Premier League rivals and big-name racing owners set to splash cash at Tattersalls auction

Racing continues its nervous wait for next month’s budget and the potential impact of changes to the tax regime around gambling, meaning the sport’s senior figures may hope that the chancellor’s attention is elsewhere when the Book 1 sale at Tattersalls, Europe’s most exclusive yearling auction, gets under way at the firm’s historic sales ring in Newmarket on Tuesday.You can explain until you are blue in the face that breeding and racing are not the same thing, or that the elite top tier of the yearling market, like the market for limited-edition Ferraris or 1,000-acre country estates, has always been wholly detached from what the rest of us would call day-to-day reality. The simple fact of it is that the numbers flying around at Tatts this week will be jaw-dropping, both for the average individual on the Clapham omnibus and the average politician in Westminster, many of whose constituents are still gripped by the cost-of-living crisis.A total of 345 yearlings were sold at last year’s Book 1 sale, generating a record turnover for the three-day event of 127m guineas (£134m), a 33% increase on the previous year’s figure of 95.3m gns (£100m)

English rugby unveils plan to build on women’s glory: ‘The stakes have never been higher’

The Rugby Football Union has promised to “keep its foot on the gas” after unveiling an ambitious five-year action plan to build on the momentum of the Red Roses’ Women’s Rugby World Cup victory.The strategy, called Every Rose: Our Time, includes the goal of becoming the first England team to win back-to-back Rugby World Cups, and getting 100,000 women and girls playing the game across the country by 2030, up from the 60,000 who participate now.English rugby’s governing body is also aiming to double its revenues from the women’s game to £60m so it can invest more in the grassroots, and to have 3 million Red Roses fans.“The stakes have never been higher,” Alex Teasdale, the executive director of the women’s game, told an audience of government and sports officials. “The opportunity has never been greater, but sitting still is not an option because the wheels are now fully in motion

Everyone wants answers for former rugby players like Lewis Moody but they are hard to come by | Andy Bull

Lewis Moody, 47, is the latest in a long line of players who has been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that may or may not be linked to his career in collision sport. Over the past decade I’ve interviewed more of these men, and their friends and families, than I ever wanted to. Many of them chose to first reveal their diagnoses in the Guardian. First there’s the shock, then the sorrow, then the expressions of sympathy and support. And after all that, a lot of hard questions that are left unaddressed

Rugby world rallies round former England captain Lewis Moody after MND diagnosis

The rugby world has rallied around the former England captain Lewis Moody, who has revealed he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease. The 47-year-old 2003 World Cup winner admitted he was having trouble accepting what his diagnosis means for the future but that he intends to stay positive.Among the most decorated forwards to play for England, he earned 71 caps and led his country at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, earning the nickname “Mad Dog” as an all-action, hard-hitting flanker.Since revealing his diagnosis, tributes have poured in from a host of teammates, the Rugby Football Union and the British & Irish Lions. His former Leicester teammates Geordan Murphy and Leon Lloyd have set up a GoFundMe page for Moody’s family and associated causes

Israel-Premier Tech to change its name and move away from ‘current identity’

The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team, whose participation in the Vuelta a España triggered a series of pro‑Palestinian protests that resulted in the race’s premature end last month, has announced it will change its name and move away from “its current Israeli identity”.The decision comes three weeks after World Tour cycling teams suggested they may boycott races against Israel-Premier Tech because of the team’s refusal to withdraw from the Vuelta and the lack of protection from the International Cycling Union (UCI) for its own commercial and sporting interests.The team’s sponsors had also urged a change of name and image after the team became a focus for protesters demonstrating against Israel’s offensive in Gaza.Anger over Israel-Premier Tech’s Vuelta participation intensified after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, offered his backing to the team, which is owned by the billionaire entrepreneur Sylvan Adams. Netanyahu said: “Great job to Sylvan and Israel’s cycling team for not giving in to hatred and intimidation

British breakthroughs and India pride amid empty seats and controversy at para athletics worlds

The headline, slightly stuffily, read “heartiest congratulations”. Underneath, an effusive Narendra Modi posted congratulations to his country’s para-athletics team. “A historic performance!” the Indian prime minister wrote on social media, celebrating a record 22-medal haul for his country at the World Para Athletics Championships in Delhi, which ended on Sunday. “I am proud of each and every member and wish them the very best for their future endeavours,” he said. “Hosting the tournament in Delhi has also been an honour for India