As the Spring Carnival intensifies, fewer opportunities arise for horses to avoid facing their strongest rivals.

Trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young are fully aware of this situation as they plan a serious challenge for the Caulfield Guineas with their charge, Blind Raise.

The Caulfield Guineas, a 1600m feature race set for October 10, has the Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) this Saturday as a critical preparatory event.

Blind Raise is slated to be one of nine runners in Saturday’s race. He faces an disadvantageous draw in barrier nine, but arrives at the contest off the back of a winning performance first-up at Sandown.

The son of Ace High began his career impressively, winning his first two starts as a two-year-old. A subsequent winter campaign in Brisbane was curtailed after a single outing where he finished ninth in the Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Eagle Farm, being found to have mucus.

A spell in the warmer Queensland climate enabled the gelding to recover from his ailment before Blind Raise commenced his spring campaign.

Blind Raise entered his first-up run lacking full fitness, having completed only one trial, yet his class was undeniable in securing a 1-¾ length victory.

“He came through it well as he was a bit above himself at Sandown,” Busuttin stated.

“He’d had just the one run trial leading into it and in the parade ring, it was noticeable he was sweating up and was up and about which is unlike him.

“We were happy with his trial and thought he could do it, but thinking they can do it and actually doing it, is two different things.

“With that run under the belt and then taking him to Caulfield on Tuesday, he should be a bit calmer.

“It will be another challenge on Saturday, and we’ll see how he goes this time, but I would imagine he will be very competitive.”

The Caulfield Guineas is the gelding’s main objective this spring, and he also remains in contention for the Cox Plate (2000m) at Flemington on October 24.

Busuttin believes Blind Raise will show further improvement from Saturday’s run and should be at peak performance by Caulfield Guineas Day.

“His coat is nowhere near where we would like it to be,” Busuttin noted.

“We have just under a month to the Caulfield Guineas to get that right.”

Explore the latest Australian betting sites for the upcoming races.

Image credit: England Cricket

England beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the third T20I at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday to complete a 3-0 series sweep.The hosts chased down Sri Lanka’s 125-run target with 62 balls to spare. The win also helped England move back to the top of the T20 world rankings, replacing India.It was England’s 15th straight T20 win over Sri Lanka.

Buttler leads easy chase

Sri Lanka were bowled out for 124 with seven balls left in their innings.Pathum Nissanka top-scored with 36 off 24 balls, while Kamindu Mendis made 35 off 28. Will Jacks, Jofra Archer and Player of the Match Sonny Baker took two wickets each for England.England lost opener Aneurin Donald for 13, but Jos Buttler and Harry Brook quickly took control.Buttler smashed an unbeaten 62 off 32 balls, while Brook made 33. England reached 126-2 in just 9.4 overs.Buttler had earlier become the first batter to score 15,000 career T20 runs on Thursday.

Brook, Asalanka reflect on series

Brook finished as the highest run-scorer and was named Player of the Series.“I think everybody stepped up in this series,” said Brook. “Every game has been slightly different and we’re playing the conditions extremely well.”Sri Lanka’s bowling also struggled, giving away nine wides, including two that went for four.Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka called the series a major disappointment for his team.“A very disappointing series for us in both the major departments, batting and bowling… this is an important eye-opener for us of where we stand right now in T20 cricket comparing to the best teams in the world,” said Asalanka.“This is a time to get together as players, support staff, and our Sri Lanka cricket board as well to find solutions for these T20 problems. These are the best 15 players right now so we have to find solutions in the right way.”England had won the first T20I in Southampton by 119 runs, with Brook scoring an unbeaten 114.England will next face Sri Lanka in three ODIs, starting at Durham’s Chester-le-Street on Tuesday.

Ryan Garcia defended his WBC welterweight title with a two-round stoppage win over Conor Benn last weekend, and now two-division world champion Tim Bradley has named who believes to be the top dog in the 147lb scene.

Garcia needed less than five minutes to crush Benn’s dreams of capturing the coveted green and gold belt that his father once held, brutally flooring the Briton with a right-hand before stopping him upon his return to his feet.

Before the fight, promoter Dana White claimed that Garcia could become the ‘face of boxing’ if victorious and the Californian is hoping that he is within a couple of wins of doing just that, eyeing up title unifications with his fellow welterweight world champions Teofimo Lopez (WBA) and familiar foe Devin Haney (WBO).

Despite Garcia’s short but sweet display at the weekend, Bradley told his YouTube channel that Haney is still the man to beat as far as welterweights are concerned.

“Devin Haney is the best 147lber right now. That is who the best 147lber is, it’s Devin ‘The Dream’ damn Haney, it ain’t no damn Ryan Garcia! Y’all was tripping last night.”

Garcia famously defeated Haney back in 2024, but his majority-decision triumph was overturned to a no-contest soon after, following Garcia’s positive test for the banned substance, Ostarine.

Still, whilst a rematch between the two reigning world champions and fierce rivals remains as one of the most in-demand bouts in the sport, it is expected that Garcia will next pursue Lopez and that Haney will target IBF champion Liam Paro.

If both men are successful in becoming unified welterweight world champions, the pair could collide in a fascinating undisputed title showdown in late 2027.

Queen’s Gamble is set to join some of Sydney’s top fillies in the upcoming Tea Rose Stakes at Randwick. Trainer Matthew Smith, however, possesses a strong historical indicator to support his belief in her competitive potential.

Smith previously trained Hurtle Myrtle, who participated in all four events of the 2009 Princess Series. She achieved placings in three of those races, including a third behind the highly-rated More Joyous in the Group 1 Flight Stakes over 1600 metres.

The following autumn, Hurtle Myrtle narrowly missed securing a significant victory, being beaten only at the line by the standout galloper More Joyous in the Surround Stakes (1400m), held that year at Warwick Farm.

“She was good as a three-year-old. One day at Warwick Farm, Hurtle Myrtle ran against More Joyous. More Joyous was about $1.20 and Hurtle Myrtle headed her with about fifty (metres) to go before More Joyous kicked back and won the race and I thought, oh my God,” Smith recounted.

“This filly is similar. A scopey type of filly who is unassuming.

“I think there are similarities. Queen’s Gamble has had a few runs, but she seems to be handling her racing well.”

After resuming with two second-place finishes in midweek races at Canterbury, Queen’s Gamble broke her maiden status with a dominant performance at Warwick Farm on August 19. She subsequently delivered an even more impressive victory by over three lengths at the same track last start.

Smith has been impressed by the filly’s consistent improvement with each start, admitting that her rapid development has been a surprise to the stable.

“She’s only a lightly-framed filly, so we were never really looking for anything big at home,” Smith stated.

“For that reason, she has probably got under our guard a little bit because we hadn’t been asking her for much.

“Her first two runs were good and the way she pulled up after each run she didn’t really need a lot of work, so I just kept ticking her over and she has gone from strength to strength.”

Tommy Berry, who has ridden Queen’s Gamble in three of her five starts, is scheduled to partner her in the 1400-metre Tea Rose Stakes.

Smith is anticipating a strong showing, but believes the filly’s optimal performance will come when she steps up to the mile distance for the Flight Stakes next month.

“She will definitely be suited in the Flight,” he said.

“If we get a strong-run gallop, the 14 (1400m) will suit her, but the Flight will be better.”

On Thursday, Queen’s Gamble was priced at $8, while Chilly Girl, the winner of the Rosebud, was the $3.30 favourite.

Check out the latest online bookmakers for betting markets for the Tea Rose Stakes.

Ex-Premier League goalkeeper Kevin Miller died this week, Wigan Athletic announced

Gary Caldwell struggled to put into words “a horrific week” for Wigan following the death of goalkeeping coach Kevin Miller, which ended with Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Wycombe.

The football world was shocked in midweek when news broke of former Premier League goalkeeper Miller’s death at the age of 57. Before the game, there was a minute’s applause for Miller, which was repeated at the 57-minute mark.

Wycombe also showed their respects as striker Jayden Wareham, who was a colleague of Miller’s last season at Exeter, placed a wreath behind one of the goals before kick-off.

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A Dan Casey header midway through the second half gave Wycombe all three points from a desperately poor game but, as Caldwell acknowledged, everyone at Wigan has had “bigger things to think about” this week.

“I’m really disappointed to lose again and I thought it was a strange game,” he said.

“It’s obviously been a horrific week for us and I thought even Wycombe were affected by it as well at the start of the game.

“Once the game got going after 15-20 minutes, it was a very tight, even game, a game of few chances and small margins.

“I said to the players at half-time that we have to embrace games like this and make sure we come out on the right side of it.

“Unfortunately we didn’t…we didn’t create enough, we didn’t do enough with the ball when we had it. Then they get their one effort on goal, which they score from, and we end up losing the game.

“I’m disappointed to lose the game but we’ve had bigger things to think about this week. We’ll try to get over that first, but we’ve got a lot to do…we must be better in terms of football.

“It has been a really tough week for everyone but I know we will be stronger for it in the long run.”

Interim Wycombe boss Tom Hounsell was delighted to secure three points which sees them pull away from the foot of the table.

“I think both sides largely cancelled each other out,” he said. “I was pleased with the start of the game. For the first 10-15 minutes we were excellent and we just couldn’t capitalise on that momentum.

“We probably made the game a little bit more difficult than necessary in that first half.

“We made some changes at half-time, we changed our shape in the second half, and it came to fruition pretty quickly.

“So I’m really happy with the result and pretty pleased with the players because I thought they deserved what they got.”

NDTV on Saturday launched the new season of the AM Green IGPL Golf Pro-Am, a unique platform that brings corporates and professional golfers together. The NDTV-AM Green IGPL Golf Pro-Am returns for a bigger and bolder celebration of sport, leadership and meaningful connections. During the launch event, legendary India cricketer Yuvraj Singh joined NDTV CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal to unveil the trophy for the upcoming season. Season 2 will feature 10 Pro-Am events, expanding significantly from the six-city footprint of the inaugural edition.

“The whole idea is not just to expand the universe of golf but to make golf fun and bring in as many people as possible,” said NDTV CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal.

“Golf can be hugely intimidating for those who don’t play the sport. Just seeing everyone so focused. There is the authentic part of the sport, but the idea is to broaden the horizon.”

Following a highly successful first season, the NDTV Golf Pro-Am is expanding its footprint with the inclusion of Vizag and Pune as new host cities. The event will return to Bengaluru, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Hyderabad, while a partnership with the Indian Golf Pro League (IGPL) is set to further enhance the tournament’s scale and reach.

IGPL CEO Uttam Singh Mundy, a former professional golfer himself, also spoke about how the sport has evolved over the years, particularly with the emergence of initiatives such as the NDTV-AM Green IGPL Golf Pro-Am, compared to the era when he was actively competing on the circuit.

“All I can say is that it’s a completely different ball game today. When we were playing professionally, things were very different. We often talk among friends and wish we had some of the opportunities that players have now. Back then, the ecosystem was entirely different, but I’m glad to see how far the sport has come. For me, the transition wasn’t that difficult,” Mundy said.

The new season starts October 3 at Qutub Golf Course in Delhi.

Corporate professionals will once again have the opportunity to share the stage with sporting icons, including Yuvraj Singh, Leander Paes, Jeev Milkha Singh, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Jyoti Randhawa, Shiv Kapur, SSP Chawrasia and Gaurav Ghei.

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