Allaho bids to bounce back from King George defeat in the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles on Sunday.
The Grade Two contest has twice proved a springboard to Cheltenham Festival glory for the Willie Mullins-trained gelding, with his 2021 and 2022 triumphs preceding a pair of stunning front-running victories in the Ryanair Chase for owners Cheveley Park Stud.
He was similarly jaw-dropping when winning the 2022 Punchestown Gold Cup, but having since spent 19 months on the sidelines, there is a question mark over how much of his former brilliance he retains.
The 10-year-old was solid rather than spectacular when making a successful comeback in November’s Clonmel Oil Chase and could finish only third as a hot favourite for Kempton’s Boxing Day showpiece.
“Allaho came out of his last race fine,” said Cheveley Park’s managing director Chris Richardson.
“I think it’s fair to say we were hoping for a bit more from him (in the King George), maybe the ground was a bit lively and there is maybe a slight question mark whether he really stayed the three miles.
“I think coming back in trip will suit him well, so hopefully he can run well on Sunday and then we can head back for the Ryanair again.”
Henry de Bromhead’s Envoi Allen, who proved a super-sub for Allaho when winning last season’s Ryanair Chase, has also been declared for the Cheveley Park team.
Allaho is one of four runners for the champion trainer alongside Appreciate It, Capodanno and Stattler, with the Mouse Morris-trained French Dynamite completing the field.
The latter has been kept fresh since finishing third behind Classic Getaway, trained by Mullins and owned by Cheveley Park, at this track in November.
“He’s grand, the ground is good so I’d be hoping for a good run,” said Morris.
“It’s a good race, they always are but this is the right race for him. It’s a Grade Two on good ground and I don’t have a lot of options.
“I still have to get him qualified for the National, he needs to be in the first four over three miles so I don’t know just yet. I’m hoping for a big run this weekend anyhow.”
Teenager Linda Noskova blew the women’s draw wide open at the Australian Open by stunning world number one Iga Swiatek in the third round.
There are no top-10 seeds left in the top half after 19-year-old Czech Noskova came from a set down to claim a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory on Rod Laver Arena.
Swiatek had dug herself out a major hole in the second round against Danielle Collins but she was unable to repeat the trick here.
“Physically, I didn’t feel anything,” said Swiatek. “Mentally, as well, I felt like actually I came back in my match against Danielle and I could kind of start over and not expect a lot, just try to play my game.
“I would say that I wasn’t returning overall in this tournament the same way as usual, especially the second serves.
“But still, I know that I did everything I could to try to make it work. Technically it didn’t work. But I know I did everything I could. I have no regrets.
“For sure I wish I could have played a little bit better in this tournament.
“I just want to get back to work. I know I’m going to have plenty of chances during the season to show my game.”
The never-ending production line of Czech female talent is one of the wonders of tennis, and 19-year-old Noskova is at the head of a new generation.
Ranked 50 but set to rise rapidly, she showed superb maturity to turn the match around after losing the first set, hitting 10 aces in a tally of 35 winners.
Swiatek speculated that Noskova would feel she had nothing to lose, but the teenager denied that, saying: “I know my game. I know that I have improved a lot in the last year-and-a-half. I just believed my game tonight.
“I just really wanted this win because I didn’t really come to that court with the thought of ‘I have nothing to lose’. I took it very seriously. It was like a match as any other. I just know that, when I’m going to be aggressive, I can play with anyone.”
She is the first teenager to beat a world number one at the Australian Open since Amelie Mauresmo defeated Lindsay Davenport in 1999.
Noskova next plays 19th seed Elina Svitolina, who was a comfortable 6-2 6-3 winner over Viktorija Golubic and will fancy her chances of reaching a first grand slam final.
So, too, will 12th seed Zheng Qinwen, who is the highest-ranked player left in the top half and is making waves, 10 years on from Li Na’s historic triumph.
Zheng needed two hours and 40 minutes to make it past countrywoman Wang Yafan 6-4 2-6 7-6 (8) on Friday as China took centre stage in the day session on Rod Laver.
But her power hitting eventually got her over the line and there was a special treat after the match when she was congratulated by Li, who is here to play in the legends event.
“That was totally a surprise for me,” said Zheng. “She just went to me, say congratulations. I was feeling super happy to meet her and have the chance to talk with her because I never talked with her in person.
“She said to me ‘don’t think too much, just keep (it) simple’. I think that’s – right now – what I need to do as well.”
Zheng revealed in her on-court interview that she had watched Li’s final victory over Dominika Cibulkova here in 2014 10 times.
Li remains the only Chinese winner of a grand slam singles title having become the first Asian champion when she claimed the French Open crown in 2011.
There is a growing number of Chinese players, both men and women, pushing towards the top of the game, but Zheng is at the head of the queue.
In the last 16, she will take on Oceane Dodin, who defeated fellow unseeded French player Clara Burel 6-2 6-4 to reach the fourth round at a slam for the first time.
One of Zheng, Dodin, 26th seed Jasmine Paolini and Russian Anna Kalinskaya is guaranteed to make a first slam semi-final.
Paolini ended the run of Anna Blinkova, who knocked out Elena Rybakina in round two, while Kalinskaya beat former finalist Sloane Stephens 6-7 (8) 6-1 6-4.
It is turning into an excellent tournament for Ukraine, with Dayana Yastremska joining Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk in the last 16, thanks to a 6-2 2-6 6-1 upset of 27th seed Emma Navarro.
She next faces two-time former champion Victoria Azarenka, who is again looking strong in Melbourne and came from 2-5 down in the second set to beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-1 7-5.
Teenager Linda Noskova pulled off a huge upset to knock world number one Iga Swiatek out of the Australian Open in the third round.
Swiatek had dug herself out a major hole in the second round against Danielle Collins but she was unable to repeat the trick against Noskova, going down 3-6 6-3 6-4.
The never-ending production line of Czech female talent is one of the wonders of tennis, and 19-year-old Noskova is at the head of a new generation.
Ranked 50 but set to rise rapidly, she showed superb maturity to turn the match around after losing the first set.
Noskova began to outhit her illustrious rival through the second set and into the third, where a break of serve for 5-3 proved the crucial moment.
She looked stunned after converting her first match point, and said: “I’m speechless, obviously.
“I knew it’s going to be an amazing match with the world number one and such a player. I didn’t really think it would end up like this but I’m just really glad to get through this round.”
She is the first teenager to beat a world number one at the Australian Open since Amelie Mauresmo defeated Lindsay Davenport in 1999.
Noskova hit 10 aces in a tally of 35 winners, with a forehand return drilled over the baseline from Swiatek sealing her fate.
It is only the second time in the last 13 grand slam tournaments that Swiatek has failed to make it beyond the third round but it represents a second early exit in a row after she lost in the fourth round of the US Open.
She is guaranteed to hang onto top spot in the rankings, though, with her nearest challenger Aryna Sabalenka unable to gain points having won the tournament last year.
Nikola Jokic honoured the memory of his former mentor Dejan Milojevic by starring in the Denver Nuggets' crucial road win over the Boston Celtics on Friday, says coach Michael Malone.
Golden State Warriors assistant coach Milojevic died at the age of 46 on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack, prompting an outpouring of emotion across the NBA.
Before his arrival in San Francisco, Milojevic was credited with kickstarting the career of two-time NBA MVP Jokic when the duo worked together at Belgrade-based team KK Mega Basket.
On Friday, Denver had the daunting task of attempting to halt Boston's 20-0 run at TD Garden this season, and Jokic's 34 points helped them on their way to a huge win over a fellow championship contender.
Jokic also added 12 rebounds and nine assists while Jamal Murray finished with 35 points as the defending champions improved to 29-14.
Speaking after the game, Nuggets coach Malone expressed pride in Jokic and said the events of recent days made his dominant performance all the more impressive.
"As I mentioned to our team after the game, I couldn't be more proud of Nikola for playing the way he played with the tragic passing of Deki," Malone said.
"That's what you do, though. That's why I'm proud of Nikola. You just lost somebody that you love and you care about that meant a lot to you, that was a mentor and a coach to you.
"So go honour him. You know what I mean? Nikola went out there, he honoured Deki's memory and his legacy by playing at the level he played at.
"It's not easy to do with a heavy heart, but Nikola is a special person, obviously. It was incredible to watch him play with that heavy heart, when you consider who we were playing and you add everything else to the mix.
"That's why Nikola is the best player in the world."
The Celtics found themselves 98-95 up with just under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but they missed eight of their final nine shots – four of them from Jayson Tatum – to allow the Nuggets back in.
Malone feels the victory amounted to a statement from his team, saying: "You're playing against the best team in the NBA. It was like a playoff game.
"I know this is only Game 43, 44, whatever it is, but it was kind of like a playoff game, a playoff atmosphere and two really good teams.
"They were in the Finals two years ago. They were in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. They have high hopes, as do we.
"It was a game that we were all in. We put all of our chips in and we were lucky enough to get the outcome that we desired."
Ten years on from Li Na’s historic win at the Australian Open, China’s Zheng Qinwen is making waves at Melbourne Park.
The 21-year-old 12th seed is considered one of the rising stars of the game and she is now the favourite to reach the semi-finals in a wide open section of the draw.
Zheng needed two hours and 40 minutes to make it past countrywoman Wang Yafan 6-4 2-6 7-6 (10/8) on Friday as China took centre stage on Rod Laver Arena.
But her power hitting eventually got her over the line, and there was a special treat after the match when she was congratulated by Li, who is here to play in the legends event.
“That was totally a surprise for me,” said Zheng. “She just went to me, say congratulations. I was feeling super happy to meet her and have the chance to talk with her because I never talked with her in person.
“She said to me don’t think too much, just keep simple. I think that’s right now what I need to do as well.”
Zheng revealed in her on-court interview that she had watched Li’s final victory over Dominika Cibulkova here in 2014 10 times.
Li remains the only Chinese winner of a grand slam singles title having become the first Asian champion when she claimed the French Open crown in 2011.
There is a growing number of Chinese players, both men and women, pushing towards the top of the game, but Zheng is at the head of the queue.
In the last 16, she will take on Oceane Dodin, who defeated fellow unseeded French player Clara Burel 6-2 6-4 to reach the fourth round at a slam for the first time.
One of Zheng, Dodin, 26th seed Jasmine Paolini and Russian Anna Kalinskaya is guaranteed to make a first slam semi-final.
Paolini ended the run of Anna Blinkova, who knocked out Elena Rybakina in round two, while Kalinskaya beat former finalist Sloane Stephens 6-7 (8) 6-1 6-4.
Jamal Murray scored 35 points and Nikola Jokić had 34 with 12 rebounds and nine assists as the Denver Nuggets held on to send the Boston Celtics to their first home loss of the season, 102-100 on Friday.
Jayson Tatum had a chance to hit the tying basket in the closing seconds, but he missed a one-legged fadeaway off the rim.
Denver ended Boston’s streak of 20 consecutive home wins this season and a 27-game run dating to last season.
Derrick White scored 24 points, Tatum finished with 22 and eight rebounds and Kristaps Porzingis had 21 for the Celtics, who will visit the defending NBA champions on March 7.
Booker scores 52 to lift Suns
Devin Booker poured in a season-high 52 points for his second straight 50-point game against the New Orleans Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns won their fourth straight, 123-109.
Booker, who had 25 points in the first quarter, had 58 points in a win over the Pelicans on Dec. 17, 2022. In this one, he shot 18 of 30 from the field, 6 of 11 from 3-point range and hit all 10 free throws.
This was the sixth 50-point game for Booker, who scored a career-high 70 at Boston on March 24, 2017.
Kevin Durant added 26 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 15 rebounds for the Suns, who led by 30 in the second half.
Zion Williamson scored 24 points for New Orleans, which has traded wins and losses in its past six games.
Pacers’ Siakam debuts in loss to Trail Blazers
Jereami Grant scored 37 points and Malcolm Brogdon added a season-high 30 as the Portland Trail Blazers spoiled Pascal Siakam’s debut with the Indiana Pacers in a 118-115 win.
Siakam scored 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting with five rebounds in his debut after he was acquired from Toronto on Wednesday.
Myles Turner had 29 points and 12 rebounds and Tyrese Haliburton added 21 points and 17 assists in his return after missing five games with a hamstring injury.
Kirill Kaprizov scored two of the Wild’s franchise record-tying five power-play goals and Ryan Hartman also tallied twice to lead Minnesota to a 6-4 win on Friday over the Florida Panthers.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello also scored on the power play and Brock Faber had three assists for the Wild, who have won two of three following a four-game skid.
The Wild had five power-play goals for the fourth time and first since Nov. 29, 2008, against Nashville.
Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 10 of 11 shots before leaving with an injury midway through the second period. Filip Gustavsson finished with 21 saves for the win.
Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled at the same time Fleury left, allowing four goals on 15 shots.
Florida lost its fourth straight after a nine-game winning streak.
Svechnikov lifts Hurricanes over Red Wings
Andrei Svechnikov scored on the Hurricanes’ only power play of the game in the third period and Carolina allowed just 12 shots in a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Jordan Martinook and Martin Necas also scored and Sebastian Aho tallied into an empty net as the Hurricanes won for the eighth time in 10 games (8-1-1).
Antti Raanta needed to make only 10 saves as Carolina held a 14-4 shots advantage in the third period and 30-12 overall.
Devils score 4 in 2nd period in win
Alexander Holtz, Nico Hischier and Nathan Bastian scored 6:03 apart during a four-goal second period and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1.
New Jersey’s other goal came from John Marino and Vitek Vaneck stopped 28 shots as it moved two points behind Tampa Bay and Detroit for the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference.
Cole Sillinger scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four of five and haven’t won consecutive games since Nov. 22 and 24.
Sam Burns shot a second round 61 as he took a one-shot halfway lead at The American Express tournament in California.
Burns’ career-low round leaves him on 17 under par, one shot ahead of fellow American Michael Kim with South Korean’s KH Lee and American amateur Nick Dunlap a further shot back.
A pair of eagles and seven birdies had put Burns in with a chance of breaking 60, but he could only par the last two holes.
Dunlap, who plays at the University of Alabama, fired a 65 at the Stadium Course – one of three being used for the tournament – to follow his opening 64.
A group of six, including American Ryder Cup star Patrick Cantlay and joint overnight leader Alex Noren of Sweden, sit on 14 under par.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry shot a second round of 67 to lie seven shots off the lead.
The Las Vegas Raiders are close to a deal that would remove the interim tag from Antonio Pierce’s title and make him the franchise’s next head coach, multiple media outlets reported Friday.
The move to stick with Pierce comes amid a pivotal coaching carousel cycle with former Patriots legend Bill Belichick and the University of Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh representing the top prizes.
Pierce, however, went 5-4 after he replaced Josh McDaniels mid-season, and many of the Raiders’ best players – including Davante Adams, Maxx Crosby and Josh Jacobs – have publicly lobbied to keep Pierce.
Last weekend, a report surfaced that Crosby would seek a trade if Pierce wasn’t hired as the team’s full-time head coach.
“Why wouldn’t we keep going the direction we’re going?” Crosby said after the Raiders’ final game. “The fact we’ve come together and done something special in such a short time is hard to do.
“We’ve got a guy who’s played at the highest level, won a Super Bowl, he’s been a captain, and now he’s a great coach and he’s a leader.”
Pierce, 45, played nine seasons in the NFL for Washington and the New York Giants. He was a starter on the Giants team that won Super Bowl XLII, beating the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
Among Pierce’s first decisions will be whether to retain interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree.
The Raiders face a crossroads at quarterback after Jimmy Garoppolo’s forgettable season. Rookie Aidan O’Connell finished the season as the team’s starter and had eight touchdowns with no interceptions in his last four games.
Las Vegas will also need to decide on the future of running back Josh Jacobs, who ended last summer’s contract dispute after training camp by signing a one-year deal.
“With AP, I am definitely 100 percent in,” Jacobs told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “However it looks, whatever it looks like.”
The Raiders hold the 13th overall pick in April’s draft as they look to return to their title-winning past.
The Houston Astros have agreed to a five-year, $95 million contract with five-time All-Star closer Josh Hader that will be the largest in present-day value for a relief pitcher in MLB history, multiple outlets reported Friday.
Hader's new deal will technically surpass the six-year, $102 million contract the New York Mets gave closer Edwin Diaz in November 2022, as Diaz's pact includes deferred payments that lowers its present-day value to around $93.2 million.
The bold move also gives the Astros potentially one of the game's most dominant back ends of the bullpen by teaming Hader, a three-time winner of the Trevor Hoffman Award honouring the National League's best reliever, with two-time All-Star Ryan Pressly.
Hader is coming off an outstanding 2023 season with the San Diego Padres in which the left-hander recorded 33 saves and a 1.28 earned run average while striking out 85 batters in 56 1/3 innings.
The 29-year-old has averaged 15.01 strikeouts per nine innings over the course of his seven major league seasons, the highest rate in MLB history among pitchers with at least 350 career innings pitched. Diaz ranks second at 14.81 per nine innings.
Hader also returns to an organisation he was a part of from 2013-15 as a minor leaguer, though he didn't make his major league debut until after being traded by the Astros to the Milwaukee Brewers in July 2015.
The hard-throwing lefty had a dominant six-year run in Milwaukee, making four NL All-Star teams and winning the Hoffman Award in 2018, 2019 and 2021 while helping the Brewers to four consecutive post-season appearances from 2018-21.
Milwaukee traded Hader to the Padres during the 2022 deadline in a surprising move, and he struggled with his new team over the remainder of that season before bouncing back with a strong 2023 campaign.
Hader has recorded 165 career saves along with a 20-21 record and a 2.50 ERA in 349 major league appearances, all in relief.
The signing is the first major move of the offseason for the Astros as they attempt to keep pace with the in-state and American League West rival Texas Rangers.
Houston reached the World Series four times in a six-year span from 2017-22 but was ousted by Texas in seven games in this past season's AL Championship Series, with the Rangers going on to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks and capture the franchise's first World Series title.
Jamaica's Oshae Haye and Zandre Roye found the going tough in the opening round of the ninth Latin America Amateur Championship and were hoping to play catch up in the second round of action in Panama.
With some 108 golfers from Latin America and the Caribbean parading their skills at the Santa Maria Golf Club, Roye and Haye are faced with a daunting task of ascending up the order from seven over par 77 and nine over par 79 respectively. Both are now in danger of not making the cut, as the cut line will be announced at the end of the second round.
Oral Morales and Santiago De la Fuente, both of Mexico, and Guatemala's Jose Arzu of Guatemala, all locked on one under par 69 at the top of the standing.
Roye, who started out well and was in 17th position at one point, had some issues as he approached the end of the round, which resulted in a slip down the leaderboard.
"Day one completed. I shot a 77 today with a bogey and a triple bogey on the last two holes. Not the ideal finish, very bad finish, but all in all, I really hit the ball today. Hit a lot of greens, made a lot of putts. In a positive trend going into tomorrow, I think we can better that score tomorrow definitely," Roye said.
Both golfers are representing Jamaica at the championship for the first time. Justin Burrowes, who turned pro late last year, and William Knibbs have represented Jamaica in recent times.
Other representatives include Ian Facey, who is also now among the professional ranks, as well as Sean Morris and Jonathan Newnham. The island’s best placed golfer in the championship to date is Facey, who tied for 24th position in 2015 with a best round of 68 on the first day.
Teenage sensation Luke Littler powered his way past three-times world champion Michael Van Gerwen to claim his first senior PDC title on a perfect day at the Bahrain Masters.
The 16-year-old, who lost to Luke Humphries in the World Darts Championship final earlier this month after a thrilling run which catapulted him into the limelight, beat the world number two to seal an 8-5 victory after earlier producing a nine-dart finish and a maximum 170 check-out.
Asked afterwards what he had just achieved, the teenager who beat Nathan Aspinall in the last eight and Gerwyn Price to reach the final, told ITV4: “You tell me. I don’t know. I’m happy to win.”
Teenage sensation Luke Littler started with a nine-darter as he dispatched Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Masters before brushing aside Gerwyn Price to reach the final.
The 16-year-old World Championship runner-up needed just three visits in the opening leg against fellow Englishman Aspinall.
Littler’s first three darts found the treble 20 bed and he repeated the feat on his return before a seventh dart set up a treble 19, double 12 finish.
The teenager was playing in just his second PDC event after becoming the youngest player to reach World Championship final at Alexandra Palace, where he eventually lost to Luke Humphries, earlier this month.
Littler won the second leg against the darts to take a 2-0 lead, only for Aspinall to break back in the third and then hold to make it 2-2.
However, Littler was not to be denied and eventually ran out a 6-3 winner with a 116 check-out to book a last-four showdown with former world champion Price.
There were further fireworks when the youngster, who turns 17 next week, returned to action, landing a maximum 170 finish on his way to a 7-3 semi-final victory over Price, who himself hit 124 and 146 check-outs as he attempted to keep pace.
Teenage sensation Luke Littler started with a nine-darter as he moved into the semi-finals of the Bahrain Masters with a 6-3 win over Nathan Aspinall.
The 16-year-old World Championship runner-up needed just three visits in the opening leg against fellow Englishman Aspinall.
Littler’s first three darts found the treble 20 bed and he repeated the feat on his return before a seventh dart set up a treble 19, double 12 finish.
The teenager was playing in just his second PDC event after becoming the youngest player to reach World Championship final at Alexandra Palace, where he eventually lost to Luke Humphries, earlier this month.
Littler won the second leg against the darts to take a 2-0 lead, only for Aspinall to break back in the third and then hold to make it 2-2.
However, Littler was not to be denied and eventually ran out a 6-3 winner with a 116 check-out to book a last-four showdown with former world champion Gerwyn Price.
The British Horseracing Authority has announced that the Clarence House Chase has been rescheduled for Cheltenham’s Festival Trials Day meeting next weekend.
Just like 12 months ago, Ascot’s card on Saturday was frozen off but the Grade One highlight has been saved.
It was due to feature a heavyweight clash between Jonbon and El Fabiolo, but with the BHA confirming the race will be run for £105,00, a reduction in prize-money of £70,000, it appears El Fabiolo will stay closer to home
Simon Munir, who owns El Fabiolo along with Isaac Souede, told Sportinglife.com: “Unfortunately, with Ascot cancelled due to the weather, the rearranged Clarence House will most probably take place next week on January 27.
“We have decided that El Fabiolo could run at the Dublin Racing Festival on February 4 without the need to travel over to England.”
The Clarence House has been called off three times in the last 11 years due to the weather, with Sprinter Sacre (2013), Un De Sceaux (2017) and Editeur Du Gite (2023) triumphing in rearranged contests at Cheltenham.
Jonbon is likely to be there, with his trainer Nicky Henderson telling ITV Racing before the announcement: “We had discussions yesterday which happened very quickly when Ascot was administered the last rights, one might say, before 4pm.
“We’re very keen to go there. We’re very keen to run, when you have a horse ready for this Saturday, you couldn’t afford not to be near a big peak.
“I was genuinely looking forward to the race on Saturday and it’s sad that it is not going to happen. Whether it might happen next weekend now, I don’t know.
“It looks like there will be a reduction in prize money, but we intend to be there.
“This was going to be a great clash at Ascot. Both teams were well prepped. We were quite bullish, now we’ve got to wait another week when a lot of things could go wrong. One week won’t make a difference but two weeks probably would, as we want to build him back up for March.”
New entries will need to be made for the race before noon on Monday.
Other races that have been saved following the recent spate of abandonments are the Grade Two Mares Warfield Hurdle (from Ascot) and the Grade Two Rossington Main Novices’ Hurdle (from Haydock), which will both now be staged at Doncaster next weekend, the Warfield on Sunday and the Rossington Main on Saturday.
The Listed Alan Swinbank Mares Bumper is being rescheduled for the next Market Rasen fixture on Tuesday, February 6.
Tom Byrne, BHA head of racing and betting, said: “When rescheduling, there are often questions regarding the reduced prize-money values the races are subsequently run for.
“Where a race is added to a pre-existing card at a different racecourse, there are usually significant challenges for that new venue, including the limited time to secure sponsorship support, changing ITV coverage and existing prize-money commitments.
“Therefore, a combination of additional Levy Board and BHA prize-money funds are utilised to support the Racecourse Executive contribution and entry fees to run these races at as high a value as possible. This is usually below the original value due to the limited nature of those additional central funds.”
Godolphin won the Group Two Cape Verdi at Meydan yet again – but not with the filly many expected, as Silver Lady held off her stablemate English Rose.
Both fillies are trained by Charlie Appleby but English Rose, the mount of William Buick, was a red-hot favourite given she headed into the contest on the back of winning both her starts at Newmarket and Kempton.
Silver Lady also won a Newmarket maiden but since then had run in Pattern company without success, with a third place in a Listed race at York on her second start the best she had managed in three subsequent outings.
She appeared to be regressing with racing, having finished last of 11 on her latest outing, but the daughter of Sea The Stars was rejuvenated by Mickael Barzalona.
Brought with a run with over a furlong to run, she took over from Shining Jewel and Hugo Palmer’s Stenton Glider, but English Rose was a persistent challenger on her outside.
Silver Lady managed to hold on, however, prevailing by a neck, with Stenton Glider fending off Nibras Angel for third.
Appleby was winning the race for the fifth time in six years, while Barzalona said: “She has a bit of temperament but I took her down steady and she settled well.
“During the race, the first part was pretty rough but when I found my position, she was able to take a big breath and she picked up well.
“I could feel my filly was not getting tired but William came pretty easily beside me. I think my filly showed a good attitude, I think the Balanchine will be next.”
Joint-owner Simon Munir has indicated El Fabiolo is unlikely to run in a rearranged Clarence House Chase.
With Ascot’s meeting on Saturday frozen off, talks are ongoing about rescheduling the Grade One feature, with Cheltenham’s Trials day meeting next weekend seemingly an obvious destination.
The Willie Mullins-trained El Fabiolo was due to meet with Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon in what was being billed as one of the races of the season, but racegoers now seem set to have to wait until the Festival in March for a third clash between the pair.
Munir, who owns El Fabiolo with Isaac Souede, told Sportinglife.com: “Unfortunately, with Ascot cancelled due to the weather, the rearranged Clarence House will most probably take place next week on January 27.
“We have decided that El Fabiolo could run at the Dublin Racing Festival on February 4 without the need to travel over to England.”
The Clarence House has been called off three times in the last 11 years due to the weather, with Sprinter Sacre (2013), Un De Sceaux (2017) and Editeur Du Gite (2023) triumphing in rearranged contests at Cheltenham.
Editeur Du Gite took home £52,280 for his troubles last year and Patrick Mullins, assistant to his father, believes any reduction to the original Ascot winner’s pot of £98,472 would make the €88,500 Ladbrokes Dublin Chase a more logical choice.
He told ITV Racing: “It will have to be discussed, but if it’s a case of it being half the prize money and it’s a week later, it might make more sense to go to the DRF.
“It hasn’t been completely decided yet, but I would have thought, especially for only half the money, a better option might be the Dublin Racing Festival, perhaps.
“We were very happy with him, he worked really well at the Curragh on Tuesday. Paul (Townend) rode him last week and he was very happy with him as he doesn’t usually get to ride him at home.”
Newcastle Thunder chairman Keith Christie has issued an ultimatum to the north-east’s rugby league community ahead of his team’s return to action in Betfred League One next season.
Christie has been integral to the resurrection of the club who announced their resignation from senior competition following relegation from the Championship in October, when departing owner Semore Kurdi said it was “not feasible” to continue.
A group of volunteers led by Christie responded by stepping in to chisel a viable business plan which resulted in an application to effectively rejoin the domestic league’s third tier being accepted two days before Christmas.
The heady days of full-time professionalism and aspirations of Super League have been shelved for the time being, as Christie works to grow the club from the bottom up, a project for which he stresses the backing of local fans and businesses is critical.
“The club has gone through a couple of guises with serious investment, and it hasn’t worked,” Christie told the PA news agency.
“My question was, do we have the desire for a rugby league team in the north-east? And the overwhelming response was, we do. To which my answer is – prove it.
“I’ve been through the mill a couple of times with this club and it’s not something I do lightly. It takes a lot of time and effort. We have a financial commitment and a ground, but it is fundamentally balanced on the investment and support we get from the people in the north-east.”
Christie has been involved with the club in an official capacity since he was first appointed general manager in 2009, and has observed their fluctuating fortunes, including a decision to go full-time in 2022, which was reversed the following year, plunging them to the foot of the Championship.
With the club having been left debt-free following talks with outgoing owner Kurdi, and striking a deal to continue playing at Kingston Park, at least in the short-term, Christie sees plenty of cause for optimism.
Newcastle-born former Super League player Chris Thorman has committed to another season as head coach, while there was also an unexpected boost in the first list of ratings issued by sports media giant IMG, which will determine the make-up of the top-flight from the 2025 season onwards, which rated Thunder – ironically dormant at the time – in 18th position.
“The IMG ranking is a bit of a bonus but it wasn’t a driving factor,” added Christie. “We have been through a lot of areas where mistakes were made, and one thing we learned is that we can’t expect to go out and buy a winning team.
“We’ve got a huge opportunity to grow the game organically and develop our own players. To do that we have to be sustainable, but we also have to have investment, and that’s the message I’ll be sending throughout the year.
“As romantic as it sounds, I’ve been part of rugby league in the north-east since 1989, and I don’t want to lose this.”
Ben Brookhouse has not lost faith in his star bumper performer Brechin Castle, who is set to warm up for a trip to the Cheltenham Festival with an outing at Newbury next month.
A £165,000 recruit from the Irish point-to-point field, the six-year-old bolted up on his debut under rules at Sedgefield before successfully transitioning to Listed class at Cheltenham in November.
He met with defeat for the first time when filling the runner-up spot in another Listed event at Ascot before Christmas, but was far from disgraced in finishing second to Dan Skelton’s exciting mare Let It Rain, to whom he was conceding 11lb.
“I think it was one of his best runs, to be fair,” Brookhouse said of his Ascot performance.
“We were giving 11lb to the winner and when she won it wasn’t a massive surprise to me because I did think she was the one to be worried about, because of the weight we were giving her.
“We gave 4lb to everything else and gave them a good beating, it was just giving 11lb to the Skelton horse that proved too much for us.”
Next on Brechin Castle’s is the Betfair Bumper, the finale on Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle card on February 10, and Brookhouse would relish a rematch with Let It Rain should it happen.
He added: “He had a small break over Christmas and New Year out in the paddock with his rugs on and the plan would be to go to Newbury in February in preparation for Cheltenham.
“He seems in great order for his break. He put on weight and didn’t lose any muscle or anything. He just did exactly what we wanted him to, which was refill the petrol tank.
“If we bump into the Skelton horse at Newbury she is not a four-year-old anymore, so she won’t get the four-year-old allowance, and she’ll have a 4lb penalty for winning a Listed race, so all of a sudden that 11lb we gave her is nigh on non-existent.”
Brechin Castle is a 33-1 shot for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in March, and while he will undoubtedly have to contend with a formidable Irish contingent come the Festival, a return to winning ways at Newbury may well make him Britain’s leading candidate for the Grade One contest.
Brookhouse said: “He’s got course form at Cheltenham, he’s had plenty of racing and plenty of experience. You could argue he’s exposed, but all he can do is beat what’s put in front of him and the only chink in his armour was he was beaten trying to give 11lb to a nice filly.
“Weight stops train, let alone horses, so we can’t blame him for that. He was giving 4lb to several other horses who at the time were considered the best young bumper horses in the country and I don’t want to sound confident or cocky, but he was pulling away from the third at the finish and he wiped the floor with them.”
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