ARCADIA, California: The 2012 Breeders’ Cup opened its $25.5 million two-day program on Friday with a command performance by Royal Delta, a string of upsets and a record 16th win for veteran jockey Mike Smith.
Royal Delta lived up to her billing as the top female horse in the United States by retaining her title in the $2 million Ladies’ Classic in stunning fashion at a sun-drenched Santa Anita Park.
With Smith on board, the Kentucky-bred filly took control of the race by the first turn and easily fended off late bursts by My Miss Aurelia and Include Me Out down the stretch.
The previously unbeaten My Miss Aurelia finished one-and-a-half lengths back with Include Me Out in third, a further one-and-a-quarter lengths adrift.
Smith, 47, was elated after pulling ahead of fellow Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey with his 16th career win at the Breeders’ Cup, which is billed as the world championship of thoroughbred racing.
“It’s incredible to be with the riders on this list,” Smith smiled. “It’s truly an honor. I hope to be around a few more years to add to it.” Royal Delta, an overwhelming 8-5 favorite when she entered the starting gate, was the only fancied horse to win on Friday on a six-race card.
Other winners in front of a Santa Anita crowd of just over 34,000 were: Zagora in the Filly and Mare Turf; Beholder, who upset favorite Executiveprivilege in the Juvenile Fillies; and Calidoscopio in the Marathon.
French raider Flotilla took the Juvenile Fillies Turf and long-shot Hightail captured the Juvenile Sprint, the first race of the day.
But the stand out on Friday was Royal Delta, who raised comparisons with 2009 Breeders Classic champion Zenyatta, a retired thoroughbred mare who was ridden by Smith for 17 of her 20 starts.
“She is close to it,” Smith said when asked how Royal Delta matched up to Zenyatta’s impressive physique. “She has that kind of stride. She has a tremendous stride. She does it with ease.
“She actually waits for competition, and once they get to her she locks on them and seems like she can get around them again.” PLAN SHELVED Royal Delta, a daughter of 2003 Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker, had also been entered for the marquee Breeders’ Classic on Saturday but that plan was shelved, mainly due to her trainer Bill Mott.
Mott will have three other horses running in the $5 million Classic, a race he won last year with Drosselmeyer.
“We’ve got three good chances in there tomorrow, and we’re certainly not counting our chickens before they hatch, but ... I think any one of the three has a chance,” Mott said.
“I know it’s a deep race and there are good horses and horses that have proven themselves well over this race track. You’ve got to push forward and look to tomorrow.” French-bred mare Zagora stormed home to win the Filly & Mare Turf in what will likely be the last start of her career.
Due to be sold at auction later this month, Martin Schwartz’s five-year-old stormed down the home straight with jockey Javier Castellano aboard to overtake the fancied Marketing Mix and hold off the highly favored The Fugue.
Zagora prevailed by three-quarters of a length, giving trainer Chad Brown just his second Breeders Cup win.
“She had everything go her way today,” Brown said. “She got the turf she likes, she got a great trip and she’s been training great.” Hightail, a 15-1 longshot, upset odds-on favorite Merit Man in the Juvenile Sprint, winning by a nose after a storming late surge from inside the rail.
Suggestions that Hightail might have interfered with Merit Man’s line down the stretch were cleared after a post-race inquiry.
Hightail’s stunning victory extended Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’s record total of Breeders’ Cup wins to 19.
“At my age it’s significant,” smiled the 77-year-old Lukas. “I don’t know how many (wins) there are, but I always thought we could get one more. It’s exciting. They don’t come that easy.”
Royal Delta shines on day of upsets
Royal Delta shines on day of upsets
Australia lead by 82 runs as West Indies’ Test on a knife edge
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: West Indies’ pace attack again exposed the vulnerability of the Australian top-order batting as the tourists stuttered to 92 for four in their second innings at stumps on the second day of the first Test at Kensington Oval on Thursday.
Trailing on first innings by just ten runs after the Caribbean side were dismissed at tea for 190 in reply to the Aussies’ first innings total of 180, the match is balanced on a knife’s edge as Australia lead by 82 runs with six wickets in hand.
Another eventful day when ten wickets fell after 14 tumbled on day one also featured contentious television umpiring decisions which left the West Indies feeling aggrieved.
Travis Head, so often the counter-attacking star for the men from Down Under in all formats of the game, will carry the battle into the third morning with all-rounder Beau Webster after all four West Indies bowlers used in the second innings so far claimed a wicket each.
Wicketless in the first innings, Alzarri Joseph was first to strike in the long final session when he trapped Usman Khawaja lbw.
Shamar Joseph, who set the tone for the bowling effort at the start of the Test the day before, had to endure Sam Konstas being dropped twice in the same over in the slips before the opener’s tortuous innings ended 20 minutes later when he played on to the same bowler.
Jayden Seales added to his five-wicket haul the day before by removing Josh Inglis for the second time in the match when the right-hander was bowled offering no shot.
Australia’s continuing experiment with Cameron Green at number three then suffered another setback when he wafted at medium-pacer Justin Greaves to be taken at first slip.
Earlier, West Indies captain Roston Chase and wicketkeeper Shai Hope held the home side’s innings together with a 67-run stand after they had slipped to 72 for five early on the second morning when debutant Brandon King was bowled for 26 shouldering arms to seamer Josh Hazlewood.
However Chase, in his 50th Test and playing his first match in the traditional format for more than two years, was ruled leg-before to Australian counterpart Pat Cummins for 44 just after lunch by television official Adrian Holdstock even though the available television replays suggested the tall right-hander had edged the ball onto his pads.
Holdstock was again the focus of attention when Hope, on 48, appeared to have been cleanly caught down the leg-side by a diving wicketkeeper Alex Carey to give Webster his second wicket.
Hope seemed equally convinced as he was almost in the players’ pavilion as repeated replays of the dismissal gave a strong indication that the ball had touched the ground as Carey attempted to complete the catch. Holdstock nevertheless upheld the dismissal.
Alzarri Joseph contributed an unbeaten 23 but the innings folded swiftly thereafter with Mitchell Starc finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the innings with three for 65.
“We can only ask the questions,” was Starc’s deadpan reply to his opinion on the dismissals of Chase and Hope.
“That’s what we have the technology for. The questions have to be asked in that direction, not at the players.”
On the state of the match, Starc felt the nature of the pitch is keeping the contest close.
“Throughout the two days it’s shown that if you bowl in the right areas there are enough chances ,” he said.
“Even when the ball got older or was changed it still did some sideways stuff so the bowlers have been in the game throughout so far and that is likely to continue tomorrow.”
Tickets for 2025 World Pool Championship in Jeddah now on sale
- This year’s competition, running from July 21-26, is expected to be the largest in the 35-year history of the event
- 128 of world’s top players, led by reigning champion and world No. 1 Fedor Gorst, will compete for a $1m prize pool
JEDDAH: Tickets for the 2025 World Pool Championship are now on sale.
For the second year in a row, the event is taking take place in Jeddah, from July 21 to 26 at the Green Halls, as part of the Jeddah Season festivities.
Organizers said this year’s competition is expected to be the biggest in the 35-year history of the event, which is also known as the World Nine-ball Championship, with 128 of the world’s top players competing for a $1 million prize pool.
Fans can look forward to top-tier action led by reigning champion and world No. 1 Fedor Gorst, they added. His challengers will include a stellar lineup of former world champions and other top players, including Shane Van Boening, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Joshua Filler, Ko Pin-Yi and Carlo Biado.
In addition, 16 specially invited players from the Kingdom and the wider region will have a chance to compete at the highest level and test themselves against some of the best in the world.
The tournament will run in parallel with the Saudi Junior Championship, as part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to nurture the next generation of sporting talent in line with the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 plan for national development and diversification.
Visit webook.com for more information about the event and to buy tickets.
Brazil coach tells Neymar to prepare well for World Cup
- “He must prepare well and he has the time to do that,” Ancelotti said
- “He’s a very important player for us regarding the World Cup“
SAO PAULO: New Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti considers Neymar “a very important player” and has urged the injury-prone star “to prepare well” for the 2026 World Cup.
“He must prepare well and he has the time to do that,” the Italian said in an interview with the South American football federation on Thursday.
“He’s a very important player for us regarding the World Cup,” Ancelotti added.
Neymar, 33, extended his contract with Brazilian side Santos to the end of the year this week.
Neymar’s career has been dogged by injury, and he has only played 12 matches in five months for Santos, scoring three goals.
Brazil’s top scorer with 79 goals was missing from Ancelotti’s first squad at the end of May.
With Neymar absent five-time world champions Brazil qualified for next year’s World Cup with a 1-0 win over Paraguay this month.
Jeddah E-prix double-header becomes most-watched Formula E weekend in history
- Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds hails ‘phenomenal’ record 65m viewers
- Digital audiences showed impressive growth, with social video views and engagements up 13% and 12% respectively
JEDDAH: The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has confirmed that the 2025 Jeddah E-Prix double-header became the most-watched Formula E weekend in history with a record 65 million viewers, according to data analysis released by Kantar Media on Thursday.
Held under the lights of the iconic Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Feb. 14-15, the races marked the championship’s thrilling debut in the Red Sea city after six successful seasons in Diriyah.
Jeddah’s unique night racing spectacle, coupled with a state-of-the-art circuit and electric atmosphere, has cemented Saudi Arabia’s growing reputation as a premier destination for world-class motorsport, said a media statement.
It added that Jeddah is confirmed to once again host the only double-header night races on the Formula E calendar in Season 12, which will be held on Feb. 13-14, 2026.
According to Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E, the latest figures from their external providers are truly phenomenal and show the tremendous momentum behind the growth of the sport.
“They highlight that not only do we have world-leading technology and acceleration in the cars, but that it’s producing some of the best most-competitive racing that old and new fans can’t get enough of,” said Dodds.
He revealed that they are building fan bases and fan loyalty in key and new markets, with Mexico and the US examples of where their investment and longevity in the market is paying dividends.
“As the world’s fastest growing motorsport though, we know we can’t stand still. We know we need to continue offering the best racing, the best rivalries and the best most-inclusive events to continue on our steep trajectory and build a strong community of electric super fans,” added Dodds.
In addition to the record-setting Jeddah rounds, Formula E has seen exceptional growth this season with the data analysis showing unprecedented audience growth across TV and social media for the first half of the 2024-25 season, with its cumulative audience due to surpass 500 million by the end of Season 11.
Digital audiences analysed through Emplifi have also shown impressive growth, with social video views and engagement up 13 percent and 12 percent respectively, underscoring the vibrant and interactive fan community the series continues to build.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship’s 11th season — which started in Sao Paulo in December 2024 and will culminate in London on July 26-27 — has so far delivered some of the most exciting racing action in world motorsport, while continually pushing the boundaries of electric performance.
So far this season, its 22 world-class drivers have engaged in intense, head-to-head competition, captivating fans with epic battles on iconic circuits and nail-biting finishes at new venues.
Fans around the globe have tuned in and turned up in greater numbers than ever before, drawn by compelling racing and a shared vision for sustainable and cutting-edge innovation, added the statement.
Dubai’s ISD Sports City partners with Real Madrid in landmark deal
- Real Madrid Foundation will bring its unique program that combines education and sports to ISD’s world-class facilities, including its state-of-the-art pitches
DUBAI: ISD Sports City has announced a landmark partnership with the Real Madrid Foundation to manage a new branch of the Real Madrid Foundation Educational Football Program in Dubai.
The deal was announced with a commemorative photograph taken with Daniels Petrovs, CEO of ISD Sports City, and the Real Madrid Ambassador Roberto Carlos, marking the official launch of the collaboration.
Real Madrid Foundation will bring its unique program that combines education and sports to ISD’s world-class facilities, already home to state-of-the-art pitches. These include the latest hybrid-generation football fields, with all-natural pitches slated for hybrid conversion by the end of the year, an upgrade that positions ISD as a premier destination for international teams and events.
“Dubai is increasingly becoming the global epicentre for sport and youth development,” said Petrovs. “Partnering with the Real Madrid Foundation allows us to elevate our football offering to high-quality standards while giving children across the UAE access to an unique experience and facilities.
“Our goal is simple: to build a center of excellence that sets the benchmark globally.”
Petrovs, who has led ISD for the past 15 months, brings his expertise in building modern sports facilities, including converting all pitches to hybrid surfaces and also embedding sustainability and performance into every inch of ISD’s infrastructure.
