Few jockeys will ever have as much success at Goodwood as Michael Hills.
The Derby-winning rider knew almost every idiosyncrasy the undulating South Downs track could offer.
Among his many British Group One winners, he secured victories in both the Sussex Stakes and Nassau, though he cherishes the two Goodwood Cups gained by the hugely-popular Further Flight, trained by his father Barry, above all others.
In a 10-year career from October 1988 to October 1998, the magnificent grey ran 70 times and won 24 races – 22 of them partnered by Hills.
“Further Flight used to come at that time of year,” said Hills. “He won two in a row in 1991 and 1992. He was just amazing.
“He used to come from way back and was not the easiest ride. He got there early and then he’d stop. He only just got the two miles. We tried him in the Gold Cup and he didn’t stay.
“The Goodwood Cup was his first Group race win in ’91, after he’d won the Ebor. I have got the pictures and he gets lighter and lighter each year. When I last rode him, he was nearly white.”
Further Flight got better with age, being voted European Champion Older Horse at the Cartier Racing Awards in 1995 and landing the Group Two Jockey Club Cup every season from 1991 to 1995.
“What was remarkable was his durability. After the Ebor, he was right at the top and had to compete at the top all the time,” Hills added.
“He was unbelievable, winning two Lonsdale Cups and the Doncaster Cup as well.
“He was aggressive. He used to pull really hard when he was young, and we got him to settle and that is when he got to stay. He was gelded as a three-year-old and then handicapped. He went up the handicap route and then just got better and better.”
Further Flight was even placed in the 1997 Jockey Club Cup as an 11-year-old and won his last race the following year.
He was retired after his final race in October 1998 and went to live with Hills, his wife Chris and daughter Sam in Newmarket. Not that the jockey’s affection for Further Flight was reciprocated.
“He was a funny character, because when he retired, they gave him to me and I had him at home – he wouldn’t go near me and didn’t like me at all,” said Hills.
“He used to love my daughter and my wife. He would only go to her. He wouldn’t let me catch him.
“I don’t know why. He didn’t like men and Chris will say he was a good judge of character! He was a funny old boy.
“The only time I’d go near him was when he was in his box. In the paddock, he wouldn’t go near me.”
Hills, whose big-race victories included the Derby with Shaamit and King George with Pentire in 1996, retired in 2009 after three decades in the saddle.
He has remained a fixture on racecourses and the 60-year-old imparts his riding knowledge, teaching young jockeys as a British Horseracing Authority coach at the British Racing School in Newmarket.
“I love working with the apprentices,” added Hills. “It’s really great, when they listen to you and you see them doing it on the track, it gives me a good kick.
“Telling them about the draws and the different tracks. Goodwood is so tricky, where the draw is, where the pace is, it is so, so important.
“As soon as those gates open, you can win and lose the race there and then. Goodwood is a very awkward track. They had a few suspensions at Royal Ascot, and I think we will see a few more at Goodwood.”
Longevity and consistency made Further Flight one of the more popular horses in training and Hills could invariably be relied upon more often than not to deliver on the biggest days at the West Sussex track.
“I have some lovely memories of riding there,” he added: “The Sussex Stakes on First Island (1996) was really great, coming back from a mile and a quarter when winning the Prince of Wales’s at Ascot, to a mile. It was a great training performance from Geoff Wragg.
“I think I won two Schweppes Miles with Prince Rupert and Distant Relative, too.
“I was lucky at Goodwood. Dad and Geoff (Wragg) pinged it. There was the Richmond with First Trump and Superstar Leo for William Haggas in the Molecomb, which I won a few times (Hoh Magic 1994, Majestic Missile 2003 and Enticing 2006), and winning the Nassau on Ryafan (1997) was great.
“That was a very, very good filly. I said to John Gosden that day, she was the best filly I’d ever ridden.”
Ryafan had won the Prix Marcel Boussac as a juvenile and then went on to score in the Falmouth and Nassau to be crowned European Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, before heading to the States to take three more top-level contests as a four-year-old, earning her an American Champion Female Turf Horse honour in 1997.
“She went to America and she was unbelievable out there,” added Hills. “She was up there with the best I’ve ridden.
“She never got any further than a mile and a quarter. I remember the one thing John asked me, ‘what do you think on the trip?’. I said in the last 50 yards I was on vapours. I was on the floor, but six (lengths) clear or something.
“I think she was possibly one of the best fillies John ever trained and she never got the credit she deserved over here.
“One of my great Goodwood days was Broadway Flyer, when he won the Gordon Stakes in 1994. That was for my brother John. That was great.
“Then there was First Island in the Sussex Stakes. He was a very good horse, but unfortunately he had to take on Bosra Sham a lot. I won the Hong Kong Cup on him, which was my first big international win. He was a terrific horse.”
Sadly, Further Flight died after suffering a paddock injury to his hind leg in July 2001. Though he won just two races at Nottingham, he is remembered there with a race named after him – the Barry Hills Further Flight Stakes – and will always be the horse Hills will be best associated with.
He was very much part of the family, so much so that they could not bare to part with his memory.
Chris Hills explained: “We had a headstone made for him when he was buried.
“When we sold the farm, we hoped the new owners would keep the grave in good order, but I went there one day and it was all overgrown.
“I was so upset and angry. I said to Michael, ‘I’m going to get his headstone’, so we basically spirited it away. It took a job to get it out of the ground.
“We had a wooden cross made as a replacement with his achievements on, so no-one is going to forget him.”
“He was by far my favourite horse,” Michael Hills added. “To win back-to-back Goodwood Cups and the same five Group races in as many years, no other horse as done that. He was fabulous.”
Nations Pride added a victory in Germany to his growing international CV when scoring emphatically in the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis – Bayerisches Zuchtrennen at Munich.
Although beaten on debut at two, four straight subsequent victories earned the son of Teofilo a shot at the Derby last year in which he finished eighth behind Desert Crown.
After Epsom, trainer Charlie Appleby turned the colt’s sights globally and Nations Pride followed up a narrow defeat in the Belmont Derby with wins in both the Saratoga and Aqueduct equivalents, before finishing an honourable fifth behind stablemate Rebel’s Romance in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
He spent the early part of 2023 in Meydan where he picked up the Dubai Millennium Stakes and finished third to Lord North in the Dubai Turf, but made a fantastic return to Europe in the Munich Group One.
Having seized the initiative early, William Buick was able to dictate terms from the front aboard the four-year-old and then put the race to bed in fine style when kicking for home entering the home straight, coming home unchallenged for a three-length success.
It was Appleby’s second win in the race following Barney Roy’s triumph in 2020 and the Moulton Paddocks handler suggested Nations Pride could be getting his passport stamped once again this autumn.
“I’m delighted he’s been able to get a Group One win to go alongside his Grade One win from Saratoga,” said Appleby.
“He’s a very solid mile and a quarter horse and William gave him a great ride.
“We were confident going into the race although we were having to concede a lot of weight to the German Derby winner (Fantastic Moon, second), but he’s done it well.
“Going forward he’s going to be a horse that we’ll campaign internationally as he’s got the experience of doing so. There’s no immediate targets but he’ll have an autumn campaign, internationally.
“I’m delighted for the team he’s put another Group One on the board.”
Paddy Power cut the winner to 9-1 from 12s for the Juddmonte International at York, while he is 10-1 for the Cox Plate.
Ons Jabeur will bounce back from her second straight Wimbledon final defeat by winning a "deserved" grand slam, according to Iva Majoli.
Jabeur was beaten 6-4 6-4 in the Wimbledon showpiece match by Marketa Vondrousova, who claimed her first grand slam and became the first ever unseeded champion at SW19.
The loss was Jabeur's second Wimbledon final defeat in as many years, with the Tunisian world number six still yet to win a grand slam despite reaching three finals in the last two years.
However, Majoli, who won the French Open in 1997 when she beat Martina Hingis in the final to deny her Swiss opponent the Grand Slam, is confident Jabeur will get over her recent disappointment by finally winning a major final.
"I think this loss was tough," Majoli told Stats Perform. "I'm sure everyone was expecting Ons [to win] and I love Ons.
"I think in the end there was maybe too much pressure on her. But from the beginning, I said that it was going to be a tough match.
"I think this loss was probably tougher than the one last year and I think she was expecting a lot from herself and I think she was expecting that she's going to win it. But life writes stories and it's not always how you expect.
"I think she will come back and I really wish she's going to win a slam because she deserves it."
Vondrousova's victory was historic, as she became the lowest-ranked player to win the Wimbledon ladies' title.
She also became the first unseeded woman to reach the final in 60 years.
Asked whether Vondrousova's unlikely triumph was a sign of strength or weakness in the women's game, Majoli replied: "There have been a lot of ups and downs, there have been a lot of wins and then disappearances and then wins again.
"But I think there is a strong young generation coming up. It was great to see Marketa Vondrousova winning.
"Marketa being a lefty is very dangerous. She was playing amazingly the whole tournament. And I always think the left-handers are a danger, like Petra Kvitova. So I would love to see them doing much, much better in the tournaments and in the rankings."
Racing and equestrianism will come together at the Qatar Goodwood Festival with the aim of raising money for charity in the Magnolia Cup.
The five-and-a-half-furlong contest, for which 2024 applications are open, gives 12 women from a variety of backgrounds the chance to shine at the summer meeting.
The event is sponsored by Markel and in 2022 was run in aid of The Brilliant Breakfast, a British charity that supports disadvantaged young women and for whom the race raised over £300,000.
This year’s race is run in support of the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, established in 2012 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, with the aim of transforming lives through education.
In recent years the race has also exemplified the increased focus on diversity within the sport, with Khadijah Mellah becoming the first hijab-wearing jockey to win an organised horse race of any kind in this country when successful in 2019.
Mellah learned to ride at Ebony Horse Club, an inner-city riding school in Brixton, and in 2022 the momentum continued when Ashleigh Wicheard was the winning rider and used her moment in the limelight to highlight the Black Lives Matter cause.
Naturally both successes have to led both improvement in and increased discussion around diversity in racing, something that leads Cool Ridings founder Lydia Heywood to believe the sport is blazing a trail for other areas of equestrianism.
Heywood, a British-based event rider who represents Jamaica, created Cool Ridings in 2020 to give support to those not well represented within the world of equestrian sport.
Through the organisation Heywood met Olivia Kennedy, a fellow equestrian who will aim to do Cool Ridings proud when she takes her place in the 2023 Magnolia Cup.
Heywood said of the group: “Cool Ridings launched in 2020 following work I did with city riding schools, I felt there was a missing link when young people discover their passion for horses and want to find a pathway to continue into successful careers.
“I’ve been representing Jamaica in the sport (eventing) since 2017, I wanted to be the change I wanted to see in the industry and now I have a whole host of new friends and a community that really celebrate each other.
“It’s a huge step in the right direction, aligning with governing bodies on training days where we support each other regardless of our level or ability.
“The Magnolia Cup was been a wonderful opportunity to get deserving members into the limelight, Olivia has grabbed the opportunity and made some great connections in the racing world.
“Her position and fitness has come on so much in such a short space of time, I’m so impressed and we’re really looking forward to the race day.”
Riders will this year raise funds for Education Above All – a charity founded by Qatar’s Sheikha Moza bint Nasser that aims to ensure more underprivileged children receive an education.
The race’s diverse cast this year includes Maryam Al Jaber, state lawyer in Qatar and the first Qatari female trainer of Camels, and Roya Nikkhah, Royal Editor for The Sunday Times, continuing the event’s status as a leader in terms of diversity and inclusion within racing.
Heywood said: “I think the racing world is leading the way when it comes to opportunities for young people and people from all backgrounds.
“Khadijah Mellah is someone who started riding at Ebony Horse Club and the work I’ve done with Ebony Horse Club has inspired me a lot to get Cool Ridings members opportunities.
“I’m sure the members will be grabbing their tickets, getting dressed up and cheering on Olivia.”
Ascot’s director of racing Nick Smith insisted he was “very pleased” with attendances at the two-day King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes Festival meeting.
It culminated with a pulsating clash between Hukum and Westover, with the former narrowly prevailing.
“It was a fabulous race, a deep race and fought out by two popular older horses,” he said.
“It was a race for the ages, although from a purely purist point of view, we needed the Derby winner to play a part. For whatever reason, he sadly was beaten before the race got started – that’s horses for you. The other three-year-old, King Of Steel, ran his race, but it was all about the two who drew clear, really.”
However, rail strikes played a part, with the crowd diminished as a result.
Smith added: “Overall, we have been very pleased with the turnout of just under 19,000, which given the rail strikes, was commendable.
“We moved a few things around on the Friday schedule and that seemed to work in terms of field size, and we were treated to a good King George, with a great finish. I think we have got to be happy in the circumstances. It was a great advertisement for racing, which is the main thing.”
Former Wales captain and coach Clive Rowlands has died at the age of 85, the Welsh Rugby Union has announced
Rowlands, who played 14 times for Wales as scrum-half, also managed the British and Irish Lions and served as president of the WRU.
He captained his country on each of his international appearances and led the team as they shared the 1964 Five Nations title with Scotland.
As coach he guided the team to a first Grand Slam in 19 years in 1971, after retiring from playing at the age of 29.
Terence Crawford has become the undisputed welterweight champion after a dominant performance against Errol Spence Jr in Las Vegas.
Crawford unleashed a flurry of punches in round nine to a wobbly Spence who could not defend himself, forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight.
It took just two rounds for Crawford to land his first of three knockdowns, with the next two coming in round seven.
Spence was brave throughout the bout, hanging on in a fight he was significantly behind in, but eventually Crawford took it out of his hands.
Crawford showed his respect to his downed opponent after the fight and said he would be up for a rematch.
“It was a good stoppage. I was on the verge. The referee did what he was supposed to do to protect the fighter,” Crawford said.
“If the fight happens again I am pretty sure the support will come out again for both of us.”
Ian Happ and Yan Gomes each hit two-run homers and the Chicago Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 for their eighth straight win on Saturday night.
Jameson Taillon won his third consecutive decision, allowing one run and two hits over six innings with four walks and four strikeouts.
Mike Tauchman, who had a game-saving catch in Friday’s win, had three hits with a seventh-inning RBI double, a night after scaling the center field fence to rob Alec Burleson of a potential winning home run.
Happ drove in Tauchman with his 10th homer of the season in the third inning to put the Cubs ahead 2-1.
Gomes’ two-run homer in the fourth inning off Adam Wainwright extended the lead to 4-1.
Wainwright was reached for four runs on seven hits with three walks in six innings. He remained stuck on 198 career victories.
The last-place Cardinals have lost three straight and seven of nine.
Acuna stars in Braves’ win
Ronald Acuna homered and stole his 50th base of the season to propel the Atlanta Braves to an 11-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in a matchup of division leaders.
Acuna went 3 for 4 with two runs, two RBIs and walk to become the first player in history with 20 or more home runs and 50 steals before August. He is one homer away from the 12th 25-50 campaign in MLB history.
Atlanta opened the game with four straight singles against Julio Teheran. After a sacrifice fly by Travis d’Arnaud, Marcell Ozuna had an RBI double and Eddie Rosario followed with a home run for a 6-0 lead.
Astros belt 5 home runs in rout
Jeremy Pena drove in a career-high four runs and the Houston Astros hit five homers in a 17-4 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Yainer Diaz homered off starter Taj Bradley and Jose Abreu went deep off reliever Calvin Faucher before Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez all homered off catcher Rene Pinto in his first career pitching appearance.
Houston got eight hits and five RBIs from the bottom three batters in its lineup.
Hunter Brown limited the Rays to two runs and four hits over six-plus innings for his first win since June 13.
The Caribbean Basketball Academy are champions of the 2023 Jamaica Basketball Showcase after a 52-50 overtime win over the Camperdown Giants in the final at the University of Technology on Saturday.
To advance to the showpiece event, CBA beat Hoop Factory Blues while Camperdown Giants beat Purple Power Basketball earlier on Saturday.
With both teams understandably tense due to what was at stake, CBA took a cagey first quarter 12-8.
They held a one-point lead with 1:13 to go in the first half before a Micah Swaine three-pointer gave the Giants a 16-14 lead. The Giants led 18-15 at the half.
A quick 4-0 start to the third quarter gave the Giants a seven-point lead and, with four minutes to go, they were up 26-16.
More solid play throughout the third saw them rewarded with a 32-20 lead entering the fourth quarter.
CBA cut the lead to eight with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter through a Jaiden Brown driving layup. The Giants were up 38-28 with 1:55 left before a quick 13-5 CBA run meant the lead was just two with 22 seconds left.
The Giants then hit a crucial layup which they thought sealed the game after putting them up four, however, this was not the case as Lebron Lewinson was fouled in the process of making a layup to cut the lead to two with 15 seconds left.
He ended up missing the freethrow but the ball ended up in the hands of Jaiden Brown who made a layup to tie the game at 45 with 11 seconds left.
CBA then forced the Giants into a turnover giving them the ball back with seven seconds left and a chance to win the game.
They ended up getting a good look with a Lewinson mid-range shot but it didn’t fall, meaning the champions would be decided in overtime.
In the end, CBA held their nerve to pull out a 52-50 victory and claim the trophy after losing in the final last year.
Lewinson was named MVP of the game with 16 points while Jaiden Brown led the champions in scoring with 18 points.
Micah Swaine, who was named MVP of the tournament, had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Giants.
“It means a lot,” said winning coach, Ludlow Barker, after the game.
“As I kept saying, we took the hardest route to get to the semi-finals and then the semi-final wasn’t that great but I told my guys that I prefer an ugly win over a pretty loss. I kept saying that from here, the only way we can go is up and that is exactly what we did,” he added.
He also lauded his team’s mental toughness to come back from down 10 with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“I’m speechless. We were dead and buried but they believed in each other, stuck it out and kept going. I said we were the best defensive team so we should use our defense and win this game and they did,” Barker said.
Losing coach, Nylon Hurd, said turnovers at key moments in the game cost his team the victory.
“I think we had some critical turnovers at critical times. We were able to hold Lebron (Lewinson) for most of the game before he hit two big time shots down the stretch. It is what it is. We will learn and move forward,” he said.
Hurd also said that, even though it was his team’s first year entering the competition, getting to the final wasn’t a surprise.
“For those who know, when we’re in competitions we’re always a quality team so it’s not new,” he said.
What was expected to be a difficult return to action for Dale Murphy’s Runaway Algo did not materialize, as the inform American-bred horse easily disposed of rivals to top the Eros Trophy feature on the 10-race card at Caymanas Park on Saturday.
In fact, the seven-length margin of victory by the four-year-old chestnut colt in the Graded Stakes/Open Allowance event for three-year-olds, was almost liking to an exercise run, given the ease in which he covered seven furlongs (1,400m) in a tidy 1:26.3, after setting splits of 23.4, 46.0 and 1:11.3. It was also a second successive win for the Lanmark Farms-owned and bred charge this season.
Anticipations of race fans were high that Runaway Algo would possibly be locked in a stretch duel with Jason DaCosta’s American-bred I Am Fred or Ian Parsard’s Mahogany or even both at the same time, but from the moment the left the gates, it became clear that Murphy’s charge would have things his own way.
The fact that I am Fred (Reyan Lewis) and Mahogany (Dane Dawkins), attempted to go with the fleet footed Runaway Algo made things all the easier for jockey Raddesh Roman, who gradually slowed the pace to accommodate his rivals, while also ensuring his horse had enough in the tank for his usual explosive burst in the homestretch.
By the time they arrived at the half-mile, Roman gradually released his hold on Runaway Algo and though I am Fred and Mahogany were both still in close proximity when they turned for home, they soon lost sight of the Algorithms –Misunify progeny, who opened up and won going away under a comfortable hand ride.
I Am Fred stayed on for second, with Mahogany in third and King Arthur (Javaniel Patterson) at the back of the four-horse field, as DaCosta’s other trainee, Eagle One was a non-starter.
Meanwhile, leading rider Lewis, extended his rich vein of form in the saddle, with a fine treble. Lewis won the first race aboard DaCosta’s Whizz Kidd, the fifth race aboard the Patrick Lynch-conditioned Prosecco, and the sixth aboard Airstream for trainer Robert Pearson.
DaCosta also saddled Phenomenal One (Anthony Allen) in the fourth race for a double for the day, along with Pearson, who also won with Posing Already (Tevin Foster).
Allen added victory with Gary Subratie’s 24-1 outsider D Head Cornerstone to his earlier win aboard Phenomenal One.
The next race card is scheduled for Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
The Texas Rangers made a major move in their push for the playoffs Saturday, agreeing to a trade with the New York Mets for ace Max Scherzer.
The deal is still pending Scherzer’s approval and there are still financial issues that need to be worked out for the deal to be completed.
The 39-year-old Scherzer is 9-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 19 starts this season for the disappointing Mets. He has 121 strikeouts in 107 2/3 innings and has allowed an NL-high 23 home runs.
The Rangers, who lead the AL West, have been hit hard by the season-ending injury to former Met Jacob deGrom, their marquee offseason addition. Scherzer would join a rotation led by All-Star Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray, Martin Perez and Dane Dunning.
Scherzer said Friday that he expected to have discussions with Mets owner Steve Cohen and the team’s front office before Tuesday’s deadline.
Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young Award winner in the second year of a three-year, $130 million contract he signed with the Mets in November 2021. The contract includes an opt-out after the current season. If he declines to opt out, then he’ll be under contract for 2024 at a salary of $43.3 million.
After being humbled by reigning champions New Zealand in their opening Vitality Netball World Cup contest, Trinidad and Tobago’s Calypso Girls bounced back in style, as they bettered Singapore 49-36, but it was not the same for Barbados Gems, who suffered a second-consecutive defeat in a 44-53 scoreline against Scotland in Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday.
The Calypso Girls, who lost 27-72 to number two-ranked Silver Ferns on Friday, were always favoured to come up trumps against Singapore and that they did to keep their hopes of progressing to the business round of the tournament alive.
Co-captain Afeisha Noel lead from the front with 38 goals from 44 attempts, with Joelisa Cooper and Tiana Dillon contributing three and eight goals and from four and nine attempts respectively, as Trinidad and Tobago led from start to finish.
Amandeep Chahal 23 goals from 31 attempts and Kai Wei Toh, 13 goals from 28 attempts offered Singapore’s resistance.
With the win, Trinidad and Tobago moved to two points, same as Uganda who lost 44-54 to Pool D leaders and tournament favourites New Zealand, on four points.
The Calypso Girls Head coach Joel Young-Strong took heart from her team’s performance heading into their final contest against Uganda on Sunday.
“It is an awesome feeling, sometimes we were a bit off track with the goal and plan that we had and the things that we worked on and talked about. But it was good to see them correct the errors and go back to playing the way we wanted them to play which was good,” Young-Strong said in a post-game interview.
“We learnt from the first game that we had to be extra patient and we had to manage the ball even better and we did that in this game to some extent. We made some adjustments because we didn’t want to take anything for granted where Singapore is concerned and I am just happy for this win,” she added.
Barbados Gems were unable to say the same, as they found Scotland too good on the day, though both teams went to the half time break locked at 23-23.
Scotland, who had suffered an agonising defeat against Malawi in Friday's Pool B opener, capitalised on a number of unforced errors by the Gems at the backend of the game to secure a victory which positions them well to progress to the next stage.
Beth Goodwin 13 goals from 19 attempts, Niamh McCall 29 goals from 31 attempts and Emma Barrie 11 goals from 14 attempts, got the job done for the Scots.
Meanwhile, Latonia Blackman 20 goals from 22 attempts and Kadeen Corbin 24 goals from 27 attempts, lead the fight for Barbados.
The result meant the Gems are on the verge of being eliminated from contention and must win against Malawi on Sunday to remain alive. England, who defeated Malawi 62-39, head Pool B on four points.
Though again plagued by turnovers, Corbin believes it was a much-improved performance from the team.
“I thought we played really well, we just lost it at the last minute, but I think what we did positive in the first game, we improved on that today and we actually kept pushing and showing that we have the fight.
“We did lose a little bit of connection in attack at one point, but we spoke about it quickly on court and rectified that as soon as possible and once we got going, we kept on chugging away. But it was a bit too late and at the end it wasn’t enough,” Corbin shared.
“I give credit to all my teammates who fought on that court today. We got Malawi to come which is not going to be an easy game, we are going to have to fight to the last whistle. Hopefully, what we did positive today we can do better tomorrow and compete as best as we can,” she added.
Lewis Hamilton criticised Formula One’s stewards after he was penalised for colliding with Sergio Perez in Saturday’s rain-hit sprint race in Belgium.
Max Verstappen overcame Oscar Piastri’s impressive challenge to land another win ahead of Sunday’s main event in Spa-Francorchamps.
Piastri finished runner-up with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly a surprise third. Hamilton crossed the line in fourth, but was demoted to seventh after he was dealt a five-second penalty for making contact with Perez as they diced for position through Stavelot.
Perez sustained race-ending damage in the accident – with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner accusing Hamilton of putting a big hole in the side of his driver’s machine.
But Hamilton, drawing on a famous quote from his childhood hero Ayrton Senna, said: “As Ayrton said, if you no longer go for a gap that exists, then you are no longer a racing driver.
“That is what I did. And when I watched it back it feels like a racing incident to me.
“The conditions were tricky out there. We are doing our best and it wasn’t intentional. He was slow and I went up the inside and I was more than half-a-car length alongside.
“I feel like we should not be deterred from racing. It would have been nice to finish fourth but I don’t really care about finishing fourth, I want to win.”
The four FIA stewards here – including former British grand prix driver Derek Warwick – also punished Hamilton with two points on his licence.
Surmising the lap-six flashpoint, the quartet determined: “Hamilton was attempting to pass Perez on the inside at Turn 15.
“While Perez was giving little room on the inside for Hamilton, Hamilton drove onto the kerb and subsequently understeered into Perez. The stewards consider that Hamilton was predominantly at fault for causing a collision.”
However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff backed his superstar driver, adding: “It was absolutely a racing incident. This is a sprint race. We want to see them racing.
“The argument about the damage isn’t valid because he (Perez) was going backwards before then. Massively backwards. And then when you look at that corner, they were side-by-side, and it takes two to tango. It’s a racing incident. For me that’s really clear.”
The start to Saturday’s dash around Spa-Francorchamps was delayed just six minutes before it was due to begin after the heavens opened. A 30-minute postponement ensued.
One formation lap behind the safety car became five in a bid to make the track safe enough to race with visibility caused by spray a major concern ahead of this weekend’s event.
Only four weeks ago, Dutch 18-year-old Dilano Van ‘t Hoff lost his life after a crash during a rain-hit Formula Regional European Championship race.
The approach from race director Niels Wittich resulted in Saturday’s round being reduced to just 11 laps.
But Wolff added: “You can absolutely understand that everyone wants to play it safe.
“We have had terrible accidents here – the last one under similar conditions in the race where drivers couldn’t see because of the spray. So the approach needed to be on the super-safe side and that was right thing to do.”
By the time the safety car peeled in, the track was good enough for the intermediate tyres. And Piastri benefited from being among 10 of the 20-strong field to change from the full wets before a proper racing lap had even taken place.
Verstappen switched to inters at the end of the first lap round allowing Piastri to lead an F1 race for the first time in his career. But on the sixth lap – following a safety-car period to deal with Fernando Alonso crashing out – Piastri’s defence lasted only a handful of corners.
Verstappen tracked Piastri through the fearsome Eau Rouge-Raidillon section and then blasted by on the Kemmel Straight to claim another win and extend his championship lead from 110 points to 118.
Asked if it was a mistake not to stop for inters at the very start of the race, Verstappen said: “No, it was just a safer call.
“I could have come in first and be blocked by other cars in the pits. We lost one position but we knew we were quick and when we put the inter tyres on we were flying.”
Connections of Westover were left “devasted but delighted” following his narrow defeat in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot.
Last year’s Irish Derby hero disappointed as a hot favourite for Ascot’s midsummer showpiece 12 months ago, but was this time carried out on his shield.
Turning out just three weeks after doubling his Group One tally in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the Ralph Beckett-trained four-year-old was a 7-1 shot in the hands of Rob Hornby and moved to the lead early in the home straight.
Westover and Hukum engaged in a titanic duel with two furlongs to run and while the latter secured top honours by a head, the runner-up lost little in defeat.
“What a horse, what a horse race. We’re devasted but delighted,” said Barry Mahon, racing manager for Westover’s owner-breeders Juddmonte.
“He’s run a career-best in what was being touted beforehand as the middle-distance race of the year and he went down gallantly. I felt he was even battling back again at the finish.
“He put it all on the line and he’s doing what we thought he’d do this year. Last year he was big and immature and he’s mentally and physically grown up.
“To break the track record the last day in Saint-Cloud was a big performance and to back it up with a run like that three weeks later is unbelievable.
“We haven’t really thought about what’s next. We’ll see how he comes out of it and make a plan in a couple of weeks’ time.”
Hornby similarly had mixed emotions, saying: “This race deserves a spectacle like that and to have an ovation for this horse, coming second like we did, was special.
“It is tough to take, but I’m really proud of him. It is always tough when you are just denied like that and it was such a heroic battle.
“He stays very well. He rolled around twice and I pulled my stick through and corrected him. When he got into a head to head, he was tough all the way to the line and he was just edged out unfortunately.”
King Of Steel, runner-up in the Derby at Epsom before landing the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, emerged best of the rest in third for Roger Varian.
“I think he ran a great race, he lost nothing in defeat and came there with a great chance. He has been beaten by two mature, good, older horses,” said the Newmarket handler.
“I’m not sure he got home as well as the first two. We have always got the option of coming back to 10 furlongs, but he had some great horses in behind him, two very good ones in front of him, and it’s only his fifth run, so he can only improve can’t he?
“He has the scope and is a big horse. I’m sure he needs a little time between races. He’s had a tough race today, but he’s like a teenager, still.
“He is a good horse. We’d be happier if he’d won, but we think he ran a great race.
“We got beat, but it was a super race – a championship race. He turned up and really ran his race.”
The disappointment of the contest was Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin, who narrowly denied King Of Steel Derby glory at Epsom last month before following up in the Irish Derby.
He was the 9-4 favourite to follow in the hoofprints of Ballydoyle great Galileo by adding the King George to his two Derby wins, but was under pressure a long way from home and was eased right down in the end by Ryan Moore to finish last of 10.
O’Brien said: “There are no excuses. Whatever happened, the power ran out and it ran out early.
“That is the unusual thing. The race wasn’t even started.
“He was calm in the paddock, we were very happy with him. There is obviously a reason and we’ll find it. It is frustrating, but that’s the way.”
Sport does not always scale the heights anticipated. Yet inarguably, with toes hanging off the edge, this King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes offered an epic view.
One wishes more dare scale the steep, magnificent Ascot grandstand steps to witness such an incredible spectacle of rippling thoroughbred power.
On such occasions, one has a vague idea of what will unfold before the eyes. This was refreshingly different, there was not an inkling what to expect from either racegoers or participants.
“No-one is ducking it,” Hukum’s jockey Jim Crowley succinctly put it beforehand, “which means everyone fancied their chances.”
None more so than him, as it turned out.
This season’s search for such a clash of the crème de la crème had reached the rainbow’s end, for this was as close to nirvana as a horse race gets.
There had been very little swinging and missing. Emily Upjohn had won the Coronation, with runner-up Westover subsequently taking the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Reigning champion Pyledriver had scored with ease on his belated comeback in the Hardwicke, dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin had only been luckless in the 2000 Guineas, and the other young pretender, King Of Steel, had gained compensation for a narrow Epsom defeat by taking the King Edward VII over course and distance. Luxembourg had a Tattersalls Gold Cup in the locker.
All in good form. Connections, to a man, hopeful if not confident, even given the unseasonably good to soft ground.
Superlatives are dangerous things, often inviting contradiction and sometimes scorn. Yet from overture to curtain, what unfolded was a drama for the ages, perhaps not quite on a par with Grundy and Bustino in 1975, yet ovation-worthy, nonetheless.
The bare result saw Hukum beat Westover by a head. King Of Steel was a further four and a half lengths back in third, with Auguste Rodin beaten before the race got started, suggesting something more than the ground was amiss.
Crowley had tasted some extraordinary moments with Hukum’s full brother Baaeed. Yet after a monumental battle with the doughty Westover for the last two furlongs, Rob Hornby’s mount matching the six-year-old blow for lung-busting blow, and having come out on top, the victor knew he had been part of another historic race.
“This was special,” said Crowley. “It was a great race to be part of. I knew going into the race, I wouldn’t swap him – and every jockey in the race said the same about their horse.
“Hence why everybody turned up as we all thought we could win.
“It was amazing, really. Both myself, the horse, Rob Hornby and Westover, were giving it everything. The kitchen sink is thrown in those situations.
“It must have been exciting to watch. To come out on top, it was fantastic, probably the most enjoyable race I’ve ever won. It was a race for the ages – just fantastic.”
Crowley’s ride was masterful. There were plenty in with chances as they swung six abreast round the home turn tracking Pyledriver. While he had to be reminded, Hukum lengthened his stride with a sudden explosive power that is flat racing’s most exhilarating sight.
Pyledriver and King Of Steel both ran their races, but while Crowley was was happily deciding they were beaten, he knew with greater certainty that once Westover had almost drawn upsides, the game could well have been up.
Yet the former champion has been here before and once Westover had served it up, Hukum had locked on to the task in hand and knocked it out of the park.
“The ground had dried out more than I was hoping for, but he is not essentially a soft-ground horse – he just likes good ground,” Crowley added.
“He missed the Hardwicke, which was good to firm and that was a good decision.
“He is just a very good horse who is getting better with age. He is finally coming out of his brother’s shadow now.
“He is just hard as nails, he is chilled, walks round the paddock like he owns the place – he’s a real dude.
“In some ways he’s flown under the radar, as he is a six-year-old, who has just won that one Group One, but if you go through his form, he hasn’t finished out the first three many times. He is a proper, tough horse.”
Hukum will likely be given a break, before being brought back for ParisLongchamp.
“You’d have to say the obvious race would be the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe now,” said Crowley. “He would get his conditions there and you always need a bit of luck round there – a low draw is very important. But let’s enjoy today – this was special.”
His victims offered no excuses, this was just a rare and precious thing – an entirely satisfactory all-aged midsummer highlight, won by the best horse and a great rider. This was as good as it gets.
Jackie Oh gained a first Pattern race success as she stayed on for Group Three glory in the Darley Rathbride Stakes at Gowran Park.
Hailing from a family that includes Breeders’ Cup winner Line Of Duty, Jackie Oh won a Naas maiden on her racecourse bow in March but had been out of luck since, hitting the bar in Listed company before being beaten just under six lengths when fifth in the Irish 1,000 Guineas.
She failed to sparkle in a competitive handicap at Royal Ascot – but partnered by Colin Keane, the Aidan O’Brien-trained filly certainly made her presence felt in this nine-furlong contest.
Jackie Oh stayed on to excellent effect in the final furlong, eventually accounting for Village Voice by a cosy three lengths as a 3-1 shot.
While she still holds an entry in next week’s Nassau Stakes at Goodwood, stable representative Chris Armstrong felt a swift return would be unlikely, with Irish Champions Weekend in September a possible target.
He said: “She’s a filly that has had a few good runs already. Colin gave her a lovely ride.
“The ground, at this stage, is probably important to her. That’s a very important bracket to get with her pedigree.
“A mile-and-one or a mile-and-two is probably her trip. Aidan left her in the Nassau at the confirmation stage the other day just as a back-up and it will probably come too soon.
“We’ll probably give her a bit of time and maybe bring her back on Irish Champions Weekend for something like the Blandford Stakes.
“She could go to France as well, she has plenty of options. She’s a lovely filly and it’s nice to get the win for Triermore Stud as well.”
Darcy Graham marked his return to the international fold with a double as an experimental Scotland side defeated Italy 25-13 in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield.
The 26-year-old Edinburgh wing missed the entire Six Nations with a knee injury but – after scoring a hat-trick in his last match for the Scots against Argentina in November – he picked up where he left off with a couple of clinical touchdowns to put the Azzurri to the sword.
Replacement Josh Bayliss sealed the victory with the Scots’ third try in the last play of the match after Montanna Ioane’s score just after the hour had given the Italians hope.
Graham was one of the few established starters in Gregor Townsend’s XV as he allowed several of his key players the weekend off ahead of the upcoming double-header against World Cup hosts France.
Glasgow centre Stafford McDowall was given his international debut while Glasgow prop Murphy Walker and Edinburgh fly-half Ben Healy – both previously capped – made their first starts.
It looked like it might be a difficult afternoon for the Scots when the visitors instantly got themselves on the front foot and had their hosts penned inside their own half for the opening five minutes.
However, the hosts burst into life after six minutes when Healy, working off a turnover, kicked a ball into space for Graham to chase down but the rapid Edinburgh wing was thwarted by some impressive defending just as he looked set to get himself clear.
The same two players combined as the hosts made the breakthrough in the 13th minute. Healy again kicked wide to the right, picking out Graham who was already beyond the try-line as he received the ball before helping himself to a straightforward touchdown. Healy was unable to add the extras as his conversion attempt went wide.
However, the Azzurri managed to get themselves in front by half-time courtesy of a couple of penalties from Tommaso Allan, the Harlequins stand-off who has a Scottish father as well as an uncle capped nine times by Scotland in the early 1990s.
Allan reduced the deficit with a close-range effort in the 26th minute and then in the last action of a largely underwhelming first half the number 10 sent another kick soaring between the posts from inside Scotland’s 10-metre line.
Scotland got themselves back in front eight minutes after the interval when Healy pinged over a penalty. And in the 55th minute, Graham scored his second try of the match when he received a reverse pass from Ali Price and bounded over the line. Healy was accurate with the conversion as the Scots opened up a 15-6 advantage.
Italy got back into the match just after the hour, however, when Ioane went over on the left after a lovely pass from Allan, who duly converted.
Leicester lock Cam Henderson became the second Scotland debutant of the afternoon when he replaced Scott Cummings and the hosts regained control when Healy kicked another penalty in the 74th minute.
The Scots finished on a high note, with substitute Bayliss scoring his first international try – converted by the impressive Healy – in the last action of the match.
Max Verstappen overcame Oscar Piastri to win Formula One’s sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Pole-sitter Verstappen fell behind Piastri after the Australian moved from wet tyres to intermediate rubber a lap earlier before blasting back into the lead at the midway stage of a frantic rain-hit dash at Spa-Francorchamps.
Rookie Piastri finished runner-up with Pierre Gasly a surprise third for Alpine. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth but was hit with a five-second penalty for colliding with Sergio Perez, dropping him to seventh.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were promoted to fourth and fifth respectively for Ferrari with McLaren’s Lando Norris sixth. George Russell took the final point in eighth.
Perez was forced to retire from the race allowing Verstappen to extend his championship lead from 110 points to 118 ahead of tomorrow’s 44-lap Grand Prix.
Six minutes before the race was due to get under way, the FIA announced the start would be postponed following heavy rainfall in the area.
A 30-minute delay followed before a rainbow emerged over Spa-Francorchamps and the weather improved.
At 5:35pm local time, the Safety Car led Verstappen et al on five formation laps in an attempt to clear the spray and aid the drivers with visibility.
FIA race director Niels Wittich’s decision over when to enable the start of the race was heightened following the death of 18-year-old Dilano Van ‘t Hoff at a rain-hit Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) race four weeks ago.
The safety car peeled in, paving the way for a rolling start and a shortened 11-lap dash to the chequered flag.
But, before a proper racing lap had even taken place, half of the 20-strong field came into the pits to change from the full wets to the intermediate tyre.
Among them was Piastri, Perez and Hamilton with Verstappen staying out on track.
Verstappen immediately knew he was on the wrong rubber, calling on his team to change him to the intermediate tyres.
In Verstappen came at the end of the opening lap, but by the time he emerged, Piastri had done enough to leapfrog him and lead a Formula One race for the first time in his career.
Gasly, Perez and Hamilton benefited from their early stops to move up the pecking order.
On lap three, the Safety Car was back out after Fernando Alonso crashed. The double world champion, who turned 42 on Saturday, lost control of his Aston Martin through the left-hander Turn 11, pirouetting through the gravel and nudging the barrier.
Piastri headed the field when the race restarted on lap six, but his defence lasted only a handful of corners.
Verstappen tracked Piastri through the fearsome Eau Rouge-Raidillon section and then blasted by on the Kemmel Straight.
Asked if it was a mistake not to stop for inters at the very start of the race, Verstappen said: “No, it was just a safer call.
“I could have come in first and be blocked by other cars in the pits. We lost one position but we knew we were quick and when we put the inter tyres on we were flying.”
Piastri, 22, said: “I feel very happy. We tried our best and led a few laps but we were no match for Max.
“I thought the safety car would play in my favour with less laps to try and hold him behind. I got a good restart but by the top of Eau Rouge he was on top of me already. I could not keep him behind on the straight.”
Further back in the battle for fourth, Hamilton attempted to muscle his way past Perez but the Mercedes man made contact with his Red Bull rival. Perez briefly remained ahead before Hamilton drove round the outside of the Mexican at La Source.
Perez sustained damage in the accident and fell down the field, sliding through the gravel and then being ordered by his Red Bull team to retire the car.
The stewards investigated the flashpoint and slapped Hamilton with a penalty, demoting him down the order.
Verstappen remained in control of the race, taking the chequered flag 6.6 sec clear of Piastri to rack up yet another win in a one-sided campaign.
Connections of Westover were left “devasted but delighted” following his narrow defeat in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot.
Last year’s Irish Derby hero disappointed as a hot favourite for Ascot’s midsummer showpiece 12 months ago, but was this time carried out on his shield.
Turning out just three weeks after doubling his Group One tally in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the Ralph Beckett-trained four-year-old was a 7-1 shot in the hands of Rob Hornby and moved to the lead early in the home straight.
Westover and Hukum engaged in a titanic duel with two furlongs to run and while the latter secured top honours by a head, the runner-up lost little in defeat.
“What a horse, what a horse race. We’re devasted but delighted,” said Barry Mahon, racing manager for Westover’s owner-breeders Juddmonte.
“He’s run a career-best in what was being touted beforehand as the middle-distance race of the year and he went down gallantly. I felt he was even battling back again at the finish.
“He put it all on the line and he’s doing what we thought he’d do this year. Last year he was big and immature and he’s mentally and physically grown up.
“To break the track record the last day in Saint-Cloud was a big performance and to back it up with a run like that three weeks later is unbelievable.
“We haven’t really thought about what’s next. We’ll see how he comes out of it and make a plan in a couple of weeks’ time.”
Hornby similarly had mixed emotions, saying: “This race deserves a spectacle like that and to have an ovation for this horse, coming second like we did, was special.
“It is tough to take, but I’m really proud of him. It is always tough when you are just denied like that and it was such a heroic battle.
“He stays very well. He rolled around twice and I pulled my stick through and corrected him. When he got into a head to head, he was tough all the way to the line and he was just edged out unfortunately.”
King Of Steel, runner-up in the Derby at Epsom before landing the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, emerged best of the rest in third for Roger Varian.
“I think he ran a great race, he lost nothing in defeat and came there with a great chance. He has been beaten by two mature, good, older horses,” said the Newmarket handler.
“I’m not sure he got home as well as the first two. We have always got the option of coming back to 10 furlongs, but he had some great horses in behind him, two very good ones in front of him, and it’s only his fifth run, so he can only improve can’t he?
“He has the scope and is a big horse. I’m sure he needs a little time between races. He’s had a tough race today, but he’s like a teenager, still.
“He is a good horse. We’d be happier if he’d won, but we think he ran a great race.
“We got beat, but it was a super race – a championship race. He turned up and really ran his race.”
The disappointment of the contest was Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin, who narrowly denied King Of Steel Derby glory at Epsom last month before following up in the Irish Derby.
He was the 9-4 favourite to follow in the hoofprints of Ballydoyle great Galileo by adding the King George to his two Derby wins, but was under pressure a long way from home and was eased right down in the end by Ryan Moore to finish last of 10.
O’Brien said: “There are no excuses. Whatever happened, the power ran out and it ran out early.
“That is the unusual thing. The race wasn’t even started.
“He was calm in the paddock, we were very happy with him. There is obviously a reason and we’ll find it. It is frustrating, but that’s the way.”
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