Richarlison will not be included in Tottenham’s squad for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Liverpool after manager Roberto De Zerbi chose to leave him out.

The forward was omitted from Spurs’ 25-man Premier League list submitted earlier this month after being told he is surplus to requirements. Having failed to secure a departure, he remains eligible for domestic cup competitions.

However, De Zerbi confirmed the former Everton player, who rejected a move to Vasco da Gama on Friday, will not feature. This comes despite his record of four goals in seven games against Liverpool for Spurs, who have not scored in the league during 2026-27.

“Richarlison, you already know everything and nothing change for Carabao Cup or Premier League. The situation is the same,” De Zerbi said.

“I stay in the middle and I can’t say nothing more because it is not my job. I can answer about the result and the players in the squad, the offensive phase, the defensive phase, but not for other things.

“What I have done at the beginning of this season has been to speak with him and to propose an extension of the contract. If he said, ‘no thank you,’ I finished my job.

“I said last press conference. I know what happened in the last 45 days. It’s not right if I explained. It’s not my behaviour. The relationship, the problem is between the player and the club.

“I stay within the club. It’s coach and club together. At the start of this season I spoke to him many times to convince him to stay and he didn’t want to. I can’t go every day to pray for him to stay.”

This is the latest chapter in an unwanted saga involving Richarlison, who responded to a social media post by Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano that confirmed De Zerbi’s decision by simply posting the word “Why?” with a ‘crying face’ emoji.

Richarlison started the league opener at Brentford, but was told he can leave before a move to Everton collapsed and links to Trabzonspor failed to turn into a move.

After Richarlison did not agree personal terms with boyhood club Vasco on Friday, he was in attendance for Spurs’ goalless draw with Everton, but will remain on the sidelines.

De Zerbi will also be without Pedro Porro and Sandro Tonali for the midweek trip to Anfield.

After a 0-0 draw at Everton, De Zerbi talked about playing with “other players” at Liverpool, but hinted he will not make wholesale changes.

De Zerbi added: “No, the other players, I think Lucas Bergvall is not ‘other player’, Mathys Tel also and then we have to analyse the other players.

“Maybe the players who didn’t play enough but I already said I am lucky because for centre back for example we have JP van Hecke and (Micky) van de Ven, two top players, but (Marcos) Senesi, Ben Davies, Tosin (Adarabioyo) are not less than Van de Ven and Van Hecke.

“I would like to go far in the Carabao and FA Cup.”

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said any decision on India’s participation in the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games 2027 to be held in Pakistan is guided by the recent policy of the sports ministry.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said this in his response to a query at his media briefing, where he was asked about some reports related to India and the SAF Games.

“Your second question about the news about India’s participation in SAF Games. India’s participation in any international tournament or a multilateral championship is guided by the recent policy that has been announced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

“And that policy is there in public domain, so please have a look at that. There we are guided by what directions or what the international bodies, sports bodies have to say on such matters, as also the interest of our sports people,” Jaiswal said.

Pakistan will host the SAF Games from April 3 to 11 across Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar next year. The South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC) approved the dates and venues for the regional multi-sport event at a recent meeting in Islamabad, according to the Olympics webiste.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on its website carries a file, titled ‘Indian Policy Towards International Sporting Events’.

“With regard to international and multilateral events, in India or abroad, we are guided by the practices of international sports bodies and the interest of our own sportspersons. It is also relevant to take into account India’s emergence as a credible venue to host international sports events,” reads the policy.

“Accordingly, Indian teams and individual players will take part in international events that also have teams or players from Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistani players and teams will be able to participate in such multilateral events hosted by India,” it says.

The MEA spokesperson was also asked about the latest update in cases related to six Ukrainians and US national Matthew Aaron Van Dyke.

“On the question of the US and Ukrainian nationals whose matter you referred to is in the court right now. This is a legal matter and it will proceed as per the directions of the court,” Jaiswal said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against the seven foreign nationals, including Van Dyke, for illegal entry, stay and movement, but did not invoke the anti-terror law UAPA, after arresting them in a terror conspiracy case for alleged links to ethnic armed groups in India.

The NIA chargesheet, filed before Special Judge Prashant Sharma, accused the seven of offences under sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act and said “more time is required to ascertain and verify the true and complete facts about the commission of offences under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act”.

US national Van Dyke had been arrested by the NIA from Kolkata airport, while Ukrainian citizens Petro Hurba, Taras Slyviak and Ivan Sukmanovskyi were arrested from Lucknow airport on March 13. Three other Ukrainians –Marian Stefankiv, Maksim Honcharuk and Viktor Kaminskyi — were arrested from Delhi airport the same day.

It was alleged that the group was operating as mercenaries.

John Sargent is relying on his extensive experience training three-year-old fillies to give Global Goal the optimal chance at Group One success this Spring.

The daughter of Pinatubo is scheduled to compete in the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes, a 1400-metre race at Randwick on Saturday. Sargent strategically decided to bypass the Furious Stakes, the second event in the Princess Series, after Global Goal’s promising third-place finish in the Silver Shadow Stakes on her seasonal return.

Having recorded the fastest final 200 metres behind Pembrey in the Silver Shadow Stakes, Sargent opted to give Global Goal a trial last Friday. He was mindful of the racing workload for the lightly built filly, considering she will be making only her third career start this Saturday.

“She seems to have done well since the Silver Shadow,” Sargent confirmed.

“We’ve just spaced her runs and gave her a trial the other day and I’ve added side winkers as she just seems to go through a flat patch in her races.”

“It seems to have got her to concentrate better so she’ll wear those on Saturday, and the extra distance should help.”

Sargent, who previously won the Tea Rose Stakes with Four Moves Ahead in 2021 for Pinecliff Racing, is keen for Global Goal to step up in distance, with the Group 1 Flight Stakes over 1600 metres being her ultimate target.

Four Moves Ahead finished sixth in the Flight Stakes that year. Sargent also achieved success with Foxborough, who secured third place behind Funstar in 2019, and Powers Of Opal, who finished fourth to Lady Shenandoah in 2024.

While Powers Of Opal went on to finish second in both the Wakeful Stakes and the VRC Oaks later in the Spring, Sargent indicated that Global Goal would likely not be raced beyond a mile.

“She’s owned by the same owners as Four Moves Ahead, and she went to the Furious and then went and won the Tea Rose,” Sargent explained.

“But this filly’s probably a lighter filly than that, so she doesn’t need a lot, so I decided to miss that race and carry on to the Flight Stakes.”

“She’s probably not big and robust enough to be an Oaks horse, she’s more a 1400 to a mile type horse, I think.”

“There’s always a Thousand Guineas which is a bit later that she’s nominated for, but no, we’ll just look at those races and if she could happen to win one of those, we’d probably put her aside and look at the Autumn.”

Global Goal is currently a $4.50 chance for the Tea Rose Stakes and a $7 chance for the Flight Stakes on October 3rd. Bet on the upcoming races at racing betting markets.

Pakistan cricket legend and the country’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, continues to draw attention from the global cricketing fraternity. Twenty-one international captains recently wrote to the Pakistan government, urging better treatment of Imran Khan, who has been in prison since 2023. Now, one of the greatest pacers of all time, Michael Holding, has joined the bandwagon in support of the jailed former Pakistan cricket team captain. While Holding, a West Indies cricket legend, is wary of the politics behind the imprisonment, he didn’t shy away from speaking highly of the person Imran Khan is.

Holding and Imran didn’t play a lot of matches against each other in international cricket, but they did spend quality time in each other’s company. Holding highlighted that when Imran was in London to raise funds for a cancer hospital, he accompanied him. This was when he came to know deeply who the person is.

“I’ll mention one name, Imran Khan, but you probably don’t want to go down the political route, and I don’t want to either, but that’s a sad story. It has become one of the former Pakistan captain’s defining legacies. I played with Imran, I wouldn’t say I played a lot. I played some one-day games with him. I played county cricket, a few games against Imran, but apart from playing with Imran, I have spent time with Imran,” Holding said during a chat with Sports Now.

“When Imran was going around London looking to garner funds for that cancer hospital, I went around with him, I tried to support him as best as I possibly could, where that was concerned. So I know the man, and I know exactly what type of person that he is. And it’s extremely sad to see the situation now and what is going on with Imran Khan,” the 72-year-old recalled.

Recently, during Pakistan’s tour of England, an interview featured Imran Khan’s sons where they spoke about how much the health of the former cricketer has deteriorated in prison. The two sons even alleged that the Pakistan government isn’t allowing them to meet their father, while also denying treatment in a private hospital. This worsening condition has seen former international captains write two letters to the Pakistan government, urging intervention and better treatment.

#PAKWatch🇵🇰: Today, THOUSANDS took to the streets of Lahore to DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF IMRAN KHAN.

PAK = MILITARY RUNS THE SHOW = 3RD WORLD.

Advertisement

FREE IMRAN KHAN. pic.twitter.com/3kDQNmWL4b

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) September 15, 2026

Holding also extended support to the letter. Targeting the Pakistan government, Holding expressed disappointment at the way Imran is being treated.

“I am in total support of the captains who wrote that letter. I don’t know what effect it will have, but I am in total support of trying to get the man to be treated just like another human being. You don’t treat human beings that way. People who have committed murder aren’t treated that way. So I don’t see the reason why this man should be treated that way,” Holding said.

“I don’t know if there’s jealousy involved in this, because Imran Khan. I don’t think there’s a Pakistani who is more well-known around the world than Imran Khan. That is ridiculous, the way the man is being treated,” he added.

Featured Video Of The Day

Spain Vs Argentina | Dani Olmo On WC Triumph: ‘Wanted To Set An Example For The Next Generation’

With the news that Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Landon Dickerson was being placed on IR with a knee injury, Dickerson himself seemed fine with the development — especially since, in the guard’s view, he had no business being on the field in Week 1.

In an interview on Philadelphia’s 94 WIP radio, which took place very shortly after the IR news landed, Dickerson offered a blunt assessment of his play in the Eagles’ narrow 24-22 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

Advertisement

“Honestly, (to) address the elephant in the room, I played like sh** yesterday,” Dickerson said. “I was a complete liability yesterday and, again, that was my fault … I shouldn’t be out there until I feel healthy.”

Dickerson said that he got “rolled up on” in practice last month during training camp, but continued to push through the injury. Imaging on Monday confirmed that he had a bone bruise in his right knee.

Dickerson found out that he was being placed on IR while live on air: After being read a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McClane, who was the first to report the news, the Eagles’ starting left guard admitted to WIP that he hadn’t been officially told, but that he knew it “was kind of the plan.”

“Really, the best plan moving forward is put me on IR so I can get this thing better to have a good stretch at the back end of the season,” Dickerson said.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said a proposed NBA Europe league would “respect the traditions of European basketball.” 

Silver used the occasion of Thursday’s NBA game in Berlin between the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies — the first regular season game to ever take place in Germany — to give an update on the venture.

He said the NBA was continuing to hold discussions with clubs about its plans, which would see it partner with FIBA, world basketball’s governing body, to create a 16-team European league. Up to 12 spots would be reserved for permanent members, and at least four would be available to teams that qualify through FIBA’s existing European competition.

“I would just say we continue to be enormously excited about it,” Silver said about the notion of an NBA Europe, adding that discussions with media organizations and sponsors were still ongoing.

However, the NBA’s plans are likely to encounter resistance from the EuroLeague, European basketball’s current top-tier tournament, and European politicians concerned about the threat to the so-called European sports model.

They fear an invite-only league would stifle the development of national leagues in Europe. Such “closed” leagues “benefit only the top percent of the commercially successful clubs,” a European government official told Politico last month.

Asked about the threat of legal action from the EuroLeague, Silver joked that he sends any legal letters to his lawyers.

“I don’t think it’s inevitable that there is a clash,” he said. “I think there is an opportunity here to grow European basketball. 

“We’re trying to find the best combination of old and new, tradition and innovation. And I think, frankly, that’s what the NBA brings to the table.”

NBA returns to Germany

The last time the NBA came to Germany, who are the current world and European champions, was for a pre-season game in 2008.

Silver told reporters that basketball was enjoying a “golden era” in Germany and called the capital’s club, Alba Berlin, a “model of the type of club that we would like to see in a potential European league.

“To me, they are an example of how a top-tier club should be run and organized,” Silver added. “They have tremendous youth programs, they have deep fan support [and] they’ve created enormous enthusiasm around the game.”

As well as Germany, the NBA is reportedly targeting teams in England, France, Spain and Turkey, among others. Silver said the league would be a “mix of existing teams and potentially new teams.”

European talent drain

Europe has long provided a rich pool of talent for NBA teams in North America. This season, about one in six NBA players — more than 70 in total — hail from Europe. 

These include Serbia’s Nikola Jokic, a three-time Most Valuable Player, as well as three Germans representing Orlando: the Wagner brothers, Franz and Moritz, and Tristan da Silva.

Although da Silva called playing in the United States his “dream as a kid,” he suggested young players had a “good incentive” to ply their trade in Europe. 

“It’s just a high level of basketball,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday. “There’s a lot of guys from overseas, from America, coming to Europe playing here. So, it’s just getting globalized.”

Basketball is Europe’s No. 2 sport

The appetite for basketball in Europe already exists, according to the NBA, which points to the “untapped” potential of 270 million fans. It says basketball is the continent’s fastest-growing sport and ranks second only to football in popularity. Earlier this week, NBA Europe’s chief suggested that basketball could even “catch up” to football.

However, Silver appeared to lower expectations when DW asked how the NBA would put a dent in European football’s market share.

“We view ourselves as complementary to other sports leagues,” Silver said. “Being the number two sport in Europe, and only faster growing than football because it’s so much larger than we are, that to me speaks to the opportunity that exists to build a viable business around this sport.”

Franz Wagner, who, like his brother, grew up in Berlin and came through the youth system at Alba, said comparisons with football took “the joy out of” basketball.

“I look at the recent developments in Germany and I’m super grateful to be part of it,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “I think it’s amazing the sport is growing so fast.”

Edited by: Sean Sinico

The biggest ever televised heads-up poker match just happened, to the tune of $20 million. At a casino on Jeju Island, South Korea, poker legend Patrik Antonius went up against crypto casino owner Ossi Ketola, and the result was a gruelling four and a half hours of poker.

Antonius is a Poker Hall of Famer, one of the most feared and most watched cash game players who has ever lived. Ossi “Monarch” Ketola, also Finnish, made his fortune from CS:GO skin gambling and his current crypto casino ventures. A few years ago, reportedly, he didn’t know the rules of the game.

It was a surprisingly even match, with the commentators lauding Ketola’s play at various junctures. This clearly isn’t the Ketola who was getting cleaned out by professionals in smaller heads-up battles at previous events.The gap between them never really exceeded $2 million either way, until a hand befitting the stakes arrived just past the four-hour mark.

Antonius opened for $100,000 with K♦️9♠️ and Ketola 3-bet to $350,000 with Q♥️9♥️. The flop came Q♠️8♥️J♥️, giving Ketola top pair with a flush draw and a straight draw. He checked it. Antonius took a stab for $175,000 with his gutshot and was instantly check-raised to $525,000. The Finnish legend took a second, called, and the dream turn card came off — for Ketola.

The T♥️ brought in Ossi’s straight flush, while Antonius hit his gutshot straight. Ketola checked once again, and Antonius had to think he had the best hand, betting $625,000 and leaving himself just over $4 million behind. Ketola found the play every poker player loves making, the double check-raise, bumping it up to $1.6 million. The always stoic Antonius took little time before calling. The river 3♣️ was a pure blank, and Ossi took seconds before putting in the rest of Antonius’s chips. He thought it over with clear discomfort, counted his stack, and found the fold, putting his straight in the muck.

Antonius joked about whether he was allowed to know if he’d just been bluffed, before looking down at A♦️K♦️ the very next hand. Ossi opened K♣️J♣️ for $250,000. Antonius resumed the stoic face and slid out a raise to $850,000. Ossi took little time before pushing all in, and all of a sudden Antonius was a huge favourite in an $8.15 million pot, and very much back in the match.

While the dealer prepared to run out the board, Antonius was still poking Ketola about whether he’d made a good fold. “Secret,” smiled Ossi. Antonius replied: “There are no secrets between you and I, you know that.” He might not be wrong. Antonius is publicly tied to Ketola’s casino as a business partner, though neither man has ever spelled out the arrangement, and he’s the person who brought Ketola into poker in the first place allegedly.

The Q♠️9♠️5♣️ flop was a little scary for Antonius, adding outs and a backdoor flush for his protégé, but the killer J♠️ turn was the dagger, before the $20 million bout ended on the 7♣️.

For the past few decades, heads-up poker has always been the action driver at the highest stakes. Whether it was Andy Beal, the Texas billionaire, challenging accomplished pros to heads-up mixed game matches at the Bellagio, Tom “durrrr” Dwan setting up the online durrrr Challenge, or the celebrity and VIP circuit, where well-known poker figures and wealthy amateurs battled mano a mano in private games.

The public never really got to see any of it until Ossi arrived on the high-stakes scene. He first battled Dan “Jungleman” Cates last year in Cyprus, losing around €13 million, and at Jeju at this time last year he scooped an $11 million pot off Alex Foxen, the biggest ever poker broadcast at the time (if you allow for the format), before outdoing it with a $12.7 million pot against Bjorn Li, still the largest we’ve seen on a poker livestream.

This week he took $6 million off well-known pro Wiktor “Limitless” Malinowski, before winning this monumental match against Antonius, a match where he admitted on stream that the $20 million mark made him “feel something.”

Antonius has been an ever-present in poker, the perpetual grinder who can commonly be found at the Bellagio or the Aria or wherever there’s a good high-stakes cash game running in the world. But it was a surprise to see him get this seat. His biggest heads-up claim to fame until now was losing the format’s most popular challenge many years ago to Dwan, battling no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha on Full Tilt.

Seventeen years after losing poker’s most famous heads-up challenge, Antonius just lost its biggest one.

Balancing motherhood and work is a challenge in any profession. But for footballers, whose peak sporting years coincide with their peak fertility, the choice can feel stark.

“For a woman whose sports career might last, say, 10 years at a high level, she starts thinking that getting pregnant really isn’t an option,” former Real Sociedad player, Larraitz Lucas, told DW. “When you are competing at a high level, all you are focusing on is the present.”

Until the last few years, only about 2% of footballers got pregnant during their careers, with many leaving the sport to pursue motherhood. But with increasing professionalization, organizations are starting to wrestle with the question of how to deal with players who want to have children.

Binding maternity regulations were introduced to the sport only in 2021 and strengthened in 2024. But for those who wish to postpone their pregnancy while playing, the issue of freezing eggs as a fertility treatment has come to the fore.

US club, Racing Louisville, were the first club side to offer to pay for such treatments in 2021, while English club Chelsea have announced this month that egg freezing will be funded for any player that wants it.

But, perhaps more significantly, the Spanish football federation, RFEF, are expected to become the first national federation to announce a similar policy soon after reported lobbying from star player Alexia Putellas and others.

How egg freezing can affect players during a season

Such options weren’t available to Spaniard Lucas in her playing career, which ended more than a decade ago. While she went through egg retrieval, in her case it was so her partner could have an embryo implanted to carry the baby. 

“You keep competing as best you can but no matter how much you try to align it with a weekend break from matches it’s tough. Really, before, during, and after the egg extraction, well… it wasn’t ideal,” said Lucas.

Though it depends somewhat on circumstances, egg freezing can take around three weeks. Women inject themselves every day before their eggs are harvested and frozen under sedation. To use the eggs at a later date, they must be thawed and injected with sperm to create embryos.

Advertisement

IVF explained: Process, costs & risks

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

But, as athlete gynaecologist, Lamia Zafrani, told DW, egg freezing is far from straightforward. “Egg freezing is not an insurance policy that is guaranteed to pay out. It’s always better if you freeze your eggs whilst you’re young because you’ve got younger eggs to then use for future IVF.

“But actually there’s no guarantee that when you defrost or thaw those eggs, turn them into embryos, that they’ll actually be successful and result in a successful live birth. And I think it’s these conversations that the athletes need to be made aware of because, at the end of the day, it’s all about informed consent.”

Advertisement

Egg freezing ‘shouldn’t be tool to pressure players’

Zafrani added that the number of athletes in her London clinic asking about the procedure has risen sharply in recent times. “It is definitely something that athletes are very much asking for,” she said.

“But there’s always nuance to all of these conversations. While it’s great because the federations are listening to the players, ethically, it always does bring up the question of whether by offering egg freezing and fertility preservation, the underlying message is that you’re telling your players ‘don’t get pregnant whilst you’re working for us.’ And that can be problematic.”

It’s a concern that is shared by Alexandra Gómez Bruinewoud. The legal director of global players’ union, FIFPRO, was a co-author of the maternity policies adopted by football’s global governing body, FIFA. She said FIFPRO have been working on policies for assisted reproduction, including the freezing of eggs, but that ensuring players were educated about their choices was paramount.

“We don’t want it [egg freezing] to be used as a tool to pressure players not to become pregnant while they are playing because they are and they should always be fully entitled to decide when and how to become pregnant,” Bruinewoud told DW.

Advertisement

There are, she said, several other considerations with regards to fertility and football, including doping concerns.

“When players go through assistive reproduction in general and if they are going to freeze eggs, in some situations they have to take hormones. And these substances can be prohibited in the WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) code.

“So we want to be sure to prevent a player being sanctioned when they are actually only trying to become pregnant or prepare things to be able to become pregnant in the future,” said Bruinewoud.

Why one global freezing policy may not work

She added that with costs, recovery and procedures varying, mandating one blanket global rule would be near impossible, and should be guided by medical practitioners. It is also tough to apply any universal standard to a sport where professionalization and finance varies significantly between countries.

“In my view, the best solution for that is collective negotiation at national level,” Bruinewoud said. “These are very expensive procedures and most of the players worldwide will probably not have access to this because of the cost.”

Advertisement

For all three women, the most important factors are choice, education and empowerment to get pregnant at a time that suits them. The hope is that, if managed well, egg freezing provides another option, rather than the default path.

Edited by: Jonathan Harding

David Payne expressed his disbelief at the pre-race odds for Persian Wonder in the Ming Dynasty Quality at Rosehill, a sentiment that proved well-founded as the gelding surpassed more fancied rivals to claim victory.

Sent out as a $19 outsider despite carrying a favourable weight following a striking fifth in the Up And Coming Stakes (1300m), Persian Wonder was ridden patiently by jockey Ash Morgan, kept out of the early speed battle before launching a potent run from the pack for a convincing win.

“He’s been a bit unlucky. I think he is learning to race now,” Payne stated.

“He has taken a while, but he dropped three kilos from his last start, and he only got beaten a length or so by (Ming Dynasty rivals) Genesis Runner and Savagram. I thought, gee he comes into the race with a big chance.”

“The form people, I don’t think they’re doing their job properly because his sectionals were very good and all he needs is a good pace and he’s getting stronger.”

Persian Wonder had showcased talent at two, finishing second in the Group 3 Baillieu (1400m) and had reached the end of his preparation when unplaced in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes (1600m).

Given his strong finish over 1400m on Saturday, Payne is keen to test the three-year-old’s stamina over longer distances. Nominations include the Gloaming Stakes (1800m) at Rosehill on October 10, with a potential appearance in the Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick a fortnight later, dependent on his performance.

“He’s not bred to get a trip, but everybody who rides him says he’ll stay so we’ll go to the Gloaming now,” Payne said.

“The Gloaming and the Spring Champion, if he stays, we might go there.”

Morgan executed a masterful ride, positioning Persian Wonder to trail the busy pace from an inside draw without conceding ground. He followed James McDonald on Stormy Marco ($8) into the straight and reeled in that colt to win by a half-length, with Tenenbaum ($4.80) finishing a further half-neck behind in third.

“James said, ‘you have some balls going there’, but I just wanted to hold my spot,” Morgan said.

“I really like the horse. He has a lot of ability but is still working it out.”

“James gave his a great ride, and I just wanted to follow him through and have the last crack at them.”

This victory provided David Payne with his second black-type win in as many weeks, following Bangkok Hottie’s success in the Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) at Randwick the previous Saturday.

Explore the available racing odds on sports betting platforms for upcoming events.