Willie Mullins is confident Galopin Des Champs will put up a staunch defence of his crown in next month’s Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The eight-year-old was a brilliant winner of the blue riband last season, a third Gold Cup triumph in five years for the Festival’s most successful trainer following the back-to-back victories of Al Boum Photo in 2019 and 2020.
Galopin Des Champs was beaten by Fastorslow at the end of last season and at the start of the current campaign, but roared back to his best with a stunning Savills Chase success over Christmas before taking his revenge on Fastorslow when plundering his second Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown earlier this month.
Speaking at his annual press morning ahead of the sport’s showcase fixture in four weeks’ time, Mullins appeared more than happy with the condition of his star performer ahead of his return to the Cotswolds.
“He’s come out of his race in Leopardstown very well and I’m very happy. It’s going to be a tip-top Gold Cup I think. We’re in great form,” he said.
The Closutton handler feels a change to more positive tactics has played a significant part in Galopin Des Champs’ mini resurgence as the division’s top dog.
Paul Townend was widely lauded for the patience he showed in last year’s Gold Cup, but it seems highly likely he will be ridden closer to the speed this time around.
Mullins added: “I’d wanted him ridden off the pace the two years before as I felt he was too keen and I didn’t want him getting drawn into a battle, but this year I don’t mind.
“He’s bigger and stronger, well certainly stronger but he’s more mature now and definitely up for it (leading).”
Galopin Des Champs may well be joined in the Gold Cup field by stablemate Monkfish, who was sidelined for two years after an excellent novice campaign in 2020-21.
He was beaten on his first two starts after his return last spring, but resumed winning ways in last month’s Galmoy Hurdle and Mullins feels a good portion of his ability remains intact.
“Monkfish is also in the Stayers’ Hurdle, but if enough rain comes I’d seriously have to consider him for the Gold Cup,” he said.
“He’s got the class and I was happy he came back in good order in Gowran, albeit over hurdles.
“At the moment I’d say I’ll prepare him for the Gold Cup, I’ll have a word with Rich (Ricci, owner) and see what he is thinking.
“I thought he went a long way to answering if he was as good as he was at Gowran and come Cheltenham, he will be better again.”
Such is the staggering strength in depth Mullins has at his disposal, he did not even enter his Cotswold Chase victor Capodanno for the Festival’s most prestigious event.
The JP McManus-owned gelding’s likely target at Prestbury Park appears the Ryanair Chase, but Mullins did reveal the possibility of supplementing for the Gold Cup “has been mentioned”.
Mullins’ novice chase team appears just as strong, with Fact To File seemingly the leading the way.
The seven-year-old is two from two over fences, and while his performance in coming home alone in a Grade One at Leopardstown last time is difficult to gauge after his stablemate Gaelic Warrior faded tamely before coming to grief at the final fence, there is no doubt he is held in the highest regard.
“Fact To File is in the Brown Advisory and Turners at Cheltenham. I’d be leaning towards the Brown Advisory, but I’m just wondering what other horses in the same colours might be going that way,” Mullins continued.
“His speed figure at the Dublin Racing Festival was fantastic. Someone told me at Christmas in his beginners’ chase he did a huge one, I’m into what I see visually and the way they do it but the run at Christmas it transpired was right and he doubled down on it.
“Fact To File has done everything right and has put in a huge trial for either race at Cheltenham.”
Of Gaelic Warrior, he said: “Obviously going left-handed didn’t suit Gaelic Warrior, but getting worked up before the race didn’t help and during the race he made a mistake at the fourth last which seemed to unsettle him.
“He was very disappointing but he seems all right. He’s a little quiet in himself but he would be, most good horses are when they are beaten.
“We’ll try to get him right and the Turners was what we had in mind for him.”
Irish Arkle victor Il Etait Temps will bid to follow up in the Arkle and may be joined by Facile Vega, who is set to have his training routine tweaked as Mullins bids to reignite his fire following a disappointing run of form.
Embassy Gardens appears the stable’s chief contender for the National Hunt Chase, while Dinoblue and Allegorie De Vassy will give Mullins a strong hand in the Mares’ Chase.
Willie Mullins believes State Man returns to Cheltenham a stronger runner this year as he tries to make up the deficit with the all-conquering Constitution Hill in the Unibet Champion Hurdle.
The Irish raider trailed home nine lengths adrift of Nicky Henderson’s National Hunt superstar last year, the only time he has been defeated in 11 completed hurdles starts.
State Man has added a further four Grade One triumphs to his record since that second place, most recently seeing off Bob Olinger by a comfortable five and a half lengths in the Irish Champion Hurdle – a race in which stablemate and familiar rival Impaire Et Passe failed to fire.
In contrast to State Man, Constitution Hill will head to the Festival having had just one run this term, but Mullins expects Henderson to have his defending champion at concert pitch nevertheless.
“State Man will go for the Champion and I think he’s in great order,” he said.
“I didn’t talk to any of the time men after Leopardstown because I thought his performance at Christmas was huge against Impaire Et Passe who was much more competitive than he was the other day. Tactics were changed on Impaire but he was nearly a non-runner as far as I’m concerned, you could see after two hurdles.
“I don’t know if State Man was at his best in last year’s Champion, we’ll find out this year. He’s very good, he’ll be very race-fit but Nicky Henderson does have a habit of having his horses very right on the day when people think they haven’t raced enough, Nicky gets everything right for Cheltenham.
“We hope it will be a hell of a race, Nicky probably doesn’t and Constitution Hill fans probably don’t but we are stronger this year, I don’t know if better but stronger. I will leave tactics to Paul (Townend) but we’re happy to have him in the order which he is.”
Mullins has won the race four times already with Hurricane Fly (2011 and 2013), Faugheen (2015) and Annie Power (2016) and feels State Man brings different qualities to the table.
He added: “He hasn’t won a Champion Hurdle yet so he has a bit to catch up with those that have. He doesn’t have the pizzazz of Faugheen or the speed of Hurricane Fly but he has other things, he jumps well, he’s so consistent. Hopefully we can turn the tables this year.”
Constitution Hill is the 1-3 favourite with the race sponsor with State Man next best at 5-2 and then another Closutton inmate, Lossiemouth, a 12-1 shot.
She is much shorter with many other bookmakers, but her target is the two-and-a-half-mile Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle, in which she is likely to be joined by Ashroe Diamond and Gala Marceau, with Champion entry Echoes In Rain also in the mix.
Lossiemouth hacked up in the Unibet Hurdle on Trials day at Cheltenham last month, prompting plenty of talk about whether the mare should be aimed at the main event.
However, Mullins is certain it is too early to pitch the five-year-old against the likes of Constitution Hill.
He said: “Lossiemouth hasn’t done anything wrong. I know a lot of people want her to go down the Champion Hurdle route, but I’m not even sure if there wasn’t a Mares’ Hurdle we’d go down that route with a five-year-old.
“In my lifetime a five-year-old usually wins once every 30 years and usually a bad year and this doesn’t look like it’s going to be a bad year for the Champion Hurdle. I don’t think the five-year-olds are physically strong enough.
“She did everything right the other day, maybe she needs longer, she’ll have other days to go at the Champion Hurdle. We’ll let State Man soften up Constitution Hill first and leave the door open for her!”
Teenage sensation Luke Littler hit a nine-dart finish to see off Michele Turetta at the Players Championship in Wigan.
Littler, 17, became a household name during a shock run to the final of the World Championship at the turn of the year.
“The Nuke” then went on to beat Michael van Gerwen to win the Bahrain Masters in January, becoming the youngest player to hit a televised nine-darter in his quarter-final victory over Nathan Aspinall.
Littler’s strong form continued as he was beaten by home favourite Van Gerwen in the final of the Dutch Masters the following week.
He has now moved into round four of the first Players Championship event of the year after wrapping up a 6-1 win over Turetta in typical Littler style, completing a nine-dart finish along the way.
Luke Humphries, who beat Littler to claim his first World Championship crown, was the victim of a shock defeat on the first day of action at the Robin Park Tennis Centre as the second seed crashed out 6-0 to Ian White.
Three-time Olympic champion Adam Peaty finished third on his return to the World Championships 100 metres breaststroke final in Doha.
Peaty was sidelined from the 2022 event due to a foot injury, and he missed out last year after stepping away from the sport to prioritise his mental health.
After qualifying fastest for the final, 29-year-old Peaty did not threaten gold medallist Nic Fink, of the United States, who led from start to finish.
Fink clocked 58.57 seconds, with Italian Nicolo Martinenghi second in 58.84 and then Peaty, who has won the event on three occasions, taking bronze in 59.10.
John ‘Shark’ Hanlon is praying for good ground ahead of next month’s Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, as his King George hero Hewick prepares to take on defending champion Galopin Des Champs.
Hewick took a crashing fall two out in his first taste of the Gold Cup last year, with Galopin Des Champs carrying on up the hill for a memorably impressive victory.
Willie Mullins’ charge has since looked imperious when winning at Leopardstown this season, firstly in the Savills Chase at Christmas and then when bettering chief blue riband rival Fastorslow for his second Irish Gold Cup during the Dublin Racing Festival.
However, Hewick has also gone from strength to strength and following a career best to win the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day, Hanlon is now keen to try to exploit a possible chink in Galopin Des Champ’s armour on a sounder surface at Prestbury Park.
He said: “It is beginning to get exciting times and I love to see that sun coming out, which I want to see in England more at the minute than I want to see over here.
“The weather is what’s most important to him. It was soft ground last year and I want that soft ground out of there this year.
“Galopin Des Champs is a very good horse and he’s won on soft ground a couple of times this year and has looked very good on it.
“But I would love to meet him on good ground. Maybe if he is as good then he will win, but I just think on proper good ground, he might not be as good as he is on soft and heavy ground.
“The horse is in really good form and he came out of the King George very well. He will probably go and do a bit of work now in Naas on Wednesday in a schooling bumper and that’s the route we went down before the King George.”
Hewick is a best priced 16-1 for Gold Cup glory, but Hanlon is predicting an open feel to the race this time around and is confident his contender is worth his place in the line-up.
“There’s more than one horse in the race, every horse is there to be looked at,” he continued.
“You don’t ever duck away from one horse or a challenge and if you have a horse good enough, there is no problem doing that.
“Shishkin won over the weekend and he looked quite good, but the horse who was second to him was only a 150-rated horse and he didn’t run away from him.
“It’s a good race, it is always a good race. There’s more than two or three in it and there will be probably 10 horses in it and any of those 10 horses can win.”
Hanlon has always embraced his underdog status, but he is alive to the possibility of interest in the sport dimming if only a handful of yards house all the leading contenders.
He said: “The big problem in Ireland anyway, and the English people can see it when Willie went over with Fun Fun Fun yesterday, is he wins everything.
“He has the owners to buy those horses. If a good horse comes up for sale tomorrow morning, he’s gone to Willie Mullins because Willie has the customers. Fair dues to him because he started with nothing and now has the men to buy them, but I think England and Ireland are feeling the pinch a bit with it because a lot of these owners just go to Willie now.
“This is nothing against Willie or Gordon Elliott or anyone, but I think the smaller people in the game need looking after. Because if you haven’t got the smaller lads then you are going to have races every week with five runners and people will get bored.
“Every small trainer is able to train, they just haven’t got the owners able to compete with the likes of Willie. There is a bundle of trainers taking over and I don’t think it is good for racing.”
Mullins’ dominance in Irish racing was exemplified at the Dublin Racing Festival when he won each of the eight Grade Ones at the meeting, with one contest ending up a match between two Closutton runners.
Hanlon added: “The Dublin Racing Festival was great but without the two big handicaps (on each card), there wouldn’t have been 30 runners on either day. The two big handicaps were full and there was more excitement over the handicaps than there was over the Grade Ones.
“The Grade Ones and Grade Twos are lovely, but they are for three or four people and they need to look beyond that to see how they are going to get the people back going racing.
“The Dublin Racing Festival is a great meeting and on the Saturday you had a huge crowd and on Sunday an OK crowd. But if you took the English people out of it on the Sunday, there wouldn’t be too many in.
“If it wasn’t for the cost of travelling horses over to England, then I would run horses over there every week.
“You can say I’m running away from Willie, I don’t care, but there is a better chance of winning and England is a big area and you can go to the top or the bottom and you are not competing with Willie and Gordon every day.”
Joe Mazzulla was proud of the Boston Celtics' "late-game execution" in Sunday's 110-106 win over the Miami Heat.
The Celtics had to withstand a late push from the Heat as they held on to win a fourth straight game.
Boston, who beat the Heat by 33 points on the road in January, lead the NBA with a 41-12 record. Miami, meanwhile, are eighth in the Eastern Conference.
And though the Celtics ultimately had to defend late on, they have now won all three meetings with the Heat this season, with their sole loss coming in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season.
"Late-game execution, you've got to set the table," Mazzulla said of his team's display. "I think our guys did that.
"Just the intensity. Just the physicality. I enjoy watching physicality with poise, and I thought our guys had that throughout tonight. You obviously need to rise to the occasion."
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 26 points, nine assists and 10 rebounds, Kristaps Porzingis finished with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Jaylen Brown added 20 points and nine rebounds.
"Today was fun, we have a lot of history with this team," Tatum said.
"Last time we came here we smacked them, so we knew it would be a closer game.
"They came to play and we enjoy being part of games like that. Everybody's being competitive."
Bam Adebayo scored 22 points for the Heat, who were without Jimmy Buttler after he was granted leave following the death of a family member.
"It's tough to see guys like that go down," said Duncan Robinson, who finished with 15 points.
"And then Jimmy dealing with what he's dealing with is unfortunate, to put it lightly."
The Heat have won four of their last six games, and Erik Spoelstra put this defeat down to many factors going against them.
"I thought our group showed a tremendous amount of grit in that second half," Spoelstra said.
"There were a lot of things that weren't necessarily going our way, including the injuries. To really fight and claw back and get this game on the ropes, it's a credit to how hard guys were playing."
Owner Andy Edwards is looking to L’Homme Presse to book his Cheltenham Gold Cup in Saturday’s Betfair Ascot Chase at the Berkshire track.
The nine-year-old made a faultless return to action following a lengthy lay off in last month’s Fleur De Lys Chase, beating Protektorat by just over two lengths on his first start since unseating Charlie Deutsch in the 2022 King George VI Chase.
L’Homme Presse sustained a season-ending injury in that mishap, with trainer Venetia Williams and Edwards, plus his co-owners Peter and Patricia Pink, giving the gelding plenty of time to recover.
He is now set to turn out 27 days later at Ascot, with Edwards not putting much stock in the theory of the ‘bounce factor’ for horses having their second run back after an absence.
He said: “Everything has been fine with L’Homme Presse since Lingfield.
“I thought it was an amazing comeback and we were thrilled with everything we saw from him. Hopefully, he can kick on again from there, starting this weekend in the Betfair Ascot Chase.
“I don’t think the ‘bounce factor’ is a scientific thing. Every horse is different and that is not something that fazes us. We are only concerned about our horse and he will run a race that suits him.”
L’Homme Presse is a general 8-1 chance for next month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, with reigning champion Galopin Des Champs odds-on to defend his title for Willie Mullins.
While Edwards is aware of the task L’Homme Presse would face in the Cotswolds, he would not shy away from taking on that challenge.
He added: “The dream is still alive. To even be in the reckoning for a race of that calibre is a privilege in itself. We want to do our very best to win at Ascot this weekend and then, all being well, take our chance at Cheltenham.
“It is a horse race and no horse is unbeatable, especially in a top-end race like the Gold Cup because there are so many variables that can affect the outcome – jumping, positioning, luck in running et cetera.
“Having said that, Galopin Des Champs is a champion and looks something to be admired. And you can’t discount the other horses in the race, as everyone will go there thinking they have a valid chance.
“With L’Homme Presse, we still don’t really know where his ultimate ceiling is. He has only had three runs outside novice company and they have all been fantastic. He might have a ‘U’ against his name from the King George but he was still running a great race on a track and ground that did not suit his style.
“The one thing that I would say about L’Homme Presse is that he has an attitude and aptitude where he does not want to be beaten. That determination and grit in an athlete is what can make the difference on the day.
“I am sure everyone like us is feeling excited, whether it’s Shishkin’s camp or Gerri Colombe’s camp. We have all seen lots of turn-ups in big races down the years, just look what happened in the King George this season. As I always like to say, keep the faith, believe in your horse and enjoy the moment.”
L’Homme Presse is one of five entries for the Ascot Chase along with 2022 hero Fakir d’Oudairies, Pic D’Orhy, Ahoy Senor and Sail Away.
Seven have been entered in the Grade Two Sodexo Live! Novices’ Chase – better known as the Reynoldstown – including Apple Away and Kilbeg King.
Emma Raducanu squandered set point in a second-set tie-break as she lost 0-6 6-7 (6) to Anhelina Kalinina in the opening round of the Qatar Open.
Raducanu had been granted a wild card for the first WTA 1000 event of the season in Doha, but slipped to a fourth defeat in seven matches since returning from injury.
The British number seven rallied bravely in the second set against Ukrainian Kalinina after a one-sided first set, which lasted little over half an hour.
Raducanu saved two match points at 6-5 down in the second set to force a tie-break and was one point away from squaring the match while leading that 6-5.
But world number 30 Kalinina held her nerve and will now face Latvia’s eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.
Kalinina won the opening game of the match on Raducanu’s serve and broke the Brit twice more, while comfortably holding her own serve without facing any break points to take the opening set 6-0.
Raducanu came under immediate pressure at the start of the second set, losing her serve for the fourth consecutive time before responding to break back and win her first game of the match.
The following eight games all went with serve, with Raducanu saving five break points to lead 4-3.
After being broken for a fifth time in the match to trail 6-5, the Briton responded again, saving two match points against Kalinina’s serve to force a tie-break.
Raducanu served for the set at 6-5 up in the tie-break, but lost the next two points on her serve and Kalinina sealed victory on her third match point.
Scotland may be smarting from the injustice of their defeat by France but Ben Earl insists England also have a point to prove in their Calcutta Cup clash.
Replays suggested Scotland had scored a legitimate stoppage-time try at Murrayfield on Saturday but as they failed to show clear grounding, protocol dictated it should not stand and Les Bleus escaped with a 20-16 win.
The decision prevented them from entering round three of the Guinness Six Nations with an unbeaten record to match that of Steve Borthwick’s team, who crept past Italy and Wales to stay in Grand Slam contention.
What was previously a comfortable Six Nations fixture for England has since been turned on its head by losing the three most recent meetings – and Earl wants to see that addressed in Edinburgh on February 24.
“Scotland are a very proud rugby nation, they’ve got some great players, some great individuals,” Earl said.
“We’ve never had an easy game against them and last time we played them at Twickenham, the first game of last year, we lost.
“We’ve got to right some wrongs and so we’re really looking forward to going up there.”
England’s underwhelming performances in the opening two rounds have hardly set the tournament alight, but in coming from behind to dispatch Italy and Wales they are continuing to show a knack for digging themselves out of trouble.
After a 31-point lead had been thrown away against Scotland in 2019, Borthwick’s predecessor Eddie Jones compared the team’s response to pressure to “hand grenades in the back of a jeep” that “go off”.
But in the World Cup warm-up game against Wales at Twickenham in August, and at the tournament itself, they have displayed the ability to roll with the punches – and come back firing.
“We feel we’ve got a good game to fall back on when things are tight. We can squeeze games out and find a way to win. We know we can win from almost any position,” Earl said.
“When our backs were against the wall against Wales, we got together and said ‘look, it feels like we’re not getting the rub of the green here from the ref and/or the context of the game, so we need to almost bunker down or come out swinging in a way’.
“Other England teams in previous regimes, we might have gone into our shells and reverted to an individual focus, but we were collected and aligned in our messaging and in our next actions, so we were really pleased.
“The Italy game was a step in the right direction and Wales was another step in the right direction, so who knows where we can take it.”
England’s growing resilience has coincided with Earl’s rise to starting number eight and the marauding Saracen, who broke four tackles to cross against Wales, is revelling in the independence he has been given by attack coach Richard Wigglesworth.
“Richard has been really clear with me in terms of giving me a bit of a free role in terms of where I pop up,” Earl said.
“Against Italy I carried a bit more off nine than I did against Wales. But in terms of where I’m at, I’m loving playing for this team.”
Strong Leader is set to continue plying his trade in the staying hurdle division, having been handed a Liverpool Hurdle objective by trainer Olly Murphy.
The seven-year-old has shown smart form at Aintree in the past, winning a novice hurdle by eight lengths last term before ending the campaign by finishing a close-up second to Inthepocket over an extended two miles in the Grade One Top Novices’ Hurdle.
Since being well beaten over the minimum trip on his return to action, Strong Leader has gone up in distance, first running well in the Ascot Hurdle before excelling in his first try at three miles on Cheltenham Trials day in the Cleeve Hurdle.
On that occasion, only Stayers’ Hurdle-bound Noble Yeats and Paisley Park finished ahead of Strong Leader.
And with Murphy’s charge holding no graded entries for the Cheltenham Festival, he is set to bypass Prestbury Park in favour of another trip to Merseyside for their Grand National day Grade One.
“He’s going straight to Aintree for the three-mile race,” said Murphy.
“I know everyone talked about Paisley Park and Noble Yeats and rightly so, but he was the unlucky loser. He never jumped a hurdle, didn’t come down the hill and yet was only beaten a length and a quarter.
“He relished the step up to three miles. His sectionals were very good over two miles but he’s always worked like a horse who would want a trip.
“He will go straight to Aintree and whether he will be good enough, I’m not sure, but he’s a very good horse on his day – and the one day it all clicks for him, then he could win a big one.”
Harry Paterson admitted he could never have imagined starting a Guinness Six Nations match for Scotland just months after wondering how he was going to get a game in Edinburgh’s high-calibre back three.
The 22-year-old began the season competing with established internationals like Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe and Emiliano Boffelli for a place at club level.
The departure of Kinghorn to Toulouse and injuries to others, however, allowed him to make three starts for Edinburgh in December and he was subsequently named in Gregor Townsend’s squad for the Six Nations.
Incredibly, with just eight senior appearances to his name in total, Paterson was summoned to start Saturday’s showdown with France on the morning of the game after Kyle Steyn’s wife went into labour, further reducing the Scots’ back-three options after injuries to key duo Kinghorn and Graham.
Paterson responded by producing what head coach Townsend described as “one of the the best debuts I’ve ever seen” as Scotland went down to a controversial 20-16 defeat by Les Bleus.
“It certainly was beyond my pre-season expectations,” said Paterson. “Especially with the senior boys in the back three at Edinburgh, it’s unbelievable.
“In November, I was thinking ‘I’m not really getting a look with Edinburgh’, but things can change very quickly and a few guys got injured so I was kind of given an opportunity through that.
“I’ll take a lot of confidence from it. I’ve not played a lot of professional rugby so I need to build up that base of games, stay fit and crack on.”
Paterson was not named in the initial 23-man squad for the France match and only learned at 9am – five hours before kick-off – that he would be starting at full-back.
“I got a call from Gregor when I was having my breakfast and I kind of figured what was happening when I saw who was calling,” he said. “There was about 10 minutes of panic and then I stabilised and cooled down. There was a bit of nerves obviously, but I was really excited.
“Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh and Scotland team-mate) told me beforehand ‘it’s just another game of rugby but it’s also your first cap so make sure you enjoy it’.
“I was alright once I was out there. I got minced off the first ball I caught so that got me into the game. I just kind of went for it.
“I’ve been told I overthink a lot, but when it comes to game time I manage to chill out a bit and not stress as much.”
Paterson had mixed feelings at the end of a debut in which Scotland were controversially denied what would have been a match-winning try when the officials were unable to decide beyond all doubt that Sam Skinner had managed to ground the ball.
“I was a confused boy at the end of the game,” he said. “I didn’t really know how to feel at the end. I was just gutted at the result.”
While Steyn is likely to come back into the mix for the next game at home to England a week on Saturday, it remains to be seen if Graham or Kinghorn – both of whom were initially ruled out of the first two matches of the championship – will be fit enough to return.
Asked if he felt he had played his way into contention for the Calcutta Cup showdown, Paterson said: “I’m not sure. I don’t know who is available. There’s a lot of moving parts so I’m not really sure what will happen there.”
Theatre Man has Cheltenham Festival handicaps on his agenda, having picked up a silver medal at Prestbury Park on Trials day.
Richard Bandey’s eight-year-old won two of his four starts over hurdles last term and, although yet to open his account over fences, has not been too far out of the picture in all three novice chase starts.
Despite blundering four from home, he finished less than three lengths adrift of Paul Nicholls’ Turners hope Ginny’s Destiny at Cheltenham on Trials day, a performance that suggests he is more than worth his place at the Festival.
Connections now need to choose between the Trustatrader Plate over the same track and trip as that most recent outing, or step up to three miles for a shot at the Ultima Handicap Chase, with ground conditions nearer the time set to be a crucial determining factor in the decision.
“We were very pleased with the run at Cheltenham,” said Bandey.
“He finished very strongly, but we’ve always felt he is a strong-finishing two-and-a-half-mile horse rather than a definite three-miler.
“I think after his mistake four out (at Cheltenham), he just got swallowed up a bit and didn’t go through the gaps as fast as Harry (Bannister, jockey) would have liked, but he ran on strongly and we were delighted with the run.”
He went on: “All roads will lead back to Cheltenham now, all being well, with both the Plate and the Ultima being his options – and determined by the ground and shape of the races really.
“If the ground was soft, I think we would see a better horse – I think softer ground helps him rather than what we saw on Trials day, when it was good to soft. If it was similar ground or drier than it was on Trials day, then we might consider the three-mile race.
“It’s a lovely problem to have and Mr Syder and Mr Burke (owners), Harry and I will all put our heads together and work out a plan. We’re a small yard and he’s definitely the flagbearer for us this year, so we’re very lucky to have him.”
The 14th season of the Intercollegiate Rugby League kicked off on Saturday with five of the six registered institutions for the 9-a-side Championship participating. Present were the University of the West Indies Pelicans, University of Technology Knights, Mico University College Crocs, Excelsior Community College Eagles, and Caribbean Maritime University Spartans.
Debutants Browns Town Community College were unable to participate due to logistical challenges that arose late. For the second consecutive year, there will not be a 13-a-side Championship as institutions continue to rebuild their sports programs post-COVID.
The competition format involves institutions playing each other once in a round-robin format before the top four teams face off in semi-final matches to determine the finalists. The Eagles are defending champions. Saturday’s matches were hosted by MICO, marking a historic first for the prestigious university. The competition will culminate on Saturday, March 9, at the Mona Bowl.
In the matches played, Eagles and Pelicans secured identical 12-4 wins over Spartans and Knights, respectively. In the third match, Spartans overcame Crocs with a score of 20-4. Following that, Eagles prevailed over Pelicans with a score of 16-4, and Knights claimed a 12-0 victory over Crocs. The day concluded with an 8-all draw between Pelicans and Spartans. The teams will compete in their remaining round-robin games on March 9.
INTERCOL Rugby League Chair Romeo Monteith remarked, “Rugby league continues its strong revival post-COVID. Last year, only UWI, EXED, and CMU participated. Now, we have six teams, with both UTECH and MICO restarting their programs and Browns Town joining the competition. This is great news for the competition and for the national team, as INTERCOL athletes traditionally contributes around half of the team's makeup."
Louis Rees-Zammit says his American Football dream is “alive” after starting out on the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) following his switch from rugby union.
The Gloucester, Wales and British and Irish Lions wing stunned the world of rugby last month by quitting the sport in an attempt to secure a contract with an NFL team in 2024.
Rees-Zammit has joined the NFL’s intensive 10-week IPP programme in Florida, where he has been training as a wide receiver while also doing some running back drills.
“There’s a lot of transferable skills over from rugby,” Rees-Zammit, 23, told BBC Wales’ Scrum V programme.
“I’m absolutely loving training. My pursuit to be in the NFL is alive and I’m excited to see what the next 10 weeks holds.
“It’s tough to get your head around it a little bit at the start but, as with everything, you get used to it.
“The vision out of the sides (of the helmet) kind of effects things. But I’m getting used to it now and I’ll see what happens.”
Rees-Zammit says 10 international players have joined the IPP, with a pro day held at the end of the programme to determine whether individuals are good enough to make the NFL grade.
He said: “You basically come here and work the game of football on and off the field, in the classroom and training six days a week.
“Ten weeks of intense training to see if your dream becomes a reality.
“It was the hardest decision of my life (to leave rugby), but it was always something I wanted to do, since a young age, and I thought it was the right time.
“If it works out, I have 10 years to try to play the sport I have loved growing up watching or I can come back to rugby and play the sport I love playing.”
Wales have lost their opening two Guinness Six Nations games in Rees-Zammit’s absence, narrow 27-26 and 16-14 defeats to Scotland and England respectively.
“I was jealous of the boys playing and it was in my mind that I was pretty gutted I did not play,” Rees-Zammit said of Wales’ defeat at Twickenham on Saturday.
“The boys put a shift in and just managed to lose, which was tough. They gave it their all.
“Gats (Warren Gatland, Wales head coach) was unbelievable with me when I told him of my decision.
“He asked if it (American Football) did not work what I would be doing and I said obviously I would be coming back to rugby.”
Big-money buys Imagine and Mollys Mango could both head to the Cheltenham Festival having been picked up by Harry Derham at the Andy and Gemma Brown dispersal last week.
Over €5million was spent across 29 lots offered by Tattersalls Ireland, with Derham’s former boss Paul Nicholls set to train the top lot Caldwell Potter and Gordon Elliott pulling out all the stops to retain the next four highest-earning offerings at his Cullentra House base.
However, there was a statement of intent by Derham and owner Ian Barratt to bring the hammer down at lofty six-figure fees for Imagine and Mollys Mango, who have both impressed this term.
Imagine – who was sent off favourite for the Martin Pipe at last year’s Cheltenham Festival – created a taking impression in his first two chasing starts for Elliott, including winning the Grade Two Craddockstown Novice Chase in November, before a below-par effort back at Punchestown.
It took €320,000 to bring Imagine back to Berkshire, while Mollys Mango commanded €170,000 having won two of her three starts over hurdles, romping to a 17-length success at Fairyhouse on New Year’s Day.
“They are two very nice horses bought for Ian Barratt, who is a very nice man and also a relatively new owner to me,” said Derham.
“If they are both OK, they will both run at Cheltenham – Molly in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle and Imagine in the Golden Miller (Turners Novices’ Chase).
“They have to be OK and Ian and his family know it’s quite an interesting time to buy a horse and there isn’t that long to Cheltenham, so if they are OK, then they will run.
“But we know the more we get to know them, and my team get to know them and they get time in a new regime, then they will obviously be better.”
In just his second season with a trainer’s license, the acquisitions add a touch of quality to Derham’s ever-expanding string, with the young handler already closing in on a half-century of winners.
He added: “It’s obviously nice to get two very smart horses like that. It’s never nice in those circumstances, where you are taking them from another trainer, but they were there for sale and are two to look forward to.
“Monday’s sales results show how serious the owner is and they are two nice horses, but as I said to my team, it’s irrelevant and it doesn’t matter how much they cost, once they are in the yard, they will get the same care as everybody else.
“It’s lovely to get horses of that quality into the yard and hopefully we get some luck.”
If both Imagine and Mollys Mango make it to the Cheltenham Festival, they will take their place on a small but select Prestbury Park team Derham is assembling, as he tries to add success in the training ranks to the victory he enjoyed at the Festival aboard Salubrious during his time as a jockey.
The current ace in the trainer’s Cheltenham pack is unbeaten hurdler Queens Gamble, who Derham feels has more in her locker and is as short as 10-1 with Paddy Power for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
“Queens Gamble will run in the Mares’ Novices’ and that has been the plan all season,” said Derham.
“I’m very excited about her and it’s a really good race but I believe there is plenty more to come from her.
“If I think my horses have realistic prospects of running nice races, then I will get involved, but I’m not really into going for a day out.”
The Kansas City Chiefs were crowned back-to-back Super Bowl champions after a 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the best images from the showpiece event.
Ireland fly-half Jack Crowley is taking the challenge of filling Johnny Sexton’s shoes in his stride and “could go far”, according to team-mate James Lowe.
Test rookie Crowley marked his maiden Guinness Six Nations appearance in Dublin with the first senior try of his career to set the defending champions on course for a crushing 36-0 win over Italy.
The 24-year-old, who has never touched down in 45 provincial outings for Munster, was elevated to first-choice number 10 after long-serving talisman Sexton retired following the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Leinster wing Lowe also starred on Sunday afternoon – claiming the fifth of Ireland’s six tries before being named man of the match – and has been impressed with Crowley’s early impact.
“He’s got a lot of pressure on him, there have been some world-class 10s come before him,” he said.
“He’s taken it in his stride, bossing it around week to week.
“He hasn’t quite got that Sexton aura about him. He hasn’t got the stare down yet. He’s awesome, he growing into it.
“He slotted into 15 (after full-back Hugo Keenan was injured) as well, fair play to him, he’s a young man with a good head on his shoulders and he could go far.”
Crowley, who has 11 caps, made his full championship debut in Ireland’s statement 38-17 round-one win in France.
For the second successive week, he shrugged off some nervy kicks to produce an assured performance.
Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey – one of six players brought into Andy Farrell’s starting XV following success in Marseille – echoed Lowe’s praise of Crowley.
“He’s good, isn’t he? He’s went really well the last couple of games,” said McCloskey.
“He’s obviously still learning, he’s a young guy but some of his touches, the way he takes the ball to the line, the way he offloads is something slightly different to what Johnny brought – not that Johnny wasn’t incredible, but it’s a slightly different way of playing.
“Obviously he’s had a couple of mistakes in there and bits and pieces to work on, but you’re going to get that with someone who is 24 years old.
“I thought he was very good and very good last week as well.”
Dan Sheehan’s double and further scores from Jack Conan and Calvin Nash ensured Ireland go into a fallow weekend at the top of the table with maximum points.
Farrell’s side host Wales on February 24 before taking on England and Scotland next month.
“We’d a fair few changes this week and boys who came into the group really put their hands up and showed why they are internationals,” added Lowe.
“We are happy with where we are sitting, it’s a pretty good position to be in.”
Fernando Alonso believes he is an “attractive” candidate to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes – but has denied holding talks with the Silver Arrows.
Hamilton, 39, is entering his final season with the team which carried him to six of his seven world championships after agreeing a shock move to Ferrari in 2025.
Hamilton’s departure from Mercedes will create a vacancy alongside George Russell, while Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team are also due to have a seat available with Sergio Perez’s contract expiring at the end of the season.
Alonso’s two-season deal with Aston Martin is up for renewal in 2025. It is understood the British team are keen to retain the double world champion’s services.
“I am aware of my situation which is very unique,” said Alonso, who won back-to-back world championships with Renault in 2004 and 2005.
“There are only three world champions on the grid and I am the only one available for 2025, so I am in a good position.
“On a move to Mercedes, there has been nothing at all. I know the driver market has started earlier this year, but this will not affect me in terms of preparing for the season.
“If I want to keep racing beyond this year, the first and only talk at the beginning will be Aston Martin. I trust this project and that will be my first priority.
“But if we cannot reach an agreement I know that I am attractive to other teams. I will not stay in Formula One just to have fun. I am not that kind of person and not that kind of driver. Let’s see what the options are.”
Commenting on Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, Alonso, who drove for the Italian team between 2010 and 2014 but fell short of winning the title, added: “It was a surprise, I will not lie, not because the change itself but from the outside it seemed like he was very linked to Mercedes and very loyal to Mercedes.
“Ferrari is a special team but it is more special when you win. Maybe Lewis can bring that extra fight for the championship because the car is there.”
Alonso finished fourth in last year’s drivers’ championship as his Aston Martin transformed from also-rans to frontrunners.
Alonso scored six podiums in the opening eight rounds and might have ended his 10-year wait for victory had his team’s strategy been more on point at the rain-hit Monaco Grand Prix.
The Silverstone-based team’s form fell away in the second half of the year but Alonso continued to out-perform his machinery, taking further podiums in the Netherlands and Brazil.
He ended the year 132 points and six places ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll – son of the team’s fashion billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll – and was voted third, behind Max Verstappen and Hamilton, by his fellow drivers and finished runner-up to Verstappen in a poll of the grid’s team bosses.
Alonso, 43, in July will this season become the first driver to take part in 400 grands prix and the evergreen Spaniard raised the prospect of competing deep into his forties.
He added: “A few years ago I would say 41 or 42 is the limit, but after last year I saw I was motivated, performing well, and I was thinking I could race a few more years.
“Now, this winter, I have exceeded expectations in terms of the physical tests, so if I am motivated and ready to commit, I can race until 48, 49 or maybe even 50.”
Pre-season testing starts in Bahrain a week on Wednesday ahead of the first race, also in the Gulf Kingdom, on March 2.
Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce dedicated their Super Bowl comeback win to head coach Andy Reid after earlier barging into the 65-year-old and shouting in his face.
Kelce, whose high-profile relationship with pop star Taylor Swift meant there was even greater focus on him and the game, was unhappy about not being on the field in the first quarter when Isiah Pacheco fumbled the ball with the Chiefs eight yards out and looking for their first touchdown.
Reid was knocked off balance but made little of the incident and, when Patrick Mahomes threw the match-winning touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman Jr to secure a 25-22 overtime win, all was forgotten.
“Oh you guys saw that?” Kelce told CBS when asked about it immediately after the game.
“I’m going to keep that between us unless my mic’d up tells the world but I was just telling him how much I love him.”
Speaking on ESPN SportsCenter Kelce, who shared a kiss on the pitch with Swift after she flew in from her Eras Tour show in Tokyo the day before, added: “Man, I was fired up — I was fired up that we weren’t hitting on all cylinders.
“I had to give ‘Big Red’ a love tap and let him know that we were all here fighting for him no matter what. I just had to tell him I loved him real quick.
“I put so much trust in him and how he goes about being a head coach, as a leader — he’s one of the best leaders in the game.
“I can’t thank him enough for giving me opportunities year in, year out. This third one, this second one back-to-back, this one’s for him, no doubt.”
Talking to reporters Kelce added: “I’ve got the greatest coach this game has ever seen.
“He’s helped me a lot with channelling that emotion, channelling that passion and I owe my entire career to that guy and being able to control how emotional I get. I just love him.”
The experienced Reid, who won his third Super Bowl title, played down the incident telling ESPN: “He came over and gave me a hug, said ‘Sorry about that”.
He just wants to be on the field and he wants to play. There’s nobody I get better than I get him. He’s a competitive kid, and he loves to play. He makes me feel young.”
In his post-match press conference the head coach added: “He caught me off-balance – he tested that hip out. Normally I get him a little bit but I didn’t have any feet under me.
“As much as he bumps into me, I get after him. We understand that. He just caught me off balance.”
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