Joe Saumarez Smith will continue in his role as British Horseracing Authority chair after announcing he has been diagnosed with lung cancer and will start treatment later this month.

Saumarez Smith took on the role in June 2022 after previously joining the BHA board as an independent director in December 2014.

“In the interest of transparency and openness from the BHA, we thought it was best to confirm this news publicly,” said Saumarez Smith.

“It is obviously not ideal to have this diagnosis, but I am confident I can keep working with all our stakeholders to deliver the strategic priorities that were agreed last September.”

Julie Harrington, chief executive of the BHA, said: “While we are of course concerned for our friend and colleague, we know Joe will fight this illness with all the determination and resilience that has been a feature of his career to date.

“It is testament to him that he is keen to continue in his role for as long as the treatment allows. He has the full support and best wishes of everyone on the BHA board in doing so.

“I am sure I can speak for everyone at the BHA and across the industry in wishing him good luck during his treatment.”

David Jones, the senior independent director of the BHA, will be available to substitute for Saumarez Smith at industry events if he is unable to attend, as well as other BHA board members if required.

Aryna Sabalenka came out against Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko after returning to the French Open press room and facing another barrage of off-court questions.

The Australian Open champion refused to speak to the general tennis press after her third and fourth-round matches following tense exchanges with a Ukrainian journalist.

She changed that stance after beating Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals amid more boos from the Roland Garros crowd and immediately was pressed further on her political stance.

Sabalenka has previously been pictured with Lukashenko and, asked if she still supported him, the 25-year-old said: “It’s a tough question. I don’t support war, meaning I don’t support Lukashenko right now.”

Sabalenka said she had struggled to sleep after the incidents in the previous press conferences, which she claimed left her feeling unsafe, but did not regret her decision to step away from the press room.

“I always really respect press conferences,” she said. “I’m always open in my answers. I really felt bad not coming here. I couldn’t sleep. Like all those bad feelings were in my head.

“I don’t regret the decisions. I felt really disrespected, and I felt really bad. I mean, grand slam, it’s enough pressure to handle, and I just tried to focus on myself, on my game.

“I’m always open. You can ask whatever you want. You will get all the information. But, in the last press conference, I felt like my press conference became a political TV show, and I’m not an expert in politics. I’m just a tennis player.”

Sabalenka also came under scrutiny for her conduct at the end of the match against Svitolina.

Ukrainian players have been resolute in their stance of not shaking hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents but Sabalenka stood at the net apparently waiting for the gesture she must have known would not come.

Svitolina, who had given a thumbs up to previous Russian opponents Anna Blinkova and Daria Kasatkina, walked straight past her and was loudly booed, with more jeers accompanying her as she walked off court.

Svitolina was distinctly unimpressed, saying: “I don’t know what she was waiting (for), because my statements were clear enough about the handshake.

“My initial reaction was like, ‘What are you doing?’ I made multiple statements that I’m not shaking hands, and she played obviously Marta (Kostyuk) as well the first round. So it’s quite simple.”

Asked if she felt Sabalenka had inflamed the situation, Svitolina said: “Yeah, I think so, unfortunately.”

The Belarusian insisted it had not been deliberate, though, saying: “It just was an instinct like I always do after all my matches.”

On the reaction, Sabalenka added: “I think she didn’t deserve all this boos. I’m giving such a big respect to her, what she’s doing after giving birth. It’s impressive and I’m really impressed by what she’s doing.”

In her first grand slam since the birth of daughter Skai last October, Svitolina has enjoyed one of her best grand slams.

A handful of Ukraine flags were evident among a sparse crowd as the match began and Svitolina traded game for game until Sabalenka forced a first break point at 4-4 and crunched away a return off a weak second serve.

Svitolina made a fast start to the second set, moving 2-0 ahead, but could not convert a game point in the next game and Sabalenka began to really make her extra power count, moving into a 4-2 lead.

With the patrons now having finished their lunch and fully engaged, they tried to will Svitolina – who was watched by husband Gael Monfils – into a comeback, but Sabalenka held her nerve.

Despite the defeat, it has been a brilliant fortnight for Svitolina, who will return to the top 100 next week.

“This year was difficult and different on the court, off the court, with you guys here, with your difficult questions, and overcoming difficulties, as well,” she said.

“Even though I’m sitting here dealing with it today, I feel like I won in so many ways.”

Sabalenka is not the only player to have skipped press conferences this tournament, and Svitolina added: “Definitely, I think it should be equal for everyone.

“I faced difficulty also with the question about Novak (Djokovic), about his statement about Kosovo. So I’m not escaping. I have my strong position and I’m vocal about that. I’m not going to try to (make people like me) by betraying my strong belief and the strongest position for my country.”

In the last four, Sabalenka will meet unseeded Karolina Muchova, who earlier defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5 6-2 to reach her second grand slam semi-final.

Muchova, 26, suffered an abdominal injury during her run to the semis at the Australian Open that kept her out for seven months and she was ranked outside the top 200 as recently as September.

With her run here, Muchova is set to return to the top 20, and she said: “It’s been an incredible two weeks and I’m just glad I’m still in the competition.”

Pavlyuchenkova has also found form here after knee surgery kept her out for most of last season but the 2021 runner-up is now set to miss the grass-court season because her ranking was not high enough to get her into Wimbledon.

The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf have agreed a shock merger to provide a “new era in global golf,” according to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

The stunning announcement came after a year of unprecedented disruption in the men’s professional game following the launch of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit.

Here, the PA news agency looks at what has been announced and what will happen next.

The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), have signed an agreement which combines PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity.

PIF will initially be the exclusive investor in the new entity and have the right of first refusal on any capital to be invested. The PGA Tour will appoint a majority of the board and hold a majority voting interest, with PIF’s governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan the chairman and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan the CEO.

The deal will lead to a “mutually-agreed” end to all pending litigation between the various organisations. In April, the DP World Tour won its legal battle against 12 LIV players who committed “serious breaches” of the Tour’s code of behaviour by playing in LIV Golf events without permission, but an anti-trust suit against the PGA Tour was ongoing.

In a memo to players, Monahan said the 2023 LIV schedule would continue as planned while a “comprehensive evaluation” of how best to integrate team golf into the professional game takes place.

The increased fines and suspensions that the DP World Tour was able to impose after the arbitration verdict prompted Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson to resign their memberships and become ineligible for the Ryder Cup, Stenson standing down as Europe’s captain.

Those players could now return to the fold, with the tours pledging to establish a “fair and objective process” for players to re-apply for membership, although Monahan admits it will be a “complicated endeavour” and it will not be until after the end of this season.

Unsurprisingly Phil Mickelson, who took a break from the game in the wake of his explosive comments about the Saudis and their “horrible record on human rights” before LIV Golf was launched, was in celebratory mood, writing on Twitter: “Awesome day today”. However the news went down less well with some of his fellow professionals, who appeared blindsided by the announcement.

Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa wrote on social media: “I love finding out morning news on Twitter.” Former BMW PGA Championship winner Ben An wrote on Twitter: “I’m guessing the liv teams were struggling to get sponsors and pga tour couldn’t turn down the money. Win-win for both tours but it’s a big lose for who defended the tour for last two years.”

The shock announcement of a new commercial entity for golf backed by the financial power of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is “just more evidence of the onward march of Saudi sportswashing”, Amnesty International has said.

The PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour have ceased their ongoing litigation and instead committed to working together on commercial matters, alongside the European Tour, currently called the DP World Tour under a sponsorship agreement.

The news has created shockwaves within the sport, with the heavy level of influence of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in the new venture already very apparent even at this early stage.

PIF governor Yasir Al Rumayyan, will chair the new entity’s board of governors, while the statement announcing the merger said the PIF “will make a capital investment into the new entity to facilitate its growth and success”.

It added that PIF will have the exclusive right to further invest in the new entity, including a right of first refusal on any capital invested in the new entity, including into the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour.

Amnesty says this is further evidence of Saudi efforts to draw attention away from the country’s human rights record.

“While this may have taken some golf fans and commentators by surprise, it’s really just more evidence of the onward march of Saudi sportswashing,” Felix Jakens, Amnesty International UK’s head of priority campaigns and individuals at risk said.

“It’s been clear for some time that Saudi Arabia was prepared to use vast amounts of money to muscle its way into top-tier golf – just part of a wider effort to become a major sporting power and to try to distract attention from the country’s atrocious human rights record.

“Away from the glamour of the golf courses and the TV cameras there’s been mounting repression in Saudi Arabia, with government critics and human rights activists arrested, a spate of unfair trials, and with the death penalty widely used, including as a tool of political repression.

“The world of golf may be about to put one of its most high-profile commercial battles behind it, but it’s vital that this latest surge in Saudi sportswashing isn’t allowed to obscure the increasingly dire human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.”

American star Phil Mickelson, one of the top professionals who signed up to the LIV Golf series, was much more positive.

“Awesome day today,” he wrote in a quote-tweet about the news of the merger.

Nashwa looks set to bypass Royal Ascot, with a debut trip to Ireland on the cards for the dual Group One winner.

The John and Thady Gosden-trained filly enjoyed a remarkable three-year-old campaign, in which she claimed Classic honours in the Prix de Diane and added further Group One riches in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

Brave efforts in defeat in both the Prix de l’Opera and Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf followed for the Imad Al Sagar-owned four-year-old.

However, she was beaten on her return to action in the Group Two Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud, finishing over four lengths behind Above The Curve.

Al Sagar’s racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, believes she will miss the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and seek a third top-level prize against her own sex at the Curragh instead.

“She has come out the Prix Corrida fine. She needed it and had a good blow afterwards,” he said.

“Sometimes these older horses do take a little more time to come than we think. It wasn’t quite what we were hoping for, but the main thing is she has come out of it well.”

Though plans are still to be finalised, the daughter of Frankel looks set to go on her travels again, with the possibility of locking horns once more with the Joseph O’Brien-trained Above The Curve over 10 furlongs on July 1.

Grimthorpe added: “The Prince of Wales’s is an option but I would say, at the moment, talking to Imad this morning and to John (Gosden), the preferred option would be the Pretty Polly.

“I hope it might be easier to win! There are going to be other opportunities for her to take on colts, but if I think we can try to get her back on track for the Pretty Polly, I think that would be definitely the preferred option. John and Imad are both happy with that, so I think we will probably aim there.”

Although Nashwa ran well over a mile and a half when placed in last season’s Oaks, she has not subsequently gone beyond an extended 10 furlongs and connections are keen to keep her at similar trips this summer.

“There are some nice problems to have. She is obviously already a dual Group One, Classic-winning filly, so we have to chase those similar big prizes,” added Grimthorpe.

“There is the likes of the Eclipse, the Juddmonte International and the Irish Champion, but equally so there’s the Romanet, the Opera and the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at the end of it, so there are quite a few good options for her, mainly over 10 furlongs and everyone seems pretty comfortable with that (trip) at the moment.

“Obviously, these things can change, but I think a mile and a quarter seems to be her best.”

Passenger, who disappointed in finishing 12th of the 14 runners in the Betfred Derby on Saturday, will be given a break by Sir Michael Stoute.

Supplemented at a cost of £85,000 just days before the Classic on the strength of a luckless run when a close-up third in the Dante at York, Richard Kingscote was never at ease aboard the 8-1 shot.

Bidding to give the trainer and jockey a second success in the blue riband in as many years after Desert Crown’s victory last June, the son of Ulysses was keen early and did not see out the mile-and-a-half trip, which he was trying for the first time.

A late developer, he saw the racecourse for the first time in April, scampering to a three-length victory in the Wood Ditton, a maiden over mile at Newmarket.

Passenger, owned by the Niarchos family, made a taking debut when scoring in a mile maiden at Newmarket on April 20.

He was withdrawn from the Dee Stakes at Chester due to heavy ground so connections paid £14,000 to supplement the colt into the Group Two Dante, where he was keen early on and had his path blocked when attempting to mount a challenge approaching two furlongs out.

Now with three runs in the space of 45 days, connections are keen to give him more time to develop before bringing him back, starting over a shorter trip.

The Niarchos family’s racing manager, Alan Cooper, said: “It was unfortunate he used up a lot of energy going up the hill and he was a bit free, so emptied out coming down and that was that, unfortunately. We don’t know why he did, but he did.

“It is hard to know why. One goes forward and we can’t re-do the race. He’ll have a nice break and see what Sir Michael would like to do.

“The horse has had a very quick career with three races since mid-April, so we will give him a nice break and freshen him up, then look at a suitable 10-furlong race and take it from there.

“He is a late-maturing horse and we hope he will develop as he matures.

“A lot of people will be re-grouping after Saturday. I think there were a lot of good horses in the race. Every Derby is a good Derby in terms of winners.”

Heartache Tonight will be given a break following her sixth-placed finish to Soul Sister in Betfred Oaks, with the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe her ultimate aim in the autumn.

The David Menuisier-trained daughter of Recorder has shown a penchant for softer surfaces in the past, but encountered quick ground for the first time in her career at Epsom.

Chris Wright owns the filly with Andy MacDonald and she is a half-sister to Wright’s dual Group One winner Wonderful Tonight.

Having finished a close-up fourth to Jannah Rose on her first attempt against Group One opposition in the Prix Saint-Alary at ParisLongchamp last month, the Pulborough-based handler was far from disappointed with her latest run under Cristian Demuro.

“I can’t say she didn’t handle the course or the ground, because she came down the hill beautifully and what have you. She is not jarred up or anything,” said Menuisier.

“She is like her sister – when they run on that ground, they don’t find the gears that do they when running on soft.

“They do quicken, but they don’t quicken as much as the rest of them. On soft they do find the gears, on this (good to firm) ground, you can’t say they don’t handle it, they are just a stone below. Cristian looked after her as well.”

Heartache Tonight will bypass Royal Ascot, where she holds an entry in the Ribblesdale Stakes, and will now be campaigned towards Europe’s biggest all-aged middle-distance prize.

“She won’t go to the Ribblesdale, she will have a mini-break and we will prepare her for the autumn,” added Menuisier.

“It’s always been the plan. The Oaks we needed to try, just in case. But we have always said she is a filly for the autumn really.

“The main thing we are focussed on is the Arc. She will have to prove she is worthy of that. She has always looked like she needs a mile and a half. She is bred for an Arc – and I’m due one as well!”

The handler’s Royal Ascot team will be a small one this year and much will depend on the ground, with recent runaway Nottingham maiden winner Mysterious Love under consideration for the Sandringham Handicap.

Menuisier said: “If they get a little bit of rain we might run her. We think she is a black type filly, but she wants slow ground, so we will have to be patient with her.

“It is a matter of being patient. It is too easy to do the wrong thing, especially at this time of the year. We could also potentially run Belloccio in the Duke of Edinburgh as well.”

The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf have agreed to merge commercial operations under common ownership, the PGA Tour has announced.

The shock announcement comes after a year of unprecedented disruption in the men’s professional game following the launch of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said.

“This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA Tour’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model and combines with it the DP World Tour and LIV – including the team golf concept – to create an organization that will benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans.”

Brian Meehan’s French 2,000 Guineas runner-up Isaac Shelby is on course for the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 20.

Winner of the Group Two Superlative Stakes at Newmarket last July, the Night Of Thunder colt began his three-year-old campaign with a three-length success in the Greenham at Newbury, before being short-headed by Marhaba Ya Sanafi in France.

The St James’s Palace is shaping up into one of the races of the meeting with English and Irish Guineas winners Chaldean and Paddington as well as Charlie Hills’ unbeaten Cicero’s Gift lying in wait.

Though Isaac Shelby initially held an entry in the 10-furlong Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, the Manton handler is keen to keep him at a mile for now.

Meehan said: “He is heading to Ascot and he’s in great form. We have been very happy with him. He goes to the St James’s Palace, but he won’t go to the Eclipse.

“We’ll see how he comes out of Ascot before making any plans. He is in everything, but we’ll play it by ear.

“He’s in good form, we couldn’t be happier with him really.”

Double Olympic 100 metres breaststroke champion Adam Peaty is recovering after undergoing surgery to remove his tonsils.

The 28-year-old revealed he had had the procedure in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

Peaty said: “Tonsillectomy went well and on the road to recovery. Something that was affecting me for quite a long time with a lot of antibiotics to keep under control.

“Thank you to all the great doctors and nurses at Nuffield Leicester Hospital, you were all exceptional.”

Peaty, who won goal in Rio in 2016 and then defended his title in Tokyo five years later, also has six individual world titles to his name.

He has revealed in the past his struggles with depression and alcohol and recently admitted he had been in a “self-destructive spiral”.

Peaty pulled out of the British Championships in April citing mental health issues.

Jockeys Callum Shepherd and Joanna Mason are facing more time on the sidelines, having both recently just returned from injury.

Shepherd, who broke a wrist in November, aggravated his old injury when the Charlie Fellowes-trained Trois Vallees fell in a five-furlong handicap at Nottingham on Sunday.

He said: “I’ll be on the sofa for a little while. The horse sadly had a heart attack and the wrist started swelling up in one place, the same wrist I broke in November.

“It is fractured, but not too bad. The concern was it had opened up the old fracture again, but it hasn’t. I have a radial styloid fracture.

“It is hard to say when I will be back. I spoke to Dr Jerry Hill (the British Horseracing Authority’s chief medical officer), having sent him the X-ray. It is a case of getting a CAT scan to see the full extent of it, but I think it will be a case of weeks, rather than months. That seems to be the expectation at the moment. Hopefully, that will be the case.

“It’s a tough one, but at the same time it could be a lot worse – it’s not your spine or your head.”

Mason, who was sidelined for 10 days last month when kicked in the knee by Jazz Samba following his win at Beverley on May 1,  faces a lengthy absence.

She suffered a leg fracture on Monday when three pigeons flew out of bushes adjacent to the gallops at her grandfather Mick and his son David Easterby’s , spooking a filly she was riding and unseating her.

Mason said: “I was riding a filly down the gallop and three pigeons flew out and she was just gone from underneath me.

“I just landed a bit funny on my ankle. I got up, hobbled down the gallop until my granddad picked me up. I put ice on it, went to Jack Berry House and they looked at it.

“I thought it was ligaments or a strain, I wasn’t really in much pain, so I thought I had stretched or whatever, but they said to go to Malton Hospital for an X-ray to rule everything out.

“It is a spiral fracture on my lower (distal) fibula. They say I’ll be off between four to six weeks, but I’m aiming for four.”

Adding insult to injury, Mason missed a winning ride on Menelaus, who took the mile-and-a-half handicap at Thirsk on Monday.

She added: “I was 10 days off after my knee was kicked at Beverley. I was getting on a roll and the horses are going well.

“But I feel like I’ve probably been quite lucky, because I’ve not had many injuries. Maybe it is just my time.

“My knee is still niggling me a little bit – there’s still quite a bit of swelling in it, but that’s the least of my worries now.”

Elina Svitolina was booed again by the French Open crowd after her memorable Paris run was ended by Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals.

In her first grand slam since the birth of daughter Skai last October, the Ukrainian has enjoyed one of her best grand slams but Australian Open champion Sabalenka was too strong in a 6-4 6-4 victory.

Having hit away the winning forehand, Belarusian Sabalenka stood at the net waiting for a handshake she must have known would not come, and there were loud boos as Svitolina walked straight past her without acknowledging her.

The 28-year-old had received loud support during the match but she left Philippe Chatrier to a mixture of jeers and cheers.

Svitolina had beaten two consecutive Russian opponents, both times offering a thumbs up at the end, but this was probably the highest-profile sporting clash between competitors from opposing sides of the war since it began.

Svitolina has been more measured in her criticism of Russian and Belarusian players than compatriots like Marta Kostyuk, who Sabalenka beat in the first round.

The Belarusian again declined to speak to the press ahead of the contest following tense exchanges with a Ukrainian journalist but said before the Kostyuk match that the surrounding circumstances had added to her nerves.

She need not have worried about the reaction walking out on to Philippe Chatrier as, although a few Ukraine flags were evident, the crowd was sparse and both players received warm welcomes.

The pair matched each other game for game until Sabalenka forced a first break point at 4-4 and crunched away a return off a weak second serve.

Svitolina made a fast start to the second set, moving 2-0 ahead, but could not convert a game point in the next game and Sabalenka began to really make her extra power count, moving into a 4-2 lead.

With the patrons now having finished their lunch and fully engaged, they tried to will Svitolina – who was watched by husband Gael Monfils – into a comeback, but Sabalenka held her nerve.

In the last four Sabalenka will meet unseeded Karolina Muchova, who earlier defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her second grand slam semi-final.

The Czech, who also made the last four at the Australian Open in 2021, matched her best slam result with a 7-5 6-2 victory on Philippe Chatrier.

Muchova, 26, suffered an abdominal injury during her Australian run that kept her out for seven months and she was ranked outside the top 200 as recently as September.

With her run here, Muchova is set to return to the top 20, and she said: “I don’t know what to say. It’s been an incredible two weeks and I’m just glad I’m still in the competition.”

Pavlyuchenkova has also found form here after knee surgery kept her out for most of last season but the 2021 runner-up is now set to miss the grass-court season because her ranking was not high enough to get her into Wimbledon.

Andrew Balding has no concerns about the prospect of Chaldean tackling quicker ground at Royal Ascot.

The Dewhurst and 2000 Guineas winner remains on target for what looks a stellar renewal of the St James’s Palace Stakes on the first day of the meeting, June 20.

For Balding, with the Guineas already in the bag, he can approach the meeting with the pressure slightly lifted.

“The Classics are a big deal, particularly the Guineas. To get it early in the season is a huge effort,” he said.

“Having won the Dewhurst, you spend the whole winter with high expectations. You then get there and it was more of a relief than a feeling of ecstasy. It was a great one to get on the board and everyone was rightfully very happy with themselves.

“The St James’s Palace is the intended target. Chances are he is going to have to encounter some faster ground at some stage. I haven’t got a concern myself; it was quite fast when he won at York and I think at Ascot, the round track there should really play to his strengths, we’re looking forward to it.”

Chaldean is one of two major chances for the trainer in two of the feature races as he will also saddle Coltrane, the Sagaro Stakes winner, in the Gold Cup on the Thursday.

Balding told Tattersalls: “He’s a bit of a star, he wasn’t an expensive yearling (50,000 guineas). He has been a pleasant surprise from day one in everything he’s done. He looked stone cold useless as a two-year-old to be honest. He could hardly get up to the top of the gallop and just improved and improved.

“He had improved with racing but had a setback at the beginning of his four-year-old career. He missed a lot and the way he’s come back is an absolute tribute to his steel. He’s just a fabulous horse to train and I thought he was very impressive in the Sagaro Stakes.

“If he can produce that sort of a performance at Ascot on Gold Cup day, then he’s got to be a player.

“I think the last run suggests he is better than ever. I thought he was very impressive. He put in a similar performance at Sandown last year where he looked very good, and we were just thrilled with the way he won at Ascot.

“It was obvious that we didn’t need to be running again before the Gold Cup because there’s a busy time after that as well so hopefully, if we can get him there in the same form, he should have a great chance.”