#cheltenham-gold-cup

#cheltenham-gold-cup

The highlight of Elliott's afternoon was a two-and-a-quarter length defeat of Dan Skelton's The New Lion in the Aintree Hurdle, a result which confirmed the form of the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham last month.

The Gold Cup was one of the last races at the meeting to elude Willie Mullins until his first win in 2019. Now, he has five, joining Tom Dreaper, Arkle's trainer, as the co-holder of the all-time record, after Gaelic Warrior's relentless charge up the hill to an eight length success.

It's the same sort of logic and training routine. Animals are creatures of habit, you can't just click your fingers and it takes time. You've got to get them fit and build that fitness up, and prep them through their feeding and so on before the race.

We've had a look at a fresh line of the hurdle track right out beside the chase track, Graffin said on Friday. In my opinion, this line is currently fit to race despite 22mm of rain last night. However, we do have the potential for a further 10-20mm of rain. We would like to get a bit of luck with that, but it is currently fit to race.

The horse ranch, on nearly 20 acres about eight miles from Malibu, has a Mediterranean-style, 10,000-square-foot house, newly built when Arnold bought the property in April 1995 for $2.5 million. He has close to $4 million in the property, sources say. Among his additions is a full gym. Situated in a gate-guarded community, the ranch also has a tennis court, pool and long, private drive.

Image source, Getty Images Gloucester-Hartpury made it 10 wins out of 10 in Premiership Women's Rugby as they ran in seven tries at home to third-placed Harlequins. Sisilia Tuipulotu starred for the defending champions, helping them on their way to a comprehensive 45-22 victory with two first-half tries. The league leaders opened a 10-point cushion over second-placed Saracens, who host Bristol Bears on Sunday. Meanwhile, Sale Sharks won 36-31 at Trailfinders in Saturday's other match.

McIlroy used pre-tournament media duties at the Dubai Desert Classic to assert that Hatton and Jon Rahm should settle their seven-figure penalties due to the European Tour Group for their participation in LIV Golf. McIlroy's sentiment felt especially notable because he was to spend the opening two rounds at the Emirates Club in Hatton's company. Yet there appeared no ill feeling whatsoever between the Ryder Cup teammates; as evident on the course and by what Hatton said later.

With pre-Cheltenham purdah fast approaching, the Ladbrokes Trophy Handicap Chase at Kempton on Saturday could well be the most competitive betting heat for the next two-and-a-half weeks and Emmet Mullins's decision to field two runners in the 13-strong field adds a further layer of complexity to the puzzle. Mullins has a well-earned reputation for sliding contenders into handicaps at Cheltenham and Aintree on very competitive marks, but his Kempton record three wins from five runners is not too shabby either.