Letsbeclearaboutit and Encanto Bruno are being readied to bid for Grade One honours at the Bar One Fairyhouse Winter Festival.

Formerly a high-class performer in bumpers and novice hurdles, Letsbeclearaboutit has enjoyed a flying start to his career over fences – impressing on his chasing debut at Gowran Park before dominating his rivals in Grade Three company at Cork.

Gavin Cromwell’s charge will step up to the highest level for the hat-trick bid, with the Bar One Racing Drinmore Novice Chase on December 3 next in his sights.

“He came out of Cork great, it was a good run and he jumped very well, so touch wood we get him to Fairyhouse,” Cromwell said at a press morning at his County Meath base on Wednesday morning.

“He looks like a chaser and I suppose maybe with hindsight we should have gone chasing with him last year, but it is what it is.

“He missed a season with injury after his bumper year and there’s not that many miles on the clock. Hopefully there’s still plenty of good races to be had.

“He’s taken to fences so well you’d have to be optimistic.”

Letsbeclearaboutit could be joined in the Drinmore line-up by his stablemate Perceval Legallois.

The JP McManus-owned gelding made a successful fencing bow at Galway before falling three from home when still a threat to Letsbeclearaboutit at Cork.

Cromwell added: “He could run in the Drinmore as well. Obviously I will have a chat with connections, with Frank (Berry) and JP, but he could run.

“He was running a big race in Cork, it was too far out to call, but he wasn’t finished with.”

Encanto Bruno is the stable’s big hope in the Bar One Racing Royal Bond Novice Hurdle on the same card.

Formerly trained by John McConnell, the five-year-old made an impressive debut for Cromwell at Cheltenham last month and connections are looking forward to raising his sights on home soil.

“He will run in the Royal Bond, all being well. I hope the ground doesn’t get too soft, but so long as it doesn’t get bottomless heavy we’ll give it a go,” said Cromwell.

“He’s very quick over his hurdles in Cheltenham, which I couldn’t believe, as he doesn’t show that type of speed at home.

“He obviously stays well, having won over two-and-a-half, and he has a bit of experience.”

Cromwell also has previous Fairyhouse scorer Redstone in the Royal Bond, but he is unlikely to line up.

“It might just be a step too far. He’s a big horse I like him and if I give him a chance he could be a good horse, but I don’t want to overface him yet,” Cromwell added.

Michael Bell has paid tribute to Hayley Turner after she hit a milestone tally of 1,000 career winners at Chelmsford on Tuesday night.

Turner rode David Simcock’s Tradesman to victory to tip the count to 1,000, fittingly sporting the Khalifa Dasmal silks she wore when she landed her first Group One success aboard Dream Ahead in the July Cup in 2011.

Simcock has championed her throughout her career and so too has fellow Newmarket trainer Bell, with Turner apprenticed at his yard as a teenager before sharing the 2005 champion apprentice title with Saleem Golam.

He said of her milestone victory: “It’s a huge personal achievement, she’s a credit to her profession and in many ways has been a role model and pathfinder for all female jockeys. She set the standards they aspire to.

“She came to me aged 18 or 19 having ridden one winner and it was pretty obvious looking at her ride that she had some natural ability.

“At that stage I had to work quite hard to get owners to use her, but very soon her talent shone through and my job became pretty easy after she was riding bucketfuls of winners for us.”

Turner enjoyed a notable association with Bell’s top sprint filly Margot Did, with the duo contesting valuable five-furlong contests and landing the Nunthorpe at York together, just a month on from Dream Ahead’s July Cup win.

“She rode her in all her races, she’d already won the July Cup by that stage so that was two Group Ones in the space of a month. I think she then won a Group One in America the next autumn for David Simcock so she was on an absolute roll by then,” Bell added.

Bell also noted that Turner has shown plenty of resilience to go with her talent as her career has recovered from two major injuries, one of which caused a decision to retire in 2015 that was later rescinded.

He said: “Don’t forget Hayley also had a sabbatical, or a retirement, and a couple of injuries that would have finished most people off. A head injury back in the day when she missed a year, and also that awful injury in the Park Hill, she then subsequently retired for another year.

“She probably missed at least two years riding through injury and it’s testament to her strength of character and fitness level that she’s lasted so long and been so successful.”

Connections are confident that both Inthepocket and Fact To File have a bright future over fences following their respective chasing bows at Navan over the weekend.

Both novices are owned by JP McManus and rate as exciting prospects for the season ahead having advertised high-class potential last term.

Stepping out over the larger obstacles for the first time Inthepocket faced an old foe from his novice hurdling days, with Facile Vega proving too hot to handle, while Fact To File bumped into a rejuvenated American Mike having skipped timber and sent straight over fences following a year in bumpers.

“We were very happy with both horses and both will learn a little bit for their outing,” said McManus’ racing manager Frank Berry.

“They were both beaten by two very good horses and you would have to be very happy with the way they jumped and hopefully they will learn a bit from it.”

The duo will remain in the calm waters as they search a first victory over fences, with Berry indicating there is always plenty of depth in the Irish novice chasing ranks, and there will be ample opportunities to raise sights later in the campaign.

He continued: “We were very pleased with them both and we’ll see where they go in a couple of weeks. We have no plans, they have both come out of their races OK, will have a couple of weeks and wherever there is a beginners chase, they will probably go there.

“I would have thought that would be the natural thing to do with them.

“The novice and beginners chases here are always hot and there are always three or four good horses in them. It was the same at the weekend, they are good races and you hope the horses learn a bit from the experience.”

The Henry de Bromhead-trained Inthepocket began his chasing career at the two-mile distance he tasted Grade One success over at Aintree in the spring and although he has a Grade Two victory over further to his name, the McManus team seem in little rush to step up in trip just yet.

Berry said: “We will probably stick to two miles for the time being, it will depend on where the races crop up. He can definitely go two-and-a-half, but I would say if the races are there he will stick to the two miles.

Meanwhile, Fact To File fell just short in providing his trainer Willie Mullins with yet another Champion Bumper victory at Prestbury Park in the spring and was sent off at odds-on to make a successful chasing debut over two-and-a-half miles.

It is a distance he thrived over at Leopardstown during his bumper season, but Berry suggested there would be no qualms about dropping back in trip if required.

“I would say he is happy at that trip, but if he had to come back to two miles that wouldn’t be a problem,” he added.

“It’s where we can find the races for them here, there are so many good races around, I would say he will either stick to two-and-a-half or two.”

With ground conditions drying out ahead of Saturday’s 1965 Chase, Dashel Drasher looks set to sidestep the Ascot feature and instead head to Newbury next weekend.

Jeremy Scott’s stable star won the Grade One Ascot Chase two years ago and is a four-time winner from six starts at the Berkshire circuit overall.

Following a satisfactory comeback run when third over hurdles at Wetherby earlier in the month, Scott was keen to send his charge back over the larger obstacles on Saturday – but unsuitable ground, coupled with the likely presence of the brilliant Shishkin, has led to the trainer having a change of heart.

He said: “We’ll have to see what the ground does, but it doesn’t look like there’s much rain around. I think running him over fences, I’d rather be running on the slow side of good and not end up on good ground. That would be our thinking at the moment.

“It’s been so wet and now there’s no rain around. My concern is we end up with a month or six weeks of dry weather, which we’re kind of due, and it will mess all our plans up – but there we are, we can’t do anything about the weather, can we?”

Considering alternative plans, Scott added: “We have Newbury next weekend, where we could run in the hurdle (Long Distance Hurdle). The other thing is it’s actually only three weeks since he ran, so it wouldn’t hurt if we waited another week anyway.

“I was desperately keen to run over fences, but the ground has got to be right, and it’s not helped by Shishkin running either.

“All of these things come into it, but I was keen to run over fences because I think he’s got more to give over fences. The trouble is, after this race on Saturday, you’ve got nothing else other than handicaps until after Christmas.”

Kelly Oubre Jr will soon be back in contention for the Philadelphia 76ers, Nick Nurse has said.

Oubre was struck by a car earlier in November, suffering a fractured rib.

However, he returned to practice earlier this week, and before the Sixers' loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, Nurse said there is a chance Oubre might return as early as next week.

"Yeah, there might be a chance," Nurse said.

"I think we're still at a stage where we're not sure how he's going to handle the contact part of it.

"He was in good spirits on Monday. He was pretty energetic.

"I think that's going to determine it. Like if he handles that, kind of first time out OK, I think we're close to that week timeline. If he doesn't, then we're going to be pushing some more days on that. Hopefully days, and not weeks on that."

Joel Embiid scored 32 points and Tyrese Maxey chipped in with 30 for the Sixers in the loss to Cleveland, with Philadelphia having lost three of their last five games.

"We raised our level of play in the second half and gave ourselves a chance," said Nurse. "It just didn't work out."

Anthony Honeyball could target a familiar race for the yard as he plots the next move for Badger Beer Chase winner Blackjack Magic.

The eight-year-old made his seasonal debut in the Wincanton contest, returning to action after winning twice from four runs last term.

Under Rex Dingle he was a 5-1 chance and ran a fluent race, gaining ground at every obstacle and pulling away to defeat Paul Nicholls’ Threeunderthrufive by three lengths.

Either Cheltenham or Ascot could be the scene of his next run, with Honeyball particularly keen on the Howden Silver Cup – a race twice won by his now-retired stable stalwart Regal Encore.

He said: “There are a few options running up to Christmas, we want to give him plenty of time after that run, so we’re looking at December 16 at Cheltenham.

“There’s a three-mile-two (furlong) £100,000 handicap chase, I think it’s a new race actually.

“Probably the race I favour the most is the race Regal Encore won for us twice, which is on December 23 at Ascot and is another £100,000 chase.

“I’m not sure how important it is for him to go right-handed but it is right-handed, Ascot takes a lot of jumping and his jumping seemed to be what was really winning him the race at Wincanton.

“He travelled well and jumped well and I think you’d have to do that around Ascot, especially when they start down at the three-mile start.

“It’s a race we’ve watched plenty of times with Regal Encore and we think it might suit him.

“It deserves a big field but from our point of view we hope it’ll cut up a bit and we can go there, we might have a look at Cheltenham along the way but the temptation would be to wait for Ascot on the 23rd.”

Honeyball will have to be a little more patient when it comes to the next outing for runaway bumper winner Crest Of Glory, who has sustained an injury that will see him miss the season.

The four-year-old made a highly impressive start to his life as a racehorse when winning the Goffs UK Spring Sale Bumper by 15 lengths at Newbury in March.

A tendon strain halted his progress as he was being prepared to make a seasonal debut, but the gelding is sound and will be given ample time to recover.

“He won’t be back until next season. He was all schooled up and we were making a decision as to whether to go for a Cheltenham Listed bumper or the maiden hurdle route, we were at a little bit of a crossroads with him and then he got a tendon strain,” Honeyball said.

“He’s fine now, he’s a sound as a pound, he must be wondering why the hell he isn’t galloping but he’s still got a little bit of shape to his tendon.

“We’re doing everything we can to treat it and I’d say he’d be back cantering this time next year, he’ll be running in a maiden hurdle in December or January.

“We hope that he develops into an Albert Bartlett horse for the Festival, I don’t think that’s crazy talk. He annihilated them and he didn’t really come out of third gear.

“He’s a galloper and very much an Albert Bartlett-type horse, but this season he wouldn’t have been strong enough to do that. I’m not going to call it a blessing in disguise – it’s still very disappointing – but this season he was always going to be a boy and next season he will really be a man.

“We need to get it right, take it on the chin and give him all the time he needs.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan has warned he will quit snooker if he is restricted from playing in China.

Exhibition events in the Far East are becoming increasingly lucrative, but often clash with World Snooker Tour events. O’Sullivan and other UK-based players are contracted to play in WST tournaments and could face sanctions if they miss events to play overseas.

The seven-time world champion says the sport is at a “crossroads”.

O’Sullivan said in an interview with the BBC to promote his new documentary: “If I can’t go and do what I need to do, which is play a lot in China, I won’t ever play again. So, we’re at a kind of crossroads now.

“If that gets to the point where I’m not able to do that, I’m not allowed to do that, I probably won’t play. I’ll probably go and play Chinese 8-Ball because I still want to play snooker, I still want a cue in my hand.

“There’s just not enough here in the UK for me to justify the effort that I put in.

“If someone’s going to respect me and value me more, why would I not go there? It’s like being in an unhealthy relationship with someone, why would you be in that?

“I’d love to be able to just keep playing snooker for the next five, six, seven, eight years, but if I’m going to be forced into a situation where that’s not possible, then I’m not going to just accept whatever 132 players do, which is to go and play tournament after tournament, week in, week out.”

O’Sullivan has famously derided the standard on the WST in the past, suggesting he would need to lose a limb to drop down the rankings.

He still adopts that stance, claiming he is “revolted” by mediocrity.

“I don’t think it’s very hard to be a top-16 snooker player. I could probably get away with playing once a week for two or three hours a day,” O’Sullivan, 47, added.

“I find it hard to put myself in their shoes because I was in their shoes and I didn’t accept top 50 as OK.

“I’m not a great lover for mediocrity… I find it quite revolting in some ways, when I see people accepting that. That’s why I don’t hang around snooker people at venues because I just don’t like seeing it.

“I don’t think there’s enough good matches. I think there’s a lot of players that people don’t know, that don’t play the game in the right way.”

England’s dramatic final push for Rugby World Cup glory in Sydney 20 years ago had one of Clive Woodward’s favourite acronyms laced all the way through it.

Woodward loved his buzz words and phrases – “doing 100 things one per cent better than the opposition” was one particular stand-out – but nothing came close to ‘T-CUP’.

Thinking Correctly Under Pressure was at the very heart of England head coach Woodward’s all-conquering team, and they delivered a masterclass during a nerve-shredding climax that culminated in Jonny Wilkinson’s drop-goal for the ages.

Locked 17-17 with host nation Australia as the extra-time clock ticked down, England triumphed with what they knew would be their final scoring chance.

Lewis Moody received the ball at the back of a lineout, then Mike Catt ran at Australia’s defence and scrum-half Matt Dawson gained further vital ground by slicing through a gap before he was halted and became trapped at the bottom of a ruck.

Amid no sense of panic, though, England captain Martin Johnson carried possession on into a wall of gold Australian shirts, giving Dawson time to regain his position before his pass found Wilkinson, whose winning strike – from the fly-half’s weaker right foot – sailed between the posts.

“I’d had a couple of goes before which were very much pot-shots, having a dig almost,” Wilkinson told the PA news agency on the 10th anniversary of England’s World Cup triumph in 2013.

“But for this one I was thinking that because of where the guys had put me, I can’t miss. This must go over.

“I knew I had hit it in such a way that it wasn’t going to be the most powerful kick, but it was going to be accurate. I knew from fairly early on it was going over.

“It felt like a surreal, dream-like situation. I had to ask ‘is this really happening?'”

Mission accomplished meant that England became the first northern hemisphere nation to be crowned rugby union world champions, but measuring their success accurately requires a rewind to events before Woodward’s heroes even set foot in Australia.

During the four-year World Cup cycle between South African Jannie de Beer drop-kicking England out of the 1999 tournament and Wilkinson’s clincher, England played 40 Test matches – and lost only five.

New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and France were beaten away from home, England won all 20 games they played at Twickenham during that time and landed three out of four Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam just over six months before an opening World Cup appointment with Georgia in Perth.

If anyone still questioned England’s pedigree, they then removed all doubt about world title potential with victories over New Zealand in Wellington and Australia in Melbourne as the World Cup loomed.

For those of us there to witness every twist and turn, England’s World Cup campaign undoubtedly had its speed-bump moments – notably a major quarter-final scare provided by Wales in Brisbane before England prevailed 28-17 – but ultimately, defending world champions Australia, coached by Eddie Jones, stood between them and sporting immortality.

While the final might not have been a classic in pure rugby terms, its see-saw nature gripped an 82,957 audience inside Stadium Australia and millions watching on television worldwide, with home fans inspired by the Wallabies’ stonewall refusal to buckle.

They trailed 14-5 at half-time as Jason Robinson’s try highlighted English dominance, but Elton Flatley’s nerveless goalkicking kept Australia in contention and ensured extra time would be required.

Wilkinson’s fourth successful penalty put England back in front, only for Flatley to come up trumps once more, but even he ran out of time following a final English flourish with less than 30 seconds left.

At last, England could celebrate, not only on the night, but until Sunday sunrise and beyond as the full magnitude of their achievement dawned. The best team on the planet had won the World Cup.

More spectacular scenes awaited them at Heathrow and on a victory parade through central London as British sport basked in the glow generated by Woodward’s golden generation.

“We all said to ourselves before the game that we had to enjoy it, take it all in and remember it – because you probably won’t be back,” Leicester star Johnson recalled, as around 500 England supporters thronged the promenade outside England’s Manly beach-front hotel the day after the final.

“We were on the bus on the way back from the game last night. It was about 1.30-1.45 in the morning, the rain was coming down, it was pretty black and quiet, and we had no idea what was going on back home. I am sure we will find out when we get back.

“One similarity between Leicester and Sydney is that at five o’clock in the morning you couldn’t get a cab, and it was pouring with rain! So I had to walk home from where we were to my wife’s hotel. It took me about an hour.”

And with that, it was off to the World Rugby awards in downtown Sydney as the party continued – this time without a tea-cup in sight.

Winning the World Cup may be the highlight of Jason Robinson’s career but even two decades later the cross code star has yet to watch a rerun of England’s historic victory over Australia.

Robinson was a central figure in the 20-17 victory, showing his acceleration to outpace Wallabies Mat Rogers and Wendell Sailor and touch down in the left corner shortly before half-time.

It was to be England’s only try on a gripping Sydney evening that was ultimately decided by Jonny Wilkinson’s drop-goal with 28 seconds of extra-time remaining.

Yet beyond snatched highlights showing the most compelling moments, Robinson relies on memory alone to shape his recollection of the pinnacle of English rugby history.

“I go to events and forever see the clips with me sliding in, Jonny’s kick and Johnno (Martin Johnson) lifting the trophy etc, but I’ve not watched the game,” Robinson told the PA news agency.

“All I’ve ever done is play a game and then it’s on to the next game, the next game, the next game. That’s how life has been. I’ve probably been conditioned not to get attached to any one game.

“Funnily enough my eight-year-old wants to watch the final so at some point I’m sure we’ll stick it on and watch it in full.

“Some games, you think they’re better than they are. And then you watch them and see that you weren’t that great! I might be seeing that in the 2003 game.”

It was far from the end of Robinson’s career and only a year later he became the first black man to captain England, with the last of his 51 caps won in the 2007 World Cup final defeat by South Africa.

The boots were eventually hung up in 2011 having paused retirement in order to play for lower league Fylde and while a spell in coaching was quickly aborted, he has continued to find work as a motivational speaker and brand ambassador.

For all that has happened since, however, it was that momentous night in 2003 that had the biggest impact on his own life while also touching a multitude of others.

“It was hard for your life not to change. You come back and see the impact that it’s made on grassroots sport and the impact it had on fans,” he said.

“You’re going to Downing Street and Buckingham Palace and getting honours. You go somewhere and can’t buy a pint – everyone wants to buy you a drink – and you’re not paying for restaurant bills.

“We had an exposure that we’d never had before and we were being recognised far more than ever before.

“That was good because it gave rugby a massive boost because it was the first time we’d won anything since 1966. It was fantastic for us as players and we got lots of opportunities off the back of it.

“There are very few days when someone doesn’t come to me and say ‘I remember where I was when…’

“And they start to tell the stories of what it meant to them and what they did as a result of it. That just shows that even 20 years on it’s still had such an impact, it’s been huge.

“Because it’s the 20th anniversary, I’m seeing a lot more of the boys. We’re doing a lot of stuff together and that’s been brilliant.

“When you get back together and start to reminisce, you learn stuff from each other even after 20 years – things like how you felt. It was a special time. The comeraderie is still strong.

“We are that special group to have won the World Cup and we’ll always be the first ones to have done it from the northern hemisphere. Winning it is the ultimate.”

Wimbledon’s expansion plans have suffered a setback after Wandsworth councillors voted unanimously to reject proposals for 38 new courts in neighbouring Wimbledon Park.

The seven councillors acted upon the advice of their planning chiefs despite Merton Council, in which the majority of the site is located, approving it last month.

The application will now be referred to the Mayor of London’s office and the All England Club remains hopeful that it will still be given the green light.

All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said in a statement: “Naturally, we are disappointed by the London Borough of Wandsworth’s decision.

“Our proposals will deliver one of the greatest sporting transformations for London since 2012, alongside substantial benefits for the local community.

“We firmly believe the AELTC Wimbledon Park Project offers significant social, economic and environmental improvements, including turning 23 acres of previously private land into a new public park, alongside hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of pounds in economic benefits for our neighbours in Wandsworth, Merton and across London.

“Given the split council decision, with the London Borough of Merton resolving to approve our application last month, our planning application will now be referred to the Mayor of London’s office for consideration.”

The All England Club’s application, which included an 8,000-capacity show court on land previously occupied by Wimbledon golf course, had met fierce resistance from some local residents.

Wandsworth’s planning officers recommended councillors reject the proposals last week, after concluding that there were not the necessary very special circumstances to outweigh the harm and loss of open land.

The latest development was welcomed by the pressure group Save Wimbledon Park (SWP), whose members have campaigned against the proposals.

Despite acknowledging the process was far from finished, chairman Iain Simpson said: “This result is very heartening. The councillors unanimously recognised the crucial point that this application provides no justification for so much harm to metropolitan open land, our precious green belt.”

The Indianapolis Colts waived former Defensive Rookie of the Year Shaquille Leonard on Tuesday, ending the three-time All-Pro’s tenure with the team that drafted him.

The surprising move comes after Leonard, who had undergone two back surgeries to repair a nerve injury, complained about his lack of playing time.

Leonard was voted to the AP All-Pro team as a rookie in 2018, then again in 2020 and 2021, but his injuries limited him to just three games last season.

“Indy, I want to thank you for accepting me and my family with open arms," Leonard wrote on social media. “These past six years has been nothing but incredible! Through the good times and the bad y'all stood by my side. I apologize for not bringing that (Lombardi) trophy back to the 317.”

A second-round pick out of South Carolina State, Leonard has been known as a sideline-to-sideline tackler with a reputation for creating turnovers.

In 70 career games, Leonard has 15 sacks, 12 interceptions, 17 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries.

“Shaq is the ultimate competitor and has been a fan favorite since he arrived as a rookie in 2018,” general manger Chris Ballard said in a statement. “We are incredibly grateful for his contributions to the team and the city of Indianapolis over the last six seasons.

“We wish him the best and he will always be a valued member of the Horseshoe.”