We Never Stop broke his maiden in the British Stallion Studs EBF Spindrifter Novice Stakes at Pontefract to highlight a double for Shane Gray.

Placed at York twice previously, the Cotai Glory colt had finished almost three lengths behind John Quinn’s reopposing Twilight Romance most recently but did have a 4lb pull.

Perhaps more in his favour, though, was his draw in stall four of the five runners, which on most days at Pontefract would be a disadvantage but at this meeting the usually favoured inside rail was almost shunned throughout.

Gray was able to get Kevin Ryan’s youngster over to the stands’ rail first and he held off his old foe by half a length to win at 10-1.

Gray said: “We’ve always thought a lot of him but he grew a lot between his last run and this one.

“He’s a fine stamp of a horse and I think he’ll make a fine three-year-old. He’s so big, whatever he does at two he’s only going to improve on it next year.

“He showed some pace at York and travelled very strong. I’d almost say you could come back to five furlongs but he’s only going to get quicker with age, so six is fine for now.

“They came over in the first race, I’d walked the track and you can see by the colour of the grass there’s a difference in the ground, it’s a good advantage today.”

Gray was also on Mick and David Easterby’s So Grateful (15-2) who was winning for the first time on turf in the Napoleons Casino Bradford Handicap and another to take the favoured rail early.

That came after Serena Brotherton had charted an almost solo run up the stands’ side on the Easterbys’ Unplugged (13-8 favourite) in the 21st Wilfred Underwood Memorial Handicap.

It appeared a bold move by the veteran amateur rider, but it proved inspired, especially as only one other followed her, and she revealed a pre-race course walk made the decision much easier.

“I walked the track and I thought the fastest bit of ground was either right on the inside rail, which I didn’t think I could get to because of my draw (10), or the outside rail,” said Brotherton.

“I did have a moment of doubt when we turned in and I could feel him thinking ‘what are you making me do?’ but he was fine.

“He wants top of the ground so it worked out.”

David Easterby, speaking after the win of So Grateful, said of the ploy: “It’s OK having these plans but you’ve got to be able to carry them out and he (Gray) didn’t go too fast. It’s easy to get the fractions wrong but he didn’t do that.

“Unfortunately for me, Serena likes to get to the track nice and early so I walked the track with her. I think the only reason we won today was because of the tactics, so the handicapper should drop him!

“They are running well this summer, so long may it continue.”

The Royal Ascot-winning duo of Tom Clover and Danny Tudhope teamed up to win the Wayne Conway Memorial Handicap with Rogue Tornado, a first success at the track for Clover.

Sent off the 4-5 favourite, he briefly looked in a bit of bother before his stamina kicked in and he went on to win by two and a half lengths.

Simon and Ed Crisford’s Laser Guided (4-1) clearly thrives in the Yorkshire air as having dead-heated at Ripon earlier this season, he won the “89 And Reunited” Memorial Handicap off bottom weight under Oisin Orr.

Orr then doubled up himself on Gannon Glory (13-2) in the Northern Commercials Service, Sales And Parts Handicap, making all for his boss, Richard Fahey.

Novak Djokovic eased into the second round of Wimbledon amid farcical scenes on Centre Court.

The four-time defending champion defeated Argentinian debutant Pedro Cachin 6-3 6-3 7-6 (4) but the clash was delayed for nearly an hour and a half after the first set because of a damp court despite the roof being deployed.

Djokovic had begun to complain about the surface but officials waited until the end of the set to cover the court, which proved to be a major error.

While play resumed under the roof on Court One, Djokovic and Cachin came out to inspect the court with referee Gerry Armstrong, but it was clear the world number two in particular was not happy.

Playing in his first official match on the surface since last year, it was no surprise that Djokovic, who described trying to move on grass in the early stages of the tournament as “like walking on eggs”, was being extremely cautious.

The Serbian maintained good humour about the situation and re-emerged with a towel, which he proceeded to rub on the court to laughter from the crowd, before members of the ground staff used leaf blowers to try to dry the surface.

But it was not until the skies cleared and the roof was opened again that play was able to resume, rendering the expensive covering redundant.

Had it not been for the delay, this would have been pretty much the ideal start to Djokovic’s campaign for a record-equalling 24th grand slam singles title and eighth Wimbledon crown.

Cachin only played his first tour-level match on grass in Majorca last week and was never likely to prove too much of a test.

There was some early rust from Djokovic, who double-faulted to give Cachin a break for 2-1, but he hit straight back and manoeuvred himself into a 5-3 lead.

Djokovic is on a 28-match winning streak on grass having not lost on the surface since a final defeat at Queen’s Club back in 2018.

He convincingly won the second set but Cachin earned applause from his opponent for his efforts in the third, which he pushed to a tie-break.

Djokovic had won all his tie-breaks at the French Open without making a single unforced error. That streak ended with a double fault here, and he netted a backhand on his first match point, but he took his third chance, winning it 7-4.

Stiffer tests will surely await, perhaps in the second round against Australian grass-court lover Jordan Thompson, but the defending champion is off and running.

Andrey Rublev believes Wimbledon was wrong to ban him and his fellow Russians last year and said the only loser was the event itself.

The All England Club this year overturned its controversial decision to not allow players from Russia and Belarus to compete in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

“I think that, I mean, we were talking, and I think we could find the solution,” said world number seven Rublev after becoming the first man into the second round at this year’s Championships.

“Yeah, if we really want to help or do what is better for tennis and for the people, I think obviously there were better options. Not just to ban. Because in the end, (there) was no difference. They did only worse to themselves.

“So in the end, I think that there were options to do much better for everyone.

“Now we are here, I’m really happy to be back and to compete.”

The ATP and WTA tours subsequently stripped Wimbledon 2022 of ranking points in response to the ban.

This year, Russian and Belarusian players have all signed declarations stating they will not express support for either regime and that they are not receiving any direct or indirect government support.

Rublev, 25, recovered from 2-5 down in the second set on his way to beating Australian Max Purcell 6-3 7-5 6-4.

His victory set up an all-Russian clash with Aslan Karatsev in the second round.

Michael van Gerwen has revealed he is facing further surgery but will play at the World Matchplay at Blackpool later this month.

The three-time world champion returned to action after a lay-off for dental and jaw surgery at the European Darts Matchplay at the weekend.

Van Gerwen was beaten on Saturday by fellow Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld and has called for understanding as he looks to get back into his rhythm.

The world number three will participate in the Poland Darts Masters, which begins on Friday, and then hopes to defend his title in Blackpool the following week.

Van Gerwen said in a statement on Twitter: “After winning the Premier League and US Darts Masters recently, I needed to have pre-planned dental and jaw surgery which meant that I missed the World Cup of Darts.

“With the schedule being so busy it is always hard to fit in anything like this, especially with an operation which involves a lot of recovery time.

“In my case, I might not look or sound the same for a little while and I’ll soon have braces fitted as well as needing some further surgery in the future.

“I don’t want this to affect my performances in the Poland Darts Masters and World Matchplay coming up and I’ll be trying my best to win both events, but at the moment I’m also still recovering and hope that everyone can understand this.”

Harriet Dart was gutted she saved her worst for Wimbledon after becoming the first British casualty of this year’s tournament.

Dart was beaten 6-7 (4) 6-0 6-4 by Frenchwoman Diane Parry in a disappointing display on Court 12.

It was a bitter blow considering the 26-year-old’s excellent form in the build-up to her home grand slam, having reached the quarter-finals in Nottingham and Birmingham.

She was not able to produce her best when it mattered on the big stage, though, and she was left with regrets.

“I felt pretty poor out there,” she admitted. “What’s amazing was I had a chance to win playing not great tennis.

“I still feel like I have so much to improve on.

“I’ve had a really good grass-court season. It’s just disappointing that my worst match of the grass-court season came here.

“Naturally being British, you want to play well here.

“I just didn’t really get going. She also made it tricky for me. Credit to her, she played better tennis than me today.”

Dart, who reached the third round here in 2019, was up against it from the start in tricky conditions on Court 12, where the wind was causing issues, as she fell 3-0 down in the opening set.

But she found her feet and levelled at 5-5 after an impressive long rally ended in her firing a superb cross-court backhand winner.

That seemed to turn the tide as Dart went on take the set in a tie-break and the Briton would have been eyeing a straight-sets win.

But the wheels soon came off as Parry raised her level with some heavy forehand hitting and breezed to the second set in just 33 minutes without letting Dart win a game.

The writing was on the wall when Parry broke early in the decider to take a 3-1 lead, but to Dart’s credit she immediately hit back to stay in the match.

However, the world number 96 struck again at 5-4 to clinch her place in the second round and send the first home hope packing.

Dart played the match with strapping on her shoulder, though that played no part in her defeat.

She added: “We’ve just been managing it. It’s not been a serious problem. But, yeah, since Birmingham I’ve had some issues with it. I’ve been fine to play on it.”

Co-trainers Martyn and Freddie Meade will drop Dubai Mile back in distance and wait for soft ground in the autumn as they bid to secure his future as a stallion.

Having purchased a half-share in last year’s Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner from owner Ahmad Al Shaikh, the horse has left Charlie Johnston’s care to join the Meades’ Manton Park roster.

“He is here and the idea is clearly he has to do a bit more to be a stallion yet,” Martyn Meade confirmed.

Bought for €20,000 as a yearling by the Johnston team, he made swift progress as a juvenile and finished second in the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes before taking a top-level victory in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud.

Fifth in the 2000 Guineas on his three-year-old bow, he did not appear to stay a mile and a half in the Derby, finishing ninth of 14 to Auguste Rodin.

He again flattered to deceive over the same trip in the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot, when beaten eight lengths by King Of Steel.

Meade said: “The idea is we will campaign him for the rest of the season and maybe even next season if we need to, because he preferably needs to win a couple more, at least one and maybe two Group Ones.

“That’s what we will be targeting him for, but at the moment we will be giving him a break.

“He’s had quite a tough sort of campaign, with three races at the top level and inevitably that takes it out of them. You can’t race in those Group Ones all the way through.”

Meade feels autumn targets may be ideal for Dubai Mile, who won his Group One on deep ground.

“The little I know about him, he will be pretty good on soft ground, as he showed in France,” he said.

“If we can campaign him towards the back end of the season, I think that would be our preference.

“It is all to do with distance. I don’t think he proved himself as well as he might have done over a mile and a half and our thoughts will be to drop him back.

“On the face of it, while we have to assess him, we are thinking of changing his trip, shortening it up. A mile and a quarter will be his trip.

“Hopefully we can get a bit of soft ground at the end of the year and find a suitable race for him.”

Manton Park Stud currently stands Aclaim and Advertise, both of whom were Group One winners for Meade, with the trainer well aware Dubai Mile needs to enhance his page before embarking on a breeding career.

“It is lovely to have him, we’re very pleased,” added Meade. “He looks a nice horse.

“It is a strategic move as far as we are concerned and let’s see how we go, but he needs to put a bit more on his CV before we can stamp him.”

Wimbledon fans witnessed farcical scenes on Centre Court as Novak Djokovic and opponent Pedro Cachin waited for the grass to dry in order to resume their match.

Light drizzle saw the court covered and then the roof deployed after Djokovic wrapped up the opening set 6-3 but, unlike on Court One, play did not then resume as scheduled.

Djokovic and Cachin came out to inspect the grass but the defending champion was clearly unhappy with the slipperiness of the surface and they headed back to the locker room.

Djokovic then re-emerged with a towel, which he proceeded to rub on the court to laughter from the crowd, before members of the ground staff used leaf blowers to try to dry the surface.

Play had not resumed by the time the rain stopped and the decision was taken to reopen the Centre Court roof before playing the second set.

Iga Swiatek did not take long to get her Wimbledon campaign off to a winning start as she easily disposed of Zhu Lin.

The world number one is looking to add to the French Open and US Open titles she has won in the last 10 months and made a convincing opening on Court One, winning 6-1 6-3.

The Pole does not have the best pedigree at SW19, having never made it past the fourth round, but signs are positive that this will be the year she has a proper crack at winning the title.

Chinese Zhu – ranked 34th in the world – was no match for her, with a routine victory only slightly delayed by a rain shower that saw the roof on Court One closed.

Fourth seed Jessica Pegula also made it through to the second round, but she was made to work hard against her fellow American Lauren Davis.

After comfortably winning the opener, Pegula was pegged back as it went to a decider only for her to regain control and seal a 6-2 6-7 (8) 6-3 victory.

Two-time US Open champion Victoria Azarenka also needed three sets to beat Yuan Yue 6-4 5-7 6-4.

Russian Liudmila Samsonova did not have the best return to Wimbledon as the 15th seed went out 7-6 (1) 7-6 (4) to Ana Bogdan, making her the biggest casualty on day one.

Harriet Dart was the first home player to be knocked out as she lost in three sets to Frenchwoman Diane Parry.

Charlie Johnston will train Subjectivist towards the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup, providing he shows the right signs after his exertions at Royal Ascot.

Having raced keenly, the six-year-old finished a fine third in the Gold Cup on his first British start since winning the race in spectacular fashion two years ago.

Subjectivist was subsequently sidelined for 618 days with a career-threatening leg injury and on his return raced very keenly in a Group Three handicap in Saudi Arabia in February.

He moved on to Meydan in a bid to win a second Dubai Gold Cup and ran a pleasing race to finish third, beaten five lengths behind Broome, before his excellent effort at Ascot, when going down by four and a half lengths to Courage Mon Ami.

“He was a little bit fresh in some ways, because he is not doing any galloping at home because of his injury,” said Johnston.

“Every day is a judgement call as to how the legs feel and how much work he does. He hadn’t really had a real good blow into him at home, so I think that would have contributed to him being a little bit keen at Ascot.

“I thought this was very different to Saudi. He was manageable, whereas in Saudi, he was running away with Joe (Fanning), he wasn’t listening to him at all.

“It’s funny, when he came back in, Joe felt Ralph Beckett’s horse (Lone Eagle) had come to him quite early and got him racing early. As I watched it, coming out of Swinley Bottom, I was urging him just to send him.

“I’m sure Joe knows everything we’re going through at home and he was riding him with that in his mind a little bit.”

The Middleham handler is taking it gently, as not to over-exert Dr Jim Walker’s fragile warrior before deciding whether to race on following the horse’s tendon injury.

“It was a run of immense pride in the horse and the team for having got him there,” added Johnston.

“You couldn’t help but feel a little bit of what could have been. If this horse is able to finish third in an Ascot Gold Cup on three legs, then how many of these would we have won if we hadn’t had the setback we had? It was a good run, for sure.

“The plan is to go to Goodwood. He hasn’t been sat on yet, he’s just been swimming and on the water walker.

“The idea is for him to go back ridden on Tuesday, then trot for a week, then go back cantering the week after. To be honest, it is only at that point we will really find out what scars, if any, this run has left.

“He was sound in the legs post-race, but given his history, you don’t run two and a half miles at that level without some consequence.

“Hopefully he’ll be fine and we will do all we can to get him to Goodwood.”

George Boughey will target the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket with Via Sistina following her Group One breakthrough at the Curragh on Saturday.

Stepping up to the highest level for the first time following a brilliant display in the Dahlia Stakes in May, Via Sistina ran out an authoritative winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes to provide her trainer with a first ever success on Irish soil in the hands of Jamie Spencer.

Boughey feels his stable star deserves even more praise given the underfoot conditions were not as testing as connections had hoped.

“She was very good and confirmed what we hoped,” said Boughey.

“When the rain didn’t come it was in the balance whether she was going to start and huge credit to the owner Steve Hillen for making the call and wanting to run, because she will be better on slower ground.

“She’s come out of the race in great shape and I couldn’t be happier with her really. She showed a real turn of foot on ground that was possibly too fast for her.

“I’m delighted for Steve and Becky. Steve bought her and has nurtured her all the way along. Joe Tuite (former trainer) had a massive part to play and I’ve just been the lucky recipient that’s got her when she’s coming to her peak.

“To go over there and beat them in one of their top fillies-only Group One races was a huge thrill.”

While the ground will remain a key a factor in future plans for his stable star, Boughey views the Falmouth on July 14 as a logical next port of call.

He added: “I haven’t trained a horse who is quite so trip-versatile of any quality really. I wouldn’t mind bringing her back to a mile, but Jamie said she stays well and you could almost go up in trip.

“The options are very open for her, but we are going to work towards the Falmouth – that’s the plan at the moment – because it can come up soft the week of the July meeting.

“It’s drying ground in Newmarket at the moment, but we’re going to work with that in mind. If we were to get rain and she was in good form, we’d love to turn up for Newmarket.

“We’ll just continue to do what’s right for her really. If there’s any firm in the description she certainly won’t be running, but at least we know she’s a Group One winner on good ground now.”

The boss of Silverstone has warned Just Stop Oil campaigners that they will be putting lives at risk if they protest at the British Grand Prix.

The climate activists have already targeted the Lord’s Ashes Test, the Premiership rugby final and the World Snooker Championship so far this year.

Speaking to the PA news agency ahead of Sunday’s race, Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle said: “The fundamental difference here is that you are not putting your life in danger when you run on the pitch at Lord’s.

“You are not putting your life in danger when you sit on a snooker table or protest at a flower show.

“A motor racing track is not the place to go. It is extraordinarily dangerous and people will be putting lives at risk if they go there, and any sensible, right-thinking person can extrapolate what the ultimate risk here is.

“My strong, strong message is: ‘Do not put your life in danger. This is not the place to go and sit on a floor’. It is absolute madness if someone climbs on to a live racing track.”

Five protesters invaded last year’s British Grand Prix after they stormed the Wellington Straight – the fastest point of the Northamptonshire track – before sitting down during the opening lap.

The contest had already been suspended following Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu’s high-speed crash, but a number of cars sped by the group before they were dragged away by marshals. The protesters were handed suspended jail sentences in March.

Silverstone has worked alongside Northamptonshire Police to beef up security ahead of this year’s event, with a record 480,000 people expected to attend over the weekend, and more than 140,000 fans in place for the race.

Pringle added: “We have no specific intelligence, but we will plan for the worst and hope for the best. If somebody is minded to invade a flower show then they are probably minded to invade a motor race because we have many more global viewers.

“But there are plans in place. We will have a much more visible police presence around the event and we hope that fans help us to try and spot people who are planning to disturb people’s fun.”

Lewis Hamilton is gearing up for his home race following a disappointing Austrian Grand Prix where he finished seventh and was then demoted to eighth after a post-race penalty for exceeding track limits.

Hamilton was also dealt a public rebuke by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. The Austrian told Hamilton to “just drive the car” following a number of complaints by his driver over the radio.

“There are days when I can say I’m truly proud of myself, and days like today when frustration takes over,” said Hamilton on his Instagram account.

“In a race it can feel like you’re hanging off a cliff and losing the strength to hold on.

“It’s confusing for us to have such strong performances one day and then be nowhere the next.

“But when you really care about what you’re doing, you brush it off and keep fighting. Heads down for Silverstone.”

Harriet Dart became the first British casualty at Wimbledon after she lost in three sets to Frenchwoman Diane Parry.

The British number four had an impressive build-up to her home grand slam, reaching the quarter-finals in Nottingham and Birmingham, but fell 6-7 (4) 6-0 6-4 to Parry.

Dart, who reached the third round here in 2019, was up against it from the start in tricky conditions on Court 12, where the wind was causing issues, as she fell 3-0 down in the opening set.

But she found her feet and levelled at 5-5 after an impressive long rally ended in her firing a superb cross-court backhand winner.

That seemed to turn the tide as Dart went on take the set in a tie-break and the Briton would have been eyeing a straight-sets win.

But the wheels soon came off as Parry raised her level with some heavy forehand hitting and breezed to the second set in just 33 minutes without letting Dart win a game.

The writing was on the wall when Parry broke early in the decider to take a 3-1 lead, but to Dart’s credit she immediately hit back to stay in the match.

However, the world number 96 struck again at 5-4 to clinch her place in the second round and send the first home hope packing.

John and Thady Gosden will give Nashwa more time before plotting a course with the Classic-winning filly, following her surprise defeat at Newcastle on Friday evening.

The dual Group One winner has not got her head in front since landing the Nassau at Goodwood last year and two runs this term in lesser company have failed to see her add a fifth career success.

Third in the Oaks last year, the Frankel filly was half a length adrift of Al Husn over 10 furlongs in her latest run on the all-weather surface at the Gosforth Park track.

“I wasn’t too unhappy with her. She will be fine. She is taking her time to come to herself. A lot of fillies can take time,” said John Gosden of the four-year-old, who gained a first top-level success under Hollie Doyle when taking the Prix de Diane at Chantilly.

“We’ll give her a bit of time and see how she is, but she is OK and has taken it well enough.”