Cheltenham festival 2026: Il Etait Temps blows field away in Champion Chase – as it happened

Here is Greg Wood’s report from Wednesday’s racing, with Il Etait Temps winning the feature race and a spat between jockeys grabbing the headlines. Join us again tomorrow.Some more reaction from Cheltenham, and Rachael Blackmore, on the success of Ladies Day this year.Guy Lavender, chief executive of Cheltenham Racecourse, said: “When we decided last year to bring Ladies Day back for 2026 we were determined to really engage with female racegoers and women who had either been before, but not for a while, or had never joined us at Cheltenham in the past.“The team, working with Rachael Blackmore, have worked really hard to spread the word

Racism row at Cheltenham as Irish rider Queally accuses De Boinville of abuse

The Cheltenham festival was mired in controversy over alleged racial abuse on Wednesday evening after Declan Queally, an Irish amateur jockey, claimed the leading British rider Nico de Boinville had subjected him to a series of verbal attacks before the start of the Turners Novices’ Hurdle.Queally and De Boinville could be seen exchanging words on ITV ­Racing’s coverage as 21 runners and riders jostled for position before the start of the opening race.De Boinville, who was riding the well-backed Act Of Innocence, appeared to tell Queally, who is the trainer and rider of I’ll Sort That, to “get back”, before turning his own mount to take a spot against the rail where I’ll Sort That had been standing.Queally later told the Racing Post he had been subjected to verbal abuse by De Boinville, some of which was racially based. “I was boxing for my position down the inside and there was a lot of general bunching going on,” he said

The Hundred 2026: Devine and Mooney top bidding in the inaugural women’s auction – as it happened

Birmingham PhoenixAlice Capsey, £130,000 Ellyse Perry, £100,000 Linsey Smith, £100,000 Lauren Filer, £95,000 Tammy Beaumont, £70,000 Davina Perrin, £50,000 Alana King, £37,500 Jemima Spence, £37,500 Lucy Hamilton £35,000 Eva Gray, £30,000 Cordelia Griffith, £27,500 Emma Lamb, £27,500 Phoebe Brett, £27,500 Esmae MacGregor, £16,000London SpiritNadine de Klerk, £170,000 Marizanne Kapp, £130,000 Charlie Dean, £85,000 Charis Pavely, £85,000 Mahika Gaur, £75,000 Grace Harris, £70,000 Amy Jones, £70,000 Deandra Dottin, £37,500 Sterre Kalis, £27,500 Marie Kelly, £20,000 Phoebe Turner, £20,000 Seren Smale, £15,000 Lucy Higham, £15,000 Josephine Groves, £15,000Manchester Super GiantsPaige Scholfield, £115,000 Sophie Ecclestone, £110,000 Meg Lanning, £95,000 Smriti Mandhana, £90,000 Ryana MacDonald-Gay, £75,000 Kathryn Bryce, £65,000 Richa Ghosh, £50,000 Mady Villiers, £45,000 Grace Ballinger, £42,500 Maitlan Brown, £40,000 Grace Scrivens, £40,000 Jo Gardner, £17,000 Natasha Wraith, £15,000 Rebecca Tyson, £15,000MI LondonHayley Matthews, £120,000 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, £110,000 Nic Carey, £95,000 Melie Kerr, £80,000 Kira Chathli, £80,000 Chinelle Henry, £70,000 Kirstie Gordon, £55,000 Hollie Armitage, £45,000 Alexa Stonehouse, £42,500 Tara Norris, £35,000 Alice Davidson-Richards, £30,000 Alice Monaghan, £27,500 Ellie Threlkeld, £15,000Southern BraveLauren Bell, £140,000 Issy Wong, £130,000 Tilly Corteen-Coleman, £105,000 Maia Bouchier, £85,000 Laura Wolvaardt, £75,000 Sarah Glenn, £75,000 Jemimah Rodrigues, £60,000 Sophie Molineux, £47,500 Jodi Grewcock, £30,000 Lizelle Lee, £27,500 Rebecca Odgers, £15,000 Phoebe Franklin, £15,000 Daisy Gibb, £15,000Sunrisers LeedsDanielle Gibson, £190,000 Annabel Sutherland, £130,000 Phoebe Litchfield, £120,000 Jess Jonassen, £110,000 Cassidy McCarthy, £65,000 Kate Cross £50,000 Deepti Sharma, £27,500 Bryony Smith, £27,500 Lauren Winfield-Hill, £27,500 Hannah Baker, £18,000Trent RocketsBeth Mooney, £210,000 Nat Sciver-Brunt, £140,000 Ash Gardner, £100,000 Sophia Dunkley, £78,000 Kim Garth, £42,000 Emma Jones, £35,000 Bess Heath, £32,500 Katie Levick, £32,500 Ailsa Lister, £30,000 Millicent Taylor, £27,500 Georgia Elwiss, £27,500Welsh FireSophie Devine, £210,000 Freya Kemp, £120,000 Em Arlott, £110,000 Georgia Wareham, £100,000 Georgia Voll, £80,000 Ella McCaughan, £30,000 Heather Graham, £27,500 Sarah Bryce, £25,000 Abi Norgrove, £21,000 Fi Morris, £20,000 Sophia Smale, £20,000 Grace Thompson, £20,000 Grace Potts, £15,000And with that, time to call it a day.If there is something tawdry, even dull, about a player auction, the tectonic plates shifted today. Six female players sold for more than £140,000 each – and the big earners weren’t necessarily the ones you would have guessed beforehand.The elephant in the room was how few women were in the room, so let’s work on that for next year. Neither of the Pakistan players, Sadia Iqbal and Fatima Sana were picked up and this will be a thread to pick up on Thursday

Jim Ratcliffe gives up Ineos Grenadiers naming rights in €100m rebrand deal

Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Grenadiers cycling team will be renamed and rebranded with a new lead sponsor and kit before the start of this year’s Tour de France in Barcelona on 4 July.The Guardian understands that while Ratcliffe and the Ineos head of sport, Dave Brailsford, will retain ownership and management of the British team, the new title sponsor will be the Danish IT supplier Netcompany.It is believed that the Copenhagen-based company will, over five years, invest about €100m (£86m) in the team, who are enjoying renewed success this spring under the stewardship of Brailsford and Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France winner who retired last year.However, Ineos and fellow sponsor TotalEnergies will also continue to support the team. The additional investment will mean Ineos relinquishes naming rights, but it will allow Ratcliffe’s team to compete more effectively at the highest level in Europe’s grand tours

Cheltenham festival day three: Shantou can star in the Stayers’

The Stayers’ Hurdle has lost its “feature race” slot as the fifth event on the third day at Cheltenham to the Ryanair Chase, but it is likely to be the bigger hit of the two with punters as the 11-runner field is rich with possibilities.Teahupoo and Bob Olinger, the past two winners of the race, represent the old guard in three-mile hurdling, while Kabral Du Mathan, Honesty Policy and Ma Shantou are all young, progressive stayers with their best years ahead of them.Teahupoo has been a solid favourite for Thursday’s race since December, when he beat Bob Olinger by seven lengths in the Grade One Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown, but neither horse has much in hand of their younger rivals on ratings and this could be the year for a handing-over of the baton.Kabral Du Mathan was a ready winner of the two-and-a-half-mile Relkeel Hurdle on New Year’s Day but his stamina is unproven over three and Ma Shantou (3.20), a dual winner over track and trip, makes more appeal

Ukraine accuses IPC of ‘systemic pressure’ and pro-Russian bias at Winter Paralympics

Team Ukraine have launched a ­stinging attack on the International Paralympic Committee and Winter Paralympics organisers, claiming they have been under “systemic pressure” to reduce their presence at the Milano Cortina Games.The Ukraine National Paralympic Committee has made four specific allegations against the IPC and the Milano Cortina organisers, alleging mistreatment of its athletes and a “systematic” attempt to remove flags from the team base and spectators.It alleges that representatives of the Games organising committee, the OCOG, forced the removal of the Ukrainian national flag from inside the Paralympic village. It claims that the gold medallist in the para biathlon, Oleksandra Kononova, was told to remove earrings bearing the flag and the message “Stop War” as she prepared to stand on the medal podium. It also claims that the ­family of the cross-country skier Taras Rad had Ukrainian flags taken from them as they watched him compete