This afternoon’s National Hunt meeting at Warwick has become the latest victim of the current wet spell, with course officials left with no option but to abandon the fixture due to a waterlogged track.
While persistent rain continues to play havoc with the racing programme, no inspection was planned at Warwick, with only minimal rainfall forecast overnight.
However, the track posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday morning: “Following 16 millimetres of rainfall overnight and into this morning, which is a significant change from the three millimetres initially forecast, the track is now waterlogged and therefore unraceable.
“All tickets will automatically be refunded.”
Southwell’s Thursday card is set to go ahead as scheduled after the course passed a precautionary check at 7.30am, but racing at Clonmel in Ireland has been called off.
Further disruption looks likely heading into the weekend, with Friday’s meeting at Wetherby subject to a 3pm inspection this afternoon and Saturday’s Premier Raceday at Kelso also under threat.
The Borders track is due to host a high-profile card, part of which will is set to be shown live on ITV, but the ground is currently heavy, waterlogged in places and an inspection will take place at 8am on Friday to assess the latest state of play.
Lewis Hamilton has tipped Sebastian Vettel as an “amazing option” to replace him at Mercedes.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton is moving to Ferrari from next season, leaving big shoes to fill at a team where he has lifted all-but one of his drivers’ titles.
Vettel, meanwhile, has hinted at a return to the Formula One grid next year having left in 2022.
The German won four titles back to back between 2010 and 2013 with Red Bull and has recently had a test with Porsche that could see him race at Le Mans later this year.
Since 2000, three of the six world champions to leave the sport later returned to the grid, with Vettel potentially set to add to that list.
Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen all had time away from F1 before being enticed back and Vettel admitted in a Sky Sports interview on Wednesday that “it does cross my mind” when it comes to securing a new drive and has spoken to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
The departing Hamilton said it was never a consideration of his to take time away from the sport, before hailing Vettel as an ideal replacement at a team that has struggled for pace in the past two years.
“No, I’ve never thought about taking a year or two off and then coming back – When I’m gone, hopefully I’m gone for good,” he said.
“You’re always going to miss it. It’s the greatest sport in the world and it’s the greatest experience in the world and the most amazing feeling to be working with the people towards winning something.
“Probably there’s nothing that’s ever going to feel the same. I’ve not asked any of the drivers what they’re missing but I would love for Seb to come back and I think it would be an amazing option for the team.
“A German driver, multi-world championship winning driver, and someone who has amazing values who would continue to take the team forward. I’d love it if he came back.”
Pushed further on who he would like to take his seat – whether it be Vettel, reigning champion Max Verstappen or an F1 rookie, Hamilton replied: “The only thing I really care about is that the team takes on someone that with integrity.
“That are aligned with the team and where the team’s going. Someone compassionate that’s able to work with great people and continues to lift them up. There’s so many great people in this team.”
Hamilton’s current team-mate George Russell is confirmed for Mercedes in 2025 and was enthused when it was pitched to him that he could be joined by a returning Vettel.
“Sebastian’s a great person,” he said.
“He’s a four-time world champion and for sure his personality is missed on the grid.
“I think it is important that we have the best 20 drivers in the world all competing for race wins and championships.
“I’m really happy and open to have anybody as my team-mate, you know, whether it’s world champion, whether it’s a rookie, it doesn’t change how I go about my business.”
George Russell believes it would have “opened a can of worms” if Fernando Alonso had not been hit with a hefty penalty following the Mercedes driver’s dramatic late crash at the Australian Grand Prix.
Alonso was handed a 20-second time penalty after Russell’s car ended up on its side having rebounded off the wall in his pursuit of the double world champion in the closing stages in Melbourne two weeks ago.
Following a post-race investigation, Alonso was found to have breached Article 33.4 of the sport’s regulations – effectively finding the Aston Martin racer guilty of driving erratically and in a manner that could be deemed as dangerous.
Speaking ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, Russell revealed the pair had bumped into one another in a coffee shop recently but did not discuss the issue – Alonso jokingly said: “I didn’t get my coffee, that was the least that could have happened.”
Russell, though, did double down on his criticism of Alonso’s driving in Australia, and felt the Spaniard overstepped the mark of fair racing.
“I think it was a bit of a strange situation that happened – I said at the time, I was totally caught by surprise,” he said.
“If it were not to have been penalised it would have opened a can of worms for the rest of the season and in junior categories saying you are allowed to brake in a straight.
“Every driver is open to change a line, break earlier, power through the corner, do whatever. But when we start breaking in the middle of a straight, down-shift and accelerating, up-shifting again, then breaking again for a corner. I think that goes beyond the realms of adjusting your line.
“We’ve got so many duties to take care of when we’re driving… if you add into the mix that you’re allowed to break in the middle of a straight to get a tactical advantage. I think that is maybe one step too far.”
Alonso, meanwhile, continued to defend his actions and said there would have not even been a topic of debate on his driving style had Russell not ended up in the wall.
Asked if the incident would have been been forgotten had there not been an accident, he replied: “Oh 100 per cent.
“I was a bit surprised by the penalty in Melbourne but there’s nothing we can do, we have to accept it and move on and concentrate on here, but I think it will not change much on how we drive, how we approach racing.
“There is no obligation to drive 57 laps in the same way. Sometimes we go at a slower pace, to save fuel, to save tyres, to save battery.
“So all those things are completely normal and it was, it is and it will be forever in motorsport. So we had one penalty, probably a one-off that will never be applied ever again.”
Where the pair – as well as a host of other drivers – did agree was on the need to address what has become a dangerous corner on the Albert Park track.
“We lost two points or whatever it was for the team but I think the big thing is turn six in Australia is not the safest corner at the moment on that track. That’s probably for me a more important point to change for next year,” said Alonso.
Russell was in agreement, adding: “The corner is amazing, probably one of the best corners on that circuit. So I wouldn’t want to see that corner change. But it is true. If you hit that wall, you just bounce back into the track. I think everything is correct, just the position of that wall.”
Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run as a Dodger and Miguel Rojas also went deep as Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 5-4 victory on Wednesday.
Ohtani took Taylor Rogers out over the right-center field wall in the seventh inning to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 5-3. He also singled and scored in the third.
The home run came in the 41st plate appearance for the two-time MVP, who connected for his 172nd career homer.
Tyler Glasnow allowed three runs and four hits over six innings with two walks and seven strikeouts to win his second straight start.
Dinelson Lamet struck out two in a perfect ninth for his first career save as Los Angeles improved to 7-2.
Patrick Bailey and Jorge Soler had home runs for the Giants, who dropped their fourth straight overall and fell to 1-7 in their last eight meetings with the rival Dodgers.
McCann caps Orioles’ comeback
James McCann delivered a two-out, two-run single to lift the Baltimore Orioles to a walk-off 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals after the game was delayed by rain for five hours.
The Royals took a 3-0 lead into the eighth inning behind a masterful performance from starter Cole Ragans, but the Orioles made it a one-run game on Gunnar Henderson’s sacrifice fly and Adley Rutschman’s RBI single.
Will Smith was called on to protect the 3-2 lead in the ninth but walked Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander singled before Jordan Westburg sacrificed. After Austin Hays was intentionally walked to load the bases and Smith struck out Colton Cowser, McCann lined a single into left for the tying and winning runs.
Ragans outpitched Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes, allowing one hit and two walks over 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts.
Judge homers as Yankees move to 6-1
Aaron Judge hit his first home run of the season and had an RBI double in the 11th inning to lift the New York Yankees to a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Alex Verdugo broke a 2-2 tie in the 10th with his first home run of the season and the Yankees scored twice in the 11th on a balk and Judge’s double.
New York completed a season-opening 6-1 road trip and returns to the Bronx for its home opener on Friday.
Ketel Marte homered and Blaze Alexander added the first of his career for the Diamondbacks, who had to use pitcher Scott McGough as a hitter with the bases loaded in the 11th. He took a called third strike from Caleb Ferguson to end the game.
Kristaps Porzingis tallied 27 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks and the Boston Celtics won their 11th straight home game, 135-100 over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
Jayson Tatum added 24 points and Jaylen Brown had 23 and seven rebounds as the league-leading Celtics (60-12) clinched the NBA’s best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Josh Giddey scored 17 points and Luguentz Dort added 15 for the Thunder, who had 14 turnovers and made just 5 of 24 from long range.
Oklahoma City lost its second straight and fell into third place in the Northwest Division, one game behind Denver and Minnesota.
The Thunder were without All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the fourth time in five games due to a bruised right quadriceps.
Pistons’ Flynn drops 50 in loss
Malachi Flynn scored a career-high 50 points, but it wasn’t enough as Jalen Johnson had his first career triple-double to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 121-113 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Flynn blew past his previous career high of 27 points by shooting 18 of 25 from the field, 5 of 9 from long range and 9 of 12 on free throws in 34 minutes. The 50 points were a franchise record for a reserve.
Johnson had 28 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists and De’Andre Hunter added 26 points as the Hawks won their sixth in seven games to clinch a berth in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Davis keeps Lakers surging
Anthony Davis scored 19 of his 35 points in the first quarter and grabbed 18 rebounds to propel the Los Angeles Lakers to their eighth win in nine games, 125-120 over the Washington Wizards.
LeBron James had 25 points and nine assists and Rui Hachimura added 19 points for the Lakers, who completed a 5-1 road trip and are ninth in the Western Conference, one game behind Sacramento.
Jordan Poole scored 29 points for the Wizards, who are a loss shy of matching the franchise record of 63, set in 2008-09.
Oliver Morgan set a new British men’s 100 metre backstroke record to qualify for the Paris Olympics as he retained his title on the second day of the British Championships in London.
The 20-year-old University of Birmingham swimmer, also defending his British 50m and 200m backstroke titles at the London Aquatics Centre, clocked 52.70 seconds to break the previous record set by Liam Tancock 15 years ago.
Morgan finished well inside the Olympic qualifying time to take gold ahead of second-placed Jonathon Marshall and Luke Greenbank.
“If you asked me two years ago if I would be in this position I’d have said there’s no way,” Morgan, who did not start competing at national level until he was 16, said of his rapid rise afterwards.
“I can’t put it into words. It proves you don’t have to be there as a youngster. I did what I enjoyed when I was young. I played football and mountain biked.”
Amelie Blocksidge retained her women’s 1500m freestyle title at the age of 14.
Blocksidge, 15 next week, finished three seconds outside her personal best in 16.13:39 and well adrift of the Olympic qualification time, ahead of Loughborough University pair Fleur Lewis and Lucie Hanquet.
Scotland’s Kara Hanlon swam a new lifetime’s best of 2:24.59 after a strong finish to win the women’s 200m breaststroke crown ahead of Somerset’s Lily Booker.
Hanlon’s fellow Scot Kathleen Dawson put her injury woes behind her by winning the 100m backstroke title in an Olympic qualifying time to seal her place for Paris.
Joshua Gammon won gold in the men’s 200m butterfly in a new personal best of 1.56:95, just outside the Olympic qualifying time, with University of Aberdeen’s Thomas Beeley taking silver.
Rory McIlroy believes his lesson with Tiger Woods’ former coach Butch Harmon was “really worthwhile” as he prepares to make his 10th attempt to complete a career grand slam.
McIlroy needs to win the Masters to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods as the only players to have won all four major championships.
The world number two started the year well with victory in the Dubai Desert Classic in January, but his form on the PGA Tour has been underwhelming ahead of this week’s Valero Texas Open.
McIlroy revealed on the “I Can Fly” podcast with PGA Tour professional Morgan Hoffmann that he had recently visited Harmon in Las Vegas and expanded on the visit in his pre-tournament press conference in San Antonio.
“I’ve done this a number of times in my career,” McIlroy said. “I met Butch when I was 14 years old, so we’ve always had a good relationship. If there’s one guy that I want to go and get a second opinion from, it’s him.
“I think just after the Players (Championship) and just sort of struggling through that Florida swing and with some of the misses I was having with my irons, I just thought to myself I’m obviously missing something here and I just would love to go and get a second opinion and have him take a look, a second set of eyes.
“The one thing with Butch is you go spend time with him and you’re always going to feel better about yourself at the end of it whether you’re hitting it better or not.
“He’s sort of half golf coach, half psychologist in a way. It’s fun to go out there, I went and spent probably four hours with him in Vegas. He said a couple of things to me that resonated.
“It’s the same stuff that I’ve been trying to do with my coach Michael (Bannon), but he sort of just said it in a different way that maybe hit home with me a little bit more.
“It was a really worthwhile trip and I feel like I’ve done some good work after that. As I said, this is a good week to see where that work has gotten me.”
Speaking before the Players Championship last month, where he carded an opening 65 before fading to a tie for 19th, McIlroy revealed the reasons behind his current struggles.
“I have this amazing feeling with my woods at the minute, but when I try to recreate that feeling with the irons, it starts left and goes further left,” McIlroy said.
“I have a swing thought for my woods and I need a different swing thought for my irons and that’s what I’ve been working on over the last couple of days. I feel like every other part of the game is in great shape.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan says he has driven himself “mad” for two years and has gone back to basics after thrashing Ali Carter 10-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Tour Championship.
O’Sullivan and Carter had a Manchester reunion in what had been termed a grudge match following their ill-tempered meeting at the Masters final in January, which ‘The Rocket’ won 10-7 to claim an eighth title.
Carter accused O’Sullivan of “snotting all over the floor” and O’Sullivan responded by saying his opponent was “not a nice person” during an expletive-laden rant.
O’Sullivan refused to speak about Carter in his pre-game interview, letting his snooker do the talking in a one-sided contest.
But O’Sullivan opened up after booking his place in Friday’s semi-final, saying his unhappiness had prompted conversations with renowned psychiatrist Steve Peters.
“I’ve just decided I’m going to change my thinking and forget about trying to fathom my game out,” world number one O’Sullivan told ITV4.
“If I change my thinking I can accept whatever is thrown at me and take whatever.
“It’s been a hard year, drove myself pretty much insane really. It’s just got to me.
“I decided to speak to Steve Peters, said I wasn’t happy.
“I had to go back to basics and get my head right. Deal with it because doing it the other way round isn’t working.
“I’ve got to accept that’s life. You can’t be perfect all the time and trying to be perfect all the time is not ideal.
“Just getting my head around it is the only option I’ve have left. I’ve driven myself mad for the last two years and not enjoyed any of it.”
Carter never settled after missing an easy red in the opening frame which O’Sullivan punished by making a 77 break.
A scrappy 28-minute frame followed and O’Sullivan went to the interval 4-0 up after compiling breaks of 87 and 54.
Carter’s best in the first session was a meagre 13 and his senses seemed scrambled when attempting to swerve around the yellow to strike one of two reds left on the table.
O’Sullivan capitalised with a frame-winning 51 and extended his advantage to 7-0 with breaks of 81 and 92 – those efforts taking all of a combined 14 minutes.
Carter headed into the final frame of the afternoon session with the prospect of being whitewashed.
But he responded in superb fashion with a 141 clearance to eclipse Tom Ford’s 138 as the highest break of the tournament, placing him in prime position for a £10,000 bonus.
Carter closed out O’Sullivan again at the start of the evening session with breaks of 36 and 70 reducing the deficit to 7-2.
It was a false dawn, however, as Carter ran out of position and missed a red for O’Sullivan to make a 62 clearance.
O’Sullivan then cashed in with a decisive 52 break after another Carter error had opened up the table.
Carter was put of his misery in the 12th frame as O’Sullivan compiled 67 before going in-off in the middle pocket, a rare mistake in a snooker masterclass.
Zhang Anda and Gary Wilson will resume their quarter-final on Thursday level at 4-4, with the winner meeting O’Sullivan in the last four.
Wilson won two frames on the black to lead 3-1 before Zhang fought back strongly in an even contest.
Ronnie O’Sullivan demolished Ali Carter 10-2 to win what had been termed a grudge match and reach the semi-finals of the Tour Championship.
The pair had not met since their ill-tempered meeting at the Masters final in January, which O’Sullivan won 10-7.
Carter accused O’Sullivan of “snotting all over the floor” and The Rocket responded by saying his opponent was “not a nice person” during an expletive-laden rant.
O’Sullivan refused to speak about Carter in his pre-game interview, letting his snooker do the talking in a one-sided contest in Manchester that was over within an hour of the mid-match break.
Carter never settled after missing an easy red in the opening frame which O’Sullivan punished by making a 77 break.
A scrappy 28-minute frame followed and O’Sullivan went to the interval 4-0 ahead after compiling breaks of 87 and 54.
Carter’s best in the first session was a meagre 13 and his senses seemed scrambled when he attempted to swerve around the yellow and struck one of two reds left on the table.
O’Sullivan capitalised with a frame-winning 51 and extended his advantage to 7-0 with breaks of 81 and 92 – those efforts taking a total 14 minutes.
Carter headed into the final frame of the afternoon session with the grim prospect of being whitewashed.
But he responded in superb fashion with a 141 clearance to eclipse Tom Ford’s 138 as the highest break of the tournament, placing him in prime position for a £10,000 bonus.
Carter closed out O’Sullivan again at the start of the evening session, with breaks of 36 and 70 reducing the deficit to 7-2.
It was a false dawn, however, as Carter ran out of position and missed a red for O’Sullivan to make a 62 clearance.
O’Sullivan then cashed in with a decisive 52 break after another Carter error had opened up the table.
Carter was put of his misery in the 12th frame as O’Sullivan compiled 67 before going in-off in the middle pocket, a rare mistake in a snooker masterclass.
Zhang Anda and Gary Wilson will resume their quarter-final on Thursday level at 4-4, with the winner meeting O’Sullivan in the last four.
Wilson won two frames on the black to lead 3-1 before Zhang fought back strongly in an even contest.
Further adjustments to the National Hunt programme have been “under discussion” as the British Horseracing Authority seeks to improve competitiveness within that sphere.
A total of 300 jumps races and 20 jumps meetings were removed from the 2024 fixture list as part of a package of initiatives focussed on increasing field sizes.
However, the BHA’s director of racing and betting Richard Wayman reports that while the numbers of runners for all-weather meetings on the Flat in the first three months of the year have been pleasing, National Hunt numbers have not reached similar heights.
While citing the wet winter as a possible reason for a lack of competition, Wayman admits jump racing is “short of where we want it to be”.
He said: “It is a mixed picture. If we wanted to look at it positively, on the all-weather through the winter our Flat fixtures have generated probably more competitive racing than we have had for a long time.
“If we look at the percentage of races that have attracted eight runners, you’ve got to go back to 2007 to find the sort of percentage we have achieved in the first three months of this year.
“Obviously, jumping isn’t where we want it to be and we continue to face our challenges with the competitiveness of jump racing. The numbers for jump racing on core fixtures are around 47 per cent, a little bit better at the Premier meetings but either way that is short of where we want it to be.
“I think we haven’t been helped by the ground conditions that we have faced through the first three months of this year – 78 per cent of races have been run on soft or heavy ground compared to 44 or 43 per cent in the last two years, it just demonstrates how wet it has been and that clearly will have had an impact on field sizes.
“However, it is important to stress we’re not using that as an excuse, I think that has been a factor in where we are this year but the challenges we face with jump racing competitiveness are beyond just the fact we’ve had a wet three months.
“We’ve introduced measures this year, we made changes to the programme, we took out 300 races through the year and some will have fallen in the first quarter. It is certainly under discussion whether we need to go further for 2025 in an attempt to make racing more competitive at this time next year than it has been in the last few months.
“Having said that, in our view, you can’t just keep reducing fixtures and/or races with a view to making jump racing more competitive. There are more fundamental issues that as a sport we are going to need to tackle to try to support the long-term future of jump racing.
“We are looking at that and I think we will need to introduce further measures beyond race volume to try to support the future of jump racing longer term.”
During a briefing call, the BHA’s director of communications and corporate affairs Greg Swift confirmed discussions remain ongoing with the Betting and Gaming Council over a reform of the levy, with gambling minister Stuart Andrew due to issue an update later this month.
Swift said: “Meetings are accelerated between BGC and DCMS – in fact, I had a meeting with them this morning.
“We will have at least two next week and we had two last week and there are conversations and meetings that take place outside of those formal arrangements with DCMS at which the minister is trying to bring us closer to an agreed position.
“We continue to work at pace, in good faith on all sides. We are not there yet but we will keep our shoulder to the wheel to try to get an arrangement agreed with the sports minister in time for him to update the house on April 24.”
The Houston Texans have added another prominent player to an already-talented roster by agreeing to acquire four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs in a trade with the Buffalo Bills, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.
Houston will send a 2025 second-round pick to Buffalo in exchange for Diggs, one of only two players with over 100 receptions in each of the past four seasons. According to NFL.com, the Texans will also receive a 2024 sixth-round selection and a 2025 fifth-round choice from the Bills.
Diggs joins 2023 breakout performer Nico Collins and impressive 2023 rookie Tank Dell to form potentially one of the league's strongest collection of wide receivers for quarterback C.J. Stroud, last season's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
The reigning AFC South champion Texans have already made a few splash moves this offseason by signing elite pass rusher Danielle Hunter in free agency and landing four-time 1,000-yard rusher Joe Mixon in a trade with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Buffalo, on the other hand, appears to be going through a bit of a reset after losing in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs in each of the past three seasons. The Bills released three key starters - cornerback Tre'Davious White, safety Jordan Poyer and center Mitch Morse - earlier this offseason in order to clear salary cap space.
Diggs' departure also continues an offseason shuffling at the wide receiver position for Buffalo. The Bills lost deep threat Gabe Davis to the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency while signing veteran Curtis Samuel.
Acquired from the Minnesota Vikings in 2020 in another blockbuster trade, Diggs put together a highly productive four-year tenure in Buffalo while helping the Bills reach the playoffs in each of those seasons. The 30-year-old's 445 receptions since 2020 are the most in the NFL, and only Diggs and Las Vegas Raiders star Davante Adams have surpassed 100 catches in each of the last four seasons.
Diggs amassed 107 catches for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023, his sixth consecutive season with at least 1,000 receiving yards.
The Texans will have Diggs under contract until 2027, as he'll be entering the first season of a four-year, $96 million extension he signed with Buffalo in April 2022. The nine-year veteran will have a cap hit of around $19 million this season, while the Bills will incur a cap charge of just over $31 million with the move.
Joel Embiid has revealed his recent injury layoff left him feeling depressed, having returned to the court to help the Philadelphia 76ers past the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.
Embiid missed over two months of action after suffering a knee injury during a game against the Golden State Warriors at the end of January.
Having undergone surgery to repair the lateral meniscus in his left knee, Embiid sat out 29 straight games with the Sixers slumping from 29-17 to 40-35 in that time.
The Sixers have gone 14-27 without the reigning NBA MVP overall this campaign, and they were buoyed by his return on Tuesday as he finished their 109-105 win with 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Opening up on the toll his injury took, Embiid said: "Usually I just tell myself, 'move on to the next one', get better, and then fix it, but this one took a toll mentally, being depressed, it was not good.
"So, I'm still not where I'm supposed to be, especially mentally, but I just love to play and love basketball and I want to play. Any chance that I have to be out there, I'm going to take it.
"For some reason this injury was just disappointing. It was depressing. It took me a while to get over it, and I still haven't gotten over it. So I've just got to take it day by day, look at the positives.
"I'm back. So, hopefully every single day, I'll try to get better and get back to myself."
Embiid was limited to just 29 minutes on the court, but only Kelly Oubre Jr., with 25 points, bettered his return as Philadelphia boosted their playoff hopes by making it back-to-back wins.
"Minutes-wise, that was probably where I thought we would end up," head coach Nick Nurse said. "I thought we had a good start and it mapped out something like that, minutes-wise.
"He scored some, I thought he passed the ball really well, but when we start amping up our defense in the last six minutes he was down there again.
"Some of those drives didn't look as productive, so that to me is where I really thought he impacted the game. He looked pretty good for not playing for a couple of months, that's for sure."
Rory McIlroy has consulted Tiger Woods’ former coach Butch Harmon as he prepares to make his 10th attempt to complete a career grand slam.
McIlroy needs to win the Masters to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods as the only players to have tasted victory in all four major championships.
The world number two started the year well with victory in the Dubai Desert Classic in January, but his form on the PGA Tour has been underwhelming ahead of this week’s Valero Texas Open.
“I went last week to see Butch Harmon for a golf lesson,” McIlroy told PGA Tour professional Morgan Hoffmann on the “I Can Fly” podcast.
“I’ve seen him over the years, like once every few years I’ll say, ‘Hey, Butch, can I just come see you and you can take a look and see what you think.’”
McIlroy added that as he was leaving for the airport – Harmon is based in Las Vegas – his daughter Poppy asked him where he was going.
When he said he was going for a golf lesson, McIlroy said: “She said, ‘Dada, you already know how to play golf.’ That’s probably the best piece of advice I’ve gotten in the last three years.”
McIlroy’s long-time coach is fellow Northern Irishman Michael Bannon, although the four-time major winner has also worked with Pete Cowen.
Speaking before the Players Championship last month, where he carded an opening 65 before fading to a tie for 19th, McIlroy revealed the reasons behind his current struggles.
“I have this amazing feeling with my woods at the minute, but when I try to recreate that feeling with the irons, it starts left and goes further left,” McIlroy said.
“I have a swing thought for my woods and I need a different swing thought for my irons and that’s what I’ve been working on over the last couple of days. I feel like every other part of the game is in great shape.”
Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford will step down at the conclusion of this season when his contract expires and is expected to take on an advisory role in the front office.
The Hornets are a dismal 18-57 after going 27-55 in 2022-23 in Clifford’s return to Charlotte.
“This is the appropriate time for me to step down,” Clifford said. “I believe this is best for me and the organisation. I’m excited about the future of the Hornets – our young core of players.
“I want to thank all the Hornets players and staff for their work the past two seasons and our Hornets fans for their continued support of our team.”
The 62-year-old Clifford began his NBA head coaching career in 2013-14 with Charlotte and posted a 196-214 record in five seasons while reaching the playoffs twice.
The Hornets fired Clifford following the 2017-18 season, and he was hired six weeks later as the head coach of the Orlando Magic.
Clifford went 96-131 with a pair of play-off appearances in three seasons with Orlando before the sides parted ways following the 2020-21 campaign.
Charlotte then brought Clifford back in June 2022, and his 241 coaching victories are the most in franchise history.
“I have a tremendous amount of appreciation for Coach Cliff, and I understand his decision to step down,” Hornets Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson said.
“His basketball knowledge, teaching ability and work ethic are well-respected throughout the NBA. He has had to endure some very difficult circumstances the past two years, and yet our players have continued to compete, work hard and develop.
“On behalf of the entire Hornets organisation, I want to thank Steve for all his efforts, and we look forward to having him remain a part of the organisation.”
The Hornets said they would immediately begin the search process for their next head coach.
“We will look to hire someone that shares our values and vision in developing our young core and creating a culture and identity based on teamwork, accountability and competitiveness,” Paterson said.
Tomorrow’s National Hunt meeting at Southwell and Friday’s jumps card at Wetherby will need to survive inspections to go ahead.
While the Flat season is now under way, the persistent rain is playing havoc with the new campaign, with the meeting at Nottingham on Wednesday abandoned.
Catterick’s card did go ahead after passing an inspection but there is no sign of the wet weather abating and Southwell has called a precautionary check for 7.30am.
The course is currently raceable, but should more rain than the forecast showers fall overnight, then there may be an issue.
There is a jumps meeting at Warwick where the ground is heavy but no inspection is currently planned.
It is a similar story at Fontwell on Friday but at Wetherby there are “multiple areas of standing water/waterlogged ground”.
An inspection will be held at 3pm on Thursday after 7mm of rain fell on Tuesday night and a further 6mm arrived through Wednesday up to 1pm. The forecast for Thursday is mainly dry but another 11mm is forecast for Thursday night.
Kelso are also keeping an eye on the situation ahead of their Premier meeting on Saturday.
A post on social media read: “We are closely monitoring the weather conditions with regard to racing on Saturday. We will be in a better position to assess the impact of today’s rainfall by Thursday morning, when declarations will be made for Saturday’s races.”
Fiona Needham is one trainer who hopes the rain keeps falling ahead of Sine Nomine’s potential Coral Scottish National bid.
An ‘old-fashioned’ winner of the Cheltenham Hunters’ Chase in that Needham is strictly an amateur behind her day job as Catterick’s clerk of the course, the grey’s victory was one of the most popular at the Festival.
The Congratulations Fifi & Sine Nomine Handicap took place at Catterick on Wednesday in homage to her achievement, something she knew nothing about, but while the racing world is counting down to Aintree, Needham, who won the Cheltenham race as a jockey on Last Option as well, has her eyes fixed elsewhere.
“It was 22 years after riding the winner but it was a dream come true – I didn’t think I’d have a horse good enough to run in it again, so to win it was unbelievable,” she told Racing TV.
“I never think I’m going to win, I’m the biggest pessimist, but my boyfriend did back her and when I asked why he said ‘you must be quite confident, as you said we might be placed, which is as good as it ever gets’ – so I suppose you could say I fancied her.
“She always travels well in her races, which is what you need there. She’d run there twice before, the first was first time over fences and the second we thought she might not have got up the hill, but she over-raced a bit.
“My only instructions to John (Dawson) were to save a bit for the hill but he was very cool.
“She’s come out of it very well, she’s very much a confidence mare and knows she’s won. She’s entered for the Scottish National, obviously she’d need to get in, but it keeps raining, which is in our favour, so we’ll see where we go from there.”
The Middleton Stakes at York and the Lockinge at Newbury are among the races likely to come under consideration for Nashwa following her creditable comeback run in Dubai last weekend.
John and Thady Gosden’s filly has struck gold three times in Group One company, landing the French Oaks and the Nassau Stakes in 2022 before adding the Falmouth Stakes to her CV last summer.
She was also placed against the colts in both the Juddmonte International and the Irish Champion Stakes last season and headed for the Middle East to make her five-year-old debut on Dubai World Cup night.
Drawn widest of all at Meydan in stall 16, Nashwa managed to get into a prominent early position in the Dubai Turf and was not beaten far in the end – and connections are taking the positives out of her performance.
Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner-breeder Imad Alsagar, said: “Her chance was certainly compromised by the draw, but it is what it is. She’s run a super race and got a great ride and everything pretty much went to plan.
“She just had to use herself up a little too much, but she was beaten just over four lengths, so overall we were very encouraged really.
“We’d hope she’ll improve, as she did last season. She’s due back tomorrow and we’ll see how she is, but I think we’ll probably look at the mile, mile and a quarter races.”
Nashwa is entered in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Middleton Fillies’ Stakes at York on May 16 and the Al Shaqab Lockinge at Newbury two days later. The daughter of Frankel appears likely to contest one or the other on her next appearance.
“Of course, it depends how she comes out of the race. She recovered fine, but we’ll see how she takes the trip home etc, and then we’ll make a plan,” Grimthorpe added
“She’s in the Middleton and the Lockinge and I think those would be the most likely potential targets.”
On the 20th anniversary of Graham Lee winning the Grand National on Amberleigh House, a new racing club was launched to help raise money for the jockey after he suffered life-changing injuries in a fall at Newcastle in November.
The 48-year-old had a long and distinguished career in the saddle – under both codes. As well as winning the Grand National, he completed the unique double of riding the Gold Cup winner at Royal Ascot, via Trip To Paris.
The Graham Lee Racing Club has been set up by the Good Racing Company, founded by Phil Hawthorne, who established a similar venture for former rugby league player Rob Burrow.
They have purchased a two-year-old filly called We’ve Got This, in reference to a message Lee’s wife Becky posted on social media after the accident.
Lee’s daughter Amy and son Robbie have been at the forefront of the fundraising, with the latter designing the club’s logo, featured around Lee’s favourite number 17, also the number Amberleigh House wore at Aintree and the cost, £17, to join the venture, while Amy set up the initial Just Giving page.
She said: “It’s so nice that something so positive comes out of something so awful. I love meeting people who know dad, everyone has their really cool stories and everyone has been wanting to help so much. It’s nice to create something positive.
“When we set up a Just Giving page for dad, the target was £100, last week it hit £200,000 – which is crazy. I never expected that.
“I’ve always said to dad every time he has a negative thought, there’s a donation to show him he needs to keep going, there are so many people behind him.
“When he’s had his down days, we’ve sat there and we’ve read all the lovely messages and it always puts a smile on our faces.
“We’ve had so much support and the McCoys have been like a second family to us – the night it happened AP picked me up, as I live near him, and he brought me up home.”
She went on: “Dad is just dad to me. I never really clicked how incredible he was. I’ve always thought the world of him but another jockey said to me ‘he’s like God, he’s who everyone wants to be like’. It’s so nice to hear something like that.
“I wish that I could be half the person. I’m a performer, I’m studying musical theatre, and to have that competitive mindset to be a winner, to be a champion, is admirable.
“While he was a jockey, it was onto the next thing. When he won the National, he was just thinking ‘I need to go to Hexham tomorrow’, he never got to celebrate it really, but since his accident, he’s really reflected and we’ve pulled out the old photos and old videos.
“When his friends and fellow jockeys come and see him, they reflect on races from years ago and his memory is insanely sharp. I think it’s starting to click that ‘actually, I think I was all right. I don’t think I did too bad a job’.
“So many people have come to see him or got in touch with a message, it’s been so nice and really kept dad going.
“The world goes on but for us four, we’re still at November 11, time’s just stopped since then. Everyone has been carrying on, as they should. But it’s nice that people are still caring at this point, five months down the line. They are still showing up, ringing, messaging.”
Lee’s former weighing room colleague and dual champion jockey Paul Hanagan is now assistant trainer to Craig Lidster, who has been entrusted with looking after We’ve Got This.
“It’s an honour to be involved in this, Graham’s family are closely involved, Steve and Wendy Burdett, who own Eboracum Stables, have given us the horse, so a lot of thanks go to them,” said Hanagan.
“The filly is by Invincible Army, she’s been doing everything right and I’ve sat on her myself. She’s flourished these last few months and we’re really looking forward to the season.
“Obviously, I’ve had a few sleepless nights hoping I’ve picked a good one! Hopefully she’ll be running in the next five to six weeks.
“Graham has made a huge contribution to racing all through his career and I’d love to give something back.”
Lee himself said: “I’m really humbled that a fundraising racing club has been set up in my honour, and that Paul Hanagan has chosen the horse for me. I’ve been shown videos of the horse and she looks very promising. No pressure Paul, but I hope you’ve picked a winner!
“I’ve seen what the Good Racing Company has achieved for Rob Burrow and how it’s united the racing community. I have high hopes that this new racing club achieves the same success with We’ve Got This, and my family and I look forward to following the excitement and being part of this new community.”
Lidster, whose yard is flourishing, said: “As you can see, she’s a nice, big filly, so hopefully we might get to York at some point.
“I don’t want to put her on a pedestal but she’s going the right way, she’s got a great attitude, she loves her work and we’re pleased with her.
“She has size and scope about her, so we’ll be choosing the right track for her; galloping tracks like York and Doncaster.
“This is a special cause. Family is family, whether that is your own or the racing industry – and that is how we look at Graham and anyone else in this sport, we all look to help each other when these things happen.”
More information can be found at: https://thegoodracing.co/
Sara Misir took the checkered flag in the closing race of the day, to end with two wins and a second-place finish in the Modified Production Class 4 at the JRDC's Carnival of Speed at Dover Raceway in St Ann on Easter Monday.
Starting third on the grid for the final race of the day behind Oliver Townsend, in Modified Production Class 3, and Allan Gordon, Misir the country's lone Formula Woman driver, displayed her class and quality throughout the race. Kevin Chuck, started alongside Misir with Lamar Larmond started in seventh position.
On the starting roll, Townsend won the initial start with Sara coming from behind on the inside, making it two abreast into corner one, much to the delight of the crowd. Townsend and Misir then drove through corner two side by side, with Gordon and Larmond closely behind.
Misir capitalized on the exit of corner two to take the lead, with Townsend, Gordon and Larmond following closely behind.
Townsend then faced gearbox problems and had to retire the car at the end of the first lap. Still, an intense duel then ensued involving Misir, Larmond, and Gordon, as the next four laps became a three-car battle. But Misir kept her composure and opened up the lead in each lap to run away with more than half a lap by the sixth.
She maintained the lead to seal her victory on the eighth and final lap.
Earlier in the day, in Race Two, Misir faced brake fading problems, but managed to finish second in class behind Allan Gordon. Gordon, MP4, and Oliver Townsend of MP3 were locked in a heated battle for the overall win in race two, but Sara stayed in close quarters, clinching the third spot on the podium after Larmond was run off the track in the closing lap.
Misir ended the day on 27 points to take the early lead in MP4, while Gordon is in second with 24 points. Misir expressed delight with the day's results.
"I performed pretty well during Sunday's testing until we discovered a cracked disc pad in the front brakes. After replacing the pads on Monday, I had to bed them in, which caused brake overheating issues and reduced my stopping power a bit. I'm happy to end the day ahead and look forward to Jamwest in May," Misir said.
The JRDC series continues with the second meet on May 26 at Jamwest Motorsports Park in Negril.
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