Jack Jones’ An Bradan Feasa looks to take the next step in his promising hurdling career at Musselburgh on Sunday.
The four-year-old was previously trained by Joseph O’Brien before making his debut for new connections at Cheltenham in November, where he chased home James Owen’s highly-regarded Burdett Road in a Grade Two Triumph Hurdle Trial.
His next outing was a return to the same track the following month, where he contested a lesser Triumph trial and prevailed by three lengths as the favourite.
The Fred Winter at the Festival has always been the goal for An Bradan Feasa and he will prepare for that with a run in the bet365 Scottish Triumph Hurdle this weekend, a Listed contest for four-year-olds.
“He had a quiet week or 10 days after Cheltenham and then we got him back into his work, he’s had a mini break but this has always been the aim from a long way,” said Jones.
“He’s fit, well and happy, he’s schooled a couple of times and Tom (Bellamy) is going to come and school him tomorrow morning for the finishing touches and then he’ll travel up Saturday.
“He’s all good to go, Musselburgh looks a suitable opportunity and we’re very happy with him.
“I’m pleased we managed to schedule a little break in and he’ll go out there with a very good chance. The Paul Nicholls horse (Liari) is level with us on ratings, so it should be between the two of them, without being overconfident.”
Of his Cheltenham aspirations, the trainer added: “We’re aiming for the Fred Winter, and we’ll enter him in the Triumph, but we’re keeping expectations sensible and the owners are agreed on that one.
“We’ve always been working back from the Fred Winter.”
Queen Mother Champion Chase favourite El Fabiolo will captain Simon Munir and Isaac Souede’s Dublin Racing Festival team as the unbeaten chaser heads to Leopardstown a red-hot favourite for Sunday’s Ladbrokes Dublin Chase.
Originally set to contest Ascot’s abandoned Clarence House Chase, Willie Mullins’ ace two-miler will seek riches closer to home as he looks to supplement his victory in the Irish Arkle at the two-day meeting 12 months ago.
El Fabiolo went on to add to his Grade One tally at both the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals and following a successful comeback run in Cork’s Hilly Way Chase, the odds-on shot will be seeking to solidify his spot at the top of the market for the Champion Chase in just under six weeks’ time.
“The team will probably have about nine runners, but he’s the only one who will be a hot favourite for us and is our best chance,” said Munir and Souede’s racing manager Anthony Bromley.
“He’s training well and was in great form leading up to the Clarence House two weeks ago – and the team are all happy with him still, so let’s hope we cannot fluff our lines.”
Sunday will also see Impaire Et Passe, another of the owners’ 2023 Cheltenham Festival heroes, lock horns with State Man for a second time in the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle, attempting to overturn a three-and-a-quarter-length beating from when they met in the Matheson Hurdle at Christmas.
A strong second-day squad will see Closutton’s James Du Berlais drop back in trip for the valuable O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey Leopardstown Handicap Chase.
Meanwhile, the day ends with Stuart Crawford bidding to provide Munir and Souede with a third-straight victory in the concluding Coolmore N.H. Sires Hurricane Lane Irish EBF Mares I.N.H. Flat Race with wide-margin Down Royal scorer Mongibello.
“James Du Berlais ran really well at Christmas in the three-mile handicap chase,” continued Bromley.
“We’re dropping back to two-miles-five on Sunday in the €150,000 race. We’re hoping dropping a couple of furlongs works the oracle, as he showed up well for a very long way and went very well at Christmas and I would be hopeful of a bold show, but it’s a hugely competitive handicap chase.”
He went on: “Mongibello was second on her debut in a Listed bumper and then won very well at Down Royal in a race that is starting to work out.
“There will be plenty more fancied than us in the race, but I think she will run a really solid race and we’ve had a bit of luck in the race with the colours in the past.
“Two years ago, the Crawfords won it with Lily Du Berlais and last year the Mullins father-and-son team won it for us with Fun Fun Fun. It may be asking a bit to make it a hat-trick in the race but Mongibello certainly won’t let us down.”
Hopes for the opening day rest on Intellotto in a red-hot renewal of the Grade One McCann FitzGerald Spring Juvenile Hurdle and Ayiko in the concluding Donohue Marquees Future Stars (C & G) I.N.H. Flat Race, with the Dublin Racing Festival arriving at the ideal time for the in-form ‘double green’ team.
They have enjoyed plenty of success over the last seven days, with a double at Naas last Sunday followed by talented novices Anotherway and Mistergif impressing in midweek.
Some of those victors could be set for a step up to better things next time, with Naas bumper winner Jasmin De Vaux set to be pointed towards the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival following his commanding 15-length romp.
“Jasmin De Vaux was a Crawford graduate and we purchased him from Stuart and sent him to Willie and he looked very good in the bumper on Sunday,” said Bromley.
“I imagine all roads lead to Cheltenham for him. You could probably pick holes in the form of the bumper but it was the manner in which he did it which was impressive and he’s a really exciting horse to look forward to.”
A day later, it was Anotherway who was representing the team with distinction as he sauntered his way to success at Punchestown, a win that meant an awful lot to connections.
Bromley explained: “Anotherway was extremely pleasing because he had severe complications after being gelded as a three-year-old and had to have two big operations, life-saving operations, and to even get him on the track at Christmas was brilliant.
“He blew up a bit then, but he certainly showed the benefit of that at Punchestown and that gave me as much pleasure as anything.
“He is Concertista’s half-brother as well, so that is quite nice and it was a very poignant winner. I don’t think he will necessarily go to Cheltenham but he will be racing at some sort of festival in the spring I suspect.”
Warren Gatland has backed Wales’ most inexperienced Six Nations line-up since 2019 to “go out there with no fear” in Saturday’s clash against Scotland.
Cardiff full-back Cameron Winnett is handed a Test debut after just 15 games of professional rugby, 21-year-old Dafydd Jenkins will lead Wales out as his country’s youngest captain for 56 years, while six of the Wales’ replacements have just 12 caps between them.
The absentees read like a current who’s who of Welsh rugby – George North, Louis Rees-Zammit, Liam Williams, Dan Biggar, Dewi Lake, Will Rowlands, Jac Morgan and Taulupe Faletau, to name just eight.
And the starting XV’s 413 caps has more than half that total shared by only four players in scrum-half Gareth Davies, wing Josh Adams, lock Adam Beard and number eight Aaron Wainwright.
Wales, though, will defend a 22-year unbeaten record against Scotland in Cardiff that comprises nine Six Nations games, a World Cup warm-up fixture and an autumn Test.
“We are at home and Scotland haven’t won here in Cardiff for a long time,” Wales head coach Gatland said.
“It is a full stadium and we’ve got a responsibility to go and deliver a performance.
“The enthusiasm of this young group of players has been exceptional over the last few weeks. I am really excited about this group that we’ve got, building with some youngsters who I think are really going to grow, develop and impress.
“Those young players get out there and learn what it is like to play in front of 75,000 people where things are happening quicker than you would normally experience.
“I couldn’t be happier with how they have trained and prepared. Two weeks, the attitudes have been outstanding – no-one has moaned about how hard we have worked.
“Everyone has been vocal and pushed each other. I think we’ve got an average age of 25. I think they can go out there with no fear with the way they have prepared.”
Centre North, who has won 118 caps and is comfortably the most experienced player in Wales’ Six Nations squad, suffered a shoulder injury during Ospreys’ recent European Challenge Cup victory over South Africa side the Lions.
Gatland, though, allayed any fears surrounding his fitness for next week’s Twickenham appointment with England.
“He is ready to go now. We’ve just made that decision early – we wanted to select the team early,” Gatland added.
“The fact he hadn’t trained much, we could have held on (until) later in the week, but we just wanted to make that call early to give those players the best chance in terms of preparing for Saturday.”
And on Racing 92 lock Rowlands, Gatland said: “Will hasn’t come into the squad yet. His wife had a baby a couple of weeks ago in France, and unfortunately there were some complications.
“So the message to him has been ‘you stay home and be with your family’. We always talk about how important that is, and he will turn up when he is ready.”
Owen Watkin and Nick Tompkins will forge Wales’ midfield partnership, with Winnett’s Cardiff colleague James Botham – grandson of England cricket great Sir Ian Botham – being recalled for a first Wales appearance since July 2021.
Dragons prop Leon Brown also starts, with uncapped Cardiff flanker Alex Mann among the replacements, where former Bristol back Ioan Lloyd provides fly-half cover for Sam Costelow.
“The Six Nations is always about momentum,” Gatland said.
“We are under no illusions that it is going to be a tough game for us, but we can go there being excited about this group of young players.”
You Wear It Well remains on course for a crack at more Cheltenham Festival glory in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle after running with credit in defeat at Doncaster last weekend.
Jamie Snowden’s charge produced her best effort as a novice at Prestbury Park when making all to see off 20 rivals in Grade Two company last March, scoring at generous odds of 16-1 under Gavin Sheehan.
She kicked off this term by getting the better of Luccia at Wetherby over two miles before being a well-beaten favourite in the rearranged Fighting Fifth at Sandown.
Snowden opted to step her up to an extended three miles in the Warfield Mares’ Hurdle, with a change of tactics deployed, as she was held up at the back early on.
You Wear It Well came through to challenge Marie’s Rock at the final flight but just found the 2022 Mares’ Hurdle winner too strong on the run-in.
“I think we just got beat by a better horse on the day in that set of circumstances,” said Snowden.
“It was our first try at the trip and the ground was a little bit quicker than ideal. It turned into a little bit of a sprint from three out and we had a bit of ground to make up.
“But Marie’s Rock is rated 150, we’re rated 140, we were carrying the same weight and we only got beat a length and a half, so it was a decent performance and I was glad to get that run into her, it was a nice run.
“The Mares’ Hurdle is the plan and we might look at the Warwick race (February 10) on route.”
Blair Kinghorn has been ruled out of Scotland’s first two Guinness Six Nations matches with a knee injury, paving the way for Kyle Rowe to make his first international start at full-back in Saturday’s opener in Wales.
The Toulouse number 15 becomes the second member of Scotland’s first-choice back three to be ruled out of the match in Cardiff and the following weekend’s visit from France, with free-scoring Edinburgh wing Darcy Graham also absent due to quad tightness.
Rowe’s only previous cap came away to Argentina in July 2022 when he came on as a substitute and lasted only 10 minutes before damaging his ACL, resulting in him being sidelined for most of the following year.
The 25-year-old has been in good form for Glasgow this term, scoring seven tries, including three in his last two outings before meeting up with the national team.
Kyle Steyn, who recently returned after three months out, and Duhan van der Merwe will start on the wings.
Recently-appointed co-captain Rory Darge has not recovered from a knee injury in time to feature so stand-off Finn Russell will skipper the side.
Previous skipper Jamie Ritchie, who lost the role last month, has been named as one of this weekend’s vice-captains and will start in the back-row alongside Matt Fagerson and Luke Crosbie, with Jack Dempsey – the first-choice number eight for most of last year – on the bench.
Ben White, Scotland’s preferred scrum-half for the majority of last year, is restored to the number-nine jersey after Ali Price took his place in the starting XV for the last two matches of the World Cup against Romania and Ireland.
Glasgow lock Scott Cummings starts in place of his suspended Edinburgh counterpart Grant Gilchrist.
Props Elliot Millar-Mills and Alec Hepburn – who was capped six times by England in 2018 – are both in line to make their Scotland debuts off the bench.
However, there is no place in the 23 for in-form Saracens back-rower Andy Christie who had been touted as a potential starter.
The Scots are eyeing a first victory in Cardiff for 22 years.
William Haggas has decided to keep the King and Queen’s Desert Hero closer to home for his first outing of 2024, with Royal Ascot once again on the agenda before a potential trip to Australia at the end of the year.
The chestnut sparked fabulous scenes last June, providing his owners with their first winner at the big meeting in the King George V Stakes.
He went on to win at Glorious Goodwood and finish third in the St Leger, after which Haggas was contemplating a Melbourne Cup tilt.
That was put on the backburner but the Newmarket handler was considering sending him out to Australia in the early months of the new year, given the success he has had with the likes of Addeybb and Dubai Honour Down Under.
However, those plans have now been shelved and Haggas told RadioTAB Australia: “We decided definitely that His Majesty’s horse will not be coming to Sydney in the autumn.
“We may well come down at the backend of the year in your (Australian) spring, but I just felt he needed a bit more time and they (his owners) concurred.
“Possibly (the Melbourne Cup) or possibly something in Sydney, we’ll see.
“We are going to concentrate on going to Royal Ascot for the Hardwicke Stakes, which will be his first major target.
“He’s done very well this winter. He will benefit from all the time he can get. It’s ‘do we press the button now or wait a bit’ and we plumped for the second option, we’re going to wait a bit.
“He’s pretty useful, he got better and better last year and we think he’s done better again this winter, so I am very pleased with him.”
Haggas will be represented in the big Australian races once again by Dubai Honour, who won both the Ranvet Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes last year before finishing a fine third to Romantic Warrior in the QEII Cup in Hong Kong.
“He’ll go into quarantine on February 15. We’re looking at the same two races as last year,” said Haggas.
“I probably shouldn’t have run him in the Eclipse, as he’d been on the go for a while, but there were only four runners and I thought he ran well for a long way in the Champion Stakes.
“To be honest, his whole summer was based around getting him in top shape to come to you (Australia) in February/March.
“He will be the same horse he was, I hope.
“I’d like him to come back for two years. If all goes well this year and he runs competitively, then basically it will be all the same again.”
Two more could travel with Dubai Honour, as Post Impressionist, winner of the Old Borough Cup, and Mujtaba, last seen finishing second in the Huxley Stakes in May, are both pencilled in.
“Post Impressionist will run in the Sydney Cup, he’s been bought by Lloyd Williams. He’s in really good shape,” said Haggas.
“Mujtaba might well go. I’m really pleased with his condition. He’ll either go Ranvet or Tancred and then hopefully Queen Elizabeth.
“He’s never won a Stakes race, in his only start last year he was second in a Group Two and then got colic.
“He’s a good age, he’s six but has only run nine times in his life.”
Lewis Hamilton looks set to make a shock move to Ferrari from the 2025 season onwards.
The seven-time Formula One world champion has enjoyed unrivalled success at Mercedes but is now on course to become the 12th British racer to don the famous red overalls of Ferrari.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at five of the most notable former Britons to race for the Maranello marque.
John Surtees
Starts: 37
Wins: 5
Surtees is the subject of a pub quiz question to this day as he remains the only man to win world championships on both two and four wheels.
His F1 title came during a four-year stint at Ferrari, where he won the championship in 1964.
More success probably would have followed had he not quit the team after just two races of the 1966 season following a public spat resulting from his omission from Ferrari’s team for the Le Mans 24-hour race.
Eddie Irvine
Starts: 65
Wins: 4
Ferrari’s hopes of a first drivers’ championship in two decades had seemingly been resting solely on the shoulders of Michael Schumacher.
That all changed when he broke his leg in a crash at Silverstone in 1999, jettisoning Northern Ireland’s Irvine into a title showdown with the McLaren of Mika Hakkinen.
Having joined Ferrari in 1996, Irvine was very much the number two in the team, although victories in Australia, Austria, Germany and Malaysia saw the championship race go down to the wire but – even with Schumacher back from injury and playing a supporting role, he fell short by two points and quit for Jaguar in 2000.
Nigel Mansell
Starts: 32
Wins: 3
Already a world champion, Mansell would forever be bestowed with the honour of being the last driver hand-picked by Enzo Ferrari to race for his eponymous marque.
Mansell had endured a terrible season at Williams in 1988 but won in Brazil in 1989 – his first race behind the wheel of a Ferrari – and later in Hungary, too.
Reliability issues hampered the remainder of his debut year with the Prancing Horse and 1990 proved even worse in that regard as Mansell retired from seven grands prix, winning in Portugal but falling out with the team and returning to Williams the following year.
Mike Hawthorn
Starts: 24
Wins: 3
Hawthorn became the United Kingdom’s first Formula One world champion when he took the title with Ferrari in 1958.
Having driven for the team earlier in the decade, he returned to take the crown after winning in France and finishing second in Belgium, Britain, Portugal, Italy and Morocco.
He retired after winning the championship having watched team-mate Peter Collins die at the German Grand Prix months earlier – Hawthorn himself would die in a road accident in January 1959 at the age of 29.
Peter Whitehead
Starts: 8
Wins: 0
Whitehead may have raced in Formula One but it was with a Ferrari, rather than for the team itself.
The Englishman became the first private racer to convince Enzo Ferrari to sell him a car, which he duly painted in British racing green.
He was entered into one race by the works Ferrari team – but failed to qualify for the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix.
New Ireland skipper Peter O’Mahony has dismissed suggestions Friday’s “colossal” Guinness Six Nations curtain-raiser against France will be an early title decider.
Andy Farrell’s men will run out in Marseille as reigning Grand Slam champions on the back of a decisive 32-19 round-two win over the French last February in Dublin.
Les Bleus, who are the pre-tournament favourites this year, completed a championship clean sweep in 2022 following a crucial 30-24 victory over Ireland in Paris.
Munster flanker O’Mahony, who has taken the captaincy from the retired Johnny Sexton, played down talk of silverware once again being decided by the fixture ahead of a mouth-watering opening evening at Stade Velodrome.
“I don’t know about that,” he told a press conference.
“It’s the first one up for us, first one up for them. In this competition, every game is colossal and that’s an understatement.
“Both of us are out there tomorrow to win the game, set ourselves up with some momentum for the rest of the campaign.
“Every opportunity you get to play for Ireland is huge, but this one seems particularly special… to continue our journey on.
“What a place to do it, what a stadium… what a place to play rugby.”
Ireland and France are both on the rebound from agonising quarter-final exits at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Head coach Farrell has made three enforced changes from the 28-24 last-eight loss to New Zealand on October 14, with fly-half Jack Crowley, wing Calvin Nash and centre Robbie Henshaw coming in for the departed Sexton and injured pair Mack Hansen and Garry Ringrose.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old lock Joe McCarthy has been preferred to James Ryan and Iain Henderson in the other alteration to the starting XV.
O’Mahony insists the team are looking forward, rather than attempting to make up for disappointment suffered at the hands of the All Blacks.
“We’re not trying to prove a point to ourselves about what happened,” he said.
“We’re trying to prove to ourselves in performance, where the scene is at, where we want to go, setting up momentum.
“It’s not about putting things right or whatever. It’s about a Test match tomorrow night. That’s what the occasion is, it’s the most important thing for us.
“And performance is absolutely paramount. That’s what everyone is here to do, be the best version of themselves. That’s what we’re trying to do for Ireland.”
O’Mahony has captained Ireland on a number of previous occasions but will lead his country for the first time as permanent skipper.
The 34-year-old believes he and his team-mates all learnt from his predecessor Sexton.
“I had a good chat with him a few weeks ago and he’s in good form, I can report,” O’Mahony said.
“I’d be shocked if you asked anybody in that dressing room who’s played with Johnny if they hadn’t picked up something from him.
“It’s kind of what the game’s about, it’s learning and being diligent and picking stuff up from guys who’ve figured it out and he was certainly one of them.”
England have given debuts to centre Fraser Dingwall and flanker Ethan Roots for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome.
Head coach Steve Borthwick has also named three uncapped players on the bench in back-rower Chandler Cunningham-South, fly-half Fin Smith and wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
“Winning a first cap for your country is always a very special occasion,” Borthwick said.
“We’re delighted for the debutants who have all worked incredibly hard to get themselves selected in the 23 to face Italy. I know Saturday will be a very proud moment for the players and their families.
“My message to them this week has been to be themselves, to grasp their opportunity, and to play with the strengths and skills that deservedly got them selected to a strong Six Nations squad.”
Alex Mitchell has overcome an infected cut on his leg to form a half-back axis with George Ford, who is named as one of two vice-captains alongside Maro Itoje with Jamie George leading the team out at the Stadio Olimpico.
Ford has edged rookie Fin Smith for the number 10 jersey after Marcus Smith was ruled out of the round one clash because of a calf problem and he will direct a midfield partnership of Dingwall and Henry Slade.
Tommy Freeman wins his fourth cap and first since 2022 on the right wing as reward for an impressive season at Gallagher Premiership pace-setters Northampton, who also supply Dingwall and Mitchell to the starting back line.
Joe Marler and Will Stuart are the preferred props, keeping Ellis Genge and Dan Cole on the bench, while Itoje and Ollie Chessum are paired together in a familiar-looking lock duo.
Roots has big boots to fill after being chosen to start in the number six jersey worn by Courtney Lawes until his international retirement after the World Cup, with Ben Earl continuing at number eight and Sam Underhill at openside.
Roots played for the Maori All Blacks but has been a revelation at Exeter this season after arriving at Sandy Park having spent two seasons at the Ospreys.
Italy have never beaten England in 30 previous attempts but Borthwick refuses to take victory for granted.
“After an excellent week’s preparation in Girona, we look forward to the challenge of playing Italy in Rome,” Borthwick said.
“The Azzurri are a dangerous team, with some talented ball-carriers and players who like to find space. We’ll need to make good decisions, keep our discipline, and maintain a level of intensity to our performance from the first whistle to the last.”
Royale Pagaille may not run again this season as Venetia Williams reports he is “still very sore” following his final fence fall in Cheltenham’s Cotswold Chase.
The 10-year-old holds an entry for the Gold Cup, as well as being seen as a potential Grand National candidate, and after a career-best performance to win the Betfair Chase in November, he was out to cement his claims for the blue riband at Prestbury Park last Saturday.
However, dreams of a fourth shot at the Cheltenham Festival’s main prize now appear to be on hold after his Trials Day fall, which came when staying on strongly in the hands of Charlie Deutsch, with Williams suggesting his recovery time will keep him off the track for the rest of the current campaign.
“I don’t know for sure, but he is still very sore,” said Williams.
“He should be all right, but it is going to need a bit of time and I’m not sure if we will see him out again this season. It’s a big shame.”
Despite Royale Pagaille looking likely to be out of the Gold Cup picture, there was better news about high-ranking stablemate L’Homme Presse following his successful Lingfield comeback.
Having brought the house down with a terrific display to better Protektorat in the Fleur De Lys Chase, he is now firmly on course for his scheduled pre-Gold Cup stop in the Betfair Ascot Chase on February 17.
Williams said: “He’s fine and I’m happy with him. Ascot is in two weeks and we will see, but all being well, that is what we will do.”
Alongside Shishkin, L’Homme Presse is seen as one of Britain’s best chances of claiming victory in the Gold Cup for the first time since Native River in 2018 and is a best price of 10-1 with the bookmakers.
Delta Work is to follow a tried-and-tested route when he returns to the track in the William Hill Boyne Hurdle.
Gordon Elliott’s 11-year-old ran in the Navan Grade Two event last year, finishing sixth to Blazing Khal, before going on to successfully defend his cross country crown at the Cheltenham Festival and is set to make his first appearance since November in the two-mile-five-furlong event on February 11.
He has finished his campaign in the Grand National the past two seasons and all roads seem to lead to a third crack at the Aintree showpiece in April, having finished third behind Noble Yeats in 2022 before unseating Keith Donoghue when travelling kindly on the second circuit last year.
However, Delta Work will have his well-being to prove on his return to the track this time, having arrived home lame following an outing at Cheltenham earlier in the season.
“He was lame after Cheltenham and is OK again now,” said Eddie O’Leary of owners Gigginstown House Stud.
“The plan is to go Boyne Hurdle, Cross Country at Cheltenham and then Grand National.
“Everything is fine at the moment but he was sore after (his run at Cheltenham). Hopefully we see him at Navan.”
Walbank bids for back-to-back wins at Meydan for trainer George Boughey in Friday’s Dubai Sprint.
The son of Kodiac looked a potential star juvenile a couple of years ago for Dave Loughnane, winning by seven lengths at York before finishing second in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot and third in the Molecomb at Goodwood.
However, he was well beaten on his reappearance last season and a switch to Dominic Ffrench Davis failed to yield improvement, prompting owners Amo Racing to move him from Lambourn to Newmarket.
After seven months off the track, Walbank made an impressive stable debut in handicap company four weeks ago and Boughey is looking forward to raising his sights to Listed level.
The trainer said: “He won well on his first start for us and it was one of those situations where you hope they transfer their work to the track, because he had been working nicely.
“He put it all together that day and they went a good gallop, which I think is what he needs stepping up to six furlongs. He is a fast horse though, and I think he’d be versatile over five and six.
“He’s drawn in the middle and I think there should be few excuses. Amazingly, it looks like there’s quite a bit of rain coming, so I just hope it’s dried out by Friday.
“I think the last day he produced a quicker time than Al Dasim did when he won on Super Saturday last year over the course and distance, but it is a step up.
“He was getting well beat in handicaps (last year) and didn’t beat much when he won the other day, so he’s certainly got it to prove, but I couldn’t be happier with how he’s training.”
Walbank’s rivals include Charlie Appleby’s Mischief Magic and the Johnny Murtagh-trained Ladies First.
Boughey has two other runners at Meydan, with Naxos making his second start on dirt in a seven-furlong handicap and stablemate Koy Koy tackling turf in a nine-furlong handicap.
The trainer is particularly keen on the chances of the former, adding: “Naxos drops in grade and drops in trip for the seven-furlong race. He showed up well on his first start on dirt and just didn’t get home over a mile and a quarter.
“He was taking on an absolute machine in the winner (Kabirkhan), who won a Group One last week.
“Naxos has adapted really well out there, he’s a pretty relaxed horse now and if he handles the preliminaries like he did the last day, I think he’ll be hard to beat.”
Wales centre George North has been ruled out of Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash against Scotland because of a shoulder injury.
North, who has won 118 caps and is comfortably the most experienced player in Wales’ Six Nations squad, was hurt during Ospreys’ recent European Challenge Cup victory over South Africa side the Lions.
Owen Watkin and Nick Tompkins will forge Wales’ midfield partnership, with Cardiff full-back Cameron Winnett handed a Test debut after just 15 games of professional rugby.
The 21-year-old features in a position vacated by Liam Williams’ move to Japan, while full-back option Louis Rees-Zammit recently quit rugby union to pursue a possible American football career.
Elsewhere, Winnett’s Cardiff colleague James Botham – grandson of England cricket great Sir Ian Botham – is recalled for a first Wales appearance since July 2021, packing down alongside back-row colleagues Tommy Reffell and Aaron Wainwright.
Dragons prop Leon Brown also starts, with uncapped Cardiff flanker Alex Mann among the replacements, where former Bristol back Ioan Lloyd provides fly-half cover for Sam Costelow.
Racing 92 lock Will Rowlands, whose partner recently gave birth, is not included in the match-day 23, with captain Dafydd Jenkins and Adam Beard forging Wales’ second-row combination.
At 21, Exeter forward Jenkins is Wales’ youngest skipper since a 20-year-old Gareth Edwards led Wales against Scotland in 1968.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland said: “George got quite a big stinger in terms of his shoulder and didn’t take part in full training last week, so Owen Watkin comes into the midfield.
“Will hasn’t come into the squad yet. His wife had a baby a couple of weeks ago in France.
“So the message to him has been ‘you stay home and be with your family’. We always talk about how important that is, and he will turn up when he is ready.”
Wales have beaten Scotland 11 times on the bounce in Cardiff, winning nine Six Nations games, a World Cup warm-up fixture and an autumn Test since the Scots triumphed in April 2002.
But Wales are now without the likes of Rees-Zammit, Williams and long-term injured trio Jac Morgan, Taulupe Faletau and Dewi Lake, while Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny retired from international rugby after the World Cup in France.
Gatland added: “Cameron Winnett is just a lovely footballer, and I think he is going to develop into a quality international player in the future.
“He is young and there will be no pressure on him. It is also great that Alex Mann is on the bench, and will hopefully get his debut as well.
“Scotland haven’t won here in a long, long time, and it is an opportunity for us to continue with that record.
“The (stadium) roof is going to be open.
“Scotland want the roof open, which I think is a little bit disappointing from an atmosphere point of view because when that roof is shut it does tend to create a lot more atmosphere and noise in the stadium. But that is the decision that they made.”
Six Nations regulations state that both teams have to agree in order for the roof to be closed.
Wales team versus Scotland: C Winnett (Cardiff); J Adams (Cardiff), O Watkin (Ospreys), N Tompkins (Saracens), R Dyer (Dragons); S Costelow (Scarlets), G Davies (Scarlets); C Domachowski (Cardiff), R Elias (Scarlets), L Brown (Dragons), D Jenkins (Exeter, capt), A Beard (Ospreys), J Botham (Cardiff), T Reffell (Leicester), A Wainwright (Dragons).
Replacements: E Dee (Dragons), K Mathias (Scarlets), K Assiratti (Cardiff), Teddy Williams (Cardiff), A Mann (Cardiff), Tomos Williams (Cardiff), I Lloyd (Scarlets), M Grady (Cardiff).
Willie Mullins has decided to skip a clash against Marine Nationale with Gaelic Warrior in Saturday’s Goffs Irish Arkle Novice Chase at Leopardstown.
Positive noises had been made that the exciting Gaelic Warrior would drop down to two miles to take on Barry Connell’s unbeaten Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner.
However, Mullins will instead field Facile Vega, Il Etait Temps and Sharjah in opposition.
Two others will go to post, Gordon Elliott’s promising Found A Fifty and Vincent Halley’s Senecia.
Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs will only face three in his attempt to win the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup for a second successive year.
He bounced back to form to win at Christmas and will meet his Punchestown Festival and John Durkan conqueror Fastorslow.
The only two other runners are Conflated and I Am Maximus.
Also appearing on day one of the Dublin Racing Festival is A Dream To Share, one of the feelgood stories of last season as he went through his campaign unbeaten, culminating with champion bumper wins at Cheltenham and Punchestown.
He had been favourite for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle for months but a setback delayed his hurdling career and he will remain in the bumper sphere for now.
A Dream To Share will be attempting to win the Donohue Marquees Future Stars Flat Race for a second successive year.
Mullins runs My Great Mate, You Oughta Know, Hens Tooth, Joystick and Redemption Day against him.
The champion trainer has four of the six in the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle over two miles and six furlongs.
Dancing City, I Will Be Baie, Loughglynn and Predators Gold will face Elliott’s Stellar Story and Jessica Harrington’s Jetara.
Mullins also fields six of the 11 in the McCann FitzGerald Spring Juvenile Hurdle.
Bunting, Ethical Diamond, Highwind, Majborough, Storm Heart and Kargese will face the most competition from Elliott’s Kala Conti.
The Closutton maestro is a big fan of the Dublin Racing Festival, stating: “It’s one of the best initiatives to come from HRI in the past few years – it’s two days of pure, hardcore racing.
“Grade Ones – bang, bang, bang, one after the other. I don’t think there’s any other festival in the British Isles or France that has high calibre horses in so few races, where you can see them all and it gives you an idea what’s best and what’s looking good for the other spring festivals.
“This is one of the best two days in Irish jump racing and probably English jump racing or French jump racing – it’s a fantastic festival.
“When you have a good horse, you have to run in good races and I’m a believer in that, you put them in and they have to take their chance.
“Some of them seem obvious that they’re going to win but then we get surprises every day of the week, that’s why bookmakers are so successful!
“Our opinions aren’t always right, we all have opinions; from the punter, to the trainer, to the owner. You’ve got to get out there on the track and prove which is the best horse.”
Lewis Hamilton is on the brink of a blockbuster move to Ferrari in 2025, the PA news agency understands.
Hamilton, 39, is entering the first of a new two-year deal with Mercedes worth £100million.
But it is understood the seven-time Formula One world champion is eligible to leave Mercedes at the end of the year.
PA has been told that confirmation of Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari could be announced as early as February 1.
Both Mercedes and Ferrari declined to comment when contacted by PA.
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has been linked with a surprise move to Ferrari for the 2025 season.
Reports in the Italian media have suggested the British driver could leave Mercedes at the end of the upcoming campaign.
Hamilton, 39, has raced for Mercedes since 2013 and signed a contract extension with the team last year.
Kevin Durant likes where the Phoenix Suns are trending after pouring in 33 points to seal a victorious return to Brooklyn.
The Suns won 136-120 over the Nets, as Durant shot 10 of 16 from the field and added eight assists in his first game in Brooklyn since being traded to Phoenix nearly a year ago.
Jusuf Nurkic had 28 with 11 rebounds, Devin Booker scored 22 points and Eric Gordon added 17 for the surging Suns.
The win at Barclays Center was the Suns' ninth win in 11 NBA games before they play the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night and the Washington Wizards on Sunday.
"We were just floating from two to three games under .500 and .500 for most of the year," Durant said after the game, per ESPN.
"Now we look up, we're 28-20 with a good opportunity to be 10 games over .500 with our next two games on the road.
"So, we're going home at the 50-game mark, hopefully we can be 30-20, and I like where we are.
"It's a grind throughout the whole season, especially with the new group, new coaching staff, new team, guys in and out the lineup. You got to build some continuity, and we are on our way to that."
There was huge hype around Durant’s return to his former team, but Suns coach Frank Vogel was impressed by how he focused on the job at hand.
"Hell of a performance," said Vogel. "He put the team first.
"He went out and competed, played team-first basketball, had eight assists and several other plays where made the extra pass and allowed his teammates to play through his double-teams.
"He played a team-first type of game and ended up with 33 and eight."
Durant spent almost four years at Brooklyn, playing alongside James Harden and Kyrie Irving. But the stars only played 16 games together and the Nets won just one playoff series.
The two-time NBA champion gave his reflections on that time but said he did not ponder what might have been, instead focusing on the facts of his time in a Nets jersey.
Durant said: "No, I don’t think about what could have been, that's just a pointless exercise, in my opinion. What happened. That's what I thought about: what actually happened, the reality of it.
"We didn't have enough time together. That's just it. Guys wanted to go their separate ways.
"We tried our hardest to salvage everything together. We had three or four different teams [from] when I signed here until when I left.
"But at the end of the day, I enjoyed coming to work, playing for, being a part of this community and playing, representing Brooklyn; regardless of what went on, what was said or how I felt, I still came to work.
"I was an All-Star every year. I was the leading vote-getter every year in All-Star games. Sold a lot of jerseys. [Averaged] 50-40-90, averaged 30, [made] All-NBA.
"I mean, was that successful? You know what I mean? But team success is a different thing.
"You'd like to put the team, how the team does, you'd like to put that on one of the best players and call it a failure, but if you want to talk about me individually, you can just look at the work that I put in here.
"I think I've grown as a player. I'm on my way to mastering the game. I think coming here helped me, pushed me far closer to that. So that's what I try to take from my time here."
The Nets played a tribute video for Durant before the game and he had a mixture of cheers and boos from the home crowd over the course of the night.
"That wasn't going to stop me from just doing my job regardless," Durant said about the video.
"But there's class people here. They appreciate everybody who donned the jersey and that shows a great organization. I respect that."
Cam Thomas scored 25 points and Mikal Bridges, who came to Brooklyn in the Durant trade, had 21 but the Nets (19-28) failed in their bid to win three straight for the first time since early December.
They next play at Philadelphia on Friday.
Reigning Grand Slam champions Ireland launch their Guinness Six Nations title defence against pre-tournament favourites France in Marseille.
Antoine Dupont and Johnny Sexton will be notable absentees as the two sides go into a new era on the back of agonising Rugby World Cup exits.
Here, the PA news agency picks out some of the main talking points ahead of Friday’s tantalising championship curtain-raiser.
World Cup hangovers? Grand Slam decider?
France versus Ireland was widely touted as a potential World Cup final. The two nations were Test rugby’s top-ranked teams in the build-up to the tournament before their campaigns ended in the space of 24 hours with enthralling quarter-final defeats. Ireland’s 17-match winning run was halted by a 28-24 loss to New Zealand in Paris, before the hosts were beaten 29-28 in the same city by eventual champions South Africa. Both will be eager to respond to those disappointments in a mouth-watering fixture which has ultimately proved to be a Grand Slam decider in the past two years.
Absent stars
Dupont’s decision to focus on France’s sevens squad for this year’s Paris Olympics has deprived the championship of its leading star. The scrum-half has been crowned player of the tournament in the three of the past four years. He will be replaced in the number nine jersey by Maxime Lucu, with Gregory Alldritt taking on the captaincy. Ireland, meanwhile, must move on following the retirement of talismanic former captain Sexton. The 38-year-old – the Six Nations’ record points scorer with 566 – has left a void on and off the field. Flanker Peter O’Mahony is Ireland’s new skipper, while Jack Crowley, Ciaran Frawley and Harry Byrne will compete for the fly-half role.
Sexton’s long-term successor
To coin an Andy Farrell phrase, Crowley is the “next cab off the rank” in the contest to become Sexton’s long-term successor. The Munster player served as understudy at the World Cup and has been selected for his full Six Nations debut. Crowley’s only previous championship appearance was a three-minute cameo away to Italy last February, while just three of his nine caps have come as a starter. Yet the 24-year-old is the most experienced out-half in his country’s 34-man squad. Frawley, who has been named on the bench, has only 40 minutes of Test action to his name, while his Leinster team-mate Byrne has not featured at international level since playing 56 minutes across substitute outings against the USA and Argentina in 2021.
Unfamiliar surroundings
Stade de France in Paris became a second home for Ireland during last autumn’s World Cup. Farrell’s men had hoped to play five successive matches there but had to settle for three following defeat to the All Blacks. There will be no swift return to Saint-Denis – the scene of memorable wins over South Africa and Scotland – for the Irish as France are this year playing their tournament matches away from the capital due to the upcoming Olympics. Stade Velodrome will be unfamiliar surroundings for many of Farrell’s squad, albeit the Leinster contingent suffered a heart-breaking, last-gasp loss to La Rochelle there in the 2022 Champions Cup final.
Opportunity knocks for McCarthy and Nash
In addition to the selection of Crowley, Farrell has handed Six Nations debuts to Test rookies Joe McCarthy and Calvin Nash. The head coach has shown plenty of faith in 22-year-old Leinster lock McCarthy by picking him ahead of experienced duo James Ryan and Iain Henderson. Meanwhile, Munster wing Nash has an opportunity to capitalise on the misfortune of injured star Mack Hansen. The 26-year-old won his only previous cap as a replacement in a World Cup warm-up win over Italy but has been in fine form for his province. “All you need in life is an opportunity, and it’s a big one for Calvin,” said Farrell.
Faugheen was no stranger to dazzling on the big occasion, but as the curtains began to close on his decorated career, he saved one more moment of magic for his adoring home supporters, lighting up the Dublin Racing Festival with a heroic display that sent Leopardstown into a frenzy.
One of the best Champion Hurdle winners of modern times, injury setbacks saw him reinvented first as a staying hurdler and then a novice chaser, as his trainer Willie Mullins eked out Grade One-winning performances with the twilight of his career approaching.
Although a dual Cheltenham Festival scorer, it was Leopardstown that played host to some of his finest displays and he arguably saved his best until last at the Dublin track when his final outing in the Irish capital saw him bring the house down with a brilliant swansong success.
Sent novice chasing at the ripe old age of 11, Faugheen had made the perfect start to fencing and arrived at Leopardstown having dispatched Samcro to taste Grade One glory at Limerick over Christmas.
Eyeing more success at the highest level, Faugheen was sent off the 13-8 joint-favourite for the Flogas Novice Chase and showed all of the qualities and class that had made him such a mainstay of the National Hunt racing scene as he held off stablemate Easy Game for a fairytale victory that would go down in Irish racing folklore.
“Going into Leopardstown, we knew he had been in good form, but for him it was a big day,” said Joe Chambers, racing manager for Faugheen’s owners Rich and Susannah Ricci.
“You were kind of harking back to the Danoli days and days of yesteryear where people were just leaping over tables trying to take advantage of every vantage point. There are a few wonderful pictures of the crowd and they were however many deep around the ring, and every balcony and vantage point was filled.
“Paul (Townend) nearly came off him at the back of the last and it wasn’t without drama, but it was a wonderful day and a pretty emotional day as well. It was a day where I saw Willie get emotional and you don’t often see that.”
It was also a huge occasion for Townend, who in the early stages of his tenure as Closutton number one, finally got his highlight-reel moment aboard Faugheen, having watched on as Ruby Walsh and many of his weighing room colleagues enjoyed great days alongside the popular gelding.
“It was great for Paul as well, because he hadn’t actually ridden Faugheen that many times,” continued Chambers.
“Faugheen was very much a part of Ruby’s career and David (Mullins) had won a Grade One on him and Emmet (Mullins) had won a Grade Three on him and Patrick had won a Grade One as well on him.
“Paul and Danny (Mullins) were somewhat the odd ones out and ultimately, when the music stopped, Danny was the only one left standing.”
The noise reverberating around Leopardstown as Faugheen made a triumphant return to the winner’s enclosure that day could be heard for miles around and although their great warrior will always be associated with the track, Chambers points out Faugheen often received a hero’s reception wherever he went.
He said: “I think you could be anywhere (in the world) with a crowd like that and a horse like that to celebrate and it was just one of those days where everything came together.
“He reincarnated himself as a novice chaser and he had two great days really – you can’t forget the Grade One he won under Patrick (Mullins) at Limerick when he beat Samcro.
“At some tracks in Ireland, the more rural you get, the greater the affinity can be with horses – especially ones who have been there, climbed to the mountain top, fallen back and then come back and managed to achieve again.”
So, having reached the summit of the sport once again at Leopardstown, there was one final peak left to conquer, with his Flogas triumph signalling one last return to the Cheltenham Festival in a quest to add a third Prestbury Park victory to his CV.
Sent off the 3-1 favourite for the March Novices’ Chase in what would be the final start of his career, Faugheen would go down on his shield to finish third, as Samcro gained Limerick revenge and conjured up his own resurgence story in a race where Closutton stalwart Melon also made the podium.
Chambers added: “I think at Cheltenham in the novice chase, but for a mistake at the second-last, where he just didn’t meet the fence quite right and Samcro winged it, he could have gone out in another blaze of glory as well.
“He got a wonderful reception that day. There might have been a few thoughts privately amongst people (about retiring after Leopardstown), but I don’t recall anything specific being discussed about it.
“Part of me thinks it would be the natural thing to do, but then again why would you do that having won a Grade One with Cheltenham round the corner.”
A winner of 17 of his 26 career starts, he was given the title ‘The Machine’ after mercilessly destroying the opposition as he racked up a 10-race unbeaten sequence at the beginning of his time under rules.
He won 12 of his first 13 outings before injury agonisingly kept him sidelined for almost two years when arguably at his pomp.
However, such was his resilience and brilliance, Faugheen was still able to win Grade Ones at two miles, three miles and over fences upon his return, thanks to the sublime handling by Mullins and those at Closutton.
Having captured the hearts of the racing public due to his on-track exploits, he now welcomes them into his own home, residing at the Irish National Stud in retirement alongside fellow Closutton icon Hurricane Fly and the likes of Beef Or Salmon and Hardy Eustace.
Chambers added: “The fact he had been so successful and had been unbeaten and had this ‘machine’ moniker and a fan base, combined with his trials and tribulations and still having the resolution to come back and do it, is a testament to the horse and also a testament to Willie’s training of him.
“He was a wonderful animal and he is enjoying a great retirement at the Irish National Stud.
“He’s there with Hurricane Fly and a couple of others and they take really good care of him – and the people who were associated with him, and also people who were fans of him, are able to go and see him as much as they see fit.
“He was absolutely brilliant on his day and the way he won the Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown beating Arctic Fire and Nichols Canyon – that was ultimately the day he hurt himself – but on the figures and ratings, it was a great performance.
“He gave us great days at Kempton when winning two Christmas Hurdles and also some wonderful days at Cheltenham – even the runs in defeat were great.”
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