James McCann matched a career high with five RBIs against his former team to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 10-3 win over the New York Mets on Friday.
McCann, traded to the Orioles from the Mets in the offseason, opened the scoring in the fourth inning with a two-run single.
He ripped a two-run double high off the wall in left field in Baltimore’s four-run sixth and added an RBI single to cap a four-run seventh.
The veteran catcher drove in five runs one time previously, on August 12, 2017, while with the Detroit Tigers.
McCann became the first catcher to go 3 for 3 or better with a walk, stolen base and at least five RBIs since RBIs became an official stat in 1920.
Rookie Jordan Westburg hit his second career home run – a three-run blast to centre - as American League-leading Baltimore won for the fifth time in six games to remain two games ahead of Tampa Bay in the East.
Reliever Mike Baumann worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings to become the first in team history to win his first nine relief decisions in a season.
Francisco Lindor had a two-run single for the Mets, who have been outscored 30-11 during a four-game losing streak.
Royals beat Phillies for 7th straight win
Bobby Witt Jr. and Michael Massey homered to lead the Kansas City Royals to their seventh straight win, 7-5 over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dairon Blanco knocked in three runs and stole three bases for the last-place Royals, who followed three-game sweeps of the New York Mets and AL Central-leading Twins with a series-opening victory for their longest win streak since July 2017.
Witt has keyed the streak, going 17 for 32 with four homers, 15 RBIs, eight runs and four steals in those seven games.
He became the first player in MLB history with 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases in each of his first two seasons.
Braves’ Fried dominates Cubs in return
Max Fried pitched six stellar innings in his return and the Atlanta Braves homered on back-to-back pitches in a seven-run fourth in an 8-0 rout of the Chicago Cubs.
Making his first appearance since May 5, Fried limited the Cubs to three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts while throwing 72 pitches.
Sean Murphy and Marcel Ozuna went deep off Kyle Hendricks on consecutive pitches in Atlanta’s fourth inning and Austin Riley connected in the seventh.
The major league-best Braves earned their sixth win in seven games to increase their NL East lead to 12 ½ games over Philadelphia.
The Cincinnati Bengals have come to terms with linebacker Logan Wilson on a four-year extension worth up to $37.25 million, according to sources.
Wilson, who was entering the final year of his rookie contract, will make an average of $11.2 million over the first two years of the deal.
Wilson has 123 tackles, 2 ½ sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in 15 games last season as Cincinnati captured its second straight AFC North title.
In three seasons with the Bengals, the 27-year-old Wilson has 256 tackles, seven interceptions and 4 ½ sacks in 40 games.
The Bengals have given Wilson and defensive end Trey Hendrickson extensions, and star quarterback Joe Burrow is soon to get what could be the richest contract in NFL history.
The Los Angeles Lakers and eight-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis have agreed to a three-year contract extension worth $186million, multiple media outlets reported Friday.
Davis, 30, has two seasons remaining on his original five-year, $190million deal and is now signed though the 2027-28 season.
After helping the Lakers win the 2020 NBA Finals, Davis has been considered a franchise cornerstone, but there had been some questions about his long-term future in Los Angeles with LeBron James entering the final season of his contract.
Last season, Davis averaged 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists while shooting a career-best 56.3 percent from the field.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft, Davis remains one of the NBA’s premier players when healthy but has struggled to stay on the court recently, missing 104 games over the last three seasons.
After the Lakers’ run to the Western Conference finals last season and a promising offseason, expectations are high in Los Angeles despite durability concerns plaguing Davis and James.
“We are trending in the right direction,” Davis said at the end of last season. "Obviously, the goal is to win championships, and we wanted to be not just knocking on the door but actually get it done, walk through the door. So that’s our goal. That’s our goal every time we step on the floor for training camp, and I’m 100-percent sure that will be the goal next year."
During 11 NBA seasons, Davis has averaged 24 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists, along with 2.31 blocks and 1.34 steals.
In 55 career playoff games, Davis has averaged 25.9 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 53.3 percent from the field.
Castleford coach Andy Last has been sacked after Friday night’s 28-0 home defeat to Huddersfield left the Tigers bottom of Betfred Super League.
The Tigers were battered by the Giants at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle, with a hat-trick of tries from Sam Halsall helping to consign them to a fifth successive defeat.
Last, who took over in March after Lee Radford stepped down, did not appear before the media following the match.
And the club soon released a statement, which read: “Castleford Tigers can confirm that Andy Last has departed the club with immediate effect.
“The club will make a further statement after the weekend.”
Castleford have won just four of 21 league games this season and are now 12th in the standings, below Wakefield on points difference – with the Tigers travelling to Trinity in their next game.
While the Tigers continue to struggle, Huddersfield were celebrating a fourth win in a row to keep their play-off hopes alive.
The Giants are ninth in the table and just four points off the top six.
“I’m really pleased,” coach Ian Watson said.
“We showed great character. We spoke about starting really fresh and starting really well.
“We wanted to take that pressure away. Our defensive mentality was awesome.
“It’s a week by week proposition for us [making the finals]. We don’t want to get carried away, but it’s put us in a great position. We look a hell of a lot more like us.”
The Giants next face defending champions St Helens on August 13.
“That will be a big game for us. Every game for us is a big game. There’s no point looking two or three games ahead. We have to enjoy it.”
Watson praised the impact of full-back Jake Connor, who set up two tries and constantly troubled Castleford’s defence, and believes the England international is starting to find his feet.
“There’s still things we’ve spoke about, but he’s finding a way,” he said.
“He’s started to turn up in the right places now. Everything comes off our D anyway.”
Andy Murray came up just short in a three-hour marathon against world number nine Taylor Fritz in the last 16 of the Citi Open.
The 36-year-old, who was runner-up in Washington 17 years ago, looked on the brink of another of his occasional statement wins since his comeback from hip surgery when he had break points for a 4-2 lead in the deciding set.
But Fritz, the top seed and American number one, managed to repel all three and went on to wrap up his 40th win in 2023, 6-7 (2) 6-3 6-4.
An epic encounter was briefly held up while a group of rowdy protesters who had thrown giant tennis balls on to the court were escorted from the stand.
Murray had already smashed his racket against the floor after dropping serve in the first game, throwing in two double-faults among six unforced errors.
The Scot had been a point away from a 3-0 deficit but improved as the set wore on and broke back for 5-5 as Fritz served for it, saving two set points before converting his first break point with a drop shot.
Murray dominated the tie-break with Fritz now showing his frustration, and he took the set after 87 minutes with an almost dismissive forehand winner.
But Fritz locked straight back in to break at the start of the second on his way to levelling the match.
Fritz survived those break points at 2-3 in the decider and then a Murray double-fault gifted the 25-year-old three chances to break, taking the second when Murray’s backhand drifted long.
In a dramatic final game, Murray brought up three break-back points at 40-0, Fritz survived the lot and then squandered two match points before converting the third.
Dan Evans had lost eight of his last nine matches before arriving in Washington but the British number two made it two wins in two by beating Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-4 6-3.
Evans will have to play his last-eight match later in the day after rain saw his and Murray’s matches cancelled on Thursday.
The NFL has suspended New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara and Indianapolis Colts defensive back Chris Lammons for three regular-season games for their role in a February 2022 fight in Las Vegas.
Both players pleaded no contest to misdemeanour charges on July 11 as part of a plea bargain with Nevada prosecutors, avoiding any potential jail time.
The league announced its discipline on Friday, after Kamara was granted a meeting with commissioner Roger Goodell earlier this week.
Kamara, the Saints’ leader in yards from scrimmage in five of the last six seasons, will miss games against the Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers.
Kamara spoke publicly for the first time since the start of training camp, taking questions Friday after practice but before the NFL’s punishment was announced.
“I never want to be involved in something where someone gets hurt or severely injured or anything. Poor judgement on my end, definitely a bad decision,” Kamara said. “I was completely wrong, embarrassed the Saints, embarrassed my family, my mother. Embarrassed myself.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tough,” Kamara continued. “I’ve lost a lot throughout this ordeal. I’m definitely not looking for any pity and not looking for somebody to give me a pat on the back and say, ‘It’s OK.’ I know what I did. ... And I definitely take responsibility. That’s part of being a man and growing. From here, I just got to make the right decisions and make the right choices.”
Kamara, Lammons and two other defendants were accused of beating a Houston man unconscious. As part of their plea bargains, Kamara and Lammons agreed to each pay $100,000 towards the victim’s medical bills, as well as an undisclosed amount from a separate civil lawsuit that was settled.
Kamara admitted Friday that he had a hard time focusing on football while the NFL’s discipline was pending.
“It’s hanging over you,” Kamara said. “Obviously, it’s self-inflicted. But nonetheless, it’s still something that’s, you know, it’s like a dark cloud. ... It’s hard to kind of enjoy some of the smaller things.”
A third-round draft pick out of Tennessee, Kamara was the 2017 Offensive Rookie of the Year and has been among the NFL’s most versatile weapons since entering the league.
In six seasons, all with the Saints, Kamara has amassed 5,135 rushing yards and 49 rushing touchdowns while adding 430 receptions for 3,753 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Kamara has averaged 101 scrimmage yards over 88 career games, second only to Christian McCaffrey (113.1) among active players with at least 75 games played.
Jody Cundy won a remarkable 14th consecutive world kilo title as Britain’s para-cyclists enjoyed a golden night on the second day of the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow.
Neil Fachie, racing on home boards in Scotland, claimed a 17th world title, piloted to glory by Matt Rotherham in the men’s B kilo time trial ahead of fellow Brits James Ball and Steffan Lloyd, before Jaco Van Gass pipped team-mate Fin Graham to gold in the men’s C3 kilo time trial.
Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl then made it two golds in as many days as they beat fellow Brits Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall in the women’s B individual pursuit.
These combined ‘super’ world championships are the first in which the track cycling and para-track cycling has been fully integrated, and the Brits took full advantage of the partisan home crowd as Fran Brown and Daphne Schrager also picked up silver medals.
Cundy has owned the men’s C4 kilo crown since making his debut in 2006. But after a spell of injury and illness the 44-year-old has considered stepping away from the sport in recent months before rediscovering his mojo and using it to claim yet another rainbow jersey.
“It’s probably the best one purely off the fact I’ve had an absolute shocker of a year,” Cundy said. “I’ve been properly low, depression, just things in life but I’ve had massive support from the team, my fiancee, kids, my mum and dad and a great network within British Cycling…
“It was getting to a point where I had absolutely no motivation every time I got on the bike and it was getting harder and harder and I just wasn’t looking forward to it…
“But thankfully I’ve kind of turned my world around and here we are with another world title in the bag. This is probably the best one.”
Cundy said next year’s Paraylmpics is likely to be his swansong but, having just ridden his best time at sea level at 1 minute 3.648 seconds, he added: “You can’t say never, and if I’m getting better then it will be hard to walk away.”
“If I get to Paris and I can get on the podium or whatever, it would be a nice way to go out.”
Crowd favourite Fachie took a 17th career world title, and credited the Glasgow crowds with spurring him on as he and Rotherham needed a big push in the final few laps to beat Ball and Lloyd by 0.042 seconds.
“This is my first big race (back at the velodrome) since 2014 and the Commie Games which was one of the absolute highlights of my career so just to be back here is amazing, and it’s a first world title with my son in the crowd watching so that was special too.
“The crowd was amazing, that’s the reason we won today. We’ve got no idea on the bike if we’re up or down (on time), all we could hear was the crowd roaring.
“I assumed we were going really well because they were cheering, I had no concept of us being behind but the crowd got behind us and we just nicked it.”
Van Gass took his fifth world title as he beat Graham by 0.263seconds, and then soaked in the adulation of the crowd.
“It really is amazing,” the 36-year-old said. “Every time a British rider steps to the plate the crowd goes wild and honestly I needed them today, they drove me through it. It’s a great experience and what the sport deserves.”
Unwin and Holl won the women’s B kilo on Thursday, and doubled up with a convincing win over Fachie, who is married to Neil, and Hall.
“We knew how the race was going to go, we knew we would be behind in the first half and hopefully bring it back and to be able to execute that how we wanted to was amazing,” Unwin said.
“Yesterday it was nice to see the endurance and the speed in our legs and that gave us the confidence to know we could come in today and do what we wanted.”
Brazil bounced back from disappointment over hurdles 24 hours earlier to bag a big prize on the Flat at Galway on Friday.
Winner of the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham in March last year, he was pulled up in the Galway Hurdle on Thursday.
But the Padraig Roche-trained, JP McManus-owned five-year-old showed no ill effects back on the level in €110,000 Guinness Premier Handicap over a mile and a half, powering home to edge 5-2 favourite Teed Up and Chally Chute by a head and the same in the hands of Niall McCullagh.
https://twitter.com/HRIRacing/status/1687521870004834329
“Yesterday was the plan, but unfortunately that didn’t go to plan and in fairness to Mark (Walsh) he looked after him,” said Roche following the victory of the 14-1 chance. “We had him in today and it was great, Niall gave him a great ride, so I’m delighted.
“When I was only a young lad, Niall was in India when dad (Christy Roche) was over there so I’ve known Niall a long time. It’s great and he gave him a great ride.”
On being pulled up in the Galway Hurdle he added: “Look it’s Galway, the start is everything. Fair play to Mark he looked after him and he knew he was in today. He’s a hardy horse and there’s no bother with him. He came back, ate up last night and was bouncing this morning so we said we’d give him a chance.
“His pedigree is great, he came from Ballydoyle and I’m lucky to have a horse like him.
“He has a load of options, it was a bit morbid last night but today is great. It’s a great game.”
Toss Again (11-2) produced a performance full of class to win the Guinness Galway Blazers Handicap.
With just one previous outing over fences to his name when winning a beginners’ chase at Limerick in May, the Henry de Bromhead-trained six-year-old belied his inexperience with a fine round of jumping.
Pressed hard on the long run for home, Darragh O’Keeffe’s mount was not for passing, with a length and three-quarters the margin over Quantum Realm.
De Bromhead – who has a fine recent record in the valuable handicap – said: “I’m delighted for Tom O’Connor, his owner. He and his brother and his mum are here, so that’s great. He was brilliant, and Darragh was brilliant on him.
“It’s only his first run in a handicap and second run over fences, obviously he lacked experience but his jumping is savage and he was brilliant the whole way.
“I thought it (handicap rating) was fair, off his hurdle mark. We hoped he had improved for fences, he won his beginners’ chase nicely in Limerick. The lack of experience around here (was a worry), but you wouldn’t have thought it with the way he jumped.
“He really stayed at it and I thought Darragh gave him a super ride.
“We won’t rush, today was the plan and he’s still a novice. He has options.
“He probably prefers nicer ground, I’d say he’s better on better ground.”
Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from August 4.
FootballNeil Warnock is ready to go again.
All smiles at Everton.
View this post on InstagramNew number who this?
Franck Ribery reminisced.
Lucas Digne was feeling good.
CricketStuart Broad felt lucky.
F1George Russell enjoyed his summer holidays.
MMAConor McGregor hit the beach.
TaekwondoJade Jones has a love-hate relationship with training.
Wales will step up their World Cup preparations on Saturday, with George North claiming “the vibe is completely different” following a dismal Six Nations campaign last season.
England arrive at the Principality Stadium for an opening pre-World Cup encounter that sees Wales back in action after winning just two of their last 10 Tests.
A tense victory over Italy in Rome prevented a Six Nations whitewash and staved off the wooden spoon as Wales’ poor on-field displays were mirrored by events off it through major financial issues in Welsh professional rugby and grave uncertainty with player contracts.
And those behind-the-scenes troubles led to a threatened players’ strike ahead of England’s last Cardiff visit in February.
“After the Six Nations, anything is better than that, really, after all the stuff going on. It is a much better place. The vibe is completely different,” North said.
“We all took it (Six Nations) very personally, as we do, because it is our fingerprints on it.
“And ‘Gats’ (Wales head coach Warren Gatland) took it on himself to make it right. He has been back playing his normal mind-games, he has been around the boys geeing them up.
“He has had the ability to put his stamp on it, more than he did in the Six Nations, and the same with the coaches.
“We have had a lot more time on the paddock with them, a lot more time to sit down with them, being away in (training) camps, having a coffee with them and understanding how they see things working, bouncing ideas off them.
“Some of those sessions (in Switzerland and Turkey last month), you think there’s no way we can do it, but you grind it out as a team and you get what you want out of it.”
A fourth World Cup beckons for 113 times-capped centre North, who is among just four survivors from the 2011 tournament in Wales’ current training squad alongside Leigh Halfpenny, Dan Lydiate and Taulupe Faletau.
And the 31-year-old remains an integral part of Gatland’s plans, offering vast experience and a considerable midfield presence.
“I am still enjoying it, still loving it, still competing, which is the main thing,” he added.
“It is not just knowing your role, but knowing two or three roles – which can obviously help with selection – covering both wings, in the centre, knowing that injuries happen.
“And it’s just imparting some wisdom to the younger guys knowing that ‘yes, you can do this, but you need to be good at this and this to really open that opportunity’.”
North, meanwhile, has paid a glowing tribute to Halfpenny, who will become the ninth member of Wales’ 100-cap club when he runs out against England.
“We’ve been doing it together for 14 years, through thick and thin, and in sickness and in health,” North said.
“I can’t think of a Welshman who deserves it more for his service to the country. What he has given for years in big moments where he has stepped up and delivered for us.
“He has had a rough old time with injuries and it has kept him on 99 caps for a long enough time. But what a player.
“If any young players want to look up to anyone as to how it should be done, how you should look after yourself on and off the field, then look at Leigh.
“He is a very good friend of mine and I am chuffed to take the field with him on Saturday for his 100th cap. He’s probably the one guy who deserves it more than most.”
Freddie Steward has welcomed the introduction of the ‘Bunker’ review system after enlisting the help of a psychologist to move on from the controversial red card he received against Ireland in March.
England’s full-back was sent off at the Aviva Stadium for making a dangerous tackle on Hugo Keenan but a hugely contentious decision was subsequently overturned by a disciplinary hearing.
World Rugby has since trialled a procedure designed to help referees make the right call that will be in place throughout the Summer Nations Series, which will see England face Wales in Cardiff in their opening match on Saturday.
The Bunker enables a foul play official to review yellow cards at the request of the referee, with the scope to upgrade them to a red if warranted by the offence.
Any incident will be analysed while the match continues and the player is in the sin-bin, thereby preventing the type of lengthy delays witnessed when Jaco Peyper deliberated over Steward’s red card.
“It’s a good step forward. Games are significantly affected because when it’s 15 v 14 it’s a different game,” Steward said.
“If the right decision is made or the wrong decision is made, it gives an opportunity to correct that which is good for the game.
“Also when a decision like that takes about five or 10 minutes out of the game, it’s not good for the spectators or the players to have that break.
“It’s a really good initiative to keep the game flowing and ensure the right decision is made.”
Keenan was concussed during the incident that took place in the climax to the Six Nations won 29-16 by Ireland, but there was little Steward could do to avoid the collision.
The disciplinary hearing determined that Steward has been reckless only and that the offence should have been limited to a yellow card, but the saga still left its mark on the 22-year-old Leicester star.
“We actually played at the Aviva Stadium a couple weeks after it happened,” Steward said.
“I had done a bit of work with the psychologist David Priestley and he said to me before the game ‘go and stand where it happened, on that bit of turf, and just replay it and park it’.
“Ever since then that was the line in the sand and it’s not really something that I’ve thought about since.
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“It definitely helped. To be back in that same spot, it was so much easier to think ‘it happened, deal with it’. And that was that.”
Steward is one of five starters at the Principality Stadium who are assured of their places in England’s final World Cup squad named on Monday.
Another is Ellis Genge, the Bristol prop who leads England out in the first of four warm-up Tests fully aware of the need to ensure those on the fringe of selection focus on the match rather than making an impression on head coach Steve Borthwick.
In 2019 Genge was outstanding against Wales at Twickenham, leading to his inclusion in Eddie Jones’ squad for Japan.
“It would be naive not to address that. I was in that position four years ago,” Genge said.
“The squad hadn’t been announced yet and I went out and played well and then went on the plane. So I know it’s a huge game for some people.
“I was a different character back then. I just went in with all guns blazing and hit everything as hard as I could and it all looked after itself.
“Taking a step back from that now, I see how that could have worked against me. Luckily on that day it didn’t. So I’ll try and share some advice.”
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel will miss the start of the 2023-24 NHL season after undergoing right ankle surgery earlier this week.
The Penguins announced Friday that Guentzel underwent a successful procedure at Twin Cities Orthopedics in Minnesota on Wednesday. The two-time All-Star is scheduled to be re-evaluated in 12 weeks, which would leave him sidelined into at least late October.
Pittsburgh opens its season Oct. 10 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Guentzel hurt his ankle at some point this offseason and the injury progressively worsened during recent training sessions, according to Penguins president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas.
"As Jake continued to increase the intensity of his preparation for the upcoming season, it was apparent that his ankle injury was not resolving in a way that was satisfactory to he or the Penguins," Dubas said in a team statement. "In collaboration with Jake - his representative Ben Hankinson of Octagon Sports, the Penguins medical team led by Dr. Dharmesh Vyas of UPMC Sports Medicine, and Dr. (Chris) Coetzee - it was decided that surgery would be the best way to ensure Jake would be at his best in 2023-2024."
Guentzel has led the Penguins in goals in each of the last two seasons and tied a career high with 40 in 2021-22, a campaign in which he finished with a personal-best 84 points.
The 28-year-old enjoyed another productive season in 2022-23 with 36 goals and 37 assists in 78 games. His 11 power-play goals last season were a career high and tied for the team lead.
Guentzel has spent his entire seven-year career with the Penguins and has compiled 197 goals and 217 assists in 453 regular-season games. The Minnesota native led Pittsburgh with 13 postseason goals as a rookie in 2016-17 to help the team to its most recent Stanley Cup championship.
Guentzel is also one of seven players in franchise history with six consecutive seasons of 20 or more goals, a list that includes franchise legends Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The redoubtable Hamish bagged his sixth win at Group Three level in the l’Ormarins King’s Plate Glorious Stakes at Goodwood.
The lightly-raced seven-year-old had won eight of his 16 previous starts in all, most recently pipping Scriptwriter to success in the John Smith’s Silver Cup at York three weeks ago.
Trainer William Haggas declared Hamish for a stellar renewal of the King George at Ascot last weekend, but fast ground scuppered his participation and he instead arrived at Goodwood as a 5-6 favourite in the hands of Tom Marquand.
Ridden patiently in midfield for much of the mile-and-a-half-contest, the son of Motivator – who is owned by the trainer’s father, Brian – burst into it late before powering to a four-length verdict over Jack Darcy, with the winner’s stablemate, Candleford, best of the rest in third.
Haggas said: “The horse has been an absolute nightmare today to saddle. Poor Maureen (wife) has been jumped on about eight times, she’s got blood coming out of the top of her head because the horse struck her, but she adores this horse and she does everything with him. I’m taking no credit myself, the credit and the praise should go to her.
“I rang my father, who is a very proud Yorkshireman, and said ‘he’s been a bloody nightmare today, when he’s like this he never runs his best’, and he said ‘I think he’s like the north!’.
“He’s quite good at York, the horse, so he’s probably right.”
He went on: “I didn’t think this was a strong race for the grade and he was always travelling well. Tom said after the race this was the best the horse has felt this year. He scrambled home a bit at York last time, and while he likes a bit of cut in the ground he likes it wet.
“He won and poor Candleford was cantering, but got lost in the ground – it’s too tacky for him. He wants top of the ground. Candleford ran a good race, but Hamish was better.
“He won’t run in the Ebor. He’s hard to place, and while people said I should have run him in the King George I couldn’t do that on drying ground. You can run in a race like this on drying ground, but the King George is a different thing. My father quickly pointed out he has only run against one of this year’s King George horses, and that was Hukum and he beat him (in the September Stakes at Kempton in 2021)! He was lambasting me for not running.
“The Irish St Leger is a possibility, but he wants soft ground. We’ve been lucky this summer – ha, ha, what summer? – that we’ve had some soft ground. He’s run twice in a fortnight, while last year we couldn’t get anything out of him at all.”
Hamish was making it a good two days for the Haggas team, after the King and Queen’s Desert Hero booked his St Leger ticket with victory on Thursday.
Confirming Doncaster for the world’s oldest Classic as the plan, Haggas said: “He’s in the Voltigeur, but doesn’t need to run there, so all being well he will go straight to the Leger. I think we ought to try it because there’s plenty of stamina on the dam’s side and he’s by Sea The Stars, a very versatile stallion.
“He has a chance of getting the trip. Gregory will be hard to beat, but we will give it a go.”
Highfield Princess belatedly opened her account for the campaign with a runaway victory in the King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood.
John Quinn’s superstar mare won three times at Group One level last term, landing the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, the Nunthorpe at York and the Flying Five at the Curragh.
She had to make do with minor honours in her first three outings of this season, but having placed in both the King’s Stand and the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June she was the 4-9 favourite to get back on the winning trail.
Those who took the cramped odds about the six-year-old will have had few concerns for the duration of the five-furlong contest, with Highfield Princess initially taking a lead Czech raider Ponntos before bursting to the lead.
White Lavender came from out of the pack and just briefly threatened to make a race of it, but Highfield Princess found another gear in the last half-furlong under her regular partner Jason Hart and had three lengths in hand at the line.
Paddy Power make the winner their 2-1 favourite from 11-4 to successfully defend her Nunthorpe crown at York on August 25.
Epictetus inflicted a shock defeat on the much-vaunted Nostrum to land the Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes at Goodwood.
Winner of his first two juvenile starts before finishing third in the Dewhurst, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Nostrum was considered a legitimate Classic contender at the start of the year before injury ruled him out of the first half of the season.
Having made a dominant comeback in the Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket last month, there was talk of a tilt at Group One glory in the Sussex Stakes, but connections instead elected to take another step forward in this Group Three contest.
For much of the one-mile journey the race appeared to be going according to script, with Ryan Moore adopting the same pacesetting tactics which worked so impressively at Newmarket three weeks ago aboard the 4-6 market leader – but it was a clear with a furlong to run he had a race on his hands.
Having sat in Nostrum’s slipstream throughout, the John and Thady Gosden-trained Epictetus produced the better finishing kick of the pair and passed the post with a length in hand under Frankie Dettori.
Of the vanquished favourite, Stoute’s assistant James Savage said: “Ryan thought he had the horse in the perfect place and that the race was for us, but in the last 100 yards he said it was like having a puncture.
“We always thought he would handle cut in the ground, but it found him out in the final 100 yards.
“He’s never not hit the line and we felt he just didn’t hit the line today. We’ll give him a good check over and regroup.
“All of our horses are trained to hit their heights at a certain time, and this horse – for sure he’s a very good horse this year, but he will be an even better horse next year.”
Epictetus, trained by John and Thady Gosden, was a 6-1 shot to notch a first win since making a successful reappearance at Epsom in April, having since failed to trouble the judge in the Dante, the French Derby or the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Dropping back to a mile for the first time this season Epictetus looked the real deal, much to the delight of his connections.
“The horse has shown plenty of speed over a mile and two (furlongs), we thought he’d progress to a mile and a quarter this year,” said Thady Gosden.
“Obviously it hasn’t necessarily panned out, he’s run good races without getting his head in front but dropping him down in trip today on ground he’s enjoyed has suited him well.
“It was a perfect ride. He broke well, sat where he was happy on the fence and it panned out, he followed Ryan and it was a Houdini move to get out of there with a furlong to go. Being Frankie, he obviously managed to do it!
“Obviously there is a mile race back here, the Celebration Mile, which fits in well.”
Dettori added: “We tried three times over a mile and two furlongs and we always had an excuse – the ground, the competition in the Jockey Club, and we thought maybe George (Strawbridge, owner) was right when he said, ‘Maybe you guys are running this horse too long!’
“John and Thady found this race over a mile and the favourite looked very hard to beat, I had a good passage and he passed the horse and was not stopping, I give him full credit
“He is ready to go up in grade – the Celebration Mile in three weeks springs to mind and then there are lots of races in the autumn – at Newmarket, maybe over Arc weekend. He has beat a decent field today in style and we can go back and make big plans.
“As he handles some ease in the ground, we can look to the autumn.”
Annabelle Hadden-Wight produced a composed performance to land the Markel Magnolia Cup aboard Scott Dixon’s Fosroc.
The 22-year-old, who is a work rider and racing secretary to trainer Jack Jones, partnered the seven-year-old gelding known under rules as Ebury.
The partnership got off to a good start over the five-and-a-half-furlong trip and travelled near the head of the field, pulling away two furlongs from home and holding on to narrowly finish ahead of the closing rival Eliza McCalmont.
“It has not really sunk in, it was so much fun, I want to do it all over again! I have only ridden the horse once and I didn’t know what to expect,” said Hadden-Wight.
“He jumped really well, we got a good start, and I was in front most of the way, and I had two each side and I decided that I was not going to let them come past.
“My legs were good, but I did jump off and my knees buckled. I am pretty tired now!
“It has been an amazing experience, a lot of cameras, but the whole thing has been really well organised and we have been very well looked after.”
The victory had a special poignancy for Hadden-Wight, who at one point thought she would never walk again, let alone ride, after falling ill with meningitis when she was 18.
“Four years ago I was in the Philippines and I got really ill on my 18th birthday on just the second day we were there,” she explained.
“I ended up spending months and months out there – I had meningitis with lots of complications and my legs weren’t working, I was in a wheelchair. They said I may never walk or ride again.
“After making a full recovery, I like to take every opportunity, it really changed my outlook on life. It was for the best, but at the time pretty scary.
“It is so nice to have my friends and family here, some I have not seen for ages.
“Mum is here, she is not horsey at all and has found the whole thing terrifying!”
Free Wind looks to put defeat at Royal Ascot behind her in the Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood on Saturday.
A winner at Group Three and Group Two level in 2021, the daughter of Galileo made just one competitive appearance last season, claiming another Group Two prize in the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock.
She made a successful comeback in the Middleton at York in May and having seen the runner-up Rogue Millennium go one better in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes, Free Wind was a hot favourite to claim a Royal Ascot success of her own in the Hardwicke.
Supporters of John and Thady Gosden’s mare were ultimately left counting their losses, with the five-year-old beaten three lengths into fifth place by the popular winner Pyledriver – but hopes are high that she can get back her head back on track with plenty in her favour.
Thady Gosden said: “She won the Middleton over a trip below her optimum on her first run of the year and then she found the ground a little too fast for her by the Saturday of Ascot.
“Obviously we’ve had rain at Goodwood this week and there’s more forecast. Hopefully it doesn’t get too deep, but she seems to be in good form.
“She has course form and we’re looking forward to running her.”
Connections of Time Lock began the year with high hopes after the Frankel filly pushed fellow high-class Juddmonte-owned filly Haskoy close in the Galtres Stakes at York last summer.
She kicked off her campaign with a runner-up finish to Luisa Casati in a Listed race at Goodwood and has since finished fourth in both the Pinnacle Stakes and the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock.
Having expected the prevailing quick ground on Merseyside to suit the four-year-old, Juddmonte’s racing manager Barry Mahon is now looking forward to seeing her return to an easier surface.
“She’s in good form and we think a mile and six (furlongs) will bring out a bit more improvement in her,” he said.
“It’s similar opposition to what she’s met so far, apart from Free Wind.
“I think we’ve got her wrong ground-wise. Last year one of her most impressive performances was on quick ground at Newmarket and she looked to skip off it, but Ryan (Moore) felt she really didn’t like it at Haydock.
“Looking at her we always thought she wanted soft ground, but that performance at Newmarket had us thinking we were wrong.
“Over a mile and six with a bit of cut in the ground, I’m not saying she’ll win, but I think she’ll be competitive.”
Luisa Casati beat Time Lock at Goodwood in the spring, but finished a length behind her when fifth in last month’s Lancashire Oaks.
Her trainer Tom Ward also expects a return to softer ground to yield an improved performance.
“She’s in good shape and I thought she ran well the other day at Haydock, although she got back in a slowly-run race on slightly quicker ground than ideal,” he said.
“A step up in trip and slower ground should really suit her, so she’s going there with a nice chance on Saturday I hope.
“She likes the track, it’s not a big field and Richard (Kingscote) knows her well, so fingers crossed.”
River Of Stars is a leading contender for Ralph Beckett, having backed up a York success over Free Wind’s stablemate Mimikyu with a narrow defeat in a French Group Two three weeks ago.
Gosden second string Ghara, Roger Varian’s Peripatetic, Paul and Oliver Cole’s Sumo Sam and Divina Grace from Rae Guest’s yard complete the field.
Wales boss Warren Gatland has hailed Leigh Halfpenny as “the ultimate professional” ahead of him joining rugby union’s 100-cap club.
Halfpenny will reach three figures for Wales in Saturday’s opening World Cup warm-up game against England at the Principality Stadium.
Only eight other Wales players have clocked up a century of caps, with Halfpenny just the fifth back after Stephen Jones, Gareth Thomas, George North and Dan Biggar.
He made his Wales debut as a teenager against South Africa 15 years ago, while he has had to overcome a number of injury setbacks that meant lengthy absences from the game.
“If you are talking about role models as a professional, you could not get a harder worker than Leigh Halfpenny in terms of how he prepares,” Gatland said.
“The analysis, training and recovery, he is the ultimate professional. He started his career on the wing and then has been brilliant as a positional 15.
“He is a tremendous goalkicker and is probably still the best defensive full-back in the world. It’s a great honour for him and I am delighted for him.”
Wales assistant coach Jonathan Thomas was still playing when Halfpenny first arrived on the international scene, and he added: “The big thing when he first came in was how relentless he was in putting the extra hours in on the training field – after everyone else had finished – around his kicking, his high-ball stuff and his contact work.
“The contact-skill side of the back-three is much more important now, but 15 years ago it wasn’t high on the job description for back-three players. Even back then he was putting a huge amount of work in around his high-ball stuff and all of that.
“He has been the ultimate Welshman, the ultimate team man. I’ve got three kids and if you want to give them any anecdotes of what to look for, what to be like, it’s Leigh Halfpenny.”
While Halfpenny will be centre of attention in front an anticipated 65,000 crowd, considerable interest also surrounds some new faces.
Gatland has handed out Test debuts to centre Max Llewellyn, plus Cardiff props Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti as the World Cup countdown continues.
And there is also an opportunity for 22-year-old Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow, who won the first of his two caps last autumn, in a team led by first-time skipper Jac Morgan.
Gatland added: “He (Costelow) gets the ball through his hands really well and we’ve been impressed with his ability to the line when he becomes a running threat.
“He is brave and doesn’t take a backwards step defensively and he has spoken well when he presents to the group and shown some leadership skills.
“Max has impressed in training with the lines he is running. I’ve been really pleased with how he has started to step up and how vocal he has been.
“That is one of the big focus areas for this squad, how important your voice is, particularly under fatigue.
“I’ve seen a huge improvement in him and he has built some confidence. It’s not just the physical side, though. He is also a good passer of the ball and he can hopefully put us outside in space.”
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