No Half Measures leaves trainer Richard Hughes in tears after July Cup success at 66-1
The July Cup, sprinting’s midsummer championship race, came up with a boil-over to match the soaring temperatures as No Half Measures, at 66-1, gave the former champion jockey Richard Hughes a first Group One success as a trainer to add to the dozens he won in the saddle,Notable Speech, last year’s 2,000 Guineas winner, set off as a warm favourite despite racing at a sprint trip for the first time, but he could not find an extra gear in the closing stages after Neil Callan on No Half Measures hit the front a furlong out,The four-year-old filly stayed on strongly to the line to beat Big Mojo (12-1) and Run To Freedom (40-1), a tricast that paid out at nearly 28,000-1,No Half Measures is the biggest-priced winner in the July Cup’s 149-year history, and left her trainer in tears in the winners’ enclosure,“It’s brilliant,” Hughes said.
“Disappointments when you’re training are very hard and the highs don’t meet the lows.We fancied the filly yesterday, Mood Queen [in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes] and she finished last, which was excruciating, and the highs aren’t even high enough.Perth 1.58 Cinammon Roll 2.33 Garde Des Champs 3.
08 Trailblazer 3.43 Wasdell Dundalk 4.18 Dalileo 4.53 Top Flight Century Stratford-On-Avon 2.07 Greenrock Abbey 2.
42 Al Mootamarid 3.17 Slievegar 3.52 One Horse Town 4.27 Whatyouwaitingfor 5.02 Time Interval 5.
35 Grasshopper Time Southwell 2.55 Elara May 3.30 Sovereign Bright (nap) 4.05 Immediate Effect 4.40 Tralee Girl (nb) 5.
15 Miss Justice 5.45 The Pouncing Lion 6.15 Amestris 6.45 Endless Whisper“I didn’t appreciate all those good horses when I was riding, I just took it for granted and I was very lucky to be riding for Richard Hannon and having the Khalid Abdullah job.I was privileged to be riding good horses every year.
“I was a little bit naive when I started training.I thought if I bought 20 horses one of them was going to be good.Then I bought 20 the following year and still no good one.This is harder [than riding], but more rewarding for sure.”The pecking order among Charlie Appleby’s two-year-olds seems clear after Saba Desert quickened a length and a quarter clear of Italy, the odds-on favourite, in the Group Two Superlative Stakes.
Saba Desert, the mount of William Buick, Appleby’s stable jockey, went off at 6-1 while Wild Desert, the trainer’s other runner in the race, was a 7-2 shot, but Buick’s judgment outperformed the market and Saba Desert will now be aimed towards Future Champions Day in October,“We’ve liked him from the get-go and it’s a work-back from the [Group One] Dewhurst now,” Appleby said,“Whether we decide to go down the [Group One] National Stakes route or the [Group Two] Champagne [at Doncaster in September], we’ll see, but he’ll get a bit of a break now,There’s plenty about this horse, he’s a true Dubawi and he’ll only get better,”Earlier, More Thunder got up in the final half-stride of the Bunbury Cup under an outstanding ride on the hot favourite by Tom Marquand, who switched from a wide draw to sit last in the early stages and then deliver his challenge up the stands’ rail, edging out last year’s winner, Aalto, by a nose.
Sign up to The RecapThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionafter newsletter promotionMore Thunder had run a similar race over a furlong less when he was similarly well-backed for the Wokingham Handicap at Royal Ascot last time, the key difference being that he had failed by a head to reach the frontrunning Get It,Three strides from the line it seemed he was about to come up agonisingly short again but Marquand conjured up a final effort from More Thunder that got him over the line with a couple of millimetres to spare,More Thunder moved to William Haggas’s stable over the winter after the retirement of Sir Michael Stoute and his new trainer, who considered a run in the July Cup, hopes to saddle the four-year-old for a race at Group One level later in the season,“We considered it [the July Cup] strongly, but we also wanted to go up to seven furlongs at some stage and this was an opportunity to do so,” Haggas said,“He could run in another handicap, but I think he deserves a shot at a good race now.
”
UK government’s deal with Google ‘dangerously naive’, say campaigners
Google has agreed a sweeping deal with the UK government to provide free technology to the public sector from the NHS to local councils– a move campaigners have called “dangerously naive”.The US company will be asked to “upskill” tens of thousands of civil servants in technology, including in using artificial intelligence, as part of an agreement that will not require the government to pay. It is considered in Whitehall to be giving Google “a foot in the door” as the digitisation of public services accelerates.However, the agreement prompted concerns about the precariousness of UK public data potentially being held on US servers amid the unpredictable leadership of Donald Trump.The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said Google Cloud, which provides databases, machine learning and computing power, had “agreed to work with the UK government in helping public services use advanced tech to shake off decades old ‘ball and chain’ legacy contracts which leave essential services vulnerable to cyber-attack”
Linda Yaccarino stepping down as CEO of Elon Musk’s X
The CEO of X, Elon Musk’s social network, announced on Wednesday she would resign.“After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏,” Linda Yaccarino wrote.Musk replied to her tweet: “Thank you for your contributions.”The outgoing CEO said, “When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company. I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App
Nvidia becomes first company to reach $4tn in market value
Chipmaker Nvidia became the first public company in history to scale a $4tn market value on Wednesday as its stock price continues a years-long stratospheric rise.Shares of the top chip designer rose roughly 2.4% to $164, benefiting from the ongoing surge in demand for artificial intelligence technologies. Nvidia’s chips and associated software are considered world leaders for building artificial intelligence products.Nvidia achieved a $1tn market value for the first time back in June 2023 and the surge continued unabated with its market value – the total value of its shares – more than tripling in about a year, faster than Apple and Microsoft, the only other US firms with a market value of more than $3tn
Sony WH-1000XM6 review: raising the bar for noise-cancelling headphones
Sony’s latest top-of-the-range Bluetooth headphones seek to reclaim the throne for the best noise cancellers money can buy with changes inside and out.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The Sony 1000X series has long featured some of the best noise cancelling you can buy and has been locked in a battle with rival Bose for the top spot
Futurist Adam Dorr on how robots will take our jobs: ‘We don’t have long to get ready – it’s going to be tumultuous’
If Adam Dorr is correct, robots and artificial intelligence will dominate the global economy within a generation and put virtually the entire human race out of a job. The social scientist doubles up as a futurist and has a stark vision of the scale, speed and unstoppability of a technological transformation that he says will replace virtually all human labour within 20 years.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more
Musk’s AI firm forced to delete posts praising Hitler from Grok chatbot
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence firm xAI has deleted “inappropriate” posts on X after the company’s chatbot, Grok, began praising Adolf Hitler, referring to itself as MechaHitler and making antisemitic comments in response to user queries.In some now-deleted posts, it referred to a person with a common Jewish surname as someone who was “celebrating the tragic deaths of white kids” in the Texas floods as “future fascists”.“Classic case of hate dressed as activism – and that surname? Every damn time, as they say,” the chatbot commented.In another post it said, “Hitler would have called it out and crushed it.”The Guardian has been unable to confirm if the account that was being referred to belonged to a real person or not and media reports suggest it has now been deleted
The Guide #198: Such Brave Girls shows that grown-up gross-out comedy is thriving
‘What should be taught in schools?’: the infamous ‘Scopes monkey trial’ turns 100
Comedian Paul Smith: ‘People get disappointed when they meet me in real life. I’m really quiet’
Clash of cultures: exhibition tells story of when Vikings ruled the north of England
Notting Hill carnival to go ahead this year after £1m funding boost
Jon Stewart on Trump’s sweeping bill: ‘What is Ice going to do when they have real money?’