Chris Honour said he would “never tell someone not to win” as he revealed his family have been caught up in the fall-out of the controversial performance of Hillsin at Worcester on Wednesday evening.
Hillsin was making his first start for Honour in the two-and-a-half mile conditional riders’ handicap hurdle and looked to have a fine chance of notching his first career victory in the hands of conditional Dylan Kitts when moving into contention up the home straight.
However, the five-year-old finished third beaten a length and a half, with the run coming under close scrutiny from the raceday stewards who held an inquiry and subsequently referred Kitts to the British Horseracing Authority, with the horse suspended from running for 40 days.
Speaking to the Nick Luck Daily Podcast on Thursday, Honour said: “I’m beside myself about the whole thing. I’ve had phone calls to my wife last night and she’s been in tears. I’m upset with it and it is not something I want to be involved in.
“In my mind I did my job right, the horse has run one of the best races of his career, to the point where I don’t want to be dropping the jockey in trouble – he’s messed up, he’s a 7lb claimer – but I told him not to let go of his head and he’s gone to an extreme. In my mind, if he was to look back this morning I’m sure he would be disappointed with the ride he has given it. It’s a disappointing scenario to be dealing with quite frankly.
“Reading Twitter and Facebook is horrible for us and my family and it is not something I want to be associated with. I did my best with the horse in my mind and I’ve ridden him every day myself. He’s gone there in great shape, run a lovely race, it’s just a very disappointing outcome.
“I love horses and I love them like they are my family to a certain extent, but with him this morning, I’ve gone and fed him and I looked at him and thought you’ve caused one of the worst days in my racing career.
“It upsets me. We don’t stop horses, it’s not our thing, people say it happens in racing and it does but it’s not what we do. We try to think outside the box about how we ride our horses and how to campaign them. I train horses slightly different to other people, but I do believe I have created a good environment where our horses can run above their weight.
“I would never tell someone not to win, it’s not even fair to ask someone not to win, at the end of the day lads go out there with their neck on the line. I don’t want people to think bad or ill of us because it’s not us and it’s not what we do. But I cannot dispute it looks awful.”
Kitts had ridden Hillsin on his last two starts for his previous trainer, but it was the first time that he had linked up with Honour, who said he would have liked Bryan Carver to ride the gelding in ideal circumstances.
“I wanted Bryan on and I want Bryan on all my horses,” he added.
“I spoke to the agents and said I want Bryan on this horse and the owners have said they want Dylan.
“I don’t know Dylan, I had never met him or spoken to him until yesterday when giving him the instructions to go out and drop him in, take your time and keep hold of his head.
“From there I can’t ride the race for him. I feel sorry for the lad, he’s done as I have asked, but he’s done it to an extreme that isn’t enough.
“People are saying we have stopped it, but that’s not me, I haven’t stopped it and it is against my ethos of how we run and train our horses. We have punched above our weight and hopefully we will get to the bottom of it with the investigation with the BHA.
“I’m embarrassed, I’m embarrassed for my team at home, they don’t deserve this, they work really hard.”
Lewis Hamilton has said he would welcome a protest from Just Stop Oil campaigners at this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
The climate activists targeted Wimbledon on Wednesday and have caused disruption at the Lord’s Ashes Test, the Premiership rugby final and the World Snooker Championship so far this year.
Asked ahead of Sunday’s race, if he would support a protest which did not involve people invading the track, Hamilton said: “Yes. I support peaceful protests.”
Five people 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 150,000 fans in place for the race.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton added: “We are hoping we have learnt from the experience (of last year).
“We have 100 more marshals this weekend which will be supportive to make sure it doesn’t happen.
“From my perspective, and my teams’ perspective, we are focused on sustainability and we believe in what people (the protesters) are fighting for and we are making those changes as a sport.
“But safety is key. We don’t want to put them in harm’s way and we don’t want to put anyone else in harm’s way. If there was to be one (a protest) we hope it is not on track.”
Earlier this week, McLaren driver Lando Norris told Just Stop Oil campaigners that they would be “stupid and selfish” to put lives in danger by protesting
But Williams’ London-born Alex Albon believes an attack is likely. “There is a high chance of something happening this week,” he said.
“It is a concern because a pitch invasion is one thing but with cars and moving parts it gets a bit more dangerous to some extent.”
Jan Choinski has targeted a Wimbledon return next year but wants to get there in his own right.
German-born Choinski, the son of an English ballet dancer, was handed a debut wild card and rewarded tournament organisers with an impressive first-round win against world number 56 Dusan Lajovic.
But his fun ended on Thursday when his former doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz won a tight match 6-4 6-4 7-6 (3) on Court 18.
The 26-year-old, who changed his nationality to British in 2019 and is ranked 164th in the world, got the taste for SW19 and wants a 2024 repeat.
“I would be very happy coming back next year,” he said. “Maybe even without needing a wild card for the main draw, try my best to get my ranking to a position where I can enter the tournament by myself.”
Asked whether he has proven he can produce at the top level, he replied: “Yes, I think so. I mean, I played a very good first match.
“I kept it as close as possible. Also having chances to win a set off a guy (Hurkacz) that’s top 20, previously been top 10 in the world, played semi-finals here as well, ended Roger’s (Federer) career at Wimbledon.
“It doesn’t get much better than his level in terms of tennis and grass-court tennis.
“Keeping the match quite close and having my chances to take a set off him, as well, is just positive.
“I couldn’t thank the people more that gave me the opportunity to play in this tournament. I feel it has to do with a lot of trust, as well, trusting me that I’ve got the level to compete at this level. Yeah, just want to say huge thanks.
“I have learnt a lot during the past couple of days. I think just going to take out all the positive bits, and also super happy about winning my first grand slam match.”
Choinski was always up against it, saving break points early on, but Hurkacz, who made the 2021 semi-finals at SW19, kept knocking on the door and crucially made the breakthrough at 4-4 and then served the first set out.
The second set followed an identical pattern with a key break at 4-4 putting Hurkacz in firm control.
After saving several break points throughout the third set, Choinski’s moment came at 6-5 when he had three set points at 0-40 on Hurkacz’s serve, but he could not convert them.
With that his chance disappeared as the Pole dominated the tie-break to seal a straight-sets win and book his spot in the third round.
He added: “I felt like I was playing good tennis. The match was very competitive. We played over two hours. I think the first two sets were decided each by one break.
“I tried my best. You know, unlucky that I got broken twice at 4-4. Then in the third set when I had the three set points, I’m sad about not making those, but that’s tennis. That’s life.”
Aidan O’Brien has mapped out a three-race plan for his unbeaten juvenile River Tiber.
The Wootton Bassett colt looked something out the ordinary when scoring by 10 lengths on his racecourse debut at Navan in April and doubled up at Naas the following month.
Having completed his hat-trick in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, River Tiber heads ante-post lists for next year’s Qipco 2000 Guineas and looks set to step up in trip before the season is out.
For now, though, O’Brien is happy to stick to six furlongs, with the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on August 12 next on his star two-year-old’s agenda.
“Everything is good and the plan at the moment is to go to the Heinz (Phoenix) at the Curragh,” said the Ballydoyle handler.
“He’s just having a little bit of an easy time, but that’s what we’re thinking at the moment, staying at six furlongs, and if everything went well then he could step up to seven in the National Stakes.
“If that went well, he could go on to the Dewhurst, so they are the three races that are on his programme at the moment. Obviously it can all change very quickly.”
O’Brien also provided an update on Luxembourg after connections decided against allowing him to join stablemate Paddington in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday.
He added: “He was only going to be a possible for the Eclipse if Paddington didn’t run, he is in the King George and he’ll be trained for that, I think.
“We’re looking at that for Auguste Rodin as well obviously and I would imagine if Auguste is going there Luxembourg might have to stand back again.
“We’ll wait and see, but at the moment he (Luxembourg) is on the King George programme.”
Stan Wawrinka will lock horns again with old rival Novak Djokovic in the third round at Wimbledon.
Wawrinka, 38, defeated 29th seed Tomas Etcheverry 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2 to reach the last 32 at the All England Club for the first time since 2015.
The Swiss veteran has won only six of their 26 previous meetings but two of those came in grand slam finals, at the French Open in 2015 and the US Open the following year, while he has also beaten him at the Australian Open.
They have played only twice since, with Wawrinka facing a long road back after knee and foot surgeries, but he has finally returned to the top 100 and will take on Djokovic for the first time on grass.
“I will enjoy it if I don’t get killed,” he said with a smile. “I’m quite happy to have the chance to play against him on grass at least one time before I finish playing. It’s going to be a big challenge. Hopefully I can play a high level and be competitive.”
The match will be the oldest combined age for a men’s singles match at Wimbledon since Ken Rosewall faced Barry Phillips-Moore in 1974.
Djokovic, 36, is now on a 30-match winning streak at Wimbledon and will be a big favourite but he will be wary of the power of Wawrinka.
“He took away two grand slams from me,” said the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
“After several surgeries of his knees, he keeps going strong and trying to create some more history for himself and tennis. We cannot forget that he’s a three-time grand slam champion and Davis Cup winner and also Olympic gold. He had a fantastic career.
“One of the nicest one-handed backhands that I have ever played against, ever seen. Very powerful player. Very strong. Very complete. He can play equally well on all surfaces.”
Visually-impaired tennis fans are trialling headsets at Wimbledon that enable them to watch live action from in the stands.
The headsets, developed by UK company GiveVision and powered by Vodafone 5G, stream live footage from local TV cameras and enhance it to suit a user’s specific sight profile.
Sinead Grealy, a life-long tennis fan who once skipped school to queue for Wimbledon, has been taking part in the trial on Centre Court and Court One.
She told the PA news agency: “I can’t tell you how fantastic it is. I would need a thesaurus and know how to work it for all the superlatives.
“The technology is incredible. It takes my eyesight to better than it was. The first time I put it on I just went, ‘woah’. And then I went ‘woah’ again with the first adjustment because it’s so simple. I’m a technophobe and it’s so easy to use.
“I need it in my life, I will be buying it whenever it comes on the market. You don’t know how many people it’s going to help.
“I’ve got a very good chance of going 100 per cent blind. I don’t have to fear that, and that genuinely, in the quiet hours when I couldn’t sleep, kept me up at night, that I would never be able to go and enjoy live sport ever again. The scope this has is just beyond where I was even hoping it could go.”
GiveVision has also been working in sport with Premier League club Crystal Palace and hopes the technology can be rolled out across many more venues.
Head of operations Joanna Liddington explained: “It brings the image much closer to the user’s face, stimulates the photoreceptor cells in the retina and allows them to regain some of the sight they’ve lost, essentially.
“They can zoom in and out, change the brightness, have a look around and take in the atmosphere. They can manipulate it to fit their needs.”
The ability for visually impaired people to experience sport without being restricted to specific areas is one of the key benefits of the technology.
“With the headset, people can sit anywhere they want, be with their friends and family,” said Liddington.
“At the moment people with sight loss are severely under-represented. One in 30 people in the country have visual impairment and our experience with football is you have about five or six people at any given match.
“In Centre Court, you should have about 500 people, and of course we don’t see that because people don’t go because they can’t see what’s going on.
“There have been so many times I’ve seen people go, ‘Wow, this is amazing’. To see the difference it makes to people who are passionate fans of their sport, finally get to see their first goal, first bit of tennis.
“One of the guys we work with, who was born visually impaired, he said the best thing is, when there’s a foul, he can choose if it was a foul. ‘I can argue with my friends about it, I can be angry with the ref, my opinion and my voice finally matters’, and that’s the impact.”
Hubert Hurkacz showed no mercy to his former doubles partner Jan Choinski as he sent the Briton packing in the second round at Wimbledon.
German-born Choinski, the son of an English ballet dancer, partnered with the 17th seed up until 2016, but could not match him on Court 18 as Hurkacz won 6-4 6-4 7-6 (3).
Defeat brings to an end Choinski’s first appearance in SW19 having been given a wild card, leaving just four Britons remaining in the draw.
Still, it has been a few days to remember for the 27-year-old, ranked 164 in the world, as he enjoyed a maiden grand slam win on Monday when he beat world number 56 Dusan Lajovic.
Choinski was always up against it, saving break points early on, but Hurkacz, who made the 2021 semi-finals at SW19, kept knocking on the door and crucially made the breakthrough at 4-4 and then served the first set out.
The second set followed an identical pattern with a key break at 4-4 putting Hurkacz in firm control.
After saving several break points throughout the third set, Choinski’s moment came at 6-5 when he had three set points at 0-40 on Hurkacz’s serve, but he could not convert them.
With that his chance disappeared as the Pole dominated the tie-break to seal a straight-sets win and book his spot in the third round.
Al Kazeem may not have been owner-breeder John Deer’s first Group One winner, but there is little doubt he is the finest to graduate from his Oakgrove Stud.
He won 10 times during an intermittent 23-race career, but it is 10 years since the strapping son of Dubawi was arguably at his peak and went on an imperious winning run, collecting a trio of Group One prizes.
This Saturday marks a decade since the final act of that successful streak as having downed Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and then bravely landed the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, Al Kazeem was sent off the 15-8 favourite to bring up a big-race hat-trick in the Coral-Eclipse – a mission he completed in fine style.
It was a victory that was not without the odd moment of worry as Al Kazeem hung right-handed just as a dominant charge to the line seemed inevitable. But despite the protestation he badly hampered eventual third Mukhadram, there was no denying the clear-cut nature of the two-length triumph.
“It was a brilliant year, fantastic really,” said Deer. “It was one of those times where you just can’t believe it. You breed a lot of horses and they are good, but nothing like what it takes to win a Group One. So when it happens it is very special.
“I had already won Group Ones with Patavellian and Avonbridge, so I had a flavour of it, but Al Kazeem was different, he was very special.
“He was a gorgeous looking horse who was very strong. I was pleased with the way he got on with Roger Charlton and we had some very exciting days with him.”
It is not just Deer who holds fond memories of Al Kazeem, but also Roger Charlton who trained the bay both before and after his brief interlude at stud.
The Beckhampton handler, who now trains in conjunction with his son Harry, has great memories of that 2013 season and was delighted that Al Kazeem could provide him with the Eclipse victory he always craved adding to his CV.
“He was on a roll that year wasn’t he,” said Charlton.
“It was a very rewarding effort to beat Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, then his performance at Royal Ascot in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes was good. There was a little bit of controversy in the Eclipse as to whether he interfered with Mukhadram but he battled on up the hill there.
“It was very pleasing and like most people the Eclipse was a race I always wanted to win. It’s a special race and it is normally at the time of the year where the best horses can go there if they want.”
He went on: “If I remember rightly it was always the plan to go there as long as he was OK after Ascot. He was a very tough and very sound horse and he was very suited to going right-handed rather than left-handed.
“As I remember it, he was well on top at the end and he was a pretty classy horse in those days.
“He came back from a broken pelvis to do what he did and as we all know he then went off to stud and then came back to win another Group One so he was a pretty special horse and he would rate pretty highly on my list anyway.”
A third key component of the Al Kazeem story is his big-race pilot James Doyle who partnered the son of Dubawi for all of his major moments on course.
Now one of the leading riders in the weighing room, Doyle was stable jockey to Charlton at the time and had only the one really recognisable success to his name when winning the Dubai Duty Free aboard Cityscape.
However, Al Kazeem would soon change that and helped put Doyle firmly in the spotlight.
“Cityscape was the catalyst when he won the Dubai Duty Free in a course-record time and then it moved on to Al Kazeem,” said Charlton.
“I do slightly remember going to the Curragh with James for the Tattersalls Gold Cup where we were taking on Camelot who was nearly a Triple Crown winner.
“James ran round the course and then won on Al Kazeem and then on the way home I asked him ‘how many times have you ridden at the Curragh?’ and he said only once, as an apprentice over five furlongs. So he had never actually ridden over the trip there at that stage and it just shows how young and inexperienced he was in those days.”
Deer added: “I felt very lucky because he was such a young jockey, but lucky because he was such a good jockey. He was brilliant on the horse really and it kind of shows how lucky I was now doesn’t it, with the way he has developed and his career has progressed.”
After an unsuccessful first attempt at stud duties following the 2013 season, Al Kazeem would return to the track to add a second Tattersalls Gold Cup during his swansong season of 2015.
He now stands at Deer’s Oakgrove Stud in Wales where he is very much part of the family and his legacy lives on having provided the owner-breeder with another Royal Ascot champion in the form of Wokingham hero Saint Lawrence.
Deer said: “He was special in as much as in he coped with being a stallion and when he came back into training you got the impression he had forgotten all about it. He knew his job of racing and settled in and did beautifully.
“It’s lovely to have him back, that is really special. I sold him to the Queen and he wasn’t exactly out of my life because I did have some nominations to him, but to have him back at the stud is really special and everybody loves the horse, it’s amazing. He is a bit of a star and I watch him sometimes being taken out to his paddock and he is full of himself.”
Britain’s Daniel Dubois will fight world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in Poland next month, it has been announced.
Ukrainian Usyk, 36, will put all his WBA (Super), IBF and WBO titles on the line against mandatory WBA challenger Dubois, 26, at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw on August 26.
Former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk snatched the titles off Anthony Joshua in London in September 2021 and won the rematch in August last year in Saudi Arabia.
Dubois will be Usyk’s second defence of his world heavyweight belts with the match-up announced on Twitter by Frank Warren’s Queensbury Promotions.
Usyk, whose scheduled showdown with WBC champion Tyson Fury at Wembley in April fell through due to contractual disputes, said simply on Instagram: “See you 26 august”.
Londoner Dubois, nicknamed ‘Dynamite’, has won 19 of his 20 fights since turning professional in 2017, 18 by knockout, with one defeat, against fellow British heavyweight Joe Joyce in 2020.
Dubois suffered a fractured orbital bone and nerve damage to his left eye when stopped in the 10th round by Joyce, but has beaten four opponents since.
In his latest triumph, on the undercard of Fury’s third fight against Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September, Dubois recovered from three first-round knockdowns to defeat South Africa’s Kevin Lerena.
An Animal Rising activist has been spared jail after running on to the track at the Betfred Derby a minute before the horses galloped past.
Ben Newman, 32, was filmed running on to the course at Epsom as the premier Classic began on June 3.
After pleading guilty at Guildford Crown Court on Thursday to causing public nuisance, he was criticised by the judge for “endangering” the lives of police
and security guards who managed to drag him off the track just before the horses ran past.
Newman was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years and fined a total of £1,356.
The protest happened after the Jockey Club, which owns Epsom Downs, was granted an injunction banning the Animal Rising group, which Newman was a part of, from intervening in the event.
He was produced from custody and appeared in court dressed in a grey sweatshirt.
He was one of 31 people arrested on the day of the race, including 12 on the racecourse grounds.
Footage played at court showed Newman running on to the track as police and security guards darted after him before wrestling him to the ground and dragging
him to one side.
About a minute later, the horses sprinted past, prosecutor Wendy Cottee told the court.
She said: “The Derby was due to start at 3.30pm. Horses were let out just after that.
“This defendant then ran across the track. The horses were around a minute away.
“He was apprehended and taken off the track.
“The defendant admits that the public were angry with him – several were jeering at him.”
On Wednesday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman held a summit at Downing Street with police and sports bodies including the Lawn Tennis Association, the Premier
League and the England and Wales Cricket Board to discuss plans to step up security at summer sporting events.
That afternoon, Just Stop Oil protesters threw orange confetti and jigsaw pieces on to court 18 at Wimbledon, stopping play twice.
It came after members of the group invaded the pitch at Lord’s last week during the second Ashes test.
Emily Upjohn and Paddington remain on course for a mouthwatering clash at Sandown on Saturday with the pair among just four runners declared for the Coral-Eclipse.
Following a dominant success in last month’s Coronation Cup, John and Thady Gosden’s Emily Upjohn will drop back in trip under William Buick, who takes over in the saddle from the suspended Frankie Dettori.
She has already won over Sandown’s 10 furlongs, but faces a far from straightforward task on her return as she must concede 7lb to a top-class three-year-old colt in Paddington.
Aidan O’Brien’s charge is four from four this season, including a Classic triumph in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and confirmed himself the best of his generation over a mile with a brilliant victory over Newmarket Guineas winner Chaldean in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The son of Siyouni now tests the water over a mile and a quarter for the first time in a race his trainer has already won on six occasions.
With Anmaat a significant absentee, the small but select field is completed by the William Haggas-trained Dubai Honour and West Wind Blows from Simon and Ed Crisford’s yard.
Dubai Honour has enjoyed a profitable year on foreign soil, winning back-to-back Group Ones in Australia before finishing third in the QEII Cup in Hong Kong.
West Wind Blows is a dual Group Three winner and was runner-up to Hukum in the Hardwicke Stakes at the Royal meeting last month, but will be the outsider of the quartet.
Anmaat has been ruled out of Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown due to a foot abscess.
Winner of the John Smith’s Cup last summer, the Owen Burrows-trained five-year-old went on to land the Group Three Rose of Lancaster Stakes and the Group Two Prix Dollar before being given a winter break.
He chased home Adayar on his reappearance in the Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket before returning to France to break his Group One duck in last month’s Prix d’Ispahan.
Connections had been looking forward to seeing him test his powers at the highest level on home soil this weekend, but he will not line up at the Esher venue.
Angus Gold, racing manager for owners Shadwell, said: “It looks like a foot abscess and we sort of hoped it was going to burst overnight, but it hasn’t and he’s just not 100 per cent sound this morning.
“It’s just a matter of timing, he’ll be fine next week hopefully. Like all of these things you can’t fight them, that’s nature’s way and he just isn’t right to run on Saturday.
“It’s a big blow to Owen and the team there and obviously Sheikha Hissa and all at Shadwell. It was going to be interesting to see him against the best mile and a quarter horses in this country and Ireland, but there’s no point making a fuss about it – those are the cards we’ve been dealt.”
Anmaat holds an entry in next month’s Juddmonte International, but Shadwell are targeting that race with Prince of Wales’s Stakes hero Mostahdaf and it seems unlikely both will head for York.
Gold added: “That (Juddmonte International) is the obvious one, except for the fact that if we’re lucky and get there in one piece we have Mostahdaf lined up for that.
“Off the top of my head we could look at something like the Irish Champion Stakes (for Anmaat), but that is obviously a while away yet (September 9).
“The Eclipse was his prime summer target, but there we go. We’re just digesting it, so we haven’t sat down with the programme book yet, but the Irish Champion would certainly be an option.”
Max Verstappen is in the form of his career, but Williams team principal James Vowles is confident other teams are closing in on Red Bull.
Verstappen is well clear in the drivers' championship, having won seven races already in 2023.
Red Bull, with their other driver Sergio Perez occupying second place, are also the runaway leaders in the constructors' championship.
Vowles, though, does think the gap is gradually beginning to close.
Asked how teams can stop the Verstappen-Red Bull juggernaut, he told Stats Perform: "It's a meritocracy. They've done the best job with the same finances available, not the same equipment, the same finances available as everyone else.
"He's on fire at the moment. There's just every race where you think he might struggle. He still pulls one out of the bag and does well.
"I think what you are seeing is people catching up. That's the slight difference. There is a closing of the gap relative to what happened before. It's just going to take time for that to fully kick in."
Before taking charge of Williams, Vowles was the motorsport strategy director at Mercedes, who have endured a difficult time since the start of the 2022 season.
"I think Mercedes lost a year's worth of development simply because the direction they went down was quite different to really the rest of the field," he said.
"And sometimes you have to believe in what you're doing at one point, which is what they've done now, you have to realise that is the wrong direction.
"But that year hasn't been undone. You can't just undo it in the space of one week.
"So what you'll see from this is that now we're going to slowly start, I'm sure, to learn what the package is and how to develop it because they are an incredible organisation and will get back to the front, but it's going to take them I think from here another six months, 12 months to be able to do that."
Asked if F1 was becoming too predictable, Vowles replied: "I think there always is a risk of that. That's like any sport, when you can predict the result, it's less interesting.
"The only thing is I'd go back and say, actually, Austria was one of the most interesting races we've had so far this year, so the gems are still there and this won't last forever.
"[Verstappen] will come back towards everyone else and it just takes a little bit more time than we're expecting. But he will do."
Mark Philippoussis still holds frustrations over his defeat to Roger Federer in the 2003 Wimbledon final.
Thursday, July 6 marks 20 years since Philippoussis went down 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to a then 21-year-old Federer at the All England Club.
That defeat saw Philippoussis' second chance at winning a major title pass by, and also marked the first grand slam success of Federer's incredible career.
Federer would win a further 19 major titles, including another seven at Wimbledon, before he retired last year.
Reflecting on that loss 20 years ago, Philippoussis told Stats Perform that seeing Federer go on to enjoy so much success did not ease the pain.
"No, no, I think a loss is a loss and unfortunately, no one really remembers the runners-up," he said.
"I'm always going to be proud of those couple of weeks, and Wimbledon was always my favourite event of the year and my dream as a kid. I came close but close wasn't good enough."
Philippoussis does have immense pride in his run to that final, though.
He added: "It was a very proud day. It was my dream, one of my dreams as a kid was hopefully one day, not only just play on that Centre Court, but play that last Sunday match and have that walk on that Centre Court.
"I was lucky enough to do that walk. Of course, going all the way and losing in the final hurts, I'm not going to lie, especially where I believe that I had some opportunities in that first set.
"It wasn't meant to be but I'm very proud of that."
Asked if he believed at that moment Federer would ultimately become one of the greatest players of all time, Philippoussis said: "He always had that talent. He was number three in the world at that stage. It's not like he came out of nowhere.
"He was someone that everyone was looking up to, that was capable of being a grand slam champion and number one in the world, but did I think he was going to go ahead and win over 20 grand slams?
"I thought that maybe Pete Sampras was going to hold on to that [record of] 14 for a little while, but just the way Federer dominated for years after that was amazing."
Federer's eight titles in the men's singles is a Wimbledon record. Sampras and Novak Djokovic, who is seeded second at the current tournament, are one behind him on seven.
Biarritz have confirmed the signing of former Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb.
Webb, who announced his retirement from international rugby in May, has agreed terms until 2025.
He is the latest recruit for a club that finished 11th in the French second division last season, joining players such as England centre Jonathan Joseph and France prop Mohamed Haouas.
It will be 34-year-old Webb’s second playing stint in France, having featured for Toulon between 2018 and 2020.
He won 40 Wales caps and was recalled to the national set-up by head coach Warren Gatland during last season’s Guinness Six Nations.
But Webb then decided to step away from the Test arena after being named in Wales’ preliminary World Cup training squad, following his fellow former Ospreys colleagues Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric.
Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos homered to back Taijuan Walker’s sixth straight win and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4 for their 11th consecutive road win on Wednesday.
The road streak is the second-longest in franchise history, trailing a 13-game run in 1976.
The Phillies are 21-7 since losing five in a row from May 28-June 2 and have moved a season-high seven games over .500.
Walker allowed all four of his runs in the first three innings but kept the Rays scoreless over the final four frames to become the fourth 10-game winner in the National League. He walked five and struck out eight.
The Phillies took the lead for good in the fifth inning on Turner’s tying home run and Bryson’s Stott’s RBI single for one of his four hits.
Castellanos connected for a 437-foot homer in the sixth inning and Brandon Marsh’s two-run single in the seventh closed the scoring.
Kyle Schwarber went 0 for 6 and was the only Philadelphia position player without a hit.
Tampa Bay has lost a season-high four straight and 10 of 16 but still owns the AL’s best record.
De La Cruz has big game after bat check
Rookie Elly De Le Cruz homered and added two doubles after a bat mix-up to lead the surging Cincinnati Reds to a 9-2 win over the Washington Nationals.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez questioned the use of an empty sensor cover on the knob of De La Cruz’s bat in the second inning. After umpires reviewed the legality of the knob cover with the league office, De La Cruz was allowed to put it back on his bat for his second at-bat an inning later.
The Reds’ star hit a 455-foot shot for his fourth home run in the fifth inning, doubled, stole third and scored on Jake Fraley’s single in the eighth and doubled again in the ninth.
Cincinnati has won seven of eight and homered in 19 straight games for the second-longest streak in franchise history.
Mets stun Diamondbacks with rally in 9th inning
Rookie Francisco Alvarez homered with two outs in the ninth inning and Mark Canha had an RBI triple to lift the New York Mets to an improbable 2-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Trailing 1-0 and down to their last strike, Alvarez homered off Andrew Chafin to tie it. After Brett Baty singled, Canha followed with a drive to the 413-foot sign in centre to put New York on top.
Kodai Senga was in line for the tough-luck loss before the rally after he allowed Christian Walker’s home run over eight innings with 12 strikeouts.
Wimbledon is again playing catch-up on Thursday after protesters and more rain caused delays on Wednesday.
British fans will have hopes for another Andy Murray classic on Centre Court as he plays fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas while three other home players are in singles action.
Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina headline the day’s action in the women’s tournament as organisers hope for better weather and no more disruption from activists.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at Thursday’s action.
Playing catch-up
The inclement weather over the first three days has caused havoc with the scheduling.
While the likes of Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic are sat comfortably in the third round, there are 17 first-round matches across both the men’s and women’s draw still to be completed going into the fourth day of the tournament – when all second-round matches are usually completed.
That backlog is going to take a couple of days to clear and with the threat of more rain to come at the weekend, tournament officials will be wary of more scheduling headaches.
Match of the day
Murray will meet Tsitsipas in the second round and it has all the hallmarks of another evening thriller under the roof.
The two-time champion has specialised in such occasions over his rich history at the tournament and this will be a good test of where his game really is.
Tsitsipas had to play four sets of his fourth-round match on Wednesday, which could help Murray, but is one of the best players in the world.
If Murray is to win, there are sure to be some nails bitten first.
Stricter security
After there were two separate Just Stop Oil protests on Wednesday, where activists twice got on to Court 18 to throw orange confetti and jigsaw pieces, security looks set to be beefed up to prevent any more incidents.
Jigsaws were removed from sale in the onsite shop on Tuesday, but fans could now have to go through a more vigorous bag check when entering the grounds.
There could also be more security guards and police on show to protect the players and courts.
Brit watch
Five British players fell on Wednesday as Heather Watson, Arthur Fery, George Loffhagen, Jodie Burrage and Sonay Kartal all lost, but the home interest remains strong on Thursday.
Murray is not the only Briton on Centre Court as Liam Broady opens up proceedings against fourth seed Casper Ruud, while Katie Boulter will look to equal her best effort at Wimbledon by beating Viktoriya Tomova on Court 12 and reach round three.
Jan Choinski completes the British singles line-up when he takes on his former doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz in the opening match on Court 18.
Order of play
Centre Court
Liam Broady v Casper Ruud
Elena Rybakina v Alize Cornet
Andy Murray v Stefanos Tsitsipas
Court One
Alexander Zverev v Gijs Brouwer
Sloane Stephens v Donna Vekic
Jessica Pegula v Cristina Bucsa
Other Britons
Katie Boulter v Viktoriya Tomova (Court 12)
Jan Choinski v Hubert Hurkacz (Court 18)
Weather
The Los Angeles Angels have a clearer idea of how long they can expect to be without Mike Trout.
An early August return would be the best case scenario.
Trout is expected to miss four-to-eight weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a fractured hamate bone on Wednesday.
"I just talked to Mike; he just got out of surgery. He feels great," Angels manager Phil Nevin said. "The surgery went well. We spoke to the doctor a minute ago, but it sounds like everything went great."
The three-time AL Most Valuable Player suffered the injury on a swing while fouling off a pitch in a game against the San Diego Padres on Monday and the team put him on the 10-injured list the next day.
There was no immediate word on how long he would be sidelined, only he was already scratched from next Tuesday's Major League All-Star Game at Seattle.
Trout, who had been selected as a starter in the All-Star Game for a 10th consecutive time, said Tuesday he wasn't sure if he would need surgery or not.
Nevin said Wednesday surgery was the only way for the injury to heal, and the Angels will get a better idea of when he'll return when the 31-year-old gets going with his rehabilitation.
“It just remains to be seen how Mike’s hand responds when he starts doing the treatments and his rehab," Nevin said. "I know he’s anxious to get going. He was happy he could get this done right away so he can get back to the team as quick as possible.”
In 81 games this season, Trout is batting .263 with 18 home runs and 44 RBIs.
A strained right calf limited him to just 36 games in 2021, while left ribcage inflammation forced the 11-time All-Star to miss a month last season.
The Angels (45-43) entered play Wednesday seven games behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL West and four games out of a wild-card spot.
World number one Iga Swiatek was enjoying the calmness amid the chaos at Wimbledon after easing past Sara Sorribes Tormo in the second round.
The Pole was able to book her place in the third round before some first-round matches had even started after rain caused havoc with the scheduling.
There was little danger of her being knocked out of rhythm as she breezed to a 6-2 6-0 victory on Centre Court.
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“For sure it’s really comfortable,” she said. “I’m happy that my matches were scheduled under the roof, so I always was certain that it’s going to actually happen.
“It’s a little bit easier to prepare knowing that. But on the other hand I know I would still be ready anyway if my match was suspended or something.
“For sure it’s more comfortable. I would say you have this normal grand slam rhythm with one day off, one day of playing matches.”
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk revealed a bout of tears during the two rain breaks helped her stage an impressive recovery against eighth seed Maria Sakkari.
Kostyuk looked to be heading home after being bagelled in the first set, but, with the aid of a couple of emotional outbursts when the wet weather came, she turned it around to seal a 0-6 7-5 6-2 victory.
“The rain helped. I think I was very emotional,” she said. “I got more emotional on court after the second rain break, but before that, I was very emotional but I was, like, numb in a way. I was so emotional I couldn’t do anything about it.
“So I had a really good cry both times, that helped, because I was also desperate in a certain way, because I’m playing good, but I don’t know why is it going so bad.”
Kostyuk received good support from the British crowd, having been booed at the French Open for failing to shake Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka’s hand after their match due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“That was questionable behaviour from the fans,” she said. “I mean, they can do whatever they want, honestly, but I just didn’t understand it. I don’t think I ever will.
“Obviously the support here is different, I’m very happy with the support at the end of the match and throughout the match too.”
Two-time champion Petra Kvitova enjoyed an impromptu appearance on Centre Court as her contest with Jasmine Paolini was moved there following three quick matches.
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And she prevailed in a thrilling late-night finish on her old stomping ground, winning 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-1.
Donna Vekic, who was originally scheduled to play on Monday, finally got on court and wrapped up a 6-2 6-3 success over Zhang Shuai while Anett Kontaveit, playing in her final tournament, beat Lucrezia Stefanini 6-4 6-4.
Daria Kasatkina needed only an hour to beat an overwhelmed Jodie Burrage on Centre Court while former French Open winner Sloane Stephens kicked off her campaign with a 6-2 6-3 win over Rebecca Peterson.
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