Novak Djokovic kept his focus on the court amid his latest controversy as he saw off Marton Fucsovics in the second round of the French Open.

The French sports minister weighed into the continued fall-out over Djokovic’s decision to write “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” on the camera after his first-round victory at Roland Garros.

Speaking to TV station France 2, Amelie Oudea-Castera said the message amid violence in the north of the country, which is not recognised as independent by Serbia, was not appropriate and she warned Djokovic not to repeat the action.

He told Serbian media he would do it again but, after the 7-6 (2) 6-0 6-3 victory over Fucsovics, he opted just for a signature and smiley face.

Things were not straightforward on the court during an 87-minute first set when, unsettled by breezy conditions and an in-form opponent, Djokovic was pushed hard.

He double-faulted serving for the set and was pushed to a tie-break but, having overcome that hurdle, the third seed was almost flawless.

A lost set was not enough to take the smile off Carlos Alcaraz’s face as he defeated Taro Daniel to move through to the third round of the French Open.

Taking on the Japanese player on a breezy Philippe Chatrier, world number one Alcaraz won the first set easily only for his opponent to fight back at the start of the second.

It proved only a temporary blip, though, as the young Spaniard dominated the final two sets in a 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-2 triumph.

“I’m really happy with the level that I played today,” said Alcaraz. “I overcame the problems in the match because of the wind and it has been a really complete match from my side, and I’m really happy with that.”

Alcaraz’s positive attitude and sunny disposition has made him not just popular with his rivals but also made some of them rethink their own approach, with Stefanos Tsitsipas thanking the Spaniard during a practice session.

“I’m winning all the time because I am smiling,” said Alcaraz, who next faces Denis Shapovalov. “And I always said that smiling for me is the key of everything.

“I enjoy being in this kind of stadium, these kind of tournaments, cities. That’s the most important thing for me to enjoy, and that’s why I smile all the time.”

Tsitsipas joined Alcaraz in the third round with a 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-2 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena but former champion Stan Wawrinka lost out in the match of the day, going down in five sets to Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The Australian would have felt that was justice after his epic defeat by Andy Murray at his home grand slam in January.

“It definitely feels better when you come out on the winning end of those,” said Kokkinakis.

“I had a heart-breaker against Andy earlier in the year and not many moral victories. It was a tough one to take. You can’t count these guys out no matter how old they are. They get better and better, and you can see why they are multiple grand slam champions.

“Stan is a legend. Still is, obviously, but he was a legend out on court today. He was very nice, very respectful. Hats off to him. The crowd was going nuts for him, but it’s a fun atmosphere. I love playing against that, so it was awesome.”

Meanwhile, sixth seed Holger Rune was given free passage through to the third round after Gael Monfils called a press conference late on Wednesday evening to announce he was pulling out of their clash scheduled for the night session on Thursday because of a wrist injury.

A pair of eliminated playoff teams announced front-office moves Wednesday, as the Seattle Kraken signed general manager Ron Francis to an extension and the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Brad Treliving as their next GM.

Francis received a three-year extension through the 2026-2027 season, while Treliving joined Toronto after spending the previous nine seasons as GM of the Calgary Flames.

Francis was named the first GM in Kraken history in July 2019 and the team posted a 27-49-6 record in its inaugural NHL season in 2021-22. Seattle then went 46-28-8 this season to reach the playoffs.

The Kraken upset the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the postseason before losing in seven games to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference semifinals.

"Ron has done remarkable work over the last four years and deserves this recognition," Kraken co-owner Samantha Holloway said.

"He has built a tremendous team, putting Seattle hockey on the map. He is building for long term success and is dedicated to our city, our fans, and our community."

Treliving, meanwhile, left the Flames last month after they missed the playoffs with a 38-27-17 record.

That came after Calgary had 111 points last season – the second-most in franchise history – before being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the West semis.

The Flames made the playoffs five times in Treliving’s nine seasons as GM.

Treliving takes over for Kyle Dubas, who was fired less than two weeks ago after Toronto won a playoff series for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign.

The Maple Leafs were ousted by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers in five games in the semis, extending the Original Six franchise’s Stanley Cup drought to 56 years.

"I'm very pleased to welcome Brad into the Maple Leafs organization," Maple Leafs president and alternate governor Brendan Shanahan said.

"Brad brings a wealth of knowledge from his years of experience as a general manager and hockey executive in Calgary, Arizona and beyond.

“He has earned tremendous respect amongst his peers throughout his years in the NHL and has built excellent relationships at all levels within the game.

“We are confident that Brad's leadership and strategic vision will elevate the Maple Leafs in our continued pursuit of a championship."

Attention is ramping up again on the French Open’s scheduling, with the night session so far exclusively featuring men’s matches.

Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo had to apologise last year after saying men’s matches had more appeal as a justification for only one women’s match featuring in the 10 prime-time sessions across the fortnight.

The French Open is unique among the grand slams in having only one match in its late slot and, in the first five days, that will be a men’s contest every time.

With fifth seed Caroline Garcia bowing out on Wednesday, the chances of a women’s match making the cut have reduced further, and former finalist Sloane Stephens hit out after her 6-2 6-1 win over Varvara Gracheva.

“I’m on the player council and we’ve had a lot of conversations about this and we’ve had a lot of conversations about equality,” said the American. “Four out of four men’s matches. That’s not what we talk about. That’s not what we’re about.”

Garcia’s 4-6 6-3 7-5 loss to Russian Anna Blinkova was a major blow to the home country.

Blinkova, ranked 56, had never beaten a top-five player before but battled back from a set down to triumph, finally taking her ninth match point.

Garcia was left hugely frustrated by her failure to seize the initiative, saying: “Sometimes when I’m on the court, I don’t dare go to the net. I don’t dare pummel through my balls. And the greatest regrets I have is that I don’t up my game when I should.

“My backhand is bad. Everything is bad. And this is what is tough to digest right now.”

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka was not at her best in the opening set against qualifier Iryna Shymanovich but finished strongly to win 7-5 6-2.

In her press conference, the Belarusian refused to answer questions about her previous support for president Alexander Lukashenko in a heated exchange with a Ukrainian journalist.

Former world number three Elina Svitolina continued to impress in her comeback grand slam, taking inspiration from husband Gael Monfils as she saw off Australian Storm Hunter 3-6 6-3 6-1.

Less than 11 hours after completing an emotional five-set win over Sebastian Baez, Monfils was back at Roland Garros cheering on Svitolina.

“I watched him, but not live, I was screaming in my room,” said the Ukrainian. “It was an unbelievable match. I don’t know what he is doing here now, I think he should be resting, but I’m really thankful for him coming to support me, especially in this tough match.”

Svitolina is playing her first slam in more than a year following the birth of baby Skai last October.

The new mother and father are juggling the day job with childcare, and Svitolina said: “It’s the first tournament for us where we are both playing at the same tournament, and Skai is here with us in Paris as well. It’s really, really special.

“So far everything is going well and we really enjoy our time off the court together and on the court we try to be focused and play as good as we can.”

Svitolina is also having to put to one side thoughts of the troubles in her homeland and is using the situation to inspire her on court.

She said: “When I step on the court, I just try to think about the fighting spirit that all of us Ukrainians have and how Ukrainians are fighting for their values, for their freedom in Ukraine. And me, I’m fighting here on my own frontline.

“I cannot be sad. I cannot be distracted in some ways. I’m just going to lose. I have a flag next to my name so I’m fighting for my country, and I’m going to do that each time I step on the court.”

Third seed Jessica Pegula had an untaxing afternoon, taking the first set 6-2 against Camila Giorgi before the Italian pulled out.

Ninth seed Daria Kasatkina produced the shot of the tournament so far, a fizzing tweener winner, in a 6-3 6-4 victory over former finalist Marketa Vondrousova, while 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko lost out 6-3 1-6 6-2 to American Peyton Stearns.

Meanwhile, Leylah Fernandez, the young Canadian beaten in the US Open final by Emma Raducanu in 2021, is close to dropping out of the top 100 after losing to her former junior rival Clara Tauson.

Cameron Norrie called for video replays to be used in tennis after another umpiring controversy in his second-round victory over Lucas Pouille at the French Open.

The British number one was fuming at being given a hindrance penalty for shouting out during his five-set win over Benoit Paire on Monday, with Norrie insisting he had merely grunted.

He came out on the right side of things back on Suzanne Lenglen against another Frenchman, with umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore failing to spot a double bounce at a key moment in the third set of Norrie’s 6-1 6-3 6-3 victory.

TV replays showed Pouille, who lost three games in a row to trail 5-1 after the incident, was right to complain, and both men believe umpires should have the benefit of reviewing their decision at such moments.

“I think that would be great,” said Norrie. “There’s been so many different situations over my career where there’s been things happening, and I think we definitely can use it to our advantage. We have the technology to do it. I don’t know why we’re not doing it in all aspects.

“We all make mistakes. The umpires make mistakes. It was a tough call in the moment. From the replay, for me, it looks like she got it wrong.”

Players often know whether they have reached the ball or not but Norrie insisted he did not in the moment and Pouille had no complaints with his opponent.

“You have no obligation,” said the Frenchman. “You do whatever you want. When you run to the ball and you hit it, sometimes you don’t know if it bounced twice or not. I was pretty sure it did.

“I think today we have so many options to check if it bounced twice or not. It’s easy with the video.”

The incident led to more booing for Norrie at the time and at the end of the match, but the 14th seed was relieved to have kept the crowd much quieter than in his rollercoaster clash with Paire.

Norrie may feel tempted to take to the stage in the off-season given the practice he has now had at being a pantomime villain.

Booed onto court, the partisan home crowd light-heartedly jeered his shots during the warm-up while cheering those of Pouille.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” said Norrie. “It’s the matches you want to be playing. It’s really tough with the crowd chanting and definitely getting behind and changing the momentum of the match. They’re a tough crowd but I enjoy it.

“Obviously I’d prefer with it being on my side but it’s going to happen that way. It just so happened that I played two guys from France back-to-back. It was definitely a bit more low stress today and I was able to keep them pretty hushed for the majority of the match.

“I was really pleased with my performance and there was a lot of good changes that I made in my level today, so I was really happy with it.”

Ranked down at 675 after injury and problems with depression and alcohol, Pouille was bidding to make the last 32 at a slam for the first time since Wimbledon in 2019.

Norrie wore strapping under his left knee but came out looking much sharper than he had against Paire and imposed his game straight away, allowing his nervous opponent just six points in the first five games.

There were two periods where Pouille threatened to make a match of it – when he won three games in a row from 0-2 in the second set and after he broke Norrie when he served for the match.

Pouille created two break points to get back on serve in the third set but Norrie fought off the danger and will try to get past talented young Italian Lorenzo Musetti to reach the fourth round here for the first time.

A lost set was not enough to take the smile off Carlos Alcaraz’s face as he defeated Taro Daniel to move through to the third round of the French Open.

Taking on the Japanese player on a breezy Philippe Chatrier, world number one Alcaraz won the first set easily only for his opponent to fight back at the start of the second.

It proved only a temporary blip, though, as the young Spaniard dominated the final two sets in a 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-2 triumph.

“I’m really happy with the level that I played today,” said Alcaraz. “I overcame the problems in the match because of the wind and it has been a really complete match from my side, and I’m really happy with that.”

Alcaraz’s positive attitude and sunny disposition has made him not just popular with his rivals but also made some of them rethink their own approach, with Stefanos Tsitsipas thanking the Spaniard during a practice session.

“I’m winning all the time because I am smiling,” said Alcaraz, who next faces Denis Shapovalov. “And I always said that smiling for me is the key of everything.

“I enjoy being in this kind of stadium, these kind of tournaments, cities. That’s the most important thing for me to enjoy, and that’s why I smile all the time.”

Tsitsipas joined Alcaraz in the third round with a 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-2 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena but former champion Stan Wawrinka lost out in the match of the day, going down in five sets to Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The Australian would have felt that was justice after his epic defeat by Andy Murray at his home grand slam in January.

“It definitely feels better when you come out on the winning end of those,” said Kokkinakis.

“I had a heart-breaker against Andy earlier in the year and not many moral victories. It was a tough one to take. You can’t count these guys out no matter how old they are. They get better and better, and you can see why they are multiple grand slam champions.

“Stan is a legend. Still is, obviously, but he was a legend out on court today. He was very nice, very respectful. Hats off to him. The crowd was going nuts for him, but it’s a fun atmosphere. I love playing against that, so it was awesome.”

London Irish have been given a one-week extension in their battle for survival with the Rugby Football Union setting a final deadline of June 6 to prove they have a future.

Irish will be suspended from the Gallagher Premiership unless a takeover has been completed or they can demonstrate they have the funding needed to operate for the entirety of the 2023-24 season.

The May payroll for all staff and players must also be paid in full after it was confirmed that only 50 per cent has been received so far.

The RFU said it had granted the extension until 4pm next Tuesday at the request of Irish employees.

“It’s deeply frustrating for all the staff, players and fans that there have been months of multiple missed deadlines,” RFU Club Financial Viability Working Group chair Paula Carter said.

“We are extremely disappointed that the club has so far only funded 50 per cent of the staff and player wages. However, we have to respect the wishes of those most affected.

“The 4pm deadline on June 6 is final and we have added the stipulation that the club must also fulfil its contractual obligations to its employees by paying the May salaries in full.”

Cameron Norrie reached the third round of the French Open for the third year in a row with a comfortable win over home hope Lucas Pouille.

Ranked down at 675 after injury and personal problems, Pouille was bidding to make the last 32 at a slam for the first time since Wimbledon in 2019, but Norrie was too strong in a 6-1 6-3 6-3 victory.

The 14th seed wore strapping under his left knee and will no doubt be relieved to have avoided the drama of his raucous five-set duel with another Frenchman, Benoit Paire, in the first round.

The Suzanne Lenglen crowd were not as much of a factor this time, although there was another moment of umpiring controversy, this time in Norrie’s favour, in the third set.

Pouille was convinced Norrie, who was bizarrely penalised for a hindrance shout against Paire, had not got to a ball before it bounced twice but the British player did not stop play and umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore sided with him.

Pouille complained – and was shown to be correct by TV replays – amid booing from the crowd, and the French player lost four games in a row to move to the brink of defeat.

He roused himself for a late stand, breaking Norrie when he served for the match at 5-1 and having two opportunities to get back on serve, but the British number one took his second match point before a final round of booing from the crowd.

Norrie said: “All credit to Lucas, it’s great to see Lucas back and enjoying his tennis. It was a tough battle, tough to get over the line. Thank you to everyone, great atmosphere. Sorry to take another Frenchman out but hopefully you can support me in the next one.”

Norrie may feel tempted to take to the stage in the off-season given the practice he has now had at being a pantomime villain.

Booed onto court, the partisan home crowd light-heartedly jeered his shots during the warm-up while cheering those of Pouille.

The support had played a big part in inspiring Paire and Norrie appeared determined not to let the same thing happen, imposing his game straight away and looking significantly sharper than he had on Monday.

Pouille, who looked very nervous, won only six points in the first five games and, although he saved a set point to avoid the dreaded bagel, Norrie wrapped up the set in less than half an hour.

Pouille briefly became a top-10 player back in 2018 before reaching the Australian Open semi-finals the following year.

Elbow issues triggered a downward spiral that led to depression and a problem with alcohol, and he took time out of the game last year before returning at the start of this season.

A run through qualifying made him the toast of Roland Garros and he led fans in a rendition of the Marseillaise after winning his first-round match.

The 29-year-old swiftly found himself 2-0 down in the second set as well but raised home hopes by winning three games in a row and applying some real pressure to Norrie.

The British number one did well to nip Pouille’s comeback in the bud before things got complicated, and can look forward to trying to make the last 16 here for the first time.

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 May 31.

England named their World Cup squad.

The countdown was on.

Harry Kane enjoyed himself.

Diogo Dalot signed a new deal at United.

John McGinn wished Ashley Young well.

Tyler Adams reacted to Leeds’ relegation.

The PDC hit the Big Apple.

England were ready for the Test match summer.

No let-up for Virat Kohli.

Bryson DeChambeau set his sights on the US Open.

Padraig Harrington was raring to go.

Lewis Hamilton wished his dad a happy birthday.

Usain Bolt rolled back the years.

Katharine Merry paid tribute to Mike McFarlane.

Conor Benn sent out a message to Chris Eubank Jr.

Sharron Davies recovered from a bee sting.

Craig Lidster has called on the services of Arc-winning rider Cristian Demuro as Land Lover forms part of a three-pronged Nick Bradley Racing assault on the British EBF 40th Anniversary Woodcote Stakes.

Demuro – who is Italian but primarily rides in France – is making the trip to Epsom to partner Heartache Tonight for David Menuisier in the Betfred Oaks and will get the chance for a sighter of the Surrey Downs aboard Lidster’s Land Force colt, who caught the eye when fourth in a competitive maiden at York on debut.

Land Lover now steps up in trip to six furlongs – a distance the Yorkshire handler believes will suit his charge – as he joins Amy Murphy’s Ripon runner-up Fifty Grand Slater and Kevin Philippart De Foy’s Maymay representing the Nick Bradley Racing syndicate that won this contest with Oscula two years ago.

“He ran a good race at York in what looked a nice novice,” said Lidster.

“Take nothing away from him, but he wasn’t as fit as I would have liked that day and he has come on from that run. We’re pretty sweet on him.

“It’s giving the owners a nice day out and what will be will be, but I think six furlongs will suit. He was never a five-furlong horse in our eyes, but York is just down the road and he needed the run. So we put him in that nice race to see what would happen and to be fair to him, he came up trumps and finished a nice fourth.

“That paved the way for thinking this horse could be above average and Nick Bradley thought while everyone is thinking of Ascot why don’t we think Woodcote.”

On the booking of Demuro he added: “Nick said he rides a lot for him in France and was coming over for the meeting and asked if he could book him. Sam James has had to reroute up to Carlisle otherwise it would have been his ride.”

It could prove to be a red-letter weekend for Lidster if his venture south proves successful and 24 hours after Land Lover’s run in the Woodcote, he could saddle Dickieburd in the inaugural Aston Martin 3YO “Dash'” Handicap.

A maximum of 14 will go to post for the five-furlong contest and Lidster is left sweating ahead of declarations with his three-year-old on the cusp of making the final line-up.

“I think it’s the best decision all year to put in a race like that and we’ve put our apprentice on to take the 7lb off,” he continued.

“He’s in great order at home and we’re going there with the hope that we might get in.

“If we do we’ll need the luck of the draw, but he’s a very fast horse and a front-runner and we know Epsom is the fastest five furlongs in the world and a front-runners track so hopefully it will play to his strengths a little bit.”

Rory McIlroy has reiterated his opposition to LIV Golf players being allowed to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup.

World number two Jon Rahm believes the likes of Sergio Garcia, with whom he formed a successful partnership in 2021, should be able to compete in Rome and said he was sad that “politics have gotten in the way” of the biennial event.

Garcia is the leading points scorer in Ryder Cup history, but made himself ineligible by resigning from the DP World Tour in the wake of increased sanctions being imposed for playing LIV Golf events without permission.

American players remain eligible despite being banned or resigning from the PGA Tour in the wake of joining the Saudi-funded circuit, with Brooks Koepka set to qualify automatically following his victory in the US PGA Championship.

“I certainly think Brooks deserves to be on the United States team,” McIlroy said in his pre-tournament presser ahead of the Memorial Tournament.

“I think with how he’s played, I mean, he’s second in the US standings, (having) only played two counting events.

“I don’t know if there’s anyone else on the LIV roster that would make the team on merit and how they’re playing. But Brooks is definitely a guy that I think deserves to be on the US team.

“But I have different feelings about the European team and the other side and sort of how that has all transpired and, yeah, I don’t think any of those guys should be a part of the European team.”

McIlroy finished in a tie for seventh behind Koepka at Oak Hill, despite struggling with his long game, but the lack of faith in his “biggest weapon” may not prove as much of an issue at Muirfield Village.

“I can’t remember a time where I felt so uncomfortable over the ball for four days,” McIlroy said.

“The golf course allowed me to manage it. There was only two holes I felt at Oak Hill that really penalised big misses, which was six and seven. So you take those two holes out of it and it was what I would describe as a bogey golf course.

“It was very hard to make anything worse than a bogey. So you hit it in the rough off the tee, you got these openings into greens, you can run it up into the openings, make your par and move on.

“I needed to go back home and work on some things and, yeah, feeling a lot better about it, not fighting the club face quite as much. Feel a little bit more free, which is obviously a nice feeling.

“I think the one thing here, if you look at the recent winners, maybe apart from Jon (Rahm), they have all been sort of like medium-length hitters.

“I only hit four or five drivers on this golf course so it takes the driver out of my hands a lot. A lot of fairways bottleneck at like 330, 340 (yards) so the biggest weapon in my bag isn’t quite the weapon that it is at some other golf courses.

“I have played okay here and had some decent finishes, but I guess it sort of surprises me with the four par fives and the way the golf course sets up that I haven’t at least had a real chance to win here.”

France’s great home hope, Caroline Garcia, was bundled out of Roland Garros in the second round after a dramatic encounter with Russian Anna Blinkova.

As the fifth seed, Garcia is by a distance the top-ranked French player in either the men’s or women’s singles but the country’s wait for a new grand slam champion goes on.

Blinkova, ranked 56, had never beaten a top-five player before but battled back from a set down to triumph 4-6 6-3 7-5, finally taking her ninth match point.

Nerves were clearly affecting the 24-year-old, who served for the match twice, while the partisan Philippe Chatrier crowd were willing Garcia on, but Blinkova did not let the opportunity for the biggest win of her life slip away.

Former world number three Elina Svitolina continued to impress in her comeback grand slam, taking inspiration from husband Gael Monfils as she saw off Australian Storm Hunter 3-6 6-3 6-1.

Less than 11 hours after completing an emotional five-set win over Sebastian Baez, Monfils was back at Roland Garros cheering on Svitolina.

“I watched him, but not live, I was screaming in my room,” said the Ukrainian. “It was an unbelievable match. I don’t know what he is doing here now, I think he should be resting, but I’m really thankful for him coming to support me, especially in this tough match.”

Svitolina is playing her first slam in more than a year following the birth of baby Skai last October.

The new mother and father are juggling the day job with childcare, and Svitolina said: “It’s the first tournament for us where we are both playing at the same tournament, and Skai is here with us in Paris as well. It’s really, really special.

“So far everything is going well and we really enjoy our time off the court together and on the court we try to be focused and play as good as we can.”

Svitolina is also having to put to one side thoughts of the troubles in her homeland and is using the situation to inspire her on court.

She said: “When I step on the court, I just try to think about the fighting spirit that all of us Ukrainians have and how Ukrainians are fighting for their values, for their freedom in Ukraine. And me, I’m fighting here on my own frontline.

“I cannot be sad. I cannot be distracted in some ways. I’m just going to lose. I have a flag next to my name so I’m fighting for my country, and I’m going to do that each time I step on the court.”

Third seed Jessica Pegula had an untaxing afternoon, taking the first set 6-2 against Camila Giorgi before the Italian pulled out.

Ninth seed Daria Kasatkina produced the shot of the tournament so far, a fizzing tweener winner, in a 6-3 6-4 victory over former finalist Marketa Vondrousova, while 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko lost out 6-3 1-6 6-2 to American Peyton Stearns.

Any delay to the Betfred Derby caused by protesters would be a “big negative” for everybody involved, according to Aidan O’Brien.

The animal rights group Animal Rising has made no secret of its intention to cause as much disruption as possible at Epsom on Saturday.

Some of its members made it on to the track at Aintree before the Grand National, causing around a 10-minute delay, but while there was an attempt to repeat that at Ayr and the Scottish National the following weekend it was quickly thwarted by police and security staff.

The Jockey Club, which owns Epsom and Aintree, among other courses, has admitted it may well be harder to prevent the protestors from gaining access to the track this weekend due to the public areas around Epsom.

However, it was granted a High Court injunction last week which means those that do attempt to enter the track itself or other prohibited areas could be subject to proceedings for contempt of court, which may lead to a fine and/or imprisonment.

In the National, Hill Sixteen suffered a fatal fall at the first fence, with trainer Sandy Thomson adamant afterwards the delay caused by what he called “ignorant” protesters had been a contributing factor.

“It’s out of our control,” said O’Brien.

“Any delay would be a big negative. Things happen every day to test us all and you just have to make the best of a situation whichever way it has fallen and it will be the same for everybody, that’s all any of us can do really.

“Obviously it is not ideal for anybody (if there is a delay). The horses, the people involved, everybody.

“Hopefully everybody will see sense and it won’t be like that, but all any of us can do is our best and hopefully everybody will see sense and look at the welfare of the animals and people and everybody first.”

O’Brien appears to have finalised his Derby plans, with Adelaide River and Chester winner San Antonio getting the go-ahead to join favourite Auguste Rodin.

O’Brien usually flies his runners in on Derby day, but has been forced to rethink with the race moved to a 1.30pm start time to avoid a clash with the FA Cup final.

“I think we’re going to run three, Auguste Rodin, Adelaide River and San Antonio at the moment,” he said.

“They all came out of their last races well, the two from Chester seem fine and Auguste Rodin seems fine.

“They are leaving Ballydoyle on Thursday afternoon, I think that’s the plan. We usually travel on the day, but with the early start we couldn’t take that risk.

“We don’t have any choice other than to take them earlier this year, we think it’s the sensible thing to do and the responsible thing to do.

“The fillies’ race (Oaks on Friday) is not as early as the colts, but we’re sending them early so they are doing the same route as the colts.

“We just think it’s the responsible thing to do for everybody involved and we’ll see what happens.”

London Irish could be the latest victims of the financial crisis gripping the Gallagher Premiership.

Here the PA news agency looks at the clubs most affected by the grim outlook.

GONE:

Worcester

The first club placed into administration back in September, Worcester’s future is still uncertain despite being taken over by Jim O’Toole’s Atlas Group.
Entrance into the second tier Championship has been blocked by the Rugby Football Union for their failure to meet certain conditions and their plan of joining with Stourbridge and relaunching in the fifth tier appears dead in the water.

Wasps

The month after Worcester folded, Wasps followed them into administration as the league suffered the crushing blow of losing one of English rugby’s most famous brands. Further misery was to come as having targeted rebirth in the Championship, the failure to meet certain conditions forced the RFU to revoke their license and demote them to the foot of the rugby pyramid.

TEETERING:

London Irish

Burdened by debts of around £30million and with an owner desperate to sell in Mick Crossan, London Irish are shaping up to become the next club to be removed from the Premiership. All staff must be paid today for the month of May for Irish to be granted a deadline extension for their proposed takeover by an American consortium. The clock is ticking.

SHAKY FOUNDATIONS:

Leicester

Leicester needed an emergency cash injection of £13million from directors Peter Tom and Tom Scott in to address what chief executive Andrea Pinchen described as “very challenging conditions”. A letter from the club to shareholders sent in March stated that if the funding was not approved, there would be no option but to appoint administrators.

Exeter

Even Exeter, one of the few clubs in the pre-pandemic era to operate at a profit, were forced to take special measures in December. Chiefs owner Tony Rowe bought a stake in a hotel owned by the club in order for it to service its debts, including Covid loans issued by the Government. Rowe’s intervention has sured up the finances for the time being.