Michael Dods’ Commanche Falls could be set for a Curragh return after his tough success in the Hackwood Stakes at Newbury.
The six-year-old is enjoying a fine season and was third in the Duke of York before winning the Listed Dash Stakes at the Irish track in early July.
That run set him up for a Group Three outing in the Hackwood at the weekend, though wet weather left the ground softer than ideal as he left the stalls the 4-1 favourite.
The gelding did not look to be enjoying conditions early on under Connor Beasley, but as the race reached the final furlong, he edged through a gap to lunge over the line in a group finish.
Commanche Falls had prevailed by a head from Clive Cox’s Diligent Harry and could now head back to the Curragh as he holds an entry for the Rathasker Stud Phoenix Sprint Stakes in August.
“He’s been out in the paddock every day since, he’s eaten up and he looks good,” Dods said.
“The ground really wasn’t to his liking as you could see, he looked beaten at halfway but Connor switched him and asked him a few questions and he showed a lot of guts and bravery to go through the gap and put the race to bed.
“There didn’t look to be a lot of a gap but he dug very deep, he showed his guts to get through it and win.
“He’s been unbelievable to be honest, he keeps surprising us. He never does anything the easy way because he’s usually the first horse off the bridle.
“He looks beaten and then he digs deep, once he gets into gear he motors to the line.”
Of the Curragh trip, which would be dependent on suitable ground, Dods added: “That is the plan, all things being well. I don’t think I would travel over there if it was very soft ground, we’d have to have a rethink.
“All things being well and on decent enough ground, the plan is to go there in August.”
Dods also has another classy sprinter in Azure Blue, who beat Commanche Falls and Highfield Princess to land the Group Two Duke of York on the Knavesmire in May.
The grey then headed for the July Cup at Newmarket but came home sixth under Paul Mulrennan having pulled hard in the early stages.
A York comeback could be on the cards now as the filly holds an entry for the Group One Nunthorpe over five furlongs in late August.
“We’ve given her an easy week, I thought she ran a bit free at Newmarket. Whether it was the sticky ground or what, but she seems well,” said Dods.
“She’s been out in the paddock and we’ll probably start her off this week again cantering and build her up to go again.
“I’ve got to discuss with the owners, she’s got quite a few entries, so we’ll have to decide where to go but she’s in good fettle anyway.
Of the Nunthorpe entry, the trainer said: “It’s definitely in the picture, she’s got other entries as well but I’d like to think she could end up going there.”
The British art of understatement is an essential part of Henry Candy’s method.
“Quite nice”, “fairly pleasing” and “acceptable” are the Candy locutions for “over the moon”, while “rather disappointing” and “not quite what one had hoped for” mean “gutted”.
It is 40 years since the modest man with a wry sense of humour saddled Time Charter to victory in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes, one of the most important all-aged races of the year.
The white-nosed lady with the short, purposeful, clockwork stride flashed her four bleached socks past all bar On The House when a staying on second in the 1000 Guineas of 1982.
And Candy had her spot on for the Oaks, despite being sent off a 12-1 chance under then-apprentice Billy Newnes, on account that her pedigree suggested she would not get a mile and a half.
“She was at her best in the spring of her three-year-old career probably,” Candy casually offered.
“The Oaks win was memorable. It was a job to know what her trip was, because she was by that extraordinary horse Saritamer.
“He didn’t stay at all. He was trained by Vincent O’Brien and I think he had other sprinters at the time, so he made Saritamer into a miler, but basically he was just a sprinter.”
It was easy to see why Candy had trip reservations, since the sire had won races like the Cork and Orrery (now the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes), July Cup and the Diadem. Time Charter was the first foal of her dam Centrocon, a high-class racemare who won the Lancashire Oaks.
“It was an extraordinary pedigree and it took me a while to work out that a daughter of Saritamer could actually get a mile and a half very well,” he added.
The powerfully-built bay, owned by Robert Barnett, won the 13-runner Oaks by a length from Slightly Dangerous in a record time, quicker than Golden Fleece’s Derby success a few days earlier.
“That was probably the best she’d ever been on Oaks day, which was lucky,” chuckled Candy.
“She couldn’t quite manage to give the weight away in the Nassau before it became a Group One and then she won the Sun Chariot.”
It had been expected that Time Charter would be retired at the end of her Classic campaign, yet after her performance in the Champion Stakes, which was then run at Newmarket, it was decided she would race on.
Candy said: “Her Champion Stakes was a remarkable performance. It was very, very wet. If you see pictures of it, all you can see is umbrellas.
“Billy rode her that day and he was coming through and riding his usual sort of hold-up race, when he wiped out somebody, who I think was Greville Starkey on Kalaglow.
“You could see the bubble coming out of Billy’s head saying ‘I’d better win by a long way!’.
“He gave her a smack and rousted her along, and she won by seven lengths. It was incredible. Very, very impressive.”
Time Charter took time to come to hand in the cold, wet spring of 1983 and having missed the Coronation Cup, made her second start of her four-year-old season in the Eclipse.
Newnes gave her too much to do at Sandown when finishing sixth to Solford and he was keen to make amends three weeks later at Ascot.
He never managed it. Yet Newnes owes a huge debt to journalist and broadcaster Brough Scott.
The scribe was watching work with Candy one Thursday morning from their Stone Age burial mound vantage point high on the ancient Ridgeway at Kingstone Warren, some 10 miles west of Wantage, when the then-23-year-old suffered a near fatal fall.
It was supposed to be a routine gallop for juvenile Silver Venture and his rising star jockey, yet suddenly the colt staggered and somersaulted at a three-quarter gallop.
Candy said: “Billy had a quite a major fall. His life was saved by the mighty Brough Scott up on the gallops. Brough had come to look at Time Charter and she was doing a little bit. Billy was on another horse, a two-year-old. He was having a breeze and going very rapidly, but had a heart attack and hit the ground.
“Billy was unconscious. We were a long way from the yard. This was before mobile phones existed. So I said to Brough, ‘you stick with him’, and I shot back to the office and rang to get an ambulance. Brough, to his eternal credit, realised that Billy had swallowed his tongue. So, he hooked it out and saved him.”
Scott also had to resuscitate the rider, who suffered a broken collar bone and damaged ribs, with Newnes obviously sidelined for the Ascot race.
Joe Mercer, one of the most stylish riders Britain has ever seen, came in for the ride in the King George.
“Joe actually rang up for the ride – jockeys didn’t have agents in those days – and that suited, as we were delighted to have him. It was his first time riding her,” said Candy.
The 48-year-old rang Newnes the previous day to ask the younger man’s advice. ‘Just let her settle and she will do it when you want her to’ was the answer.
And that was how it looked to those in the stands. The early gallop was slow and Time Charter lay last at Swinley Bottom. Lester Piggott took Diamond Shoal to the front. Sun Princess, the 9-4 joint-favourite was close and looking dangerous when Mercer pulled out 5-1 shot Time Charter wide for what turned out to be the winning challenge.
It was Mercer’s first Group One winner for four years.
“She wanted holding up and she wanted to come late, which he duly did. He rode the perfect race on her,” added Candy.
“It was a wonderful race to win, as were all those other Group One all-aged races.”
And this was a time when the best took on the best in the name of sport.
Candy added: “Now they duck each other. It is all so commercial. People are terrified of getting their horses beaten.
“Whereas in the old days, we used to run them and hope they won. I think she was the first filly to win half a million quid, which was a lot of money in those days.”
She won the Prix Foy with Newnes aboard again and was sent of favourite for the 26-runner Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, where she was a gallant fourth.
Time Charter’s start to her five-year-old season was disrupted by a hip injury, yet such is Candy’s mastery, he had her spot on for the Coronation Cup where Steve Cauthen’s ride was breathtaking. She travelled easily before sprinting away to a four-length success.
“She then should have been the first filly to win the Eclipse, but she got into a lot of trouble in running and got beaten a neck or something, by a very moderate horse called Sadler’s Wells,” teased Candy, tongue planted firmly in cheek.
After nine wins in a 20-race career, Time Charter became a highly successful broodmare and, having retired from the paddocks in 2001, died in her sleep at the age of 26 at Fair Winter Farm in Buckinghamshire in 2005.
“She was, I think, probably the best I’ve trained,” added Candy. “I’ve not had many horses who come close to her. She did a huge amount for us, she was a wonderful flag-bearer and she had quite a good following. I doubt I’ll have another one like her.”
Desert Crown is poised to return from his latest injury setback in Saturday’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes as last year’s Derby winner is one of 15 confirmed for the £1.25million Ascot contest.
Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, the son of Nathaniel stormed to Classic glory at Epsom in 2022 before spending almost a year on the sidelines and made his return in the Brigadier Gerard in May where he finished second to Owen Burrows’ reopposing Hukum.
A further setback ruled him out of an intended Royal Ascot engagement but having worked on the Limekilns gallop at Newmarket on Sunday morning, he is now on course for a belated appearance at the Berkshire track in search of one of the season’s most prestigious prizes.
“He’s going OK. He worked yesterday morning and he worked nicely,” said Bruce Raymond, racing manager for owner Saeed Suhail.
“He doesn’t do a lot now, but everyone was very pleased. It was good to see him on the grass.”
There could be a rematch of this year’s Derby as Roger Varian’s Royal Ascot scorer King Of Steel will attempt to gain his revenge over his Epsom conqueror Auguste Rodin.
The dual-Classic winner is one of six in the mix for Aidan O’Brien, who could also be represented by Luxembourg, Point Lonsdale, Adelaide River, Broome and Bolshoi Ballet.
Defending champion Pyledriver will bid to enhance his fine Ascot record having landed the Hardwicke Stakes following almost a year off the track during the Royal meeting, while John and Thady Gosden’s Eclipse runner-up and Coronation Cup champion Emily Upjohn adds further spice to a race which looks like being a high-class renewal of the 12-furlong showpiece.
Others bringing strong form to the table include Ralph Beckett’s Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Westover and Stephane Wattel’s French raider Simca Mille, while William Haggas’ recent York scorer Hamish and James Ferguson’s Deauville Legend complete the line-up.
Max Verstappen’s Hungarian Grand Prix victory gave his Red Bull team a record 12th successive Formula One race win.
Here, the PA news agency looks at how the dominant Dutchman and his team compare to the greats of the grid.
Prost and Senna’s record falls
Verstappen has won nine of this season’s 11 races, with team-mate Sergio Perez taking the other two.
Verstappen also won last season’s final race and not since the great McLaren pairing of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in 1988 has a single team dominated to such an extent.
That season began in Brazil and while Senna was disqualified from his home race for an illegal car change, Prost took the chequered flag.
Senna won in San Marino and he and Prost shared the next four races equally before Prost recorded a home win in the French Grand Prix.
Four straight victories for Senna followed before Ferrari’s Gerhard Berger broke the streak in Italy, the only race all season not won by McLaren as they and Senna won a championship double with Prost close behind in second in the drivers’ standings.
That is the case for Verstappen and Perez this season as well, albeit with Verstappen over 100 points clear of his team-mate.
Verstappen added Bahrain and Australia to last season’s success in Abu Dhabi, alternating at the start of the season with Perez’s wins in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan before taking sole control.
Mercedes had three separate runs of 10 successive wins during Lewis Hamilton’s period of dominance, with Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari team also hitting double figures in 2002.
Magnificent seven
Since the start of May, Verstappen has won the Miami, Monaco, Spanish, Canadian, Austrian, British and now Hungarian Grands Prix to equal the second-longest winning run for an individual driver.
Only Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine straight wins in 2013 remains for him to chase – victory in the next two races would see him equal that mark in front of his adoring home fans at August 27’s Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.
Alberto Ascari has a claim to matching Vettel. The Italian won the last six races of the 1952 season and the Argentine Grand Prix at the start of 1953 before not entering the Indianapolis 500, which at the time was part of the drivers’ championship. He went on to win the Dutch and Belgian GPs on his next two starts.
Michael Schumacher won seven in a row in 2004, as did Nico Rosberg at the end of 2015 and the start of his 2016 title-winning season.
Schumacher also had a run of six across the 2000 and 2001 seasons while Hamilton’s longest run is five wins, as was Verstappen’s before his current streak.
He is on track to be the first driver ever to win over 80 per cent of races in a season – beating Ascari’s 75 per cent in 1952, when there were only eight races in total – while he has won over 93 per cent of the maximum points available with 281 of a possible 302 so far.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes Max Verstappen’s dominance of the sport is so one-sided that he is making the rest of the grid look like they are racing in a junior category.
Verstappen took his ninth win of the season, extending Red Bull’s unbeaten streak to 11 from 11 this year with just one race remaining before the summer break.
The Dutchman, now a staggering 110 points clear in the championship, finished more than half-a-minute clear of his rivals following another supreme showing in his supreme Red Bull machine.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was runner-up – scoring consecutive podium finishes for the first time in his career – with pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton only fourth and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell sixth.
“It was like a bunch of Formula Two cars against a Formula One car,” said Wolff.
“In the F2 gang, our car was quick. The F1 car won by 33 seconds.
“We had the second quickest car today, and obviously we can talk it up and say we could have been second, but that’s irrelevant because you have a car that finished 39 seconds ahead [of Hamilton], and was probably cruising a lot of the time.
“We are going to fight back and win races and championships, but we saw the pace Max had, and that’s the bitter reality.
“But it’s a meritocracy, and as long as you’re moving within the regulations, then we need to acknowledge Red Bull has just done a better job.”
Hamilton has now gone 34 appearances without a victory – the longest streak of his career – while Verstappen has triumphed 24 times during the same period, moving him to 44 career wins.
Verstappen’s Red Bull set a new record of 12 consecutive wins on Sunday, with Mercedes’ unprecedented 19 victories in a single campaign under threat.
At the midway stage of this 22-round campaign, the world champions also remain on course to become the first team to complete the perfect season.
However, speaking ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps – which includes a sprint race and the possibility of rain – Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was keen to guard against complacency.
Horner said: “How long can we keep this winning run going? Who knows?
“We’ve got another challenge next weekend, a sprint race, with the variable conditions of Spa. Anything can happen, so we’re really just taking it pretty much one event at a time.”
There will be a continental flavour to the Qatar Sussex Stakes next week as French raider Facteur Cheval is set to take his chance in the red-hot Goodwood contest.
It will be a long journey to the Sussex Downs for the four-year-old, with trainer Jerome Reynier based near Marseille in the south of France.
However, having produced a career best when denied by a head in the Prix d’Ispahan in May, connections are keen to pick up a share of the £1million prize-fund on offer, en-route to their main objective for the second half of the campaign, the Woodbine Mile on September 16.
“Our main goal for the fall is the Woodbine Mile and we needed something to tick him over,” said Barry Irwin, CEO of Team Valor, who own the gelding in partnership with Gary Barber.
“We know this is going to be an insurmountable task, but the timing is right and he is improving, so we are going to send him and see what happens.”
Facteur Cheval has won five of his 10 career stars with his biggest victory coming in the Prix Perth on his final outing last year.
Although he has failed to add to his tally this season, the son of Ribchester has held his own in three high-class events and connections retain plenty of faith in Facteur Cheval, who will be partnered for the first time by Maxime Guyon in the Qatar Goodwood Festival contest.
“Obviously we’re probably going to be running against Paddington and you can’t go into it thinking we’re going to win,” added Irwin.
“But we’ve got a lot of faith in this horse, he’s had a lot of bad luck and we’re hoping we’re going to get a better go of it this race.
“He’s going to be ridden by Maxime Guyon and he has a lot of ability. He just needs the space to run in, once he gets going he’s pretty good.”
Irwin hopes Facteur Cheval will fare better than Star Of Cozzene, who was sent to the Sussex Stakes in the early 1990s in search of testing ground and found the undulations of Goodwood too hot to handle.
“I ran a horse there in the same race in 1992 called Star Of Cozzene,” he added. “He was one of the best horses we have ever had.
“He was fantastic over here in America and I got the bright idea to send him to Europe because he loved heavy ground. He never won a race there, he placed a couple of times but it just never happened.
“When we ran him at Goodwood, he had never run without toe wraps before and he just slid down the hill, he must have been 25 lengths off the lead at one stage and ran sixth. So I know what a difficult place Goodwood is.”
Open champion Brian Harman says making his Ryder Cup debut would “mean the world” to him following his dominant victory at Royal Liverpool.
Yet when he recovers from the after-effects of drinking a celebratory Guinness or two from the Claret Jug, Harman will be able to ponder the welcome prospect of a longed-for debut in the biennial event in Rome.
Harman’s six-shot victory lifted him from 20th in the standings into the top six automatic qualifying places and effectively ends the two-time Walker Cup winner’s long wait for a Ryder Cup debut.
“I’ve spent I don’t know how many years chasing,” Harman said following the second round of 65 which provided the springboard for his first major title.
“It always seems it’s right there at the end and I end up in between 13th and 18th on the list and I’m hoping for a pick. It would mean the world to me to play on the Ryder Cup team. I think I would do very well.”
Speaking after lifting the Claret Jug, the 36-year-old left-hander added: “I enjoy match play. I’ve done well in all the match play tournaments I’ve played in.
“I had a really good junior record and amateur record in match play. I enjoy the head-to-head competition.
“I had a lot of success as a junior golfer. I won the US Junior and then as an amateur I was the number one ranked amateur in the world for a good while, was the youngest American to get picked for the Walker Cup.
“I had success. Like I had the pedigree. Then I got to college and it just kind of sputtered a little bit. I just didn’t keep up the progression.
“My pro career has been really good at times and not good at times. Last year felt like I kind of found something a little bit, and yeah, man, it’s been great.”
Harman’s performance at Hoylake means he will not be needing to rely on a wild card to make the trip to Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, although his chances may have been better than imagined given the identity of the US captain.
“He’s a really good friend of mine,” Zach Johnson said after carding a closing 74 on Sunday.
“We live on St. Simons Island. I’ve known him for years. Great family, great wife, great kids. The Harmans are dear friends of mine.
“What is transpiring the last couple tournaments he’s played in does not surprise me in the least. He is a very formidable competitor, number one.
“Number two, hey, what does Brian Harman do really well? Well, he does everything quite well. He’s a very good driver of the golf ball and a very, very, very good putter.
“Then if everything else is good, then it can be pretty lethal. Our games are very similar except for the fact that he stands on the wrong side of the golf ball.
“He hits it a little further. He’s gritty. He’s got a great ensemble of coaches and a team.
“He’s still young enough and competitive enough that I think there’s still room for improvement in his game, which is pretty scary because I think he’s really, really good.”
Andy Murray will leave a lasting legacy on British tennis after his "historic" Wimbledon exploits when retirement eventually comes, according to Marion Bartoli.
Murray and Bartoli both triumphed at Wimbledon in 2013, the Scot defeating Novak Djokovic in straight sets and the Frenchwomen overcoming Sabine Lisicki.
A troublesome hip injury and subsequent surgery has caused issues in recent years for Murray, who also lifted the Wimbledon title in 2016 – adding to his US Open crown four years earlier.
The 36-year-old confirmed before the Queen's Championship last month that he has a period in mind for ending his professional career, leading Bartoli to hail Murray's impact on the sport.
"It's more for British tennis because the buzz when he won Wimbledon in 2013 for the first time was just insane – basically the whole country tuning in to watch that match," she told Stats Perform.
"Even the whole press, who are normally quite harsh with the players, especially the tabloids, were just cheering on for him because it was so historic.
"I can just remember the dinner we had at the Champions' Ball with Andy and his mother and my father and myself and it just felt like dinner with a mother and son, father and daughter, just being on the top of the world and just winning.
"Judy could say 'My son just won Wimbledon' and my dad could say 'My daughter just won Wimbledon' – it was very much that feeling. It was so special."
Murray, who has won two ATP Challenger titles this season, only made it as far as the second round at Wimbledon this month, losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in a battling display on Centre Court.
His appearance at the British major represented another major milestone nevertheless, given injuries seemed set to curtail his playing days after the 2023 Australian Open.
Bartoli added: "For Andy, after all his surgeries and everything, it's about how much he can still enjoy his tennis.
"When he feels that's it, that every day on the practice court is not as enjoyable as usual, and he's dragging himself to practice, that’s when the passion is vanishing and you know it's time [to retire].
"It's not that difficult of a decision when that happens. When you still have that passion and fire but your body doesn't follow anymore, then it's slightly more difficult.
"In many ways, Andy had a second chance. He'd sort of announced his retirement when he lost in the Australian Open and everyone was crying.
"Then he decided to come back and he had those successes and those great matches and epics, so maybe he already feels like he had his second chance.
"He'll walk away with a beautiful family, a business – a hotel, I think, in Scotland where he grew up – so he has so many things to look forward to. I think he'll be a very happy man."
Murray's diminishing influence on the upper echelons of tennis marks a downturn in British fortunes, with Cameron Norrie seemingly the next in line.
"For the British side of tennis – you have Cameron Norrie – but you feel that especially with [Carlos] Alcaraz coming in and all those players it's going to be more difficult to win a slam," Bartoli continued.
"But he's going to have his chance as well. He's close to being top 10."
Open champion Brian Harman has revealed how being heckled by a spectator helped inspire him to a dominant victory at Royal Liverpool.
Harman held a five-shot lead after a stunning second round of 65 but got off to a slow start on Saturday with two dropped shots in the first four holes.
“After I made the second bogey a guy, when I was passing him, he said, ‘Harman, you don’t have the stones for this’,” Harman said in his post-championship press conference.
“It helped snap me back into (thinking) ‘I’m good enough to do this. I’m going to do this. I’m going to go through my process, and the next shot is going to be good’.
“I figured at some point, just with the weather and the scenario, you’re going to hit bad shots. I knew that the way I responded to that would determine whether I’d be sitting here or not.”
Harman carded a third round of 69 to maintain his five-shot lead and a closing 70 in miserable conditions to finish six shots clear of Masters champion Jon Rahm, Jason Day, Sepp Straka and Tom Kim.
“It’s pretty surreal. It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Harman said. “I’m not going to let it (the Claret Jug) out of my sight for the time being. To win what I consider the greatest prize in golf is as good as it gets. I’m over the moon.
“It was a tough last three days, it really was. Being able to get some sleep was big last night. Sleeping on a lead like that is really difficult, so I’m proud of the way I hung in there the last couple days.”
Shot of the day
For the second time in the day Harman’s lead was briefly down to three shots before he holed from 40 feet for birdie on the 14th.
Round of the day
Three players shot 67 on the final day, but Harman’s 70 was even more impressive given the circumstances as he recovered from two early bogeys to card four birdies in a closing 70.
Quote of the day
“First I’m going to have me a couple pints out of this here trophy, I believe” – Harman said he was keen to get back home to see his family, but not before enjoying his triumph.
Toughest hole
With the pin close to the out of bounds to the right of the green, the par-four third hole played the toughest for the first time, with just four players making birdie, three carding a double bogey and three taking triple-bogey sevens.
Easiest hole
The par-five fifth was the easiest hole for the fourth day in succession, with one eagle and 34 birdies contributing to a scoring average of 4.618. Champion Harman made one of just five bogeys there on Sunday.
When is the next major?
The 88th Masters will take place at Augusta National from April 11-14, 2024.
The Baltimore Orioles extended their lead to two games over the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East with a 5-3 victory in Sunday's finale of an important four-game series between the division rivals.
Ryan O'Hearn snapped a 3-3 tie with a solo homer in the sixth inning to back another strong performance by the Baltimore bullpen as the Orioles took three of four from the still-sputtering Rays.
Tampa Bay entered July with a 6 1/2-game lead atop the division but has gone 4-14 thus far for the month. The Orioles, on the other hand, have won 12 of 15 since July 5.
Baltimore sealed its latest win with a combined 4 2/3 scoreless innings from three relievers. Mike Baumann (7-0) did not allow a hit in 2 2/3 innings and All-Star Felix Bautista struck out three in the ninth to record his 28th save.
Gunnar Henderson had a two-run homer in the second inning for the Orioles and finished 2 for 4 along with O'Hearn.
Yandy Diaz went 2 for 5 for Tampa Bay and tied the contest in the fifth inning with a two-run homer off Orioles starter Tyler Wells.
Rangers overcome early deficit to avoid sweep by Dodgers
The Texas Rangers rallied from an early four-run deficit to hand the Los Angeles Dodgers an 8-4 loss in the finale of a three-game interleague series between division leaders.
After Max Muncy's first-inning grand slam put Texas in a 4-0 hole, the Rangers blasted rookie Emmett Sheahan for eight runs over 3 2/3 innings to bounce back from two lopsided losses at the hands of the National League West leaders.
Jonah Heim cut the deficit in half with a two-run double in the bottom of the first before Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Jung each delivered RBI singles off Sheahan in the second to put Texas up 5-4.
Leody Tavares added a two-run double in the third to stretch the lead, while Martin Perez overcame a shaky start to last six innings and improve to 8-3 on the season.
The Dodgers scored 27 runs in winning the series' first two games and kept the offence going when Muncy blasted his 24th homer of the season to stake Los Angeles to a quick 4-0 lead.
Perez settled down thereafter and held the Dodgers to just three hits and a walk over the next five innings.
The win put the AL West-leading Rangers at 59-41, tying the franchise's best record after 100 games in a season set three times previously, most recently in 2012.
Albies' late home run lifts Braves over Brewers
In another clash of division leaders, Ozzie Albies' clutch three-run homer in the eighth inning staked the Atlanta Braves to a 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Down 2-1 entering the eighth, the Braves put two on against a usually dominant Milwaukee bullpen before Albies homered on the first pitch he saw from Elvis Peguero. The All-Star second baseman's 23rd homer of the season snapped a streak of 28 2/3 scoreless innings by Brewers relievers.
After Ben Heller worked a scoreless bottom of the eighth, Raisel Iglesias struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth as the NL East-leading Braves took two of three games from the NL Central-best Brewers.
Travis d'Arnaud added a solo homer and finished 2 for 4 for Atlanta, though star third baseman Austin Riley went 0 for 4 and had a streak of five consecutive games with a home run end.
Brice Turang had a solo home run for Milwaukee, which had its lead in the NL Central cut to a half-game over second-place Cincinnati after the Reds defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3, on Sunday. The Brewers will host a three-game series against Cincinnati starting Monday.
Former Brave Julio Teheran allowed one run and just three hits over six innings for Milwaukee, while Atlanta starter Bryce Elder yielded two runs on four hits over six innings.
Nathan Aspinall produced one of the best displays of his career to become Betfred World Matchplay champion for the first time after thrashing Jonny Clayton 18-6.
Aspinall won 13 of the last 14 legs, including 11 on the spin from 5-5 on his way to lifting the Phil Taylor Trophy at Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
Welshman Clayton, 48, who beat Luke Humphries 17-15 in a thrilling semi-final, had made a 141-checkout to level it up at 5-5, but from there on was a virtual bystander as Aspinall raced away to victory.
While being celebrated by his fans to the tune of ‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers, he told Sky Sports: “I’ve got no words. I don’t know what it was but I found it.
“I scored brilliant all game. I knew I had to get rid of my darts quicker. The people who come to Blackpool are die hard darts fans.”
The 32-year-old from Stockport produced a 170-finish on the bull to extend his lead to 11-5 and made his fifth 100-plus finish (115) to move 13-5 clear, having averaged 110 over eight legs.
World number seven Clayton stopped the rot to trail 16-6, but there was no halting Aspinall, who clinched the biggest win of his career with double five as he led 17-6.
Aspinall, who lost both the Grand Slam and Grand Prix finals last year, climbed up to fifth in the PDC rankings with his victory, collected the £200,000 winner’s prize and became the 12th player to lift the title.
Earlier on Sunday, teenager Beau Greaves won the Women’s World Matchplay at the first attempt.
The 19-year-old top seed, making her debut in the competition, cruised to a 6-1 victory against Japan’s second seed Mikuru Suzuki.
Jamaica's horse racing enthusiasts can rejoice as the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) and Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) have successfully resolved their impasse. This means that race meets will return to full race cards, as opposed to the short six-race programme that was run on Saturday.
That six-race card marked the return of live racing after a one-week break, when horsemen opted not to nominate as a show of their discontent to a $27 million purse increase offer put forward by SVREL.
However, following a productive meeting and constant dialogue, both parties have reached a mutual agreement, paving the way for the resumption of full race cards, as TOBA encouraged its members to support nominations for the meet scheduled on Saturday, July 29, starting on Tuesday, July 25. This will be followed by an action-packed first week of August, featuring three race days in seven days, including the much-anticipated Jamaica Oaks and Jamaica Derby.
In a statement released on Sunday, July 23, TOBA said that having met with SVREL on Monday, July 17, following the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission's (BGLC) prior confirmation of the promoting company's 2022 sales figures of $5.32 billion on local racing, TOBA has agreed to continue working with SVREL and the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) to implement major initiatives towards negating the annual wrangling over prize monies.
In its statement, TOBA said it hoped that these initiatives, if successfully negotiated and implemented, including returning monies derived from the local-racing industry, will lead to a substantial and sustainable purse- money environment, as exists in other international racing jurisdictions, historically bringing Jamaica in line with North America, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, jurisdictions which all access and thrive on purses supplemented by other consistent income streams.
This positive development will not only attract horse owners but also boost the excitement and engagement of racing enthusiasts across the country.
American Brian Harman secured his first major title with a six-shot victory at Royal Liverpool.
Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look at the new Open champion.
Early daysHarman, now 36, made his PGA Tour bow while still an amateur at the 2004 MCI Heritage. He played on the victorious 2005 and 2009 Walker Cup teams. His first tour win arrived a decade later at the John Deere Classic, a victory which qualified him for an Open debut – at Hoylake. His second – and last up to this weekend – win was at the Wells Fargo Classic in 2017. Despite that, Harman had still won almost 29million US dollars prior to his Open victory – worth 3m USD (£2.3m).
Hole lotta funIn 2015 he became only the third player in PGA Tour history to have two holes in one in the same round at The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club, New Jersey.
Previous recordHarman’s only other 54-hole lead was at the 2017 US Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, where he began the final day with a one-stroke lead but finished in a tie for second as Brooks Koepka won by four. His major record prior to Royal Liverpool was distinctly average, with missed cuts in 13 of 29 events and only two top-10 finishes. He has missed the cut in four of the eight Opens in which he has played but has finished sixth and first in his last two.
Huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’View this post on InstagramGolf is the only thing he does left-handed. Harman is a keen hunter, killed his first deer aged 12, and owns a farm in St Simon’s Island in his native Georgia. He responded to missing the cut at the Masters in April by returning to his farm in Georgia and killing a pig and a turkey. However, he insists he has a “deep respect” for animals and is “not a fan of people who kill for sport”. Many of his family members are world-class scuba divers and spear fishers.
Random factsHarman marks his golf balls with dots that look like deer tracks. He once said his favourite television show was ‘Duck Dynasty’, about a Louisiana business making products for duck hunters. He claimed they “remind me of my family, such rednecks”. At the time of his Open triumph he had just over over 20,000 followers on Instagram and just over 30,000 on Twitter. He has not tweeted for over three years. He has been reminded several times this week of his likeness to former Australia cricket captain Ricky Ponting – a “handsome fella”, according to Harman.
Max Verstappen said it would be “terrible” to remain stuck on the same number of career wins as Lewis Hamilton’s car number following his crushing triumph at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The all-conquering Dutchman beat pole-sitter Hamilton to the opening bend at the Hungaroring before going on to lead every lap and claim his seventh successive win and 44th of his career.
“Hopefully I don’t stay on 44 for too long,” joked Verstappen. “That would be terrible I need to get to 45 quickly.”
The evidence of the season so far would suggest Verstappen’s wait will last only a week with Spa-Francorchamps the venue for the final round before the summer break of this most one-sided of campaigns.
Indeed, Red Bull will head into next Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix unbeaten from the opening 11 rounds of 22, setting a new record on Sunday with their 12th consecutive win.
The perfect dozen includes the final round of last season in Abu Dhabi, eclipsing McLaren’s 11 in a row in 1988 when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were at the wheel.
“Twelve wins in a row is just incredible,” added Verstappen, who is now 110 points clear at the summit of the world championship on his unstoppable march towards a hat-trick of titles.
“What we’ve been doing for the last two years has been unbelievable. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going for a long time. We always want to do better but days like this are just perfect.”
Verstappen, 25, crossed the line more than half-a-minute clear of runner-up Lando Norris to record his ninth win of the season and retain Red Bull’s chance of becoming the first team in F1 history to complete a perfect campaign.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “As a young kid I remember watching Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna under the incredible leadership of Ron Dennis achieve that feat (11 wins in a row) and to think we have bettered that is something all the team in Budapest and back in Milton Keynes have worked so hard for and means so much.
“Max is a driver totally at one with himself in the car and with total confidence and trust in the team. We are witnessing a sportsman at the top of his game and he is a joy to work with.
“Max is a modest guy and he is uncomfortable with the plaudits he is given, but he deserves all the credit he is getting at the moment.”
American Brian Harman survived an early scare to claim his first major title in dominant fashion on a rain-soaked final day of the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Harman’s five-shot overnight lead was briefly cut to three as he covered the first five holes in two over par in miserable conditions, but the 36-year-old responded superbly to regain his vice-like grip on the Claret Jug.
A victory made possible by a stunning 65 on Friday – the joint-lowest score in a Hoylake Open until Jon Rahm’s Saturday 63 – was sealed with gritty rounds of 69 and 70 for a total of 13 under par and six-shot win over Rahm, Jason Day, Sepp Straka and Tom Kim.
Rory McIlroy and Emiliano Grillo finished another stroke back, with home favourite Tommy Fleetwood and Royal Liverpool member Matthew Jordan in a tie for 10th.
Harman, who is just the third left-hander to win the Open after Bob Charles (1963) and Phil Mickelson (2013), last tasted victory on the PGA Tour in 2017, the same year in which he led by one after 54 holes of the US Open before finishing second to Brooks Koepka.
Only two players in championship history had squandered a five-shot lead after 54 holes – Macdonald Smith in the last Open staged at Prestwick in 1925 and Jean van de Velde at Carnoustie in 1999.
Harman briefly looked in danger of joining that unhappy club when he dropped a shot on the second before Rahm closed the gap further with a fortunate birdie on the par-five fifth.
Rahm’s drive was pulled towards a collection of gorse bushes but somehow avoided all of them and left the world number three with a good lie and clear shot, from where he came up just short of the green and two-putted.
Harman’s tee shot on the fifth then followed the same line as Rahm, only to plunge into a bush and force him to take a penalty drop, leading to a second bogey and cutting his lead to three.
That was just Harman’s fifth bogey of the week and for the third time he bounced back immediately with a birdie, holing from 15 feet on the sixth to edge further clear.
Another top-quality iron shot set up a birdie on the seventh, restoring Harman’s overnight cushion and effectively ending the championship as a contest.
Even when Straka briefly got within three shots thanks to a birdie on the 16th, Harman promptly holed from 40 feet for birdie on the 14th and he added another on the next before calmly parring the last three holes to seal a convincing victory.
McIlroy, who began the day nine behind, made the ideal start with a hat-trick of birdies from the third but was unable to make any further inroads and had to settle for a closing 68, his lowest score of the week.
The world number two won the Open at Hoylake in 2014 and the US PGA Championship a month later, but has not claimed one of the game’s biggest titles since.
Six-time major winner Sir Nick Faldo, commentating for Sky Sports, said: “When he won a quick four everyone was wondering is he going to have a dozen or how close can he get to Jack (Nicklaus, who won 18).
“People think you just roll off a log and win a major but you don’t. I said years ago he would either be ecstatic to get to five or disappointed to only end up with 12 and he’d be ecstatic to get to five now.
“He is talented enough, he’s got the desire and he is really fit, there’s just a couple of things wrong with his short irons. You’ve got to find a way of clearing the air and finding a way with eight iron or less.”
Rory McIlroy immediately turned his attention to the Ryder Cup after failing to end his long wait for a fifth major title at the Open.
The Northern Irishman was unable to reproduce his best form at Royal Liverpool and had to settle for a final score of six under after a closing round of 68 on Sunday.
Yet after winning the Scottish Open last week and making par or better in each of his four rounds at Hoylake, the world number two was not displeased with his showing and remains positive.
Chief among his aims is piloting Europe to Ryder Cup glory in Rome this autumn and gaining revenge for their heavy loss in the United States two years ago.
The 34-year-old said: “Confidence is high. I’m playing well, obviously off the back of the win last week and another solid performance here.
“I want to be to be right in there and win another FedEX Cup, (there is) the race to Dubai to win and the Ryder Cup, which is the most important of all.
“After what happened at Whistling Straits, I don’t think we couldn’t be more motivated to go to Rome and get that Ryder Cup back.
“There is a lot to golf to play individually before that but I think a lot of our attention will turn to Rome after this.”
McIlroy, who won the last time the Open was held at Hoylake in 2014, will now see his major title drought extended to a decade but he insists that is not something he thinks about.
He said: “I don’t think that way. I just keep looking forward. I’m optimistic about the future and I’ve just got to keep plugging away.”
McIlroy started his final round strongly with three successive birdies from the third hole but was unable to maintain the momentum amid heavy and persistent rain.
He said: “I got off to a really good start but it’s just hard to keep that going. They were tricky conditions out there.
“But every time I tee it up – or most times I tee it up – I’m right there. I can’t sit here and be too frustrated. Overall, it was a solid performance, not spectacular.”
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will be ready for the start of training camp after passing his physical on Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.
The Raiders signed Garoppolo to a three-year, $67.5 million contract in March, including $34 million guaranteed.
He is taking over for Derek Carr, who was released in February and went on to sign with the New Orleans Saints after serving as the Raiders’ starting quarterback since 2014.
Garoppolo began the 2022 season with the San Francisco 49ers as Trey Lance’s backup but found himself back in the starter’s role after Lance sustained a season-ending broken ankle in Week 2.
Garoppolo then led San Francisco to a 7-3 record before his season ended due to a fractured foot sustained in Week 13.
Garoppolo, 31, has appeared in 74 games since being selected by the New England Patriots in the second round (62nd overall pick) of the 2014 NFL Draft.
In 57 starts for New England and San Francisco, Garoppolo posted a 40-17 record while throwing for 13,923 yards with 84 touchdowns and 42 interceptions.
Lewis Hamilton admitted he has not been driving at his best for over a year after a poor start at the Hungarian Grand Prix allowed Max Verstappen to rack up a record-breaking victory.
Verstappen gazumped pole-sitter Hamilton on the downhill run to the opening corner at the Hungaroring before racing off into the distance to score his seventh successive victory of this most one-sided of Formula One seasons.
Hamilton finished only fourth after both McLaren drivers also moved ahead of him inside the first two bends of Sunday’s 70-lap race.
Lando Norris was runner-up to Verstappen for the second consecutive race, 33.7 seconds behind the dominant Dutchman, while Sergio Perez fought back from ninth to third with Oscar Piastri crossing the line in fifth.
Verstappen’s ninth win from the 11 rounds so far sees him move 110 points clear of Perez heading into next weekend’s concluding round before the summer break in Belgium. The Dutchman’s Red Bull team remain unbeaten this season, setting a new F1 record with their 12th consecutive win.
For Hamilton, he is now 34 appearances without a victory – the longest streak of his career.
“I have not been at my best for over a year,” said Hamilton who has not won since he was denied a record eighth world title at the concluding round in Abu Dhabi in 2021.
Across the same period, Verstappen – the man who beat him to the title on that controversial night in the desert – has triumphed 24 times.
But the seven-time world champion added: “I am not disappointed. It was obvious that we do not have the quickest car. Max got a better start than me, I got a bit of wheelspin, and I was a bit compromised after that.
“I am really proud of myself and the job we did to get pole and outperform the world champion and the other two McLaren cars that are quicker than us. But today is just a reality check. The reality is that we are not fast enough.
“I was told in the strategy meeting this morning that I would be five tenths a lap slower than the Red Bull so the fight is not with Max but hopefully that we would be able to fight the McLarens. But then the McLaren was also too quick for us.”
Hamilton’s initial reaction to the lights turning green was fine enough, but he lacked traction in the next phase, with Verstappen moving alongside the Mercedes and then ahead under braking for the first corner.
Forced wide by Verstappen, Hamilton then lost two further positions. First to Piastri at the same right-hander, before Norris also muscled his way ahead around the outside of the next bend. Hamilton had a nibble back at his countryman on the long run up to Turn 4 but Norris held firm.
A contrite Hamilton was straight on the radio. “Sorry about that, guys,” he said.
“Don’t sweat about it, Lewis,” came the reassuring response from Hamilton’s ever-upbeat race engineer, Peter Bonnington.
As Verstappen did what Verstappen does and controlled the race to perfection, Hamilton appeared rattled.
He questioned if his Mercedes team had turned down his engine after falling a dozen seconds back from Verstappen by the time he stopped for fresh rubber on lap 16.
He then expressed his exasperation at being cast more than 10 seconds behind third-placed Piastri, the Australian dropping behind Norris at the first round of stops.
“Where am I losing all the time?” he asked, adding: “It is just the car is slow.”
Bonnington then called on Hamilton to pick up the pace. But the despondent 38-year-old replied: “This is as fast as it goes, mate. That is what I have been saying.”
When he finally stopped for rubber for a second time with 20 laps to run, Hamilton dropped to fifth.
He wiped out a six-second deficit to Piastri inside a handful of laps, and at the start of lap 57 he breezed past the McLaren man at the first corner, before taking the chequered flag 39 seconds behind the all-conquering Verstappen.
“The Red Bull car is phenomenal,” added an envious Hamilton.
The Briton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell started 18th and finished sixth, benefiting from a five-second penalty to Charles Leclerc who sped in the pit lane. Daniel Ricciardo was a commendable 13th on his first race back.
Regional is likely to skip the King George Qatar Stakes, with Ed Bethell favouring heading straight to the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes with his in-form sprinter.
Although having always been a consistent operator over the shorter distances, the five-year-old had won just one of his first 10 outings for the Middleham handler.
However, he has taken his form to the next level this season, winning a competitive York handicap in fine style before striking with authority in the Listed Achilles Stakes at Haydock.
Bethell is now keen to test the waters at a higher level with his speedster and with the Regional proven on the Knavesmire, the trainer is keen to head to the Nunthorpe fresh rather than take on what could be a stellar cast at Goodwood.
“He is still entered in the King George at Goodwood, but I would imagine it would have to cut up for him to go there,” he said.
“Goodwood wouldn’t really be his track. We ran him in the Stewards’ Cup and although he ran well, he absolutely hated the downhill.
“I imagine we will be going straight to the Nunthorpe. He’s very good fresh and he’s a big, flat track type of horse.”
Regional was meant to run over the Nunthorpe course and distance in the City Walls Stakes earlier this month, but was pulled out when rain altered the going prior to the contest.
Bethell is content with the decision he made, with the focus firmly on keeping Regional’s confidence high ahead of his shot at Group One glory.
“I could have run him at York in the City Walls with a penalty, but he is a fast ground horse and it did go good to soft,” he added.
“I was conscious I want to go to the Nunthorpe with a horse full of confidence, rather than me ruining his confidence by running him on soft ground.”
As well as Regional, Bethell has also seen Oviedo fly the flag for his Thorngill House string and the handler was pleased with his third-placed finish in Newbury’s Steventon Stakes despite the race not unfolding in the colt’s favour.
“Unfortunately the hour and a half of rain before the race got into the ground, so it was softer than ideal,” explained Bethell.
“But I thought he ran very well and way above 100. He needs a fast pace to aim at really and it was quite a stop-start race, which doesn’t play to his strengths.
“I was thoroughly encouraged by the run and it was maybe not a career best, but it was right up there with the best performances he’s shown me in the past.”
Bethell will now wait to see how the assessor adjusts Oviedo’s mark before finalising future running plans, with big-money pots at both Goodwood and York, as well as a raid on Deauville on the agenda.
“I will see what the handicapper does with him,” he added. “There’s two very nice handicaps, one at Goodwood and one at York that he might slip into nicely.
“He’s a very hard horse to place in those Listed and Group races because, like yesterday, you could end up taking on a horse like Al Aasy who we all know is very good.
“He will have an entry in the Prix Nureyev (August 13) at Deauville as well, which would be very much ground dependent, but Deauville in August, you might just get some good ground over there.”
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