Raaheeb plummets in Derby betting after smooth Classic Trial triumph
Raaheeb, a full brother to the exceptional Baaeed, is top-priced at 10-1 to emulate his sire, Sea The Stars, by winning the Derby at Epsom in June after a convincing in the Group Three Classic Trial at Sandown on Friday.Owen Burrows’s impeccably bred colt, who is also a full brother to the trainer’s 2023 King George winner, Hukum, was unruly at the stalls but travelled comfortably for Rossa Ryan once the race was underway.His smooth progress to the two-furlong pole was in marked contrast to the favourite, Aidan O’Brien’s Action, who was slow to stride, looked reluctant in the early stages and then struggled to raise a finishing as Ryan and Raaheeb struck for home.Raaheeb then stayed on strongly up the hill to the line to maintain his unbeaten record after two starts, with Charlie Appleby’s Al Zanati three-and-a-quarter lengths adrift in second.Baaeed did not see a racecourse until two days after the Derby in his three-year-old season, while Hukum was a six-year-old by the time of his biggest wins, in the Coronation Cup and King George.
That might pose a question as to whether the Derby, on 6 June, could come too soon in Raaheeb’s career, but for moment he is as short as 8-1 to become the second horse in the last six runnings of Sandown’s Classic Trial to go on to win the sport’s premier Classic.O’Brien trains the pair currently heading the betting in Benvenuto Cellini and Pierre Bonnard.“To be honest, I came here today thinking if we finished in the frame, I would be pleased,” Burrows said, “so to win like he did, it’s surprised me a little bit.“If he had got beat today I wouldn’t have been disappointed, as long as he ran a nice race.It was a big learning curve today and we chucked him into the deep end because we wanted to know what’s what, and got a nice answer.
“I don’t want to commit to Epsom at this stage, and there’s [Royal] Ascot and then the Irish Derby, so we will have to see,I don’t think I’ve had one as good as this three-year-old-wise, and not with his potential at this stage,He’s better than Hukum was at this stage,He’s an important horse and we have to make sure we get it right,”Opera Ballo got away to a flying start in the day’s main supporting race, the Bet365 Mile, and never looked likely to be caught on the way to a three-length defeat of last year’s St James’s Palace Stakes winner, Field Of Gold.
“This horse is electric out of the gates and Will [Buick, his jockey] has always said he’ll take two or three lengths out of them out of the gates,” Charlie Appleby, the winner’s trainer, said.“Full credit to the horses in behind for getting so close.”Opera Ballo is now likely to step up slightly in trip for the Group One Prix D’Ispahan at Longchamp in May, while Field Of Gold is priced up at around 100-30 for the Group One Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in May.“You’ll never beat a front-runner around here when they go off like that,” John Gosden, Field Of Gold’s trainer, said.“He’s only had one race in nine months, and he was going to need it to bring him forwards.
”Even by his own exalted standards, JP McManus has had a remarkable campaign over jumps in Britain this season, and his familiar green-and-gold colours will be aboard the likely favourites, Jonbon and Montregard, in the feature events on the Jumps Finale card at Sandown on Saturday.Victory for both would take McManus’s prize money haul for the campaign to within a whisker of £3m, with a yawning gap of more than £2m to Rich and Susannah Ricci, the runners-up in the owners’ list despite winning both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup at Cheltenham in March.He may be forced to settle for just one more win on the final afternoon, however, as Jonbon, the Celebration Chase winner in 2023 and 2024, is now 10 years old, was beaten in the race 12 months ago, and looks more like a two-and-a-half miler these days.Montregard (3.30), though, arrives with a persuasive profile for the Bet365 Gold Cup, having bypassed both Cheltenham and Aintree since a convincing success at Ascot in February.
Saturday’s race will be Montregard’s first start at further than three miles, but he has shown every sign of being suited to a marathon trip, recorded a strong time in victory last time out and is just 4lb higher in the weights.Sandown 1.45 A fiercely-competitive juvenile event but Way Of Stars may have crept in a few pounds light off 115 for his handicap debut.He was rated 88 for his latest start on the Flat in September 2025 and posted a strong time when edging home by a neck at Taunton in March.Leicester 2.
05 A low draw is a significant advantage over this six-furlong track and the speedy Zoulu Chief could be hard to peg back from stall three under Billy Loughnane, who has a 24pc strike-rate for the five-year-old’s trainer, Heather Main.Sandown 2.20 Gary and Josh Moore’s Blow Your Wad has posted a series of useful efforts in handicaps on his last three starts and has a few pounds in hand of this field on the ratings as he heads back into graded company.Sandown 1.13 Cloaks Of Gold 1.
45 Cosmic Connection 2.20 Blow Your Wad 2.55 Solness 3.30 Montregard 4.02 Kabral Du Mathan 4.
40 Calimystic 5.15 GnomonHaydock 1.25 Pursuit Of Love 2.00 Symbol Of Majesty 2.35 Great Acclaim (nap) 3.
10 Cavolo Nero 3.45 Strength Of Spirit 4.20 Jenny Jerome 4.55 Fiscal PolicyLeicester 1.30 Mr Macartney 2.
05 Zoulu Chief (nb) 2.44 Dapper Valley 3.19 Von Krolock 3.55 Heyzoom 4.30 Evelyn’s Phoenix 5.
05 Lion Of MaliRipon 1.40 Navy Light 2.15 Romance Spirit 3.00 No More Bolero 3.35 Dancingwithmyself 4.
10 Dream Composer 4.45 Hostility 5.20 Arishka’s DreamDoncaster 4.35 Maximum Velocity 5.10 Proposal 5.
45 Time To Take Off 6,15 Dreamasar 6,45 Sailor Song 7,15 Sea Of Kings 7,45 Queen Of Good NewsSouthwell 5.
30 Cabeza De Llave 6.00 Ring Fenced 6.30 Temple 7.00 Winston’s Warrior 7.30 Sandy Craic 8.
00 Delinquent 8.30 Iconic TimesHaydock 2.35 Great Acclaim was a long way below his best in the Lincoln at Doncaster last month but that was his first start since October and his usual headgear was left off.The blinkers return here and Eve Johnson Houghton’s five-year-old is 2lb lower in the weights, just 1lb higher than his mark when finishing a close second at Ascot in September.Sandown 2.
55 He had a hard race in Grade One company over two-and-a-half miles just 15 days ago, but Solness also skipped Cheltenham in March so could still be relatively fresh and could also find more for the return to a stiff two miles here.
US justice department drops criminal investigation against Jerome Powell
The US Department of Justice is dropping its criminal investigation against the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, clearing the path for Donald Trump’s new nominee for chair to be confirmed.Jeanine Pirro, Trump’s appointed US attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a social media post that she had directed her office to close its investigation into renovations at the Fed headquarters that went over budget.“I have directed my office to close our investigation as the [inspector general’s office] undertakes this inquiry,” Pirro wrote. “Note well, however, that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”The investigation was first made public in January after Powell released a video announcing he had been subpoenaed by the justice department
UK eases airline penalties as jet fuel shortages threaten flights
Penalties on airlines that cancel UK flights because of jet fuel shortages have been eased, it has emerged, as the government issued fresh advice to reassure the public they can still fly and should stick to travel plans.Airlines that cancel owing to a lack of fuel will not lose their rights to valuable takeoff and landing slots at busy airports, which can be forfeited when flights fail to operate over a period.The change was one of the demands from airlines, which have been lobbying for government help in the face of rising fuel prices and a possible supply crisis.Exemptions from the “use it or lose it” rule can now be granted during shortages by Airport Coordination Limited, the independent body that manages slots at UK airports. The government said the change would allow carriers to “focus on minimising disruption” rather than flying to protect slots
TikTok and Visa launch debit card to speed payouts to UK creators
TikTok and Visa have launched a debit card for content creators in the UK which they say will allow people to quickly access their earnings from the platform.The creator card is designed for the growing numbers of people making money through TikTok Live, a livestreaming feature where creators receive virtual gifts from viewers that are later converted into cash.The two companies said the card, which links to a user’s creator account on TikTok, was designed to address cashflow issues faced by users who often wait days or weeks for payments to clear.Launched in 2020, TikTok Live is a section of the app where users can broadcast to viewers in real time. According to TikTok, more than 15 million people broadcasted via its platform in Europe in 2025
Officials hugely underestimated impact of AI datacentres on UK carbon emissions
The UK government vastly underestimated the climate impact of artificial intelligence, it has emerged, after officials raised their estimate of carbon emissions from AI by a factor of more than 100.According to new data quietly published this week, energy use by AI datacentres in the UK could cause the emission of up to 123m tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) – about as much as generated by 2.7 million people – over the next 10 years.That latest figure replaces a previous estimate – since deleted – that claimed emissions would reach a maximum of 0.142m tonnes of CO₂ in a single year
Atkinson made to wait as Essex impress at Oval: county cricket, day one – as it happened
The crowd spread on to the Oval outfield at lunch like a lapping wave, enjoying the picture-book day and entertained by Gus Atkinson’s first proper run out since the Boxing Day Test.Atkinson opened the bowling against Essex from the pavilion end, that now familiar toes-together, baby-steps approach, an opening spell on the money but he had to wait until after 6pm for his reward - Michael Pepper bowled tifter and boots. The pitch was friendly and Dean Elgar (92) and Paul Walter, with an excellent 101, duly tucked in, adding 183 for the first wicket. Surrey’s bowlers clawed back in the afternoon leaving the match evenly poised.Joe Root, too, was making his County Championship debut for the summer, Yorkshire cap pulled tight, scooping up a bread and butter edge from James Coles at first slip and trundling through five overs
It’s FA Cup and WCL semi-final time, plus mighty London Marathon feats – follow with us
Footballing Saturdays don’t come much bigger: an FA Cup semi-final, key clashes in the Premier League relegation battle, the hunt for European places, and a late game that will have a telling impact on the title race. In the Championship, with Millwall having played on Friday evening, Ipswich and Middlesbrough are running for the second automatic promotion spot. In League Two, MK Dons would be promoted with a win against Tranmere. So there’s no better place to start by joining Emillia Hawkins as she helms our unbeatable rolling football blog, offering breaking news and updates from around the grounds plus readers’ thoughts and queries. Why not join the conversation? Email matchday
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