Another record-breaking season for trainer Chris Waller has been capped off with a midweek double at Randwick’s Kensington track, securing his sixteenth consecutive Sydney trainers’ premiership. The tally of Sydney metropolitan wins for the season now stands at 183.

The victories were achieved with Godolphin’s two-year-old filly Sequinned in the Inglis Xtra Bonus Plate (1100m) and Concordia Wind in the Tropicus @ Vinery Stud Handicap (1550m), adding a celebratory flourish to Waller’s dominant season.

The stable’s success was mirrored by its riders, with apprentice Siena Grima claiming the Sydney junior rider’s title with 34 wins, while James McDonald, a frequent jockey for Waller, secured the senior division for the tenth time.

Assistant trainer Charlie Duckworth commented on the driving force behind the stable’s success. “Chris is a relentless worker, and he does a lot of it himself,” Duckworth said. “Plenty of people get accolades for him, but he is the driving force.”

Duckworth elaborated on the team’s exceptional performance this season. “Amazing that he has gone and broken his own records again. He had a bumper year in terms of the top tier horses, and I think we’ve also had more provincial winners than we had last year. Every category has been stronger this year without expanding in terms of numbers. It’s pretty cool.”

Waller’s string of 22 Group 1 winners this season surpasses his previous best of 19 from the 2024-25 period. Both Sequinned and Concordia Wind showcased promising performances at Randwick, despite not yet reaching the highest echelons of racing.

Sequinned, a half-sister to Bivouac, was in just her third career start. A city win as a two-year-old was a significant achievement for the filly, given her esteemed pedigree. “The main thing is you get a metropolitan win on the pedigree page. Not that you need much on a pedigree page like hers, but it still boosts the whole family,” Duckworth stated. “Then you just try to plot a path and hopefully end up in black type if you can.”

Ridden by Zac Lloyd, Sequinned ($11) secured a 1-1/4 length victory over Wanda’s Spark ($2.50), with Eviction Notice ($2.25 favourite) finishing third.

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European football’s governing body UEFA said on Thursday it would boycott the World Cup if FIFA pressed ahead with its private investor plan. “No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership,” UEFA said in a statement. FRANCE 24’s James Vasina reports.

Serie A giants AS Roma travel to Wales this weekend to face off with EFL Championship side Cardiff City in a pre-season friendly.

This will be Cardiff’s final pre-season game before their 2026-27 campaign officially begins next weekend, while Roma still have three more games following this one.

So can Roma start their time in Wales with a win, or will Cardiff pick up a big scalp?

Cardiff City vs AS Roma Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• The last time Cardiff faced off with Roma in a friendly match was prior to the 1963-64 season, when they travelled to Italy and suffered a 1-4 loss, a tour that also saw them draw 3-3 with Juventus and lose to Lazio.
• Cardiff have already played three pre-season friendlies, beginning with a bad 0-6 defeat at the hands of Midtjylland. Since then, though, the Welsh side have beaten both Forest Green Rovers and Cork City, scoring eleven goals in those two games while conceding just two.
• Roma’s first pre-season friendly saw them travel to Cannes, and they ended up drawing 3-3 with the French third-tier side. They are set to follow this match against Cardiff with one against another Welsh side, Newport County, before they play Brighton and Borussia Dortmund.
• Outside of France’s Manu Kone, who remains on an extended break following the World Cup, Roma have a full-strength squad to call upon for this match, with the likes of Paolo Dybala, Donyell Malen and Matias Soule all available.
• Cardiff’s eleven-goal haul in their last two friendly matches was not a surprise to fans who followed them in their League One campaign last season. The Bluebirds were the competition’s top scorers with 90 goals, something that heavily contributed to their promotion.

Cardiff City vs AS Roma Prediction

There’s no doubt that on paper, Roma are a far superior outfit to Cardiff, even without arguably their best player in the form of Manu Kone.

However, Cardiff are very dangerous going forward – as their recent friendly wins showed – and they do have the home advantage here. What’s more, they will be arguably better-prepared and sharper for this match after playing more games, while Roma looked rusty against Cannes.

With that in mind, then, the prediction here is a score draw,

Prediction: Cardiff City 2-2 AS Roma

Cardiff City vs AS Roma Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result – Draw.

Tip 2: Both sides to score – Yes.

Tip 3: Game to feature more than 2.5 goals – Yes.