s also the Gordon Richards Stakes (at Sandown), but we’ve got plenty of time to decide on the programme. We’re only at the end of March and like everyone we’d like a bit of warmth and a bit of dryness – it’s been so wet.
“His form is good, so let’s hope he progresses from his Group Three win and everyone can have some fun with him this year.”
Passenger is one of 19 initial entries for the Prix Ganay on April 28, with Charlie Appleby’s pair of Measured Time and Military Order, John and Thady Gosden’s Lord North and the William Haggas-trained Dubai Honour other potential British raiders.
Aidan O’Brien’s Luxembourg heads an Irish contingent that also includes Al Riffa and Maxux, both trained by his son Joseph, and Adrian Murray’s duo of Crypto Force and Elegant Man.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf champion Unquestionable will attempt to become a Classic hero at ParisLongchamp after being set a French 2000 Guineas objective.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien, the son of Wootton Bassett was getting on the scoresheet for the first time at the highest level as he carried the Al Shaqab colours to a maiden Breeders’ Cup victory at Santa Anita in November.
A consistent performer throughout his juvenile season, prior to his success in America he chased home Richard Hannon’s Rosallion in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and it is therefore no surprise connections have their eye on a return to the French capital.
His Ballydoyle handler is still toying with the idea of an early-season tune-up run, but the one race all connections have circled on their calendar is the Poule d’Essai des Poulains on May 12, when O’Brien will seek his sixth victory in the colts’ Classic.
“Unquestionable is fine and Aidan is going to decide if he goes for a trial, but the plan is for him to go to the French Guineas,” said Alison Begley, UK racing consultant for Al Shaqab, who co-own the three-year-old in partnership with Coolmore and Westerberg.
“He ran really well there at Longchamp in the Lagardere and that will be the plan for him. At the moment Aidan is just deciding over a trial, but the first aim this season is the French Guineas.”
Monday’s fixture at Redcar has been called off due to a waterlogged track.
The venue was due to stage a seven-race card but significant rain overnight left clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson with no option but to abandon.
He said: “The forecast changed yesterday afternoon and while we were expecting rain, it changed from a couple of millimetres to a significant amount overnight.
“We’ve had seven millimetres since 1am and it is still raining now with probably another 7mm forecast.
“It’s just been so wet all winter that it’s taken relatively little rain to push us over.”
Wednesday’s card at Nottingham, which was due to feature the Listed Further Flight Stakes, has also been called off.
Officials inspected the track at 8am on Monday but parts of the course remain unraceable following further overnight rain, with little prospect of sufficient improvement ahead of racing.
Luka Dončić delivered another sensational performance by tallying 47 points and 12 rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks cruised to a 125-107 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday in a clash of the NBA's hottest teams.
Doncic added seven assists and Kyrie Irving contributed 24 points to the Mavericks' seventh consecutive win, tying a season high. Dallas also set a season best by making 24 3-pointers - with Doncic hitting nine in 16 attempts - while shooting 51.1 per cent from beyond the arc.
Houston entered the in-state matchup riding an 11-game winning streak, the franchise's longest in a single season since 2017-18. The Rockets received 28 points from Jabari Smith Jr. but two of their other core players, Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet, were held to 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Doncic accumulated 32 of his points in the first half on 12-of-18 shooting as the Mavericks built a 36-24 lead after one quarter and never trailed thereafter. The superstar guard closed out the second quarter with a three-point play that capped a 9-2 run which extended Dallas' advantage to 66-45 at half-time.
Houston never got its deficit under 15 points in the second half, and Dallas put the game completely out of reach with an 18-7 spurt that pushed its lead to 111-83 with eight minutes to go.
Thunder hit late shot to edge Knicks, clinch play-off spot
Shai GIlgeous-Alexander's go-ahead basket with 2.6 seconds remaining sent the Oklahoma City Thunder into the play-offs for the first time since 2020 with a thrilling 113-112 win over the New York Knicks.
After Jalen Brunson's layup with 4.1 seconds left gave the Knicks a 112-111 lead, Gilgeous-Alexander answered by knocking down a contested turnaround jumper on the ensuing possession before Brunson misfired at the buzzer to allow Oklahoma City to secure a spot in this year's post-season.
The victory, the Thunder's seventh in their last nine games, also gave them sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City entered the game tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were dealt a 109-101 loss by the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, for the top spot.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 19 points but wasn't the Thunder's lone star performer. Jalen Williams put up a game-high 33 points with eight rebounds while Josh Giddey compiled a triple-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.
Brunson paced New York with 30 points and Miles McBride added 19 in the second straight frustrating defeat for the Knicks, who lost in overtime at San Antonio on Friday.
New York appeared on the way to victory after holding an 85-75 lead after three quarters, but the Thunder opened the fourth on a 13-3 run to tie the game at 88-88 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Giddey and Kenrich Williams.
Giddey scored seven straight points later on to give Oklahoma City a 102-95 advantage with five minutes left, but the Knicks responded with a 9-2 spurt capped by Brunson's 3-pointer that knotted the score at 104-104 heading into the final three minutes.
Nuggets blow out Cavaliers to keep pace in West
The Thunder's lead atop the West is at a half-game over the Denver Nuggets, who came through with a 130-101 rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers behind a dominant 26-point, 18-rebound, 16-assist effort from Nikola Jokić.
Jokic notched his 22nd triple-double of the season to help the defending NBA champions lock up a play-off spot, and the Nuggets also got a season-high 22 points from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to help halt a two-game losing streak.
Down by four points midway through the second quarter, Denver outscored Cleveland by a 24-11 margin over the remainder of the first half to take a 65-56 lead into the break.
The Nuggets then shot 62.5 per cent from the field in the third quarter to extend the margin, with Jokic amassing 10 points, five rebounds and five assists while hitting 5 of 7 field goal attempts for the period.
Denver opened the second half on a 15-2 run to build a commanding 80–58 advantage four minutes into the third quarter, and maintained a lead of at least 17 points the rest of the way.
Evan Mobley finished with 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting to lead the slumping Cavaliers, who have now lost eight of 12. Jarrett Allen added 19 points for Cleveland, but All-Star Donovan Mitchell had just 13 while missing nine of 12 field-goal attempts in his second game back from a broken nose that sidelined him six consecutive contests.
Dakota Joshua scored two goals, including the game-winner with 2:13 left to play, as the Vancouver Canucks bounced back with Sunday's 3-2 victory over the downtrodden Anaheim Ducks.
Arturs Silovs made 20 saves to win his first NHL start in over a year and help Vancouver halt a two-game losing streak as well as extend its lead atop the Pacific Division. The Canucks now own a four-point advantage over the second-place Edmonton Oilers.
The Ducks rallied from a 2-0 deficit on third-period goals from Olen Zellweger and Mason McTavish before ultimately being dealt a fifth consecutive loss and 12th in 13 games.
Silovs, whose last NHL appearance came on March 6, 2023, stopped all 17 shots he faced through the first two periods as the Canucks built a 2-0 lead on a pair of power-play goals. Brock Boeser had the first 11:26 into the first period and Joshua backhanded a close-range shot past Anaheim goaltender Lukas Dostal midway through the second.
The Ducks then came to life early in the third, as Zellweger and McTavish scored 1:11 apart to even the game less than five minutes into the period. Zellweger's goal was the first of his NHL career.
The score remained 2-2 until Joshua knocked in a behind-the-net pass from Conor Garland with under 2 1/2 minutes left.
Dostal finished with 27 saves for Anaheim.
Jannik Sinner won his third title of the season as he finally became the Miami Open champion.
The Italian, who claimed the Australian Open in January and followed it up with victory in Rotterdam, put in a scintillating display to beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-1 in Florida.
His success sees the 22-year-old become the new world number two and avenges defeats in the final here in 2021 and 2023.
It also means his semi-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells a fortnight ago remains the only time he has been beaten so far this year.
"It has been a very special week for me, I have faced different kinds of situations on the court and different opponents," he told Sky Sports.
"But I guess I managed the situation well.
"I am very happy to be number two in the world, it is just a number, for me most important is trying to execute my gameplan and I managed to do this."
Dimitrov, who is enjoying a resurgence and ousted Alcaraz in the semi-final here, had the first opportunity to gain the upper hand against Sinner and things might have been different had the Bulgarian not gone wide on an early break point.
That allowed Sinner to take control and he broke in the next game to open up a lead before missing more break points to go 5-2 up.
His domination continued, though, as he only let Dimitrov win one more game in the match.
The Italian took the first set with a stunning backhand down the line and then was in total control of the second set as his opponent barely got on the board.
Sinner closed it out to claim a second Masters 1000 title.
Giannis Antetokounmpo's greatness may be taken for granted by the Milwaukee Bucks, according to coach Doc Rivers, whose side overcame the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
The Bucks snapped Atlanta's four-game winning streak with a 122-113 triumph as Antetokounmpo managed 36 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists.
Antetokounmpo also made 12 of 16 free throws, with Rivers suggesting Milwaukee may overlook how much they rely on their star man.
"As I said, we take him for granted," Rivers said. "I thought he played as clean a game as he can play."
"I was really happy with the way we played overall because they did what they do, come out and make 3s."
Patrick Beverley scored 18 points as the fill-in starting point guard, despite concerns over his availability due to a wrist injury.
"He wanted to protect me, as a coach should," Beverley said of Rivers after playing 36 minutes and having five assists with no turnovers.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder acknowledged his team struggled to stop Antetokounmpo.
That plight was not aided by the fact Atlanta were missing Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson.
"It really does require multiple players to limit his ability to get to the rim," Snyder said.
Jonathan Quick set the wins record for U.S.-born goalies and Alexis Lafreniere had three goals and two assists to lead the surging Rangers to an 8-5 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
Quick stopped 27 shots for his 392nd victory to move past Ryan Miller for the record.
Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists and Ryan Lindgren added a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who won their fifth straight and increased the NHL’s best point total to 104.
New York finished March 10-3-1 and is 20-4-1 since February.
Nick Bjugstad and Logan Cooley had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, who have lost six straight to the Rangers since a 3-2 win on Oct. 22, 2019.
Matthews scores 60th as Maple Leafs win
Auston Matthews reached the 60-goal mark for the second time and Ilya Samsonov made 34 saves in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 3-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Matthews became the league’s first two-time 60-goal scorer in 30 years. He matched the franchise record he set when he led the NHL two seasons ago.
He is the first player with multiple 60-goal seasons since Pavel Bure had back-to-back 60-goal campaigns with Vancouver in 1992-93 and 1993-94.
John Tavares and Nicholas Robertson also scored for Toronto, which remained four points ahead of Florida in the race for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Oettinger powers streaking Stars
Jake Oettinger notched his second shutout of the season and the Dallas Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken, 3-0, for their seventh straight win.
Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston each had a goal and an assist and Joe Pavelski also scored as the Stars maintained a three-point lead over Colorado in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference and stayed one point behind the Rangers for the league’s best record.
Seattle failed to win a third straight after two wins over Anaheim and dropped to 2-7-2 in its last 11 games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo dunked six times on his way to 36 points and the Milwaukee Bucks overcame Bogdan Bogdanović’s 38 points in a 122-113 victory to end the Atlanta Hawks’ four-game winning streak on Saturday.
Antetokounmpo had 16 rebounds and eight assists, while Khris Middleton scored 21 points as Milwaukee avoided a third straight loss.
Dejounte Murray had 20 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Hawks, who beat league-leading Boston twice during its longest win streak of the season.
De’Andre Hunter and Bogdanovic hit consecutive 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter to get Atlanta within 94-89, but Middleton and Brook Lopez answered with 3s for Milwaukee to get the lead to 100-89.
Celtics get back on track
Jayson Tatum scored 23 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 19 with 10 rebounds to help the Boston Celtics bounce back from consecutive losses with a 104-92 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Jaylen Brown had 17 points and Derrick White contributed 15 for the league-leading Celtics, who averted their first three-game losing streak of the season.
Boston took control in the third quarter, limiting the Pelicans to 11 points and entered the fourth with an 83-68 lead.
Zion Williamson scored 25 points and CJ McCollum had 24 for New Orleans, which failed in a bid to move 18 games over .500 for the first time since April 12, 2009, when it was 49-32.
Magic roll to end skid
Wendell Carter Jr. had 15 points and 13 rebounds and the Orlando Magic cruised to a 118-88 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies to snap a three-game losing streak.
Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony each added 15 points and Paolo Banchero had 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Magic, who moved a game and a half behind New York in the race for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Orlando’s 43 wins are the most for the franchise since it was 52-30 in 2010-11.
Danielle Collins produced a fairytale ending to her first WTA 1000 final in her last year on tour by beating Elena Rybakina to win the Miami Open.
The 30-year-old, who grew up in St Petersburg near Tampa, delighted the partisan home crowd as she produced a determined display to see off world number four Rybakina 7-5 6-3, before breaking down in tears.
Unseeded Collins, runner-up to Ashleigh Barty at the 2022 Australian Open, had won 12 straight sets after losing her first of the tournament, and continued to dig deep as she saw off Rybakina, who had reached a second straight Miami Open final.
The opening set stayed on serve, with Collins saving three break points in the seventh game. The American then dug deep to fend off another break opportunity for Rybakina to hold again and lead 6-5.
Collins continued her momentum to force two set points in the next game, but could not convert.
A forehand into the net from Rybakina presented Collins another opportunity – which this time she took when the world number four sent a return long of the baseline, to the delight of the home crowd.
Rybakina was under pressure on her serve again early in the second set, with Collins dispatching a break point chance with a forehand crosscourt winner to move 2-0 ahead.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion, though, regrouped to immediately break back in the next game before a hold to love levelled the set up again at 2-2.
Collins eventually took what was an error-strewn seventh game from both players to lead 4-3 – which again got the crowd fired up.
The home fans were soon back on their feet as Collins forced home another break chance when Rybakina sent a return long which left her serving for the title.
Collins, though, struggled to finish off Rybakina, who forced a break chance before the American failed to take three championship points – but she eventually found a backhand winner to deliver the biggest title of her career.
“I have worked so hard and it has taken a lot longer than a lot of the players on the tour,” Collins said in her courtside interview with Sky Sports.
“Today was just surreal, coming out here and playing in front of so many people that were behind me. Having a whole stadium on my side was something so special – it is hard not to get emotional.
“It meant so much to me to get over this hurdle. It is just a really special moment.”
England head coach John Mitchell believes there is “massive growth” left in the Red Roses after they completed a second successive Guinness Six Nations bonus-point victory.
A 46-10 triumph over Wales at Ashton Gate means England top the table with maximum points ahead of their clash against Scotland next month.
As in a runaway win against opening Six Nations opponents Italy, England scored eight tries. And they did it in front of a 19,700 crowd, which was the biggest home attendance for a Red Roses game away from Twickenham.
Full-back Ellie Kildunne led the way with two tries, while there were also touchdowns for Hannah Botterman, Maud Muir, Abby Dow, Lark Atkin-Davies, Zoe Aldcroft and Rosie Galligan.
Fly-half Holly Aitchison kicked three conversions, while Wales posted a consolation try from replacement Keira Bevan and Lleucu George landed a conversion and penalty.
“The game doesn’t always go for you in attack, so you have got to be good on the other side of the ball,” Mitchell said. “The start is the maul defence and we are making good strides.
“To be a really good team and for this team to grow we need to find different ways to score and make sure we can play the game in different ways.
“We are trying to be very clear on our strategy. They built pressure in both halves and I think we left a couple (of tries) out there as well. I still think there is massive growth left in us.”
England captain Marlie Packer added: “We put a spotlight on ourselves. We want to play with tempo and put an exciting brand of rugby out on the pitch.
“Our set-piece was phenomenal, which gave us really good front-foot ball to play.
“We want to let the handbrake off and play. The ball will go down at some points in the game because of how we are trying to play, but hopefully it is exciting rugby.
“We had 19,000 fans here today and we want them to keep coming back.”
For Wales, it was a second successive Six Nations defeat after losing 20-18 to Scotland, but head coach Ioan Cunningham was in upbeat mood.
“I am very encouraged. If I am honest, I thought we left four or five tries out on the field today,” he said.
“It is showing what we can do. It is just about being a bit more clinical.
“I am so proud of the effort. We have just got to balance that up with having that composure at the right time and once that clicks we will be a tough team to stop.”
Oxford coxswain Will Denegri refused to blame illness for why the favourites suffered a disappointing loss in the 169th edition of the men’s Boat Race.
Cambridge, whose women secured a seventh successive trophy, were seen as underdogs despite doing the double last season but took the honours on a sunny Easter weekend where the pleasant conditions were in contrast to the discovery, earlier this week, that high levels of E. coli had been found along the course.
E. coli can cause a range of serious infections and other side-effects and rowers were told ahead of the race not to enter the Thames.
As a result, neither winning crew elected to partake in the tradition of throwing their cox into the river, and while Oxford’s seven seat Leonard Jenkins had earlier revealed to the BBC that he and several crewmates had been plagued by what he branded an E. coli-related illness, his cox was more reluctant to directly blame the bacteria.
Denegri said: “This week we’ve had three people who have had to miss sessions because they’ve had stomach bugs, essentially. Whether that’s related to E. coli in the river I don’t know, but it’s certainly not helped our campaign, and it’s a poor excuse.
“It’s not an excuse, but it definitely hasn’t helped our preparation. We obviously had a bit of a messy start, not the start we wanted. We had a great warm-up, nothing went wrong in the warm-up, so maybe that was not something we were expecting.
“It felt like we never quite got on the rhythm we were hoping to go onto, but at the same time it wasn’t terrible. We were doing a decent job. Cambridge I think today were just a quicker group, and that’s hard to take.”
Earlier, Jenkins had told the BBC: “It would have been ideal not to have had so much poo in the water. But that’s not to take away from Cambridge.”
Cambridge triumphed by three and a half boat lengths in a time of 18 minutes and 56 seconds.
They have now won five of the last six editions and had taken a substantial lead by the final push to the finish, Oxford’s only glimmer of hope coming when winning stroke Matt Edge had visibly been pushed to his limit.
The dark blue boat drew closer, but by then Cambridge had rallied behind their ailing team-mate and their earlier advantage proved too much for their rivals to overcome.
Denegri was more willing to acknowledge the role flooding at their Wallingford base played in Oxford’s preparation, which forced them on several occasions to make the trip to the much-further Caversham Lake.
He said: “It’s obviously affected us a lot, especially through February. Caversham Lake is an hour and 10 minutes’ drive from Oxford, so spending two and a half hours on the bus every day has definitely interrupted our training.”
Cambridge, who train at Ely, faced no such challenges nor, as chief coach Rob Baker later confirmed, did they have any illness concerns ahead of Saturday’s showdown.
Following guidance issued to competitors, Baker did insist Ed Bracey – who initially said he might be willing – did not get dunked in the Thames, arranging instead for a bucket of clean water to be dumped on his cox’s head.
Bracey said of the victory: “It was very noisy through the middle of the race and very quiet those last few minutes there, but we got it done. We got it over the line in the end.
“[The pollution news] didn’t really change the way we handled anything to be honest. The stuff we were being advised to do is what we normally do, so it was business as usual.”
Baker, who was not aware of the illness plaguing Oxford, agreed Cambridge’s flood-free Ely HQ – “the best place to train in the country” – was an advantage, and confirmed Edge, who was attended to by medical staff, needed some fuel and warmth after the race but thought his stroke would be “fine”.
Asked about the E. coli controversy that had marred an another otherwise brilliant weekend for Cambridge, he added: “It’s obviously not a great situation. We’d like cleaner waterways and not have such a risk for our athletes.”
England recorded a second successive bonus-point victory in this season’s Guinness Six Nations as they brushed aside Wales 46-10 at Ashton Gate.
The Red Roses’ pursuit of a sixth title on the bounce continued as they backed up a 48-0 victory over Italy with another try spree.
Watched by a crowd of 19,700 – England’s biggest attendance for a home game outside of Twickenham – Marlie Packer’s team claimed first-half touchdowns from props Maud Muir and Hannah Botterman, hooker Lark Atkin-Davies and lock Zoe Aldcroft.
Holly Aitchison kicked two conversions and, while Wales briefly held the advantage through a Lleucu George penalty, they had a mountain to climb in the second period.
That challenge soon became way too much as quickfire tries from full-back Ellie Kildunne and wing Abby Dow took England past 30 points and confirmed a 39th victory in 41 Tests against Wales since fixtures began between the two sides.
Replacement Keira Bevan touched down for Wales, with George converting, but further England tries followed through lock Rosie Galligan and Kildunne, whose second score matched her double against Italy last weekend, while Aitchison landed one further conversion.
England head coach John Mitchell handed first starts of the Six Nations campaign to Tatyana Heard and Natasha Hunt, but back-row forward Sarah Beckett began a three-match ban after being sent off against Italy.
Mitchell’s opposite number Ioan Cunningham also rang the changes, yet Wales’ preparations were dealt a blow when prolific try-scoring wing Jasmine Joyce withdrew due to a hamstring strain. Lisa Neumann replaced her in the starting line-up.
George kicked Wales into a sixth-minute lead, but England’s response proved swift and decisive as Muir touched down following a thrilling break by Dow.
England were quickly on the front foot again following a bright start by Wales and quality lineout possession underpinned a try for Aldcroft, meaning that she marked her 50th cap in style.
Aitchison’s conversion made it 12-3 and, although Wales battled hard up front, they were undone by a length-of-the-field attack that led to England’s third try.
Centre Megan Jones was the catalyst, showing great pace as she surged deep inside Wales’ half before quickly-recycled ball saw Botterman charge over. Aitchison’s conversion opened up a 16-point advantage after 24 minutes.
England were on the hunt for a bonus point as the interval approached and it almost arrived when Aitchison kicked to the corner, but Dow narrowly failed to touch down.
Wales then saw their scrum obliterated, allowing England an attacking lineout from the resulting penalty, and pressure inevitably told with a try for hooker Atkin-Davies as the Red Roses took a 24-3 lead into the break.
Kildunne and Dow then put England out of sight and, although Bevan claimed a deserved consolation score for Wales, normal service was resumed through England touchdowns from Galligan and Kildunne.
Mousey Brown caused her second big upset in the space of two weeks when winning the I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF Novice Handicap Hurdle Series Final at Fairyhouse.
A winner at Down Royal at 25-1 last time out, she was sent off at 33-1 on this occasion for Dermot McLoughlin and Conor Maxwell.
The Gold Cup-winning team of owner Audrey Turley, Willie Mullins and Paul Townend looked sure to collect with Olympic Man when he took the final flight in front, but Mousey Brown stayed on strongly to get home by half a length.
“Everyone said she was lucky the last day in Down Royal but she was nearly knocked down and still won,” said McLoughlin.
“As Conor said, she’s very tough. She wasn’t enjoying the ground but from the back of the last she came home well. He said she started pricking her ears and looking around her.
“It was a good performance in a good race. I thought it might be a bit soon bringing her back after Down Royal, as it was only 13 days.
“She’s hardy, Conor said it’s hard work out there but she’s game.
“I like her, she had to do a lot of work from where she was there, but kept going. She’s a big, strong mare.”
Effernock Fizz was a game winner of the RYBO Handicap Hurdle, also at 33-1.
Having built up a big lead at one stage, she looked sure to be swallowed up at the second last but found plenty on the rail to fend off Conyers Hill for Cian Collins and jockey Carl Millar.
Collins said: “That’s unbelievable, she has the heart of a lion.
“She’s a mare that wants good to firm ground-wise. On the ground, I didn’t think it would happen today at all, I thought she might even pull up on heavy ground.
“She gave me my first two winners and that’s my 20th today. I thought she was gone turning in but she just doesn’t know when to quit. It’s crazy.
“I was very lucky to get her. She just suits the way we train them, I keep her fresh. I actually ride her out every day myself, she’s always in great form and is a pleasure to have. She tries her heart out every day and just loves racing.
“I think we might go for the Scottish Champion Hurdle now. That’s the plan and we’ll probably go straight there, as it’s in a couple of weeks’ time. That’s her 96th run today and her 10th win.”
Mullins and Townend also had to settle for second best in the Listed-class BoyleSports Mares Handicap Chase with Instit after Ardera Ru finished well to prevail by three and threequarter lengths at 18-1 for trainer Eoin Doyle.
Winning rider Shane O’Callaghan said: “She was brilliant. The plan was to drop in, creep around and try to sneak a bit of black-type.
“It’s the best she’s ever jumped for me, she jumped fantastic everywhere and cruised into it very easily.”
Anthony McCann looks to have a hot prospect on his hands after Familiar Dreams galloped on strongly to complete a hat-trick in the closing Irish Stallion Farms EBF Total Enjoyment Mares’ INH Flat Race at 13-2 under Aine O’Connor.
The five-year-old was giving weight away all round due to a double penalty but put in a powerful effort from the front to pull five and a half lengths clear of the Mullins-trained favourite Magic McColgan.
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