Zion Williamson made his first appearance in an NBA game since January with 12 points in 16 minutes in the New Orleans’ Pelicans’ 122-105 loss to the Orlando Magic.

Williamson sat out the final four months of the season after he injured his right hamstring in Philadelphia last Jan. 2.

The Pelicans star missed his first two shots before throwing down a crowd-pleasing, two-handed dunk. He later added a 13-foot running floater, a short turnaround, and a layup to go with four free throws.

Williamson added five rebounds and five assists in the preseason opener for both teams.

Wendell Carter Jr. had 18 points in 19 minutes for Orlando and Paolo Banchero scored 12 points, highlighted by his driving, one-handed dunk between Williamson and New Orleans center Jonas Valanciunas.

Adolis Garcia capped a five-run second with a three-run homer and the Texas Rangers rolled to a 7-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles to complete an AL Division Series sweep on Tuesday.

Corey Seager got Texas started with a first-inning home run against Dean Kremer and the Rangers knocked the Baltimore starter out in the second.

Nathaniel Lowe also went deep for the Rangers, who are perfect in five games this postseason and will face either Houston or Minnesota in the ALCS.

Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run and five hits over seven innings, striking out seven while throwing 76 of his 98 pitches for strikes.

Jose Leclerc got the final four outs, the first one with the bases loaded in the eighth when he induced an inning-ending groundout by Aaron Hicks.

The Orioles won an AL-best 101 games and were never swept during the regular season, but gave up 18 runs in losing the final two games.

Lowe battled Kremer in a 15-pitch at-bat to lead off the second before lining out.

Singles by Josh Jung and Marcus Semien put runners on the corners with two outs. After Seager was intentionally walked to load the bases, Mitch Garver stroked a two-run double before Garcia’s homer to left made it 6-0.

Astros rout Twins, take 2-1 ALDS lead

Jose Abreu’s three-run homer keyed a four-run first inning, he added a two-run blast in the ninth and the Houston Astros routed the Minnesota Twins 9-1 to take a 2-1 series lead.

Yordan Alvarez continued his red-hot start by going 3 for 5 with a solo home run – his fourth of the series – and two doubles. He became the 11th player in history to homer in each of his first three games of a single postseason.

Alex Bregman had a pair of hits, including a solo home run, and two RBIs.

The Astros pounced early on Minnesota starter Sonny Gray, who gave up five runs and eight hits in four innings.

Cristian Javier pitched five shutout innings for Houston, allowing just one hit but walking five batters.

The Astros can clinch the series Wednesday with a win, sending them to the ALCS for the seventh straight year.

LIV Golf has been denied world ranking points after having a request turned down by the Official World Golf Ranking body.

The Saudi-backed breakaway’s request was denied in a letter addressed to chief executive Greg Norman and chief operating officer Gary Davidson, where concerns were expressed about the circuit’s format.

The decision was made after the OWGR could not find a “fair and equitable way” to assess those competing in LIV golf events, meaning it will not be recognised as an Eligible Golf Tour according to the OWGR.

A statement from OWGR chairman Peter Dawson read: “It is unfortunate that no way to include LIV Golf in the ranking could be found which would be fair and equitable to the 24 currently eligible tours and their thousands of playing members.

“Keeping this matter under review, OWGR will continue to monitor developments in men’s professional golf as a whole and at LIV in particular.”

LIV responded to the decision, insisting professional golf is “now without a true or global scoring and ranking system”.

“OWGR’s sole objective is to rank the best players across the globe. Today’s communication makes clear that it can no longer deliver on that objective,” a LIV statement read.

“Players have historically remained subject to a single world ranking to qualify for major championships, the biggest events, and for corporate sponsor contract value.

“A ranking which fails to fairly represent all participants, irrespective of where in the world they play golf, robs fans, players and all of golf’s stakeholders of the objective basis underpinning any accurate recognition of the world’s best player performances. It also robs some traditional tournaments of the best fields possible.

“Professional golf is now without a true or global scoring and ranking system. There is no benefit for fans or players from the lack of trust or clarity as long as the best player performances are not recognised.

“LIV will continue to strive to level the market so fans, broadcasters, and sponsors have the assurance of an independent and objective ranking system and the pure enjoyment of watching the best golf in the world.”

Tommy Fury admits he “could not live with himself” if he did not fight for a world title at some point in his career – but acknowledges Saturday’s bout with YouTuber KSI is a long way from that.

Fury said he could “be down the pub all day” and still beat the social media star-turned fighter in their X Series encounter in Manchester.

But he has loftier aspirations to follow in the footsteps of his famous brother Tyson.

“The plan is to get though these YouTube fights, do what I need to do in this sort of scene and I believe I am good enough to win a world title belt,” he told the PA news agency.

“I don’t know when or what weight division but when the time is right I’ll go out and I will challenge for a world title because I could not live with myself if I didn’t box for one.

“I believe I can do it, I have the right set-up around me so why not give myself a best shot?”

While Fury, who sprung to huge fame in 2019 reality show Love Island, comes from a fighting family KSI made his name on YouTube and, as part of the showbiz nature of the event, will wear a £40,000 gumshield.

The Manchester-born Fury has dismissed his opponent’s credentials.

“These guys don’t really call for me to step up to world title ability. I’m levels above these guys,” added the 24-year-old.

“I could beat KSI after 15 pints of beer. I could literally go down the pub all day, fight him at night-time and still beat him. If we fight 100 times I beat him 100 times.”

On KSI’s expensive mouthguard, he added: “He’s going to need £200 grand around his mouth by the time I have finished with him.

“It will be a lucky night for someone when they catch it in the crowd.”

American MMA fighter Dillon Danis, making his boxing debut, has refused to back down in his online vendetta against opponent Logan Paul’s fiancee, which has resulted in Nina Agdal lodging a lawsuit against him.

“It is years of me and the Pauls going back and forth. I don’t take anything personal, it’s just business. I don’t care about the guy or his w***e fiancee,” said Danis, who has sparred with one of MMA’s biggest names Conor McGregor and did not rule out the Irishman being ringside at the weekend.

The British Horseracing Authority is working to substantiate warnings that the government’s proposed affordability checks will drive bettors to an unlicensed black market.

The review to the Gambling Act has focused on problem gamblers and thus the concept of financial checks for those regularly betting, whether to a damaging extent or not, has been under discussion during the white paper stage.

As racing is inherently linked to the gambling industry these limitations are likely to have damaging consequences for the sport, and grave concerns have been aired by a number of leading figures over the potential fallout.

One projected consequence is that the horse racing bettor will turn to unlicensed and unregulated gambling firms if betting via established operators becomes unavailable to them. A number of owners have already spoken out over what they say are obtrusive checks, saying they will walk away or dramatically cut their interests.

The BHA is highlighting this to the government and the Gambling Commission as the nature of the reviewed Gambling Act takes shape, with a significant survey undertaken to illustrate the risk.

Julie Harrington, chief executive of the BHA, addressed the matter on a press call about the 2024 fixture list, saying: “There’s is a huge amount of uncertainty created by the the review of the Gambling Act and the white paper. If the financial risked-based checks are frictionless, as we we hope they will be but everybody is rightly concerned, I think being in control of our destiny and in control of what we can is important in this environment.

“There is a huge amount of work that has gone on globally and a lot of work already published in the public domain by the Asian Racing Foundation about the factual existence of a black market and the sort of volumes that are going through. It’s well-funded academic research and of course we’ve shared that with colleagues at the Gambling Commission.

“We do believe that there are punters going to the black market, there is research that shows it. We’ve done our own surveys with punters, it’s really good to gather evidence to show both the government and the Gambling Commission about our own customers, our regular, engaged racing fans who read racing publications, what are they telling us? How many of them are telling us they have been approached by operators? How many of them are saying they’ve followed up on that approach?

“What we’ve been doing is work behind the scenes to make sure that can be substantiated. Anecdotally, we have worked with a lot of owners and they have allowed us to share their case studies of being approached by operators – whether that’s grey market, they’re not UK-licensed operators, or black market – offering them terms to get a bet on.

“For us to give named major owners to the Gambling Commission as evidence to say ‘don’t just take our word for it, here are people who are being directly approached and enticed to get a bet on’.”

Harrington also stressed the importance of making sure the government acknowledged a distinction between skill-based betting, such as on sport, and on games of chance in casinos or the virtual equivalent.

In addition to that, Harrington spoke of the need for an understanding of the reality of the affordability checks – which the government insists will be “frictionless” and “unobtrusive” for the vast majority – as bookmakers may currently be overzealous in their restrictions out of undue caution.

“Within the white paper the government does acknowledge the difference between a horse racing bettor and a casino bettor. This is absolutely different in that it’s a game of skill versus chance, speed of play, all of those measures,” she said.

“We just tell them, tell them and tell them again, the difference, the potential impact. We know they’re listening, we know in every speech that is made, the Select Committee hearings, all the right things are said in terms of ‘we don’t want to damage horse racing, this is an important cultural asset’.

“What we need is interventions and as the Gambling Commission brings the consultation to a close, we need the frictionless financial risk-based checks to be out there and being tested.

“Rather than at the moment, there is the suspicion that operators are acting in a more draconian fashion ahead of those measures, because until they’ve got visibility of them and they’re being tested they are going to do that because they are scared of a heavy fine.”

Gordon Elliott was delighted to see his high-class hurdler Zanahiyr enjoy a confidence-boosting victory on his seasonal debut at Punchestown.

It is coming up to two years since the chestnut gelding last got his head in front in the WKD Hurdle at Down Royal, although he has since been placed in a string of Grade One events – last season finishing third behind the mighty Constitution Hill in both the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Aintree Hurdle.

Faced with just two rivals, the Paddy Power Hurdle represented a sizeable drop in class for the six-year-old – but with the Charles Byrnes-trained Run For Oscar reverting to the jumping game just 10 days after finishing a a fine third in the Prix du Cadran, his task was not straightforward.

There was nothing to chose between the pair for much of two-and-a-quarter-mile journey and while jockey Philip Byrnes did his best to make race-fitness count by kicking for home rounding the final bend, 10-11 favourite Zanahiyr eventually mastered him under Jack Kennedy and pulled two and a half lengths clear.

Zanahiyr’s stablemate Andy Dufresne was just a neck behind Run For Oscar in third.

Of the winner, Elliott said: “I thought we were very beatable first run back and to be honest I wasn’t going to run him only there was a very small entry. Jack said he had a couple of blows and was delighted with him – he jumped well.

“He was entitled to do it on ratings, but it’s not always that easy. We thought we might get a soft lead but it was an honest gallop and Philip put the gun to our head the whole way.

“I’ll talk to Noel and Valerie (Moran, owners) to see what they think (about plans). There is a lot of prize-money to be picked up in conditions hurdles and he has no Grade One penalty, so he can step back into Grade Twos and Threes.

“I’d say you could see him in anything from two-mile-five back to two miles. You know he’s going to wear his heart on his sleeve and try his best for you.

“The way he jumps a hurdle you would say he would jump a fence, so I wouldn’t rule it out.”

Elliott and Kennedy had earlier successfully combined with Wodhooh (11-10 favourite) in the Paddy Power 3-Y-O Hurdle.

Formerly trained on the Flat by Sir Michael Stoute, the Le Havre filly got the race in the stewards’ room on her hurdling debut at Listowel last month but there was no doubt about it this time as she stretched 24 lengths clear to double her tally.

“She’s a nice mare. We like her, she’ll be better on softer ground and the further she goes,” said Elliott.

“We knew she’d come on from the run in Listowel but I think on softer ground there is another half-stone in her. She’s a very honest filly.

“We’d like to get a bit of black type over hurdles with her now. There is a race in Newbury in the first week in December that she could go for.”

The high-powered Miami Dolphins will be without one of their top playmakers for the foreseeable future.

Rookie running back De'Von Achane will reportedly miss multiple weeks with a knee injury sustained in the Dolphins' 31-16 win over the New York Giants on Sunday.

Miami coach Mike McDaniel told reporters Monday that the team was evaluating the severity of Achane's injury and on Tuesday, NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport reported he will miss several games and may end up being placed on injured reserve.

The injury, however, is not expected to be season-ending.

It's still not certain when Achane was injured, though he didn't play in Miami's final two series against the Giants. The outcome, however, was also not in doubt with the Dolphins holding a comfortable lead in the fourth quarter, so it was initially believed he was being rested after rushing for 151 yards and Miami on its way to a victory.

The injury puts a damper on what has been a sensational three-game stretch for Achane, who has gone from relatively unknown to offensive sensation.

After being a healthy scratch in the season opener and recording only one carry for five yards the next week, Achane had a breakout game in Miami's historic 70-20 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 3, leading the team with 203 rushing yards while scoring four touchdowns.

He followed that performance with 120 scrimmage yards and two more TDs the following week in a 48-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

With another touchdown against the Giants, Achane became the first player in the Super Bowl era with seven TDs in his first four NFL games.

The 21-year-old leads the NFL with an incredible 12.1 yards per carry and is second in rushing yards with 460. He is 50 yards behind rushing leader Christian McCaffrey despite having 61 fewer rushing attempts.

His injury means Raheem Mostert will handle the bulk of the running back duties for the Dolphins, while Jeff Wilson Jr. could also be activated from injured reserve to add backfield depth.

Mostert has rushed for 314 yards with seven touchdowns and has another 128 receiving yards and a receiving score.

The Dolphins are atop the AFC East, and play the winless Carolina Panthers this Sunday followed by a highly anticipated showdown with the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7.

Billy Vunipola insists England are comfortable being cast as the pantomime villains of Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final against Fiji in Marseille.

England face the darlings of the tournament with their opponents at Stade Velodrome adopting the role of everyone’s second favourite team due to their all-action style of play and underdog status.

There is also a desire to see a Pacific Islands nation progress deep into the World Cup given they produce some of the game’s finest players who contribute significantly to overseas leagues.

Every neutral will be cheering them on but Vunipola insisted England were ready to spoil the party and in the process challenge the perception that only France, New Zealand, Ireland or South Africa were capable of lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy.

“I would not say Fiji is their second favourite, I would say England is their first least-favourite team,” the Saracens number eight said.

“In terms of being public enemy number one, we are happy to take that mantle.

“We are seeing a lot of teams being talked up. Apparently there’s a top four in international rugby. I didn’t know that there was a table. We are quietly going about our work and confidently going about our work.

“Our plan is to play well firstly against Fiji and deal with whatever happens after that, after Fiji.”

England are wary of the breakdown threat posed by Simon Raiwalui’s team and are seeking clarification from Sunday’s referee Mathieu Raynal over how the contest on the floor will be officiated.

Steve Borthwick has noted the number of breakdown penalties won by Fiji so far at the World Cup – they were awarded 11 in their group victory over Australia alone – and their sheer volume of jackal attempts.

At the heart of their threat in this area is openside Levani Botia, who Vunipola knows must be nullified at all costs.

“The best thing about him is his technique. He’s got a very low centre of gravity. As a former 12 who has been repositioned to seven, he’s very fast around making the decision whether to go for the ball or not,” Vunipola said.

“Again, it’s his height. If you give him an opportunity it becomes tough, but it’s not just him. They’ve got other threats in terms of jackallers.”

England name their starting XV and bench on Friday and the greatest area of intrigue is the fly-half duel between George Ford and Owen Farrell.

Ford was man of the match against Argentina and Japan and is the form 10, but Farrell is the squad’s captain and talisman.

The two were paired together against Samoa on Saturday, but they faded as a creative axis amid a poor team performance and the experiment of reviving their partnership could be over.

“Owen’s a winner. That term gets thrown around quite a bit but that’s Owen. Under the harshest of pressures and biggest of moments, he tends to get better,” attack coach Richard Wigglesworth said.

“That is a sign of a winner. He doesn’t just get better but has more of an impact on the people around him as well. We know what gets said about Owen.

“He’s the highest ever points-scorer for England, delivers time and time again and those players tend to catch the most flak for some reason.

“We’re lucky to have him. He will no doubt have a massive impact on this week and this game.”

The British Horseracing Authority has released the 2024 fixture list and in doing so implemented several strategies designed to boost the popularity of the sport and the revenue it generates.

Here, we look at the key changes and their intended impact on the industry:

What are Premier Racedays?

A significant change is the introduction of Premier Racedays, 170 days of racing during which the best quality contests will be scheduled in order to better allow the sport to promote its headline events. An additional £3.8million of Horserace Betting Levy Board funding for Premier Racedays will be invested, with no race run for less than £20,000 on the Flat and £15,000 over jumps at these meetings. There will also be a ‘protected window’ between 2pm and 4pm when the number of races run is limited, pushing a small number of meetings to an earlier start and others later into the afternoon.

Richard Wayman, chief operating officer for the BHA, said of the concept: “What we’ve tried to do here is recognise that for the uninitiated, the person that isn’t already following our sport, we just publish every year a list of 1,500 fixtures and we leave it to them to try and figure out what the headline stuff is.

“We’ve set criteria for those fixtures now, there’s a bar that racecourses have to jump to be a Premier fixture. We wanted to be inclusive so it wasn’t out of the reach of the smaller tracks to, on one or two days through the year, really target their resources so they can be part of the Premier party. We’ve set the bar, the criteria and 170 fixtures have managed to jump over it.”

Why is there more racing on a Sunday?

Higher quality meetings will be scheduled for Sundays, including 29 Premier days, and there will also be a trial of Sunday evening racing in the first quarter of 2024 with £145,000 in prize-money required for each fixture.

Wayman said: “We’ve made it a real focus to try and improve the quality of Sunday racing. In addition, we are looking to trial Sunday evening fixtures in the first quarter of next year. That’s on the backdrop of information from the betting industry and our betting partners, who have identified to us that punter behaviour changes and those Sunday evening are an increasingly popular time of the week for people to bet.

“At the moment British racing is missing out on that, the money is being bet on other sports or indeed racing overseas. We’d like to run a trial of six meetings in the first quarter of next year to help us understand what demand there is for our customers.

“That does place a greater pressure on our workforce and that’s something we are very, very sensitive to. There are additional payments for those that will be servicing those meetings.”

Will there be less fixtures altogether?

To address dwindling field sizes there will be less meetings in 2024 and a rescheduling of some races to more suitable times. Wayman explained: “There will be 300 fewer National Hunt races next year, which includes removing 20 fixtures, and on the Flat moving 200 races out of the summer and into the autumn, when we know field sizes will be stronger.

“In addition to those volume changes there are other interventions we are making, there are 100 races that we are taking out of the programme and we will put in at the 10-day stage so we can make use of the latest horse population data to understand where the gap in the programme is. We’re going to start removing races, low-grade handicaps, with fewer than four runners in at the declarations stage.”

Are the changes permanent?

No. The proposed changes are subject to a two-year trial, during which the outcomes will be monitored and the relevant parties will be consulted.

Wayman said: “In reality, lots of bits of it will work but some bits of it won’t work, when we get two years down the line I think it is unlikely that we will be completely reversing everything, we will learn as we go.”

Julie Harrington, chief executive of the BHA, said: “Is the BHA going to be happy fronting up to those things that didn’t work? Absolutely. The sport as a whole needs to not be scared to try things and openly admit when they don’t work.”

Why is change required?

The main reasoning behind the changes to the fixture list stems from challenges the sport faces and the BHA hopes to go some way to remedying.

“We want to increase the number of fans and followers in British racing to support our long-term future,” said Wayman.

“The backdrop to that is some very concerning numbers that we’re all aware of, the declining attendances in British racing, the declining betting turnover – we’ve had lower field sizes in 2022 than we had for a very long time. Horse numbers are under pressure, owners numbers are under pressure, and of course we have an increasing number of higher-rated horses being exported overseas.”

What does the BHA hope to achieve?

Modelling developed in a back-and-forth with bookmakers has estimated a £90m improvement to British racing’s finances over a five-year period from 2024 to 2028. Harrington said: “The £90m is the difference between a ‘do nothing’ scenario in the timescale versus what we realistically think these innovations can collectively deliver.

“One of the reasons for growing the engagement with our fans and viewers is about having a more sustainable sport that has strong revenues that can then be reinvested.”

The Minnesota Vikings said on Monday they weren't going to rush Justin Jefferson back from a hamstring injury he sustained in Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The team is staying true to its word, as it plans to place him on injured reserve, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network on Tuesday.

A trip to IR means Jefferson must sit out at least four games, leaving the Vikings without the NFL's reigning Offensive Player of the Year for upcoming contests against the Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons.

The earliest he could return is in Week 10, when Minnesota hosts the New Orleans Saints on November 12.

How long Jefferson will be sidelined depends on how he responds to treatment, according to Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell.

However, it's also possible if Minnesota's season continues to slip away - Sunday's defeat dropped the team to 1-4 - the 2022 NFC North champions could decide to leave Jefferson on IR longer as they jockey for draft positioning.

The 24-year-old Jefferson, who is in the fourth year of his rookie contract and will be seeking a long-term deal this offseason, was injured while slipping on the turf at Minnesota's U.S. Bank Stadium while trying to make a cut.

He limped to the sideline and wanted to return to the game, but O'Connell said the team wanted him to be 100 per cent before they let him back on the field.

Through five games this season, Jefferson has 36 receptions for 571 yards - third most in the NFL - with three touchdown receptions.

He has accounted for 38.1 per cent of Minnesota's receiving yards - the eighth-highest percentage by any receiver for his team in the league.

In 2022, he put together one of the best seasons by a receiver in NFL history, finishing with league highs of 128 catches and 1,809 receiving yards, along with eight TD receptions.

A first-round draft pick in 2020, Jefferson is a three-time Pro Bowler and has never missed a game in his career.

With Jefferson sidelined, rookie receiver Jordan Addison and two-time Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson will be expected to step up in the passing game.

Gordon Elliott expects Conflated to improve significantly for the run ahead of his reappearance in the Irish Daily Star – Best For Racing Coverage Chase at Punchestown on Wednesday.

The nine-year-old won the Irish Gold Cup and the Savills Chase at Leopardstown last year and finished an honourable third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

However, he has not been seen in competitive action since pulling up in the Aintree Bowl the following month, and Elliott admits there is plenty to work on in the fitness department.

“Conflated is in good form, but will come on for the run,” said the Cullentra handler.

“He needed the run when starting off last season in Down Royal and will need the run even more this time. We need to get a run into him to see where we are with a view to going back to Down Royal again.”

Conflated is set to be joined by two stablemates in Delta Work and Hurricane Georgie.

Five-time Grade One winner Delta Work, who was last seen unseating his rider in the Grand National, has a third win in the Glenfarclas Chase at the Cheltenham Festival as his primary target.

Elliott added: “Delta Work needs some rain overnight. We might tip away in a few cross-country races with him and head back to Cheltenham again.

“We’re trying to get some black type with Hurricane Georgie.”

The presence of Henry de Bromhead’s 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo adds further spice to the Grade Three contest, with Fighter Allen (Willie Mullins) and Panda Boy (Martin Brassil) completing the line-up.

National Hunt fans have been denied the chance of an early sighting of one of the stars of last season with A Dream To Share no longer running at Punchestown on Wednesday.

The John and Thomas Kiely-trained five-year-old had been declared to start his new career in the BetVictor Predictor Maiden Hurdle, which has an illustrious roll of honour with the likes of Labaik, Samcro and Marine Nationale successful recently.

He is one of the most exciting prospects of the new season, having won five bumpers last term, including successes at Cheltenham and Punchestown.

Bought by JP McManus following his win at the Dublin Racing Festival, his racing manager Frank Berry delivered the unfortunate news that his hurdling debut would have to be delayed.

Speaking at Punchestown on Tuesday afternoon, Berry said: “A Dream To Share won’t be running tomorrow. He has a stone bruise.”

McManus does, though, have the favourite in the BetVictor Proud Sponsors Of Irish Racing Novice Chase in the Willie Mullins-trained Hercule Du Seuil.

The winner of four of his five runs over fences, he is already rated as high as 150.

“He’s taken to jumping very well and has done everything that has been asked of him so far. We’ll just see how he gets on on Wednesday and take it from there,” said Berry.

“He’s won on good ground, he’s won on heavy ground but I think the big thing with him is that he’s learned how to settle. He’s certainly going the right way.

“The handicappers tend to give the summer horses very high marks now. Sometimes they can get a bit lost when the better horses come out so let’s see how he gets on.”

Mqse De Sevigne will return to 10 furlongs at the Breeders’ Cup having chased home an inspired Inspiral in the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket.

The Andre Fabre-trained four-year-old arrived at the Rowley Mile seeking a Group One hat-trick having landed a Deauville double in the Prix Rothschild and Prix Jean Romanet in the summer and although having to settle for second, lost little in defeat with a performance which pleased her master trainer.

She has now finished first or second in all six starts this season and will head to Santa Anita for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf over the distance she excelled at when downing George Boughey’s Via Sistina on her penultimate start.

Fabre said: “I was pleased with the way she ran, she obviously needs a bit further and was beaten by a top-class filly.

“The Breeders’ Cup is the plan and if she is in good shape she will go there. I think the two extra furlongs will suit her better.

“She was probably a bit backward and a bit unlucky in her races before. But I have been delighted with her.”

Fabre is no stranger to success at the Stateside showpiece and could have the chance to saddle a fourth winner in the Breeders’ Cup Turf if Junko joins his stablemate for the trip across the Atlantic.

The four-year-old was last seen beating Christopher Head’s Big Call in Deauville’s Prix de Reux and having missed out on a run at ParisLongchamp recently will attempt to book his ticket to California in the Prix du Conseil de Paris this weekend.

“I will probably go for the mile and a half race with Junko,” continued Fabre.

“He had to miss the Arc meeting, but he is going to run next Sunday and if he runs well and can get into the race he will run.”