Royal Ascot 2025 day one: Field Of Gold dazzles in victory cruise – as it happened

So that’s good night after the first day and it’s already doubtful if we’ll see a better winner than Field of Gold this week, who put in a terrific display to win the St James’s Palace Stakes. That was the undoubted highlight of the day but a royal winner would have put the seal on it. When the King and Queen’s horse Reaching High was sent to Willie Mullins it was clear he was going to be aimed at the staying race on the first day of this meeting. When the UK’s outstanding jockey Ryan Moore was booked it was a further sign of the stable confidence. Unfortunately they reckoned without the draw in stall No 1 and the rider getting stuck on the inside and finishing full of running – but unplaced! Better luck next time – and to you and see you here for day two tomorrow

Owen Farrell focuses on Saracens return but keeps Lions and England on back burner

If either call were to come, does Owen Farrell want to go on tour with England or the British & Irish Lions this summer? It is both the question that most intrigues and the one that he steadfastly does not answer following his return to Saracens.“There’s nothing for me to do other than concentrate on getting myself back here and getting myself in the best place I can and everything else is hypothetical,” is a typical example of his response. There were a number of others in the 20 minutes spent in his company, back at the StoneX Stadium after a torrid season with Racing 92, but all gave little insight into what his reaction might be if Steve Borthwick or his dad, Andy Farrell, wish to call him up for either England’s summer tour of Argentina and the US, or the Lions’ trip to Australia.Farrell, of course, has every right to keep his counsel. He is still unpacking boxes at his Harpenden home, so recent was the confirmation of his move back to Saracens

Pressure mounts on Queensland with State of Origin history on NSW’s side | Jack Snape

Queensland’s State of Origin aspirations will evaporate on a wet Australian rules oval in Perth on Wednesday if most commentators and analysts and even some apprehensive Maroons fans are to be believed. The heavily-favoured Blues can wrap up the series in Game 2 following their straightforward 18-6 victory in the opener in Brisbane three weeks ago.In that match the southerners were physically dominant, dictating the contest with a methodical ruthlessness that gave the impression they still had another gear. The Maroons’ only try was direct from a Blues handling error, and Queensland’s lack of attacking potency prompted long nights of introspection and review for Billy Slater and his staff.So dire were their findings, they decided to abandon the state’s famed “pick and stick” philosophy

Tendulkar v Anderson: two master craftsmen who gave more than anyone to Test cricket | Andy Bull

Spring 2006 and India are batting against England at the Wankhede in Mumbai. The series is all square, one Test each with one to play. England, batting first, have made an even 400, thanks in large part to a century by Andrew Strauss and 88 from his Middlesex teammate Owais Shah, who is making his debut.It is just past tea on the second day and India’s openers are already gone, bounced out by Matthew Hoggard. Sachin Tendulkar is at No 4 and England’s captain, Andrew Flintoff, has just thrown the ball to his first-change bowler, Jimmy Anderson

The Breakdown | End-of-season rugby union awards: best games, players and more

Champagne tries and offloads to retired greats and future stars, here are the highlights of the 2024-25 season1) Leinster 34-37 Northampton, 3 May. One of the great ram-raids.2) England 26-25 France, 8 February. A crazy contest with a dramatic late twist.3) Bath 26-36 Bristol, 5 October

From Tyson to TikTok: the boxing fan generational gap is widening

Boxing is popular with young people in countries like the United Kingdom and Mexico. But it doesn’t resonate with young sports fans in the United States the way it once did.Fans of a sport – particularly, team sports - develop lifelong allegiances at an early age and often pass it on to their children. There was a time when fathers and sons in America sat down in front of a television set together and watched Gillette Friday Night Fights or boxing on weekend afternoons. Now, if they sit down together at all, they watch football