LONDON: Frankie Dettori is confident Enable can create history and become the first horse to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Breeders’ Cup Turf in the same year.
The four-year-old, owned by Saudi Arabian Khalid bin Abdullah, has only had two outings this season. But Enable showed exactly what she is capable of last month when she stormed to victory at Longchamps to claim back-to-back Arcs.
Dettori, who rode her to victory in the famous race, is certain that her light workload in 2018 will help her to enter the record books.
The jockey said: “I’m aware of the fact that no horse has won an Arc and a Breeders’ Cup Turf, but records are there to be broken.
“In favor of Enable, she has only raced twice, is very fresh and seems to have traveled over well, and she’s shown her versatility winning around Chester and Epsom and also a King George on soft ground.
“You never can be completely certain that everything is spot on, but you certainly wouldn’t suspect it (anything wrong) with this filly.”
Trainer John Gosden is also hopeful that the filly can overcome her light campaign and win at the famous Churchill Downs track tomorrow.
“She has settled in well, Frankie said she was very professional today and moved well on the ground, we’re not going to do more than get a feel of the place,” Godson told At The Races.
“We’re watching where the rain is going, a little north of us at the moment, so you never know we might not get drowned.
“She has had a clear run since the Arc, she obviously took longer to come out of the Arc (than usual) which is understandable. She went in there not 100 percent, so it took a little time to get over it but I’ve been pleased with her since. She traveled well over here, she’s settling in and eating and drinking well, which is very important, and I am liking the way she moves.”
Speaking of Enable’s light season, Godson added: “To be honest I would have preferred to bring her here after last year’s campaign, which was absolutely smooth, yes she won five Group 1s but I would have liked to have come here a little bit on the crest of the wave.
“This has not been an easy year with her but she won the Arc.”
Frankie Dettori sure Enable can make history in Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
Frankie Dettori sure Enable can make history in Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
Messi’s PSG reunion, Real Madrid face Juventus in Club World Cup last 16
Highly rated Flamengo coach Filipe Luis has his work cut out to keep Bayern at bay
PHILADELPHIA: From Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi facing former side Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid meeting Juventus and Chelsea taking on Benfica, AFP Sport looks ahead to the Club World Cup last 16.
Saturday, June 28, in Philadelphia (1600 GMT)
All four Brazilian representatives reached the last 16 and at least one will be in the quarter-finals, as Palmeiras and Botafogo face each other.
Botafogo are the reigning Brazilian and South American champions and beat European champions PSG on the way to qualifying from their group at Atletico Madrid’s expense.
Sao Paulo side Palmeiras — featuring Brazil prodigy and future Chelsea winger Estevao Willian — won their group and are above Botafogo in the Brazilian league. However, Botafogo are unbeaten in their last five meetings with Palmeiras, including the two legs of a Copa Libertadores last-16 tie last year.
Saturday, June 28, in Charlotte (2000 GMT)
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea finished second in their group but avoided a strong Bayern Munich side by doing so, pitting them against Benfica. The Portuguese powerhouses, who boast veteran playmaker Angel Di Maria, edged the German giants in their final group game.
Benfica will believe they can upset their inconsistent Premier League opposition and former Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez. New Chelsea striker Liam Delap is looking to continue adding to his tally after getting off the mark in the group stage.
Sunday, June 29, in Atlanta (1600 GMT)
Messi’s Inter Miami were a surprise package in the group stage, beating Porto on their way to progressing to the last 16, but a late collapse against Palmeiras meant they finished second and must face the Argentine playmaker’s former side PSG.
This season PSG ended a long wait to win the Champions League for the first time and Luis Enrique’s side are expected to vanquish their MLS opponents, but Botafogo beat them in the group stage to prove they are not untouchable.
Sunday, June 29, in Miami (2000 GMT)
Brazilian side Flamengo stunned Chelsea in the group phase to claim top spot but must overcome the might of Vincent Kompany’s Bayern if they are to progress.
With Harry Kane, Michael Olize and a Thomas Mueller looking to end his time at Bayern with a new trophy, the possession-hungry Bundesliga giants have as much firepower as anyone left in the tournament.
Highly rated Flamengo coach Filipe Luis has his work cut out to keep Bayern at bay.
Monday, June 30, in Charlotte (1900 GMT)
Recent runners-up in the Champions League, Inter ground out wins over Urawa Red Diamonds and River Plate to finish top of their group and will now hope to avoid becoming the latest European team to stumble against Brazilian opposition.
Fluminense, of Rio, held Borussia Dortmund en route to qualifying for this stage and will be full of motivation to claim a major scalp against Cristian Chivu’s side.
Monday, June 30, in Orlando (0100 Tuesday, July 1)
City come into the knockout phase in ominous form after being the only team at the tournament to win all three group games.
They have scored 11 times in their last two matches, with a 5-2 destruction of Juventus coming after they put six past Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates.
A game against Al Hilal, the 2021 Asian champions, will give City no reason to be afraid, even if the Saudi club boast numerous former stars of leading European leagues, including Joao Cancelo.
Tuesday, July 1, in Miami (1900)
This is a clash between two traditional European titans who have met 21 times before. There have been two Champions League finals between the clubs, both won by Real.
A 5-2 defeat for Juventus against Manchester City suggests they may find the going tough against Madrid.
Real are adapting to life under a new coach in Xabi Alonso, who experimented with a three-man defense against Salzburg. He will hope to have Kylian Mbappe back after the Frenchman missed the group stage with illness.
Tuesday, July 1, in Atlanta (0100 Wednesday, July 2)
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac has not held back on expressing his feelings about having to play in extreme heat at the tournament so he will be happy the game against Mexican side Monterrey is at the covered and air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Despite their complaints Dortmund have grown into the tournament. They face former Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos and a Monterrey team that has impressed, notably a creditable draw against Inter Milan.
Max Verstappen heads into Red Bull’s home race with upgrades and growing uncertainty
- The defending Formula 1 champion has an upgraded car for his team’s home race in Austria
- Verstappen remains at risk of a one-race ban for too many penalty points
VIENNA: Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring is usually a recipe for success.
The defending Formula 1 champion has an upgraded car for his team’s home race in Austria — where he’s won five times — on the back of an encouraging second place in Canada, where his two McLaren rivals collided.
Zoom out, though, and the situation is much more uncertain.
Verstappen remains at risk of a one-race ban for too many penalty points, Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda is usually too far adrift to help him, and Verstappen’s own future is far from clear.
“I don’t think we need to talk about that,” Verstappen said Thursday when asked to confirm whether he’ll stay with the team for 2026. “It’s not really in my mind. It’s just driving and trying to push the performance, you know. And then we focus on next year.”
Fast in Friday practice
Red Bull’s upgrades seemed to work well in Verstappen’s first outing in Friday practice. He was second-fastest, 0.065 of a second off George Russell for Mercedes.
Standings leader Oscar Piastri was third-fastest for McLaren, .155 off the pace, but the star of the session was young driver Alex Dunne, who took over Lando Norris’ McLaren for the session and placed fourth.
Lewis Hamilton was ninth-fastest for Ferrari and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda only 17th.
What are Verstappen’s options?
Verstappen has a long-term contract through 2028, so in theory his Red Bull seat should be one of the safest on the grid. However, the deal has performance-related clauses which could reportedly allow a move.
In that case, the most obvious option could be Mercedes, which has yet to confirm either driver for 2026. That would mean Verstappen teaming up with an old foe in Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who’d also have to choose to drop either Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
Dramatic changes to how F1 cars look and perform are coming in 2026, and Red Bull has to adapt more than most.
For the first time in nearly two decades, it heads into a new era of F1 rules without design guru Adrian Newey, who left last year and is now at Aston Martin.
The other leading teams are sticking with their current engine arrangements, but not Red Bull. The team has an in-house engine developer, Red Bull Powertrains, but it’s switching partners for 2026 from Honda to newcomer Ford.
The second seat
No team in F1 depends as much on one driver as Red Bull does on Verstappen. He’s scored 155 of the team’s 162 points this season.
His teammates — first Liam Lawson, then Tsunoda — have struggled all season. That’s helped to restore the reputation of Sergio Perez, who was dropped by Red Bull after scoring barely one-third of Verstappen’s points last season.
“I know, deep down, they really regret it,” Perez said on a podcast this week. “And I know that from a very reliable source. It’s tough. I have very good friends there, and people might think I take pleasure in what happened, but no.”
Red Bull’s car seems to favor Verstappen’s driving style over anyone else’s, but the Dutch driver says he can’t diagnose the issue because he’s been with the team since 2016 and has nothing else to compare it with.
“The thing is that I don’t know any better, right?” he said Thursday. “I mean, I’ve basically started with Red bull, so I only know one car and that’s how I drive. I adapt to it. Is it the best? Is it the fastest? Is it not? I don’t know.”
Brentford appoint set-piece coach Andrews as manager to replace Frank
- Andrews began his coaching career as assistant manager at MK Dons
- “He is someone we have known for a while,” Brentford Director of Football Phil Giles said
LONDON: Brentford have named former Ireland international Keith Andrews as manager on a three-year contract to replace Thomas Frank, Sky Sports reported on Friday, continuing the West London club’s trend of promoting from within.
Frank, who left to take over at Tottenham Hotspur, stepped up from the assistant role at Brentford to take charge in 2018, and now Andrews has been handed his first managerial role having served as the club’s set-piece coach for one season.
Andrews, who made 35 appearances for Ireland, began his coaching career as assistant manager at MK Dons where he finished playing in 2015 before joining the Ireland Under-21 set-up as assistant coach to Stephen Kenny.
Kenny became manager of Ireland’s senior side in 2020, taking Andrews with him, where they both remained until Kenny’s contract ended three years later, but Andrews found himself newly employed in a matter of weeks.
Andrews joined Sheffield United’s coaching staff when Chris Wilder took over in December 2023, with the Irishman leaving at the end of the season to take up his role at Brentford.
“He is someone we have known for a while and always had in mind for a role at some point in the future,” Brentford Director of Football Phil Giles said at the time of the appointment.
While Frank took assistant first-team coach Justin Cochrane, head of athletic performance Chris Haslam and first-team analyst Joe Newton with him to Spurs, Andrews remained at Brentford, a clue perhaps to his future at the club.
Frank, who took Brentford into the top flight for the first time in 74 years and made them a competitive force in the Premier League, will be a hard act to follow for the inexperienced Andrews, but his predecessor also went into the job relatively unknown.
Swiatek cruises past second-seed Paolini to reach first ever grass final
- “I just did my job and I knew what I wanted to play and I went for it,” Swiatek said
- The Pole did not play any other grass tournaments this season
BAD HOMBURG, Germany: Five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek crushed second seed Jasmine Paolini 6-1 6-3 on Friday to reach the Bad Homburg Open final and stay in the hunt for her first career title on grass.
With Wimbledon starting next week, the former world number one showed she was on the right track on the surface, outclassing the Italian, last year’s Wimbledon finalist.
“I am super happy and I was not expecting this. I just did my job and I knew what I wanted to play and I went for it,” Swiatek said in a post-match interview.
“I’m happy I kept the momentum going until the end of the match. Jasmine, you can’t let her get back in the game because she’s a fighter. I just wanted to go for it, and go for my shots.” Swiatek has a 5-0 lead in their head-to-head matches.
The Pole, who has won the French Open four times along with one US Open, did not play any other grass tournaments this season ahead of next week’s Wimbledon start, instead opting for a week of training in Mallorca before competing in Bad Homburg.
She was never troubled by the Italian in the first set as she raced through it in 29 minutes courtesy of three breaks.
The pair traded breaks at the start of the second set but Paolini continued to struggle to hold serve and contain the aggressive Pole who went 4-2 up.
Swiatek sealed victory with a forehand winner on her third match point to book a final spot where she will face either top seed Jessica Pegula or Czech Linda Noskova in Saturday’s final.
Top seed Sabalenka draws qualifier Branstine in Wimbledon first round
- Friday’s draw also pitched defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, the 17th seed, against Alexandra Eala of the Philippines
LONDON: World number one Aryna Sabalenka’s quest for her first Wimbledon title will begin against Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine while second seed Coco Gauff’s opener will be versus Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.
Friday’s draw also pitched defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, the 17th seed, against Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.
Third seed Jessica Pegula’s first-round opponent is Italian qualifier Elisabetta Cocciaretto, while fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, runner-up last year, faces Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
Belarusian Sabalenka could meet Paolini in the semifinals while Gauff is in line for a clash with fellow American Pegula.
British number one Emma Raducanu faces an intriguing opening round match against compatriot Mingge Xu, one of three British teenaged wildcards in the draw.
