Undisputed world super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has announced he will return to the ring against Jermell Charlo in September.

The bout between the Mexican superstar and the super-welterweight champion from America is set to take place in Las Vegas on September 30, the two fighters posted on social media.

Alvarez successfully defended his world titles against Britain’s John Ryder on May 6 this year.

The 32-year-old won by unanimous decision in front of more than 50,000 people in Guadalajara, Mexico, improving his overall record to 59-2-2.

Charlo, 33, is currently the undisputed super-welterweight champion, holding the WBO, IBF, WBA and WBC belts having won 35 of his 37 fights with just one loss back in 2018.

Alvarez had previously been linked with a clash against Jermell’s twin brother Jermall, who fights at middleweight level.

Justin Rose admitted he was delighted with a “gutsy” 73 which kept him in contention for a second Betfred British Masters title, 21 years after the first.

Rose held a one-shot lead after a superb opening 65 at The Belfry, but it was a different story on Friday as he covered his first 10 holes in four over par.

However, the former world number one rallied to card four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine and finished the day on six under par, tied for the lead with France’s Antoine Rozner.

“It felt like a very, very tough day,” Rose said. “I got off to kind of a weird start, I didn’t feel like I was hitting poor shots and three-putted number one. The hole looked a little smaller for some reason.

“It wasn’t easy and this golf course holds up. Every year it has a pretty stout winning score and you can see why.

“I made some mistakes clearly, I was four over par at one point in my round, so actually delighted to bring it back and finish minus six.

“A good result out of the day I think and also generally feel pretty decent with how I played today. Just three three-putts and one or two little errors which crept in but not too bad considering what was a tough afternoon.

“I did readjust and tried say to myself I can make three birdies coming in down the last seven holes and that’s kind of how it played out.

“It was a good gutsy finish I suppose and dinner will taste good because of that. Through 36 holes I’m in a great spot.”

Rose and Rozner enjoyed a one-shot lead over a seven-strong group of players which included defending champion Thorbjorn Olesen, former Ryder Cup players Oliver Wilson and Andy Sullivan and English amateur John Gough.

Sullivan dodged a fine for swearing as he moved into contention for a fifth DP World Tour title with a second round of 68, the 37-year-old Midlander making five birdies in the space of six holes from the 12th.

“It was good. I played really well today,” Sullivan said, who was part of the European team beaten by the United States at Hazeltine in 2016.

“I missed an eight-footer on 11 which did get a massive expletive. Luckily the cameras weren’t there as I would have got fined, and then I got going after that.

“I felt the momentum and obviously having a home crowd behind you is nice, local crowd and quite a few out there today, so it’s good when you get the roars going and you get them going, you feel like your energy is up today.”

Sullivan joked that it had been a “pain in the a***” to secure tickets for all his friends and family, but Olesen was certainly appreciating the support of the sizeable crowds.

“It was great from early doors this morning,” the Dane said. “There was a lot of people and good atmosphere the whole way around, so it’s always fun to play in front of that.

“I didn’t think it was that easy today. It was quite windy but I had some really nice up-and-downs to keep the round going which was very important. I’m pretty happy with today.”

Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson and Robert MacIntyre lie two shots off the lead on four under par, while Welshman Jamie Donaldson slipped four strokes off the pace after following his opening 66 with a 76.

Compatriot Rhys Enoch holed out from 220 yards with a four iron to make an albatross on the par-five third hole, a second round of 69 leaving him one under par.

Al Husn wore down the dual Group One-winner Nashwa to cause a minor surprise in the JenningsBet In Shiremoor Hoppings Fillies’ Stakes at Newcastle.

Nashwa won the Prix de Diane and Nassau Stakes in a glittering three-year-old season, while she also ran well in the Oaks, the Prix de l’Opera and at the Breeders’ Cup.

She was sent off the 8-11 favourite to get back to winning ways under Hollie Doyle, who tried to dictate matters from the front.

John and Thady Gosden’s Nashwa raced keenly throughout but when Doyle asked the Frankel filly to put the race to bed, she immediately took a couple of lengths out of the field.

However, she did not make life easy for Doyle and began to hang to her left, and all the while Jim Crowley was coming with a strong run on the Roger Varian-trained Al Husn.

Al Husn (3-1) herself was a Listed winner last time out and had only lost one of her previous five races so is clearly on the upgrade and she continued her progression.

Deep inside the final furlong as Nashwa began to tire, Al Husn was hitting top gear and won by half a length.

Crowley told Sky Sports Racing of the winner: “She’s clearly thriving, she looked so well in herself tonight.

“She felt in great form, I was bit concerned I was drawn nine but I was able to get a really nice position.

“It was a bit of a rush when we turned for home but she picked up nicely and hit the line well.

“She’s improving all the time and off that run you crack on and aim a little bit higher, there’s no reason why she can’t progress. She wants to win, she’s not big but she’s a little terrier.

“I think so (earned a crack at the Nassau). I’ll speak to Roger and connections but she’d have nothing to lose running in a race like that and everything to gain.

“Touch wood she’ll progress again.”

Betfair cut the winner to 10-1 from 25s for the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

Max Verstappen accused Formula One’s referee of making the sport’s superstars look like “amateurs” in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole position for Sunday’s 71-lap race in Spielberg after he saw off a late flurry from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Carlos Sainz starts third in the other scarlet car ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton who qualified fourth and fifth respectively.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez finished only 15th after all three of his laps in Q2 were deleted for exceeding track limits.

Verstappen also had four runs scrubbed off by the stewards for putting his Red Bull over the white lines. In all, an extraordinary 47 laps were deleted by race director Niels Wittich.

“This is a joke,” said Verstappen over the radio. “Honestly, with these track limits, f****** ridiculous.”

Verstappen managed to fend off Leclerc by just 0.048 sec, but moments after he stepped out of his Red Bull, the Dutch driver took aim at Wittich’s refereeing.

“Today, it was very silly,” he said. “It made us look like amateurs with the amount of laps that were being deleted and some of them were so marginal.

“We spoke about it in the briefing before, and when it is very marginal, it is impossible to judge if the car is out or in, and yet laps were still getting deleted. It was not a good look today.

“People will say, ‘you should have kept the car in the white lines’. If it was that easy, you can take my car and try it, but you probably wouldn’t get up to speed in time.”

A Remote Operation Centre in Geneva consisting of six officials – FIA’s answer to football’s VAR system – flag up contentious laps to Race Control at the circuit using various camera angles. Wittich then has the final say.

It is understood that if the laps in question are marginal, Wittich will lean in favour of the driver.

But Verstappen continued: “We don’t do this on purpose. With these speeds and the high-speed corners it is so hard to judge where the white line is and that is why a lot of people got caught out.

“My first lap in Q3 was just a banker lap which takes out the joy. Today showed that it is not easy to have a clear rule about it.”

Despite the row, reigning world champion Verstappen will be favourite to take his seventh victory from the nine rounds so far this season and extend his 69-point championship lead over struggling team-mate Perez.

Behind the Dutchman, Norris impressed to take fourth spot in his revamped McLaren, one place ahead of Hamilton who finished 0.428 sec adrift of Verstappen.

The Red Bull Ring is hosting F1’s second sprint event of the year with a shortened qualifying and race to follow on Saturday before Sunday’s main event.

“Our car has not suited this circuit in the past and it showed again today,” said Hamilton. “It was a really tough and difficult session but we got through it, thank God.

“We will try to do better in sprint qualifying tomorrow, and then fifth on Sunday is a strong position to start from.”

Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell managed only 11th on a disappointing afternoon for the Briton.

Daria Kasatkina expects the popping of champagne corks to be the most unsettling noise at Wimbledon as she prepares for her first grand slam action since being booed at the French Open.

The world number 11 is among a number of Russian and Belarusian players set to return to the All England Club next week following last year’s ban due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Kasatkina, who first faces Saturday’s Eastbourne final against Madison Keys, left Roland Garros in early June with a “very bitter feeling” having being jeered by the crowd after her defeat to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

She is enjoying being back in front of “very respectful” spectators in Britain for the first time in two years and looking forward to competing at SW19.

“I have always liked playing in the UK,” she said following her 6-2 7-5 semi-final win over Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay International. “I had good results here and good memories.

“I’m really happy to be back and to have this opportunity again.

“It feels great because the people here, we can see that they have got the culture of the game, they know when they have to support, when it’s the tight moment of the match.

“They are very respectful to the players. People are super nice to me. I really appreciate the support.”

Knowing Svitolina would stick to her policy of not shaking hands with Russian or Belarusian players, Kasatkina gave her opponent a thumbs-up in Paris but still received boos.

The 26-year-old Russian has been drawn to play American Caroline Dolehide in the first round at Wimbledon.

Asked if she thinks the welcoming atmosphere will continue in south-west London, she replied: “Oh, even more. The tournament is the most classic tournament we have.

“The only disturbing fact on the matches is the popping of the champagne! I’m really happy to be back there.”

Kasatkina, who has spoken against the war in Ukraine, dug in to see off Giorgi on Friday at Devonshire Park.

She breezed through the opening set in just over half-an-hour but was forced to hold off a fightback in a tight second after her Italian opponent battled back from 4-1 down to level at 5-5.

World number 25 Keys awaits her in Saturday’s showpiece after she overcame an injury scare to progress to her second Eastbourne final by upsetting fellow American Coco Gauff.

The 2014 champion, who suffered a painful fall in the middle of the second set, triumphed 6-3 6-3 against the world number seven on a blustery afternoon in Sussex.

“I just took a slip and my hip went in the direction it shouldn’t have gone in,” said the 28-year-old, who has been draw against British wildcard Sonay Kartal at Wimbledon. “Hopefully it’s fine for tomorrow.

“I’ve had a little bit of a not great year so far, so being able to make a final here where I won my first title is amazing.

“It’s definitely 10 times more difficult when you have to play Coco and then you throw in hurricane winds on top of it.”

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 June 30.

James Maddison was looking forward to his new challenge.

Spot the Robbie Fowler cameo as Liverpool went back to the 90s to launch their new away kit.

Erling Haaland was grateful.

Kai Havertz was taking a break.

Green was a theme of the day’s away kit announcements.

Fulham launched their new home look.

Ange Postecoglou enjoyed Australian success in his new home city.

Bournemouth’s new boss arrived in the building.

A bouncy castle tribute to Marcus Rashford.

Not sure about Dwight McNeil’s future in modelling.

Aaron Mooy retired.

James Tarkowski looked to a future in coaching.

England looked back at day two of the Lord’s Test before the start of day three.

Which was hit by the weather after Australia had dominated.

The NFL got the better of the NBA in ‘The Match’.

Leading tennis players should speak out against "appalling" human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia as the Public Investment Fund (PIF) targets a partnership with the ATP Tour.

That is the view of Amnesty International's regional campaigner Reina Wehbi, who sees the prospective link as a way of distracting from the country's "crackdown" on basic rights. 

Earlier this week, ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi told The Financial Times that talks had been held over a partnership between the PIF and the men's tour. 

Saudi Arabia's numerous sports investments – including the PIF's majority ownership of Newcastle United and the controversial LIV Golf circuit – have been denounced by critics as efforts to improve the country's reputation through 'sportswashing'. 

Speaking exclusively to Stats Perform, Wehbi said tennis stars should not shy away from criticism of Saudi Arabia's record on human rights.

"Saudi Arabia is promoting its colossal investment in sporting events and entertainment as progress and reform. This is a far cry from its appalling human rights record," Wehbi said.

"Saudi Arabia's interest in the ATP fits into a wider pattern of sportswashing that the country has been using to divert attention from its escalated human rights violations.

"Authorities continue their crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Almost every single human rights defender has been unlawfully detained in Saudi Arabia. 

"Last year, Amnesty recorded the highest number of executions in 30 years in Saudi Arabia. Human rights should be a primary consideration when choosing where to host international sporting events and sporting bodies have the responsibility to undertake due diligence to identify and mitigate human rights violations directly linked to their events.

"Tennis players and all other celebrities should make sure to use their celebrity status and their popular platforms to speak up against abuses and be the voice of those put behind bars for exercising their rights.

"They should make sure not to offer Saudi Arabia uncritical praise and not to help it avoid scrutiny for its continued human rights violations behind the scenes. 

"All players should advocate for the respect and protection of human rights wherever they are."

Max Verstappen’s crushing dominance of Formula One continued at the Austrian Grand Prix after he put his Red Bull on pole position.

The world champion, a winner at six of the first eight races, saw off his rivals at the Red Bull Ring to seal his fourth pole on the spin for Sunday’s 71-lap grand prix.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc provided Verstappen with a late scare, but the Monegasque had to settle for second place, crossing the line 0.048 seconds shy of the Dutchman.

Carlos Sainz took third in the other scarlet car, while Lando Norris impressed in his revamped McLaren to take fourth spot. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished fifth, 0.428 sec adrift.

Sergio Perez’s torrid time continued after all three of his laps in Q2 were deleted for track limits. He lines up a lowly 15th on Sunday.

The increasingly under-pressure Mexican looked to have sealed his spot in Q3 in the closing seconds only for the stewards to scrap his lap after he drove all four wheels on his Red Bull beyond the white line at the final bend.

“Can we go again?” asked Perez over the radio. “No, that is the chequered flag,” said his race engineer, Hugh Bird. “What a f****** joke,” replied a furious Perez.

George Russell was also subjected to an early bath after he failed to make it out of Q2. The Englishman, who retired at the last round in Canada after he crashed into the wall, missed out on progressing to the final phase by just 0.041 sec and qualified 11th.

For Verstappen there were no such concerns, and the Dutchman is on course to extend his 69-point lead at the summit of the standings following another commanding performance.

His qualifying triumph was greeted with a number of his travelling Dutch fanbase lighting orange flares.

“It was very difficult because of all the track limits,” said Verstappen. “We don’t do this on purpose, but with these speeds and the high-speed corners it is so hard to judge the white line and that is why a lot of people got caught out.

“It was about surviving. My first lap in Q3 was just a banker lap which takes out the joy but we still did a good enough lap and I am happy to be on pole.”

Verstappen’s countryman Nyck de Vries’ place on the grid appears uncertain after Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko said Christian Horner was right to question whether he should have been signed.

The 28-year-old was brought into the Red Bull junior stable at the beginning of the year, but he has struggled to get up to speed at AlphaTauri, and he did little to help his cause here after he qualified last for Sunday’s race.

Earlier, qualifying was delayed by half-a-dozen minutes after Valtteri Bottas stopped in his Alfa Romeo.

Bottas spun on the exit of the opening corner and was left stranded on the track as he failed to engage neutral.

The red flags were deployed but Bottas was able to get going again and made his way back to the pits. The Finn made it through to Q2 and qualified 14th.

Spielberg is hosting the sport’s second sprint event of the year with a shortened race on Saturday to come before Sunday’s main event.

Not a name associated with big Saturday afternoon contests, Deborah Faulkner is targeting an “absolutely huge” JenningsBet Northumberland Plate success with the heavily-supported Golden Rules.

Faulkner is responsible for less than a dozen horses at her Monmouthshire yard and is pinching herself at the fact that she houses the market leader for the £150,000 Newcastle showpiece.

Bought out of John and Thady Gosden’s yard for bargain-basement price of 6,000 guineas in October 2021, Golden Rules did not make his debut for his new connections until appearing at Kempton in March of this year, when he proceeded to make every yard of the running under Oisin Murphy.

With the three-time champion jockey again in the saddle, and owner Gareth Cheshire bullish about his chances in a recent interview, the six-year-old has been backed into favouritism for the ‘Pitmen’s Derby’, which is only heightening Faulkner’s nerves.

She said: “I don’t know who is gambling on him, it’s not me because I don’t bet!

“He’s in good order, Oisin sat on him on Wednesday and he was more than happy with him.

“It’s all in the lap of the gods now and I just hope we don’t end up with egg on our face, but you’ve got to be in it to win it.”

While Golden Rules was out of competitive action for the best part of two years prior to his Kempton comeback, Faulkner revealed he has not suffered any major setbacks.

“We didn’t even attempt to get him on the track last year. For whatever reason they sold him, he had a few issues and we’ve just given him time,” Faulkner added.

“He does a lot of swimming and hopefully that’s sorted out his impatience in a race – he seems to have settled a lot better.

“We’ve just ticked along with him and when we thought he was ready, we had a little pop with him.

“We were originally going to run him over jumps, that’s why we bought him, but the ground wasn’t in his favour at all and we didn’t want to risk him, so we went for the Kempton race.

“He’s worked very well at home, so going to Kempton it was just a case of whether he still had the enthusiasm to race and luckily for us he did.”

Faulkner will not be making the trip to the north east herself, instead electing to watch on from her home in Wales.

She said: “It would be absolutely huge if he could win. We’ve only got 10 horses and I’m not going on Saturday because somebody has to stay in the yard and as three-quarters of our workforce has gone to Newcastle, it’s left to me to do the honours with the remaining horses!

“I will be very nervous, I just hope he lives up to expectations.”

Prior to the Golden Rules gamble, the ante-post favourite was the William Haggas-trained Post Impressionist.

The four-year-old finished second to subsequent St Leger hero Eldar Eldarov on his only previous visit to Gosforth Park and while he has been off the track since winning a lucrative prize at York in October, hopes are high, despite the fact a high draw in stall 19 of 20 is hardly ideal.

“He got a lovely draw in stall 19, that’s helpful! But he’s been training well and should run well,” said Haggas.

“He wants a bit of cut in the ground – he doesn’t really want summer firm – so we thought this would be the right sort of place to start.

“He was very slow to come to hand in the spring, but he’s coming now and has had a good preparation.”

The Newmarket handler has an interesting second string to his bow in Nathanael Greene, who like Post Impressionist will be tackling the two-mile distance for the first time.

Nathanael Greene was fifth at Ascot and fourth at Goodwood in May, most recently finishing just over five lengths behind Gold Cup hero Courage Mon Ami, and Haggas feels he could outrun his odds.

He added: “I thought Nathanael Greene wouldn’t be miles away. He’s got the headgear back on and he clearly needs that, so hopefully he’ll run a good race.

“He’s run two solid races this season and I think he’ll appreciate going up in trip as well.”

Hugo Palmer is also double-handed, with Zoffee and Rajinsky both bringing strong course form to the table .

Rajinsky has finished third and fourth in the last two renewals, while Zoffee plundered last year’s Northumberland Vase – the consolation race for the Plate.

“He’s getting better all the time, Rajinsky. He’s produced two career-bests from three runs this year and we were praying to be able to run him in the Queen Alexandra at Ascot last weekend,” said Palmer.

“I think he’d have been the top-rated horse in the race and I think he’d stay that far, but we are where we are and he’ll have no ground concerns at Newcastle.

“Zoffee is such a consistent horse – if they were all like him it would be an easier game.

“He found the line really well at Ascot (sixth in Ascot Stakes), for all he found it possibly just a furlong too far.

“He’s very well versed at two miles, he copes with that trip and he obviously won the consolation last year, so it’s always been the hope that he could try to follow up in the big one this year.”

The Alan King-trained Rainbow Dreamer is another Newcastle regular and has been kept fresh for this race since winner the Marathon over the course on All-Weather Championships Finals Day in April.

King said: “He’s a much better horse on the all-weather and he seems well when he’s lovely and fresh, so it was always the plan to give him a break and train him for this.

“It’s all gone very well – he seems to love it. He’s a bit higher than he was last year and it won’t be easy off that sort of rating, but he seems very well and this was the obvious place to come.

“Let’s hope he runs well.”

Gilles Simon believes Andy Murray's inferior trophy haul means he cannot be grouped with tennis' 'Big Three' of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Murray has enjoyed a long and stellar career, reaching 11 major finals and claiming three grand slam titles, as well as spending 41 weeks ranked as the world number one.

But with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer boasting 23, 22 and 20 grand slam successes respectively, Simon feels Murray is not quite on their level.

"He's not part of the Big Three," Simon told Stats Perform at the Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas. 

"You don't have to compare him with the Big Three, because he played at the very same time and we have the result.

"Andy was a fantastic player, just under these three guys in terms of level. In the end, the gap is huge in terms of titles: 23, 22 and 20, compared to three, so he's not part of the Big Four.

"He played at the same time as everyone and he has three and they have 20 or more. That's how I see it."

Simon – who won three of his 19 meetings with Murray before retiring in 2022 – feels the Scot was unfortunate to have competed with the 'Big Three' and would have been remembered as one of the game's greats in another era.

"He could have won 17 slams without the Big Three," Simon explained. "What is hard for Andy is to compare him to other players from other generations, when other players maybe have more slams than he has.

"If he had played at that time, he could maybe have had 15 and been one of the greatest. You cannot compare him with the Big Three, we saw it already, we saw the results.

"Where I feel sad for Andy is that if you play in a different era, you have 10 [grand slam titles] and then if we take the all-time rankings, we go to [Pete] Sampras with 14 and you say maybe he's here.

"This is where I feel it's a bit of an injustice for him compared to his level, because he would be closer to something like this than to someone who has three slams. He would be much higher in the all-time rankings."

A decision on whether Paddington steps up in trip for the Coral-Eclipse is likely to be made over the weekend, according to Aidan O’Brien.

Since winning a handicap first time out this season, the son of Siyouni has won a Listed race, the Irish 2,000 Guineas and put up a dominant display in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He beat English Guineas winner Chaldean there and has been the subject of strong market support for the 10-furlong Eclipse, from 6-1 into 7-2 with the sponsors, making him second-favourite behind Emily Upjohn.

“The lads haven’t quite decided yet, I think they are going to decide this weekend what they want to do with him,” said O’Brien when asked if the Eclipse was a possibility.

“He seems to be in good form, but we’ll talk over the weekend and we’ll hopefully have a plan by next week.

“He’s improved with every run and we’ve been very happy with him all the way.

“He’s always looked like he’d get 10 furlongs if they wanted to.”

O’Brien also had news on Statuette, who was unbeaten in two outings last year before injury intervened.

She was last seen winning the Airlie Stud Stakes at the Irish Derby meeting 12 months ago.

“She’s back on the go, she’s cantering but she’s a good bit away still as we’ve had to give her two or three breaks due to a few little setbacks and each time we’ve had to stop,” said O’Brien.

“She is back cantering again, though, so hopefully we’ll have her back for the autumn.”

Max Verstappen finished fastest in the sole practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix – as Mercedes were fined £86 after Lewis Hamilton was caught speeding in the pits.

Verstappen saw off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by 0.241 seconds at Red Bull’s home race, with Charles Leclerc third. Hamilton finished fourth.

Spielberg is hosting Formula One’s second sprint event of the year which will see two qualifying sessions – one to decide the order for Sunday’s grand prix which takes place at 5pm local time (4pm BST) – and the other determining the starting grid for Saturday’s sprint race.

Practice has been slashed from three hours to just one to create greater jeopardy with the teams unable to gather as much data as they would like.

Red Bull are undefeated at the opening eight rounds of the season with Verstappen taking six victories to head the championship standings by 69 points.

And the Dutchman, perhaps predictably, raced to top spot in the first running of the weekend without even posting a lap on the speedier soft tyre compound.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez finished in fifth, half-a-second off the pace and one place ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s Mercedes team were hit with a 100 Euro (£86) fine after the British driver breached the pit-lane limit.

Hamilton, who earns £40million-a-season, was adjudged to have broken the 50mph limit by just 0.12mph.

Aston Martin were also hit with a fine – this time worth 300 Euros (£258) – after Fernando Alonso and team-mate Stroll drove too quickly in the pits.

Elsewhere, Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finished ninth for Mercedes, almost a second down on Verstappen, with Lando Norris bringing up the rear in his revamped McLaren machine.

George Boughey is optimistic Via Sistina can make a successful raid on Irish soil in the Yulong Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.

The Classic-winning trainer has not yet saddled a winner in Ireland and to break his duck in a Group One would be quite a way to do it.

Boughey nominated this 10-furlong contest as a likely target following her hugely impressive display in a soft-ground Dahlia Stakes on the Rowley Mile in early May – and the Newmarket handler’s confidence will grow with every drop of rain that falls ahead of Saturday’s feature.

Boughey said: “She goes there in very good form, the rain overnight will help and any more will certainly help her chance again.

“I’ve never seen her look so well and she’s been training super, so it’s all systems go as long we get a little bit more rain.

“She’s gone very good since she won at Newmarket. It’s been a dry spring and a dry early summer, but she’ll be busy whenever she gets her preferred ground and it looks like she might get it this weekend.

“She’s travelled over good and she’s ready to rock and roll. It’s been the plan for a while and we look forward to taking them on.”

Joseph O’Brien has saddled two of the last four winners of the Pretty Polly in Iridessa (2019) and Thundering Nights (2021) and is this year doubly represented.

The clear first string is Above The Curve, who was last seen landing a Group Two in France, while Goldana steps up in trip after finishing fourth in the in the Lanwades Stud Stakes last month.

“We are looking forward to running them. They are both in good shape,” said O’Brien.

“Above The Curve won nicely in France last time and this race will suit her well.

“Goldana shaped the last day as though she will enjoy the extra couple of furlongs. Any rain that falls will be a help to her. She stayed on well last time.”

Aidan O’Brien sends Never Ending Story back into battle just under a fortnight after finishing second to the brilliant Blue Rose Cen in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly.

“Never Ending Story ran really well in France, that was her first time over a mile and a quarter,” said O’Brien.

“She came out of that race very well so that is why we are going back early with her. Hopefully she will run well.”

Paddy Twomey’s Rosscarbery bids to follow up victory in the Munster Oaks at Cork, with Insinuendo (Willie McCreery), Stay Alert (Hughie Morrison), Comhra (Jim Bolger) and Trevaunance (Jessica Harrington) completing the line-up.