A month after admitting a second round of 81 in the US Open was “humiliating and embarrassing”, Justin Thomas suffered more major misery in the 151st Open.
Thomas was already seven over par for the day when he hit his tee shot on the par-five 18th at Royal Liverpool out of bounds.
The two-time US PGA winner safely found the fairway with his second attempt, but then found a greenside bunker with his approach and, from an awkward lie, could only advance his fifth shot into more sand.
From there Thomas was forced to play out backwards into the rough and, after eventually finding the putting surface with his seventh shot, two-putted from 12 feet for a quadruple-bogey nine.
An 11-over-par 82 left Thomas in a tie for 154th in the 156-man field, Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho having carded an 83 which included a 10 on the 18th following similar bunker trouble.
World number three Jon Rahm drew first blood at the 151st Open Championship – but not in the way he intended after a fan sustained a head injury from one of his errant shots.
The Masters champion sprayed his tee shot at the 12th into the gallery where it struck a man close to his right temple and left him with blood streaming down the side of his face.
By the time Rahm arrived on the scene the spectator was already receiving treatment but the Spaniard then discovered there was insult to add to the injury he had inflicted as his ball had ricocheted into the nearby bunker and was so close to the face he had no option but to play out back towards the tee.
“How are you?” asked the Ryder Cup star. “OK. How’s your lie?” replied the fan. “It’s terrible,” was Rahm’s response.
More pain was to follow for the golfer at least as he could only bogey the 442-yard par-four and that dropped him to one over.
Jamaica’s assistant coach Xavier Gilbert is not denying that France will pose a challenge for his Reggae Girlz outfit to start their Fifa Women’s World Cup campaign. But he is hopeful that they will be able to overcome the daunting task and secure their first ever point at the global showpiece.
Gilbert’s cautious optimism came, as he was heartened by the Girlz lively training session, which he believes is a good indicator of the team’s mental and physical readiness ahead of Sunday’s opening Group F fixture against the fifth-ranked French team.
Well aware that France will be no pushovers, Gilbert, an assistant to Head coach Lorne Donaldson, is backing the 43rd-ranked Girlz to give their more illustrious opponents a run for their money when they take the field at the Sydney Football Stadium.
“We have been analyzing the French team from before they got here and their (0-1) loss to Australia kind of confirmed some of the things that we already knew. They really don’t change their style of play; they kept pressing and the Australian faced them front on. But that was a part of their preparation, so we still have to be mindful of how they attack and how they defend, and we just have to execute our game plan,” Gilbert said.
“Nothing is wrong with dreaming, but I honestly think we really have a good chance of getting something from the game, especially if we play smart and contain them, it will get easier for us. We do have quality players who can match up against them, there is no doubt about that.
“Psychologically our top striker [Khadija “Bunny” Shaw] is raring to go and they know that she can be a handful, so their efforts to contain her, might leave an opening for others in the attacking front to capitalise and those are some of things we want to exploit,” he added.
With two good sessions now under their belts, including a competitive squad match at the Victoria State Training Centre on Thursday, Gilbert explained that the focus now is to iron out a few finer tactical details to ensure an efficient execution against, France, in particular.
“The Girlz were buzzing from the other day, and it showed in this session which is a good indication that they are ready and raring to go. The session was pretty much how we can exploit some weak areas in the French tactics and also how to curtail some of their strengths based on how we defend, especially in the wide areas.
“We know they are going to counter press a lot and then try and force us through the middle and they also play a lot in transition. So, this session was pretty much to look at countering some of the things that they have been doing over the last few games and how we anticipate they are going to attack us,” the tactician shared.
He pointed out that the Reggae Girlz 1-0 win over Morocco in their first and only warm-up encounter, also provided good insight where gauging the team was concerned.
“We did our analysis and showed them some clips of the things that we did well because part of that game was to fix some of the things that we want to do against the French team. We did some of that, and even the goal, was as a result of what we did before in terms of our attacking thrust. So, there were a lot of positives that came from that game in terms of how we want to operate going forward,” Gilbert noted.
Finally, Gilbert revealed that all concerns regarding Jody Brown’s knock which she picked up in the Morocco friendly, have been allayed, as the diminutive winger was fully integrated into the team’s session and brought up to speed on tactics.
“She is good, it is just about managing and ensuring that we have a full team, and everybody is available for selection ahead of our first game. But she will be fine, the nature of the injury is nothing to be alarmed about,” Gilbert declared.
After their contest with France, the Girlz will do battle against Panama on July 29 at Perth Rectangular Stadium and then close the group stages against Brazil at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, on August 2.
Tommy Fleetwood rode a wave of home support to the top of the leaderboard in pursuit of a first major title in the 151st Open Championship.
Roared on by a partisan crowd at Royal Liverpool, the 32-year-old from Southport carded an opening 66 to share the clubhouse lead with South African amateur Christo Lamprecht and Emiliano Grillo on five under par.
France’s Antoine Rozner and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui were a shot behind, with former champion Stewart Cink – who denied Tom Watson a fairytale victory at Turnberry in 2009 – on three under alongside US Open champion Wyndham Clark and Alex Noren.
Fleetwood revelled in the support of the large galleries in what will be an emotional week, with Friday marking the first anniversary of the death of his mother Sue.
“It really was a great day,” Fleetwood said after a round containing six birdies and a solitary bogey.
“To get that support all day was amazing. If you’re not going to enjoy this atmosphere and these experiences then what’s the point? Make sure you have the time of your life out there.
“Being this close to home is the coolest thing and I’m so grateful to everyone that cheers me on. I am one of them, one of the guys that’s out there. I’m a fan of the game. I’m from this area. To feel that support, it means a lot.
“Of course throughout the day, you can easily put too much pressure on yourself. You can easily try too hard. But just having that support and people egging you on just pushes you on.”
Fleetwood has yet to register a win this season despite some excellent performances, including carding a 63 in the final round of the US Open for the second time in his career.
He also lost out in a play-off in the RBC Canadian Open when home favourite Nick Taylor holed from 72 feet for an eagle on the fourth extra hole.
“It’s much better having good results than getting kicked in the teeth all the time when you feel like you’re working so hard and you’re doing the right things,” he added.
“I enjoy the game, and I enjoy trying to get better. At the moment we’re obviously in this period where I have to be patient and trusting in what we’re doing.
“There’s times where it could go either way, and it hasn’t gone my way yet. Hopefully it’ll be my turn soon.”
Lamprecht carded seven birdies and two bogeys in his 66, the 6ft 8in 22-year-old having qualified by winning the Amateur Championship at nearby Hillside a month ago.
“It’s pretty surreal to be leading. (But) I think I earned my spot to be here,” Lamprecht said. “I think the way I played today I earned to be on the top of the leaderboard, as of now.
“It’s not a cocky thing to say. I just personally think I believe in myself and I guess stepping on to the first tee box, if you’re a professional or a competitor, you should be believing that you should be the best standing there.”
Royal Liverpool member Matthew Jordan struck the opening tee shot at 6.35am and enjoyed massive support as he carded an opening 69 matched by three-time major winner Jordan Spieth.
“Amazing. I’m kind of running out of words to describe it,” Jordan said of the reception he received. “It was crazy, mental, loud – everything that I could have wished for.
“I’m certainly trying to think of a better experience than that, and I don’t think I can.”
The controversial new 17th hole claimed its first victim, with Lucas Herbert, joint-leader at the time on three under, making a triple-bogey at the 126-yard par three.
Herbert missed the green to the left, chipped across the putting surface into a bunker, left his next in the sand and eventually finished with a six.
Rory McIlroy, who lifted the Claret Jug here in 2014, was among the later starters and battling to avoid a damaging start, the four-time major winner covering his first 14 holes in one over par.
New Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana cannot wait to create his own legacy at Old Trafford after he completed his move to the club on Thursday night.
United reached an agreement with Inter Milan to sign Onana for an initial 51m euros (£43.8m) with add-ons on Tuesday, and the 27-year-old has now sealed his switch to the Premier League club.
Onana has signed a five-year deal and targeted helping boss Erik Ten Hag secure more success.
He said: “To join Manchester United is an incredible honour and I have worked hard all my life to get to this moment, overcoming many obstacles along the way.
“Walking out at Old Trafford to defend our goal and contribute to the team will be another amazing experience. This is the start of a new journey for me, with new teammates and new ambitions to fight for.
“Manchester United has a long history of incredible goalkeepers, and I will now give everything to create my own legacy in the coming years.
“I am excited by the opportunity to work again with Erik ten Hag, and I can’t wait to play my part in the success I know he is determined to deliver at this great football club.”
Zak Crawley produced an instant Ashes classic as England seized control of the must-win fourth Test with a barnstorming display on day two at Emirates Old Trafford.
Crawley crashed and smashed his way to 189 runs from 182 balls as the hosts bullied Australia with a heavy dose of ‘Bazball’ bravado.
After bowling the tourists out for 317 with two early wickets, England wiped out the deficit in just 55 overs and finished 67 ahead on 384 for four.
The speed of their assault was motivated partially by the threat of bad weather over the weekend and Crawley was the ideal man to lead the way. He unloaded 21 fours and three sixes, repaying the rock-solid faith Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have shown him.
The 25-year-old’s inconsistency has attracted criticism and he arrived at the crease with an underpowered Test average of 28.65. But he has a maverick quality that appeals to the current regime and could not have picked a better stage to spread his wings with a fourth ton.
At 2-1 down with two to play England have no option but to win this game, regardless of the coming rain, and Crawley has given them every chance.
Moeen Ali (54) and Joe Root (84) offered lively support, with Harry Brook and Stokes unbeaten overnight.
England were into their work swiftly, James Anderson removing Pat Cummins with the first ball of the morning and Chris Woakes completing a well-deserved five-for to end the innings.
Crawley started as he meant to go on, brushing the first ball of the innings off his hip for four, and refused to let Ben Duckett’s third-over dismissal knock him off course.
He weathered a couple of early scares, edging inches in front of slip on 12 and given out lbw on 20 before successfully calling for DRS, but held his nerve to reach the lunch break intact.
Moeen’s promotion to number three came with low expectations – not least from himself – but he proved a perfect ally, sharing the burden with a flurry of four boundaries in eight deliveries.
From a promising foundation of 61 for one, England proceeded to play two outrageous hours of adrenaline-fuelled cricket in the afternoon session. In the space of 25 overs they scored 178 runs, with a run-rate of 7.12 that would not have been unacceptable in a T20.
Crawley was a conundrum Australia simply could not crack. A couple of inside edges skated dangerously close to his stumps and more than one thick outside edge climbed over the cordon, but even his errors raced through to the ropes.
When he did find his timing, he looked imperious. He showed Cameron Green the full face of his bat as he stroked elegantly down the ground, walked across his stumps to open up fine-leg and drove through cover with style.
He even made sure to hammer home Australia’s folly in leaving out a specialist spinner. When part-timer Travis Head took a turn, Crawley reverse swept his first ball for four and then stooped to launch the follow-up into the stands.
Moeen fell for 54, well caught at midwicket by Usman Khawaja to give Mitchell Starc a second success, but a partnership of 121 represented a job well done.
Crawley and Root ensured the momentum did not go with him, the latter immediately negating Australia short-ball tactics with some expertly judged hooks.
A delicious cover drive took Crawley within one blow his hundred and he got there off just 93 balls with a lobbed cut shot that is unlikely to be found in any coaching manual. The crowd roared him on, but the reaction on the balcony, from team-mates who have repeatedly rallied to his defence in the lean times, was even more telling.
Root ensured the fun kept coming, dipping into his bag of tricks to reverse ramp Mitchell Marsh over for six. The tea interval did little to revive the away side’s flagging spirits, Cummins unable to rouse his side by word or deed.
He gave himself a four-over burst at the start of the evening and shipped 30 including back-to-back straight fours that took Crawley to 150. At one stage Cummins attempted to review an lbw appeal that had hit Root’s bat, making the signal with comic timing as the umpire signalled no-ball. When England picked up three overthrows for some sloppy backing up at the bowler’s end, it was no surprise to find the captain was the culprit.
England took the lead in fitting style, Crawley stepping inside the line and blazing Marsh high over wide long-on for six. The quickest double hundred in Ashes history was beckoning when Crawley came to an abrupt end, dragging a short ball from Green back into his stumps.
He walked off to a well-earned ovation, having restated the mercurial skills which have made him a mainstay of the Bazball era.
Root was well placed to follow him to a ton but found himself bowled by one that shot through low from Josh Hazlewood. Brook and Stokes put on a calm 33 before stumps but more fireworks are likely as England look to move things forward on day three.
Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from July 20.
FootballArsenal off to winning start in pre-season.
Kai Havertz finally scored a volley!
Liverpool were also up and running.
Manchester City were back in training.
Manchester United headed for America.
Paul Mullin was 1-0 down.
Alex Morgan geared up for the Women’s World Cup.
Ian Wright was excited by VAR!
Jack Butland was honoured.
Mesut Ozil was reminiscing about El Clasico.
View this post on InstagramReturn of the Matt!
GolfTony Finau showed his colours.
CricketZak Crawley scored a century.
England celebrated their new number three’s effort against Australia.
Entertainment on and off the pitch at Old Trafford.
TennisStan was grateful.
BoxingChris Eubank Jr made a promise.
TaekwondoThree-time world champion Bianca Walkden goes under the knife.
Burnley have completed the signing of goalkeeper James Trafford on a four-year deal.
The 20-year-old arrives at Turf Moor from Manchester City for an undisclosed fee after spending last season on loan at League One club Bolton.
Earlier this month Trafford’s heroics helped England earn European Under-21 Championship glory after he made a diving save to deny Abel Ruiz’s penalty-kick in stoppage time to secure a 1-0 victory against Spain in the final.
He told the Burnley website: “I feel very happy to officially be a Burnley player. I was excited for it to all get done whilst the Euros was going on, I knew a lot about it and I was waiting to get back to make it all official really.
“I want to improve and learn as much as I can here and as a team. I just want to take it a day at a time and try and achieve as much as we can going forward.”
Burnley finished top of the Championship last season with 101 points to earn promotion back into the Premier League and manager Vincent Kompany is looking forward to seeing what Trafford can do this season.
“We’ve signed an extremely talented young man. More than just a talent he’s a great character,” Kompany said.
“James is a very impressive, confident mature young man. Most people have seen what he’s achieved in his career so far and his level of talent.
“We’re looking forward to developing that even further, making him even better. He’s done so much already and what excites us is how far he can go.”
Kasper Asgreen outsprinted the chasing peloton to take victory from a breakaway on stage 18 of the Tour de France in Bourg-en-Bresse.
The remaining sprint teams fell short on the 185km stage from Moutiers as a four-strong break held on by less than 50 metres, with Asgreen beating fellow escapees Pascal Eenkhoorn and Jonas Abrahamsen to take his first career Tour stage win.
Jasper Philipsen, hoping to add to his four stage wins in this first opportunity for the quick men in over a week, came home in fourth. There was perhaps some karma in that, given the aggressive tactics Philipsen had used earlier in the stage when trying to block Eenkhoorn’s bid to join the breakaway.
The 185km stage from Moutiers brought no changes at the top of the general classification, in which defending champion Jonas Vingegaard took an all-but-unassailable seven-and-a-half minute lead over Tadej Pogacar on Wednesday.
This slightly lumpy stage offered the prospect of a breakaway denying the quick men if enough riders could get up the road, although the sprinters who survived the mountains were desperate for their chance, with perhaps only the Champs-Elysees left after this.
But with exhausted legs throughout the peloton after some punishing days in the Alps only three – Asgreen, Abrahamsen and Victor Campernaerts – chanced their arm and were rarely given more than a minute’s advantage.
That short gap allowed Campernaerts’ team-mate Eenkhoorn to bridge over with 60km to go, despite being forced on to the verge by Philipsen as he tried to get away from the main bunch.
Even as a quartet the front group appeared to have little chance, but the number of teams interested in a pure sprint has been steadily diminished in this Tour with the loss of quick men Mark Cavendish, Caleb Ewan and Fabio Jakobsen, the latter two team-mates of riders in this breakaway.
Only Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck squad and Dylan Groenewegen’s Jayco-Alula seemed fully committed and, as the road narrowed into a couple of tight technical corners, it became apparent that the scales were tipping in favour of those out in front.
Asgreen came around Abrahamsen inside the final 100 metres, with the chasing Eenkhoorn unable to get on terms, earning a first stage victory of this Tour for Soudal-QuickStep, a perennial winning machine who had not reached stage 18 without cause for celebration for more than a decade.
“The situation was not ideal,” Asgreen said. “We’d have preferred to have gone with maybe six or seven (in the break) but also the last week of the Tour coming off some really, really hard days, we’ve seen it before that even a small group can manage to beat the sprint teams so I didn’t rule it out.
“It was a team time trial to the finish. I really couldn’t have done it without Pascal, Victor and Jonas. They all did amazing out there and to be honest we all deserved the win with the work we put in but I’m really happy to come away with it.
“It means so much. With the period I had in the last year since my crash at the Tour de Suisse and having to leave the Tour de France I’ve come a long way. To cap it off with victory like this I really want to dedicate it to all the people who helped me throughout the last year.”
Philipsen played down the incident involving Eenkhoorn as he congratulated the breakaway.
“For sure I wanted to sprint for the win, but they stayed away in front, good work from them,” he said.
“I just wanted to go for the sprint, not have too many guys in front, but in the end (Eenkhoorn) bridged and for sure it was the right move for him. I think we did everything we could. They had amazing legs today.”
Before the stage, Jumbo-Visma announced that Vingegaard’s team-mate Wout van Aert had left the race to return home, where his wife Sarah is expecting their second child.
Oisin Murphy made a triumphant return from his spell on the sidelines when guiding Ed Dunlop’s No Surrender to victory at Leicester.
Murphy was last seen in the saddle when partnering Chaldean at Deauville on July 9, with the rider subsequently serving an eight-day suspension for a whip offence at Royal Ascot – a ban which saw him miss out on Shaquille’s July Cup success at Newmarket last week.
The three-times champion jockey was out of luck in a photo in the opener, but was not for passing aboard the appropriately named No Surrender, who was sent off at 6-1 in the William Hill Lengthen Your Odds EBF Novice Stakes.
Having sent his mount straight to the front, the son of Gleneagles had plenty in reserve to hold off the odds-on favourite Spectacular Style for three-quarter-length success.
“I was second in the first, beaten a head and I was delighted Ed Dunlop entrusted me with this guy,” said Murphy.
“He was very straightforward and enjoyed the trip and improved from his first start.”
Explaining the ride, Murphy added: “I wanted to get out from stall one, I didn’t want to be trapped down the rail going steady, so I got him out and he enjoyed himself out in front.
“I had a horse that pricked his ears and filled himself up. I got going early enough, but he was always looking round and saving energy.
“Hopefully he will improve and you would like him as a type. He was beaten a long way on debut, but he was very raw and he’s clearly took a big step forward.”
Rossa Ryan was one of the main beneficiaries of Murphy’s absence, coming in for the spare ride aboard Shaquille to record his first Group One and having notched a double at Catterick on Wednesday, he was again amongst the winners with a treble.
He was immediately on the scoreboard in the opening William Hill Epic Value Nursery Handicap aboard Mick Appleby’s recent Beverley winner Eminny (2-1 favourite), before again linking up with the local handler to take the William Hill Epic Boost Classified Stakes with Boarhunt (6-1).
The treble was secured later in the afternoon when he steered Alan King’s Mount Olympus (11-2 joint-favourite) to a clear two-and-a-quarter-length success in the William Hill Extra Place Races Daily Handicap.
Ryan said: “Obviously with this, the win on Saturday and the double yesterday, it’s turned out to be a good week so far and if we could pick up a couple more towards the end of the week and the weekend, that would be great.
“The Group One winner has helped me a lot, but I’ve also had winners on horses I’ve been riding all year and they have just popped up at the right time. The timing has just been right.
“It’s been great, I’ve developed a great partnership with Mick (Appleby), Alan (King) and lot of others and hopefully it can keep going.”
John Butler’s consistent Measured Moments (9-2) bettered her third-placed effort here earlier this month to claim the William Hill Pick Your Places Fillies’ Handicap, while there was also a treble for Appleby with the Oakham handler winning the concluding William Hill In Play Racing Handicap with Twilight Jazz (7-1).
Appleby was in Cornwall celebrating his secretary’s 60th birthday, but said of the three-timer: “It was good to get the treble there at our local track.
“The two-year-old Eminny I think is a really nice horse. Hopefully she will keep on improving.
“Rossa gave his two great rides and it’s been a good day. Unfortunately I wasn’t there.”
Jamaican triple jump world leader, Jaydon Hibbert, and long jump world leader, Ackelia Smith, expressed excitement ahead of their Diamond League debuts in Monaco on Friday.
Hibbert will compete in triple jump while Smith will take part in the long jump.
“I’m really happy to be here in Monaco,” Hibbert said Thursday’s pre-meet press conference.
“I’m just super excited to see what the competition is like at this level and just to get my groove on and enjoy myself here,” he added.
Smith also offered similar sentiments before saying she was surprised to be invited to the press conference.
“It’s definitely an honor. As you can tell, my hands are a little shaky. It’s definitely been a great first experience,” she said.
“When I was on the plane, my coach said ‘you have a press conference’ and I thought he was talking to Julien (Alfred) because I did not expect to be here,” Smith added.
Both Hibbert and Smith are both in the midst of breakthrough seasons.
Hibbert, the reigning World U20 champion, in his freshman season at the University of Arkansas, won the SEC Indoor and Outdoor titles before winning both NCAA titles as well.
In the process, he broke both the NCAA collegiate Indoor and Outdoor records. He produced 17.54m, a world U20 record which was recently ratified, to win the NCAA Indoor title.
A couple months later, the 18-year-old jumped a massive 17.87m, the furthest jump in the world this year, to win the SEC Outdoor title. He also jumped 17.56m to take the NCAA Outdoor crown.
Earlier in July, Hibbert successfully defended his title at the JAAA/Puma National Senior Championships with 17.68m.
“With all these accomplishments, I’m really grateful. Especially as a teenager, not even yet in my prime. I just want to give God thanks and say I’m really excited to continue,” Hibbert said
On Friday, Hibbert will be lining up against the likes of Americans Will Claye and Christian Taylor as well as Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango, whose season’s best of 17.81m puts him second in the world this season behind Hibbert.
“It should be a great competition tomorrow. Everybody’s a star out there. I truly look up to everybody, especially when I was younger. My coach would always tell me to look at these guys and try to replicate what they do,” Hibbert said.
He mentioned Cuban-born Portuguese Olympic and World Champion, Pedro Pichardo, when asked which triple jumper inspires him.
“I like how humble he is and how technical he is in the phases,” Hibbert said.
Smith, a sophomore at the University of Texas has also enjoyed a career-best season.
The 21-year-old jumped a world-leading 7.08m to win the long jump title at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in May and followed that up with a 6.88m effort to claim her maiden NCAA Outdoor title.
She finished third at the recently concluded Jamaican Championships with a best jump of 6.66m.
Smith has also excelled in the triple jump this year. She jumped a personal best 14.54m to claim silver at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She was also runner-up at the Jamaican Championships with a 14.26m effort.
On Friday, she will be competing in a loaded field including the likes of Yulimar Rojas, Tara Davis-Woodhall and Ivana Vuleta, just to name a few.
Rojas is the current World and Olympic Champion and World Record holder in the triple jump. Davis-Woodhall is coming off a win at the US Championships and is currently second in the world behind Smith with 7.07m while Vuleta is a five-time Diamond League final winner, two-time World Indoor Champion and an Olympic bronze medallist.
US Open winner Wyndham Clark saw the funny side after claiming an unfortunate deflection off someone’s tablet device led to an embarrassing fluffed shot on day one at the Open.
The 29-year-old American, playing his first major since last month’s memorable triumph at the Los Angeles Country Club, got his feet tangled and hardly moved the ball from thick rough on the 14th hole at Royal Liverpool on Thursday.
The ball had landed there after a wayward tee shot took a ricochet.
From there a bogey five was an acceptable outcome, avoiding serious damage on his way to a three-under-par 68.
Clark said: “(I was) a little unfortunate off the tee. Obviously hitting the guy is never good, but it really went into a bad spot.
“If I didn’t hit the guy, it probably would have been in fine grass and I would have been able to hit it up near the green.
“I had an awful lie and hit it about two feet, then got very fortunate I didn’t go in the bunker.
“Getting up and down and making about a 20-footer really is a round-saver. Making that putt made me feel like I regained the momentum.”
Asked if the person he hit was all right, he told reporters: “Yes, it hit his iPad, didn’t hit him.”
That question was then followed up with another about the state of the electronic item.
Laughing, Clark added: “I don’t care now. It screwed me up!”
Ado McGuiness is preparing to send a squad of as many as 20 runners to the seven-day Galway Festival.
His team will be led by course specialist Current Option, who is searching for a fourth consecutive win in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF “Ahonoora” Handicap on the final day of the meeting.
The seven-year-old has quality form to his name having won the Concorde Stakes and the Listed Platinum Stakes previously and has registered six victories for connections.
McGuinness said: “This is a Group Three horse, and a Listed winner as well, who’s running in a handicap.
“If you drop a Group Three horse back into a handicap, he’s usually the best horse in the race and usually when you have the best horse in the race they win.
“You very often find Group Three horses running in premier handicaps off top weight and they often win them.
“I’m privileged that I have horses like Current Option who can run in premier handicaps.”
As in previous years, Current Option will once again warm up for his favoured Galway race by running in the Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap on the Tuesday beforehand.
“Current Option will run in the big mile race on the Tuesday as well as the race on the Sunday. He was placed in the mile race last year and I’ll take either. I don’t mind which one of them he wins!” McGuinness said.
“He’s quite a fresh and highly-strung horse, so if you just left him for one race he could be very fresh. Usually we target the two races with him.
“We ride him out in a hood most of the time at home. Ruby Walsh was up here a few weeks ago and he couldn’t believe he still rides out in a hood given his age but he is still as enthusiastic as ever.
“He’s in cracking form and my biggest problem I have is to try to hold his form for next two weeks. We’re looking forward to him running and just look at the form he has over there, he just loves the place.”
Saltonstall, Casanova, Sirjack Thomas, No More Porter, Hightimeyouwon, Laugh A Minute, Star Harbour, Half Nutz and Exquisite Acclaim are all pencilled in for the meeting, a fixture both McGuinness and his owners look forward to every season.
“Galway is a place where an ordinary fella can get results,” he explained. “You can have a nice, well-handicapped, horse who can do very well at Galway. An ordinary fella can make a name for himself there.
“The amount of recognition you get when you have a winner during race week at Galway is unbelievable, it’s better than three or four winners at one of the ordinary country tracks. It’s a place where you can make a name for yourself.
“I will have between 15 and 20 for the week, I’d say. You can only win the Lotto with one ticket, but the more tickets you have, the better chance you have of winning. That’s the way I look at it.”
Kasper Asgreen outsprinted the chasing peloton to take victory from a breakaway on stage 18 of the Tour de France in Bourg-en-Bresse.
The sprint teams got their sums wrong on the 185km stage from Moutiers as a four-strong break held on by less than 50 metres to take the stage, with Asgreen beating fellow escapees Pascal Eenkhoorn and Jonas Abrahamsen to take his first career Tour stage win.
Jasper Philipsen, hoping to add to his four sprint stage wins in this first opportunity for the quick men in over a week, came home in fourth having failed to make the catch.
There was perhaps some karma in that given the aggressive tactics Philipsen had used earlier in the stage when trying to block Eenkhoorn’s bid to join the breakaway.
The sprint finish to the 185km stage from Moutiers meant no changes at the top of the general classification, in which defending champion Jonas Vingegaard took an all-but-unassailable seven-and-a-half minute lead over Tadej Pogacar on Wednesday.
This slightly lumpy stage offered up the prospect of a breakaway denying the quick men if enough riders could get up the road, although the sprinters who survived the mountains were desperate for their chance, with perhaps only the Champs-Elysees left after this.
But with exhausted legs throughout the peloton after some punishing days in the Alps only three – Asgreen, Abrahamsen and Victor Campernaerts – chanced their arm and were rarely given more than a minute’s advantage.
That short gap allowed Campernaerts’ team-mate Pascal Eenkhoorn to bridge over with 60km to go, despite being forced on to the verge by Philipsen as he tried to get away from the main bunch.
Even as a quartet, the front group appeared to have little chance, but the sprint teams struggled to reel them in on the way into town, and as the road narrowed into a couple of tight technical corners, it became apparent that the scales were tipping in favour of those out in front.
Asgreen then came around Abrahamsen inside the final 100 metres with the chasing Eenkhoorn unable to get on terms.
It was a first stage victory of this Tour for Soudal-QuickStep, a perennial winning machine who had not reached stage 18 without taking a stage for more than a decade, but also a team who lost star sprinter Fabio Jakobsen to injury earlier in the race.
“The situation was not ideal,” Asgreen said. “We’d have preferred to have gone with maybe six or seven (in the break) but also the last week of the Tour coming off some really, really hard days, we’ve seen it before that even a small group can manage to beat the sprint teams so I didn’t rule it out.
“It was a team time trial to the finish. I really couldn’t have done it without Pascal, Victor and Jonas. They all did amazing out there and to be honest we all deserved the win with the work we put in but I’m really happy to come away with it.
“It means so much. With the period I had in the last year since my crash at the Tour de Suisse and having to leave the Tour de France I’ve come a long way. To cap it off with victory like this I really want to dedicate it to all the people who helped me throughout the last year.”
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