It is 20 years ago since Attraction blazed a trail to 1000 Guineas glory at Newmarket – the last Classic winner trained in the north.

Trained by Mark Johnston and bred by her owner, the Duke of Roxburghe, out of his once-raced mare Flirtation and the sire Efisio, nobody could have predicted the heights she would go on to reach.

Especially when she began life as an early two-year-old at Nottingham in April, with perhaps the height of ambitions ending at Royal Ascot.

They would be achieved, via Thirsk and then the Hilary Needler at Beverley before she bolted up in the Queen Mary, winning by three lengths.

She only ran once more as a juvenile, when she was even more impressive in the Cherry Hinton, her first spin over six furlongs.

Her season ended prematurely there and she was not sighted again until the Classic, via a racecourse gallop at Ripon which has almost gone down in folklore.

What made Attraction stand out from the rest – apart from her inherent ability – was her unusual action, with her legs seemingly heading off in all directions, but it certainly did not slow her down.

The man who rode her in all but the first three of her runs was Kevin Darley, who said: “I only rode her once that year before the Guineas and that was when she had her racecourse gallop at Ripon.

“When you rode her, she actually felt balanced, it just felt right, but you could obviously see one leg flicking out to the right and the other to the left.

“Looking at her, you wouldn’t have thought she’d want quick ground, but the one time she ran on soft in France, she couldn’t handle it at all, she was happy just feeling herself on a sound surface.”

Sent off second favourite in the Guineas behind Sir Michael Stoute’s Fillies’ Mile winner Red Bloom, despite tackling a trip two furlongs further than she had attempted before, Darley was positive from the outset and never saw another rival.

“I think she caught a few by surprise in the Guineas because a lot of people thought she was all speed and that she would be vulnerable over a mile,” recalled the rider.

“Speed was her forte, there’s no doubt about that, but when she had to dig deep, she did – and that was credit to her, she never gave in really.

“When she won the Queen Mary, we weren’t thinking of her in terms of a Guineas horse, but after she won a Cherry Hinton by five lengths, we started to think maybe she could get a mile.

“Leading up to the Guineas, she’d had one or two niggly problems and when she went to Ripon, she wasn’t working with a superstar and to be fair, she didn’t work that brilliant, to be honest.

“But I think what had happened was, she was getting a bit complacent at home and that trip to Ripon set her alight. She went there with a hairy coat and didn’t look right at all but as soon as she did that gallop, the lights came on again.”

For the first half of the season against her own generation, she simply had no peers, adding an Irish Guineas and the Coronation Stakes, taking her unbeaten run to eight.

“After Newmarket, Mark sent her over for the Irish Guineas, when she was good again in beating Alexander Goldrun, who turned out very good, and then she won the Coronation,” Darley went on.

“That really suited her there (Ascot), there were concerns, as it was her first time round a bend, but it actually helped her, as she was able to fill herself up and give herself a breather – and she was able to go again. She was looking unbeatable at that point.

“She found it tougher against the older fillies in the second half of the season and finished second to Soviet Song twice either side of her run in France, but all credit to her that she ended the year with a win in the Sun Chariot.”

Kept in training at four, am ambitious trip to Hong Kong was not rewarded and she looked a fraction off her former self when beaten in the Hungerford at Newbury, so it was all credit to her again when her career ended with victory in the Matron Stakes in Ireland.

Darley said: “The year after, she ran disappointing in Hong Kong, it was probably the wrong thing to do sending her there, in hindsight.

“After that, she had her niggles but it was very nice she was able to go out with a win in Ireland, it showed what a true equine athlete she was, all she wanted to do was race and win and please you.

“She hasn’t been too bad as a broodmare either, Elarqam was a nice horse for Mark.

“She’s bang up there with the best I rode. I’ve always said ability-wise, the best I rode was High Chaparral, as he went on and became a dual Derby winner and won two Breeders’ Cup Turfs.

“She was the best I was associated with all the way through though – and without a doubt, she was the best filly I ever rode.

“I just can’t believe it is 20 years ago!”

Lionel Messi was at his brilliant best for Inter Miami on Saturday, scoring two goals and adding an assist en route to a 3-1 victory over Nashville SC.

After a Franco Negri own goal gave Nashville the advantage early, Messi equalised in the 11th minute and set up Sergio Busquets’ 39th minute goal to make it a 2-1 score at half-time.

Following a back-and-forth second half, the Argentinian slotted a penalty in the 81st minute to put the result out of reach.

Speaking after the match, Busquets said in Spanish: “Very happy that the goal helped the team win the match.

“What matters is the team and the victory. Today, I managed to score but the ultimate accomplishments are the positive results for our team.”

Messi improved his MLS-leading goals tally to seven, following a previous two-goal game against Orlando in March.

The veteran has now scored a goal or assisted in each of the six league matches he has played, having missed four due to injury.

Miami remains in first place in the Eastern Conference, with the side scheduled to face New England next Saturday.

Willie Mullins insists he will be taking nothing for granted in the jump trainers’ title race, despite building up a sizeable lead via an Ayr four-timer which included a crucial Coral Scottish Grand National triumph.

The Closutton powerhouse began the day £4,982 behind Dan Skelton but powered clear at the top of the table after Macdermott’s big-race success was backed up by wins for Sharjah, Chosen Witness and Quai De Bourbon.

“We’ve one hand on it, but there’s £650,000 in prize-money next weekend, so we can’t stop and we have to keep going – we’ll see you at Ffos Las on Monday,” said Mullins, who is bidding to become the first trainer from Ireland to add the British crown since the great Vincent O’Brien did it in successive years in the 1950s.

Tommy’s Oscar (15-2) gave everyone an early reminder that it was not all about just the big three trainers when kicking off proceedings with his 12th career victory in the Scotty Brand Handicap Chase for Ann Hamilton.

Mullins then struck the first significant blow when Sharjah was given a beautiful ride by Paul Townend to land the CPMS Novices’ Champion Handicap Chase at 7-1, securing £25,720 for his team.

The six-time Grade One winner over hurdles was being tried over three miles for the first time and had to shoulder top-weight of 12st, but he cruised through from the rear to hit the front approaching the last and survived a mistake at that obstacle to oblige.

Mullins told Racing TV: “I did say to David Casey ‘enter everything that’s qualified for anything’ and we’re here!

“Coming back to a handicap, he just found travelling much easier than the pace of Grade One races, so it probably felt like a bit of work for him at home just going at that pace, so that was a big help to get him home.

“The logistics of bringing 18 horses over are pretty huge and they don’t let me near that side of things, or else none of them might arrive, but my drivers and people in the office are wonderful, so I’m thankful I don’t have any of those headaches.”

Mullins came closest to grabbing Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle glory when Bialystok was produced for a strong late challenge by Townend, but they had to settle for second best behind Alan King’s Favour And Fortune.

It was still a nice £21,200 boost, with Nicholls saddling Afadil and Rubaud to finish fourth and sixth respectively, with Dan Skelton’s 11-4 favourite L’Eau Du Sud sandwiched in between.

Skelton must have had high hopes of hitting the target with Coco Mademoiselle when she surged ahead between the final two flights in the Jordan Electrics Ltd Seafield Trophy Mares’ Handicap Hurdle.

However, Czech Her Out soon emerged from the chasing pack and went on to score an emphatic victory for Lucinda Russell, leaving Coco Mademoiselle in the runner-up spot and Saylavee third for Mullins.

Macdermott then helped Mullins to take command by getting the better of Surrey Quest in a thrilling finish to the Scottish Grand National, a narrow triumph under the trainer’s nephew Danny which was worth a whopping £112,540 to his connections.

“It’s fantastic and I’m delighted Danny did it,” said Mullins. “Well done Pat Gallagher for letting me bring the horse here and all my other owners, plus David Casey back at home, who plans all this and puts all the entries in.

“I’d say we’ve a bit to go yet, there’s still a lot of prize-money to play for, but we’re in pole position and it looks very good.”

Mullins had lost two of his six runners early on, but the others all did their bit to boost his tally, with Klarc Kent, Ontheropes and Spanish Harlem ending up fourth, fifth and sixth for another £18,580.

Chosen Witness rammed home the advantage when edging out the Skelton-trained Major Fortune for a 16-1 win in the Let Good Times Roll With Stagecoach Novices’ Handicap Hurdle.

Quai De Bourbon then justified odds of 8-11 when galloping on strongly to take the Tennent’s Novices’ Hurdle by six lengths.

There was a minor disappointment for the Mullins team when 11-10 favourite C’est Ta Chance could only manage fourth behind Gordon Elliott’s Jazz De Cotte in the concluding Golf Inn Prestwick Open National Hunt Flat Race but spirits will still have been high on the journey home.

Paddy Power had taken the decision to pay out on a Mullins title triumph before Friday’s card at Ayr and their spokesman Paul Binfield said: “We thought it was all over yesterday, it probably is now.”

Last year’s Derby third White Birch made the perfect start to his four-year-old season with victory in the Tote.ie Alleged Stakes at the Curragh.

Behind only the esteemed Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel at Epsom, John Murphy’s stable star was out of luck in two subsequent starts.

Sent on his way here as the 100-30 favourite, he showed he will be a force to be reckoned with this year, making ground from two furlongs out and keeping on strongly over the 10 furlongs of the Group Three affair to hold Maxux by a neck.

George Murphy, assistant to his father, said: “That was lovely, we’re delighted with that.

“You’d always be worried a bit about fitness on that sticky ground but he did it lovely in the end, behaved very well and we couldn’t be happier with him. It was a lovely way to start.

“He did everything right today, he was at the start for a good while and he was very chilled out. He travelled lovely throughout the race and did what he had to do when it mattered. He seems more mature.

“He’s in the Coronation (Cup) and in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, we’ll have a chat with the owners and see what they want to do from here. We’ll see how he comes out of it first and go from there.

“He’s clearly fairly good at a mile and a quarter, but obviously going back to a mile and a half is no issue either.”

Metal Merchant showed his strength to ignite Royal Ascot dreams when victorious in Newbury’s OLBG Spring Cup.

Trained by Jack Channon, the son of Make Believe struck twice as a juvenile, finishing his two-year-old season competing for Group Three honours.

He would add a further victory at Ascot during a busy three-year-old campaign, but wasted no time in getting on the scoresheet on his return to action at four, travelling powerfully before keeping on strongly for jockey David Probert in the closing stages.

Metal Merchant finished half a length clear of the William Haggas-trained 11-2 favourite Godwinson, with Channon now eyeing up a crack at the Royal Hunt Cup later in the summer for his 12-1 winner.

Channon said: “He’s a lovely horse who banged his head against the wall in some good races last year. We gelded him over the winter and his work has been exceptional during the spring.

“We thought he would improve a ton and I was quietly confident he would run a nice race, but you never know in these big-field handicaps – you can be on the wrong side, all sorts could happen. That was a very smart performance.

“We competed at a good level last year, he ran in the Britannia and the Silver Bowl at Haydock and ran really creditable races.

“He was a good two-year-old and a decent three-year-old and it wasn’t until we gelded him he’s really flourished, his work has been really nice this spring and he’s been working with the likes of Johan and Certain Lad.

“He’s going to be a nice horse to go for those big mile handicaps and take Johan’s place, who knows. I’d love to leave him now for the Royal Hunt Cup, but we will have to see how much he goes up (in the ratings) and see.

“He’s the type of horse who suits these big handicaps as he travels so well and he’s got a fantastic cruising speed. I think when you look at winners of Hunt Cups and Lincolns then you have to have a good cruising speed to hold your position early. Hopefully he can go from strength to strength.”

Macdermott struck a potentially decisive blow for Willie Mullins in the jumps trainers’ championship race by securing a thrilling success in the Coral Scottish Grand National.

The unexposed novice – an 18-1 chance having been ante-post favourite at one stage – edged out Surrey Quest in a memorable late battle to become the first six-year-old to claim this prize since Earth Summit 30 years ago.

Mullins suffered a double setback early on, as Mr Incredible pulled himself up before the first fence and then We’llhavewan fell at that obstacle, but he still had more ammunition, four in fact – and that proved enough.

Sara Bradstock’s Mr Vango was the gamble of the race, being backed into favourite near the off, and he settled down as the front-runner under Ben Jones, with Whistleinthedark and Klarc Kent keeping him company.

The eight-year-old Mr Vango was still in front heading out for the final circuit, but he was passed on the turn for home, as Macdermott and Surrey Quest kicked on.

The advantage swung one way and then the other during a ding-dong battle between that pair up the run-in, but it was Macdermott who just got the nod when it mattered most.

Git Maker stayed on for third, while Mullins picked up more valuable prize-money via fourth-placed Klarc Kent at 50-1.

Esquire produced a professional performance to prevail in the Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury for David O’Meara and Danny Tudhope.

However, connections of 2000 Guineas hotpot City Of Troy will not be losing any sleep over this result, as the gelding is not qualified to run in the Classics.

Tudhope sent the 16-1 winner on two furlongs from home and he quickly established a nice lead.

El Bodon, Zoum Zoum, Son and Alaskan Gold all tried hard to cut back the deficit but ultimately had to settle for a bunched finish for the minor placings.

Tudhope simply had to keep Esquire going along at the same pace up the rail to finish a length and a quarter clear of the chasing pack.

Favour And Fortune bravely fended off a whole host of rivals from title-chasing yards to claim victory in the Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle.

Alan King’s six-year-old swept past the Paul Nicholls-trained front-runner Rubaud but was then pressed hard by Bialystok, from the Willie Mullins Irish raiding party.

However, Favour And Fortune – who was sixth in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham – kept on finding more for jockey Tom Cannon and his willing spirit got its just reward, as he rallied to score by half a length at 5-1.

Bialystok was a touch unlucky in second, having been denied a clear passage after coming through to challenge at the final flight.

Cracking Rhapsody finished third, while Afadil was fourth for Nicholls and Dan Skelton’s L’Eau Du Sud plugged on for fifth.

L’Eau Du Sud was sent off favourite, having finished second in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury and the County Hurdle at Cheltenham, but he had been unfortunate to be penalised a total of 9lb for those runner-up efforts and that just took its toll.

Folgaria provided Marco Botti with an emotional success in the Dubai Duty Free Stakes at Newbury.

The Newmarket-based Italian trainer has had a tough time coming to terms with the tragic death of compatriot Stefano Cherchi following a fall in Australia.

However, this filly did her bit to help lift spirits when digging deep under Hollie Doyle to shade the Grade Three (Fred Darling) prize at 5-1.

Regal Jubilee looked set to prove a tough nut to crack after taking over from Star Music at the head of affairs and John and Thady Gosden’s charge battled on gamely, while Elmalka made good late progress.

But Folgaria, who claimed five consecutive victories in Italy as a juvenile last term when trained by Botti’s brother in her homeland, quickened up well to get to the front and then would not be denied in the closing stages, getting home by a neck from the rallying Regal Jubilee.

Hamish picked up from where he left off last season by claiming top honours in the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes at Newbury.

The William Haggas-trained veteran was unbeaten in 2023, securing four straight victories at Group Three level.

Now an eight-year-old, the Motivator gelding was at it again when coming from last to first to edge out Al Qareem and Salt Bay in a tight finish, in a race registered as the John Porter.

Al Qareem set the early pace, but Kieran Shoemark brought St Leger runner-up Arrest through to challenge after starting slowly and steering a wide course.

The latter looked in need of the outing as he just faded late on, while 5-2 favourite Hamish pushed on with a decisive move at the furlong pole.

Al Qareem kept on gamely to keep the winner up to his work and Salt Bay belied his big odds with a late surge, but Hamish was always doing just enough to prevail by a neck and a nose.