John Thompson is pleased to be initiating El Castello’s latest racing campaign with a clean slate, holding quiet optimism that the Group 1 winner still has more to offer on the track.

It has been a trying period for those involved with the five-year-old, who announced himself among the elite horses of his generation with a victory in the 2024 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) and a fifth placing in the 2024 Victoria Derby (2500m).

Unable to consistently fulfil his early potential as a colt, he was gelded during his last preparation, but the procedure did not yield an immediate positive outcome in his sole subsequent start.

Now, after a period of recuperation in the paddock, Thompson reports that El Castello is exhibiting promising signs that he is keen to race again.

“He was gelded in work and for mine, it never works and didn’t,” Thompson said. “But being spelled, he was put out in a big paddock with three or four other horses and allowed to just be a horse and get back to nature. He’s come back, and his attitude is so much better. He’s just a normal horse now. His trials have been good. A couple of top jockeys have ridden him in the trials and at trackwork and all three have said he feels like he’s in great shape and ready to go.”

El Castello makes his comeback in a highly competitive renewal of the Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday, a race featuring seven Group 1 winners among the eight runners.

Thompson expects the 1400-metre distance to be below El Castello’s best but is eager to see a strong performance that confirms the horse’s recent favourable showings in training.

“I think he needs to get to a mile, 2000 myself,” he stated. “The 1400 will be too short. He’s fresh and he normally runs well fresh, but I just want to see him run well and he’ll improve off the back of it.”

Thompson is anticipating a significant improvement from Screen Icon in the Furious Stakes (1200m), following her effort where she raced handy to the speed before tiring when midfield in the Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) first-up.

He mentioned that the filly will be ridden with more restraint by new jockey Nash Rawiller this weekend, allowing her a chance to finish the race strongly.

“I want her ridden a bit quieter,” Thompson said. “She’s got a good draw for once on Saturday so she’s going to get a lot better run. It should set up well for her, and we’ll know where we’re at.”

With the Tramway Stakes just around the corner, punters might want to check out Australian betting sites for the latest racing odds.

Stoke City have confirmed the signing of Manchester United youth striker Louie Bradbury, with the 17-year-old penning a two-year professional contract with the Potters

Manchester United youth striker Louie Bradbury has joined Stoke City on a permanent basis. The 17-year-old will join the Championship side on a two-year-deal after penning a professional deal, with an option in the club’s favour for the 2028/29 campaign.

Bradbury, who has also represented Wales at youth level, spent four years at United and has turned out for their Under-21s side, netting ten times in 26 outings, with two coming against West Brom and Derby last term. The teenager becomes the latest departure from the youth ranks after Gabriele Biancheri left the club to to join Austrian second division side FC Wacker Innsbruck.

This season he has featured for the Under-18s and scored in a 3-0 victory over Everton, days before his move to the Potters. The striker also played for Wales Under-19s this summer, which included substitute outings against Denmark and Spain.

A statement on the official Man United website read: “Academy forward Louie Bradbury has agreed a move to Championship side Stoke City, subject to registration. The Shrewsbury-born striker signed for United at Under-14s level and earned his scholarship with the club in 2025.

“He made five appearances for the Under-18s during the 2024/25 season, debuting for Adam Lawrence’s side as a late substitute in the FA Youth Cup fourth-round. Last season he scored eight Under-18 Premier League goals and also registered at Premier League 2 level.

“Everyone at Manchester United wishes Louie all the best with his next stage of his career.”

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Stoke academy director Jack Higgins told the club website: “We are delighted to bring Louie to the club, adding to the crop of exciting strikers we have within the U18s and U21s.

“Louie joins us at a good age to continue his development and thrive in our environment after some brilliant experiences with Manchester United during the past few years.

“As with all players we recruit, a lot of work goes into gaining the necessary information from playing style to each individual’s background, as well as their technical and physical capabilities, and I must say a huge well done to Andrew Frost (Head of Academy Recruitment) and Muheez Muyi-Opaleye (Academy Recruitment Coordinator) for their work in recruiting Louie.”

United saw full-back Habeeb Ogunneye and winger James Scanlon depart for Arsenal during the summer transfer window.

Their efforts to sign Leicester City star Louis Page were in vain with the talented teenager remaining with the League One side after the two clubs failed to agree a deal.

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This introductory offer saves £384 compared to the standard price, with every package also providing 100 regular channels alongside free Netflix and discovery+ subscriptions.

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A year ago, North Korea’s women successfully defended their U-17 World Cup title after defeating the Netherlands 3-0 in Morocco. It was the fourth time that the country has won the competition.

Now the country’s U-20 team enter the World Cup in Poland as defending champions, having won their third World Cup in 2024. North Korea’s women have clearly cemented their status as the dominant force in women’s youth football.

But what is it that makes a state that, according to the United Nations, “does not have any parallel in the contemporary world,” so good at youth football?

“International sport is one of the few ways to demonstrate their sovereignty, existence and identity to the international community, so this type of big success, from their point of view, is an important occasion where they can wave their national flag in front of the international audience,” Dr Jung Woo Lee, a senior lecturer in Sport and Leisure Policy at the University of Edinburgh, told DW.

“At the same time, domestically, North Korea often uses sport as their propaganda tool to glorify their leaders and also how great their country is.”

A clear and conscious strategy

Football is popular in the country, but recognizing that the gap to the top in senior football is much harder to close than in youth football, North Korea’s leaders turned to women’s youth football, where the gap is more manageable. It’s also why success at this level hasn’t benefited the senior team over the years. This strategy is not about pathways. It’s about winning.

“The gap between established and developing clubs is also high because in many European countries, there is a professional league, and they get more support from a number of different stakeholders,” Lee said. 

“In youth football, I think European sport organizations highlight more on having fun when playing football. Whereas in North Korea, even if you are 13 or 14 years old, they join very highly disciplined, highly systematic and highly professionalized training regimes, so in early ages they can excel.”

In Morocco, North Korea’s U-17 team only conceded three goals in the entire tournament, and scored three or more on four occasions. This was a continuation of their form the year before, while the U-20 women in 2024 not only beat Argentina 6-2 but also secured three straight 1-0 victories from the quarterfinals onwards to win the tournament.

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With the help of the Pyongyang International Football School where young girls are selected, developed and educated following a highly disciplined and scientific approach, North Korea has seen an opportunity and taken it.

Regime positioning, life-changing rewards

In the eyes of North Korea, this is also a victory for the state itself.

“You need to remember that North Korea still maintains a very strong socialist and communist regime,” Lee explained. “Particularly under Kim Jong Un, they try to compare capitalist and communist regimes and show the communist regime as superior to the capitalist. Also, when I look at some of the news reports about the North Korean performance in North Korean media, they highlighted that because they are (under) the communist regime, they do whatever they can, even if they’re physically exhausted.

“Then they directly compare those mentalities with capitalist countries. In capitalism, when athletes are physically exhausted and injured, there is no way to perform. They need to be changed by their coach. But in socialist systems their will is more important than (a) professional opinion from the coach or any medical staff. So North Korea frames that as a superior system.”

That psychological element has seemingly given the team an edge, but beyond a strong sense of patriotism and years of disciplined work lies the motivation of a life-changing reward.

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“Although we often see North Korea as quite underdeveloped and very much agricultural and people experiencing hardship, those living in Pyongyang are quite different. They are kind of special,” Lee explained.

As an incentive, he said, the regime can give players living outside the capital residence certificates, which are required to enter Pyongyang. At the same time, many players have been given apartments. 

This motivation is not to be underestimated. Life in rural North Korea is tough, with shortages in food and health care reportedly common. Living in the big city is quite different. 

“This is a way to change their life. It’s kind of winning a lottery in a way,” Lee explained.

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What next for talented generation?

For star players such as Yu Jong-hyang, topscorer at the 2025 U-17 World Cup, or Choe Il-son, a key player in both U-17 and U-20 World Cup victories in 2024, the instinctive reaction is to wonder which WSL (English top division) or NWSL(US top division) team will be trying to sign her, but that would be to forget the context in which she both lives and plays.

“I don’t think it’s impossible, but not so easy,” Lee said of the idea of either stars playing abroad. 

“First of all, (there are) the economic sanctions now imposed on North Korea,” he added. “And also, whenever North Korean players joined a European league — there were a few occasions in basketball where any salary was not sent to the individual account of the players or the agent, but it goes to North Korea’s government account, so I think that’s another complexity involved.”

While much about this team, like the country, remains a mystery, there is no denying that success at the youth level has always been the plan.

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Edited by: Chuck Penfold

This article was originally published on September 9, 2024. It was updated on November 9, 2025 to reflect North Korea’s U-17 World Cup title win. It was also updated on September 4, 2026 ahead of the kickoff of the U-20 World Cup in Poland.

Ole Miss vs Louisville is one of the biggest games of Week 1, but it is sadly a neutral-site game.

The Rebels are on serious upset alert this weekend.

On today’s episode of Locked On College Football, Spencer McLaughlin and ‘Locked On Buffs’ host Kevin Borba discuss Colorado’s Thursday matchup at Georgia Tech.

How can the Buffs pull the upset?

The Big Ten enters 2026 looking to win its 4th straight national championship.

Who wins the conference, who is a dark horse, and who finishes last?

00:00 Louisville’s coaching and quarterback potential
06:16 Pressuring opposing quarterbacks
07:01 Ole Miss vs. Louisville strategy
12:55 Predicting Colorado vs. Georgia Tech Game
14:25 Colorado’s new recruitment strategy
17:45 Impact of Great Coaching in College Football
24:19 Big Ten football predictions
28:46 Big Ten dark horse pick

/ @lockedoncollegefootball  

Amy Hunt will continue her busy summer as the only athlete running both the women’s 100m and 200m at the Diamond League Final in Brussels this weekend.

The young British sprint star – who won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games five weeks ago, claimed a record four gold medals at the European Athletics Championships shortly after and has since competed in Diamond League events in Zurich and Lausanne as well as a meeting in Brescia – will face two stacked fields at the King Baudouin Stadium, with Olympic silver medallist Sha’Carri Richardson, World Championship silver medallist Tina Clayton and Commonwealth Games champion Zoe Hobbs headlining the 100m field, and two-time Olympic medallist Julien Alfred the favourite in the 200m.

There are global superstars littered throughout the events as the season-long Diamond League reaches its conclusion, with unbeatable pole vault icon Mondo Duplantis finally having a legitimate rival in the form of Emmanouil Karalis, making for a fascinating Friday night showdown, while Audrey Werro vs the ever-improving Femke Broeders-Bol will be a blockbuster 800m match-up in the penultimate race of the meeting on Saturday evening.

Recent world-record breakers Alison Dos Santos (men’s 400m hurdles) and Masai Russell (women’s 100m hurdles) will both be in action once more, while the likes of Georgia Hunter Bell in the women’s 1500m, Matthew Hudson-Smith in the men’s 400m and Ben Pattison in the men’s 800m provide further British interest. In addition to the Diamond Trophy, there is an extra incentive for the winners, with automatic qualification for the lucrative World Athletics Ultimate Championship later this month on the line.

Here’s everything you need to know about the event

When is the Diamond League Final?

The Diamond League Final will take place over two nights on Friday 4 September and Saturday 5 September at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.

How can I watch it?

The BBC has the United Kingdom television rights to every Diamond League meeting, with live coverage of the first night of the Diamond League Final available on BBC Three from 7pm BST on Friday 4 September and the second night of action available on BBC Two from 7pm BST on Saturday 5 September. Both nights will also be shown on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Diamond League Final schedule (all times BST)

Friday 4 September

17:30 – Women’s shot put

17:38 – Men’s long jump

17:49 – Women’s discus throw

18:59 – Men’s pole vault

19:04 – Women’s 400m hurdles

19:09 – Men’s high jump

19:14 – Men’s 100m

19:23 – Women’s 3000m steeplechase

19:37 – Men’s discus throw

19:42 – Men’s 800m

19:48 – Women’s triple jump

19:55 – Men’s 110m hurdles

20:03 – Women’s 5000m

20:26 – Men’s 1500m

20:41 – Women’s 200m

20:52 – Men’s 400m

Saturday 5 September

17:08 – Women’s javelin throw

17:28 – Men’s shot put

18:23 – Men’s triple jump

18:58 – Women’s pole vault

19:04 – Women’s 400m

19:10 – Women’s high jump

19:14 – Women’s 100m

19:22 – Men’s 5000m

19:40 – Men’s javelin throw

19:44 – Men’s 200m

19:48 – Women’s long jump

19:55 – Women’s 1500m

20:10 – Women’s 110m hurdles

20:20 – Men’s 3000m steeplechase

20:39 – Women’s 800m

20:52 – Men’s 400m hurdles

Full live results can be found here

FILE –Gilas Pilipinas guard Robert Bolick. 

MANILA, Philippines–Gilas Pilipinas was handed an 81-56 defeat by host South Korea on Friday in the first of two tune-up games between the two teams in the Hana Invitational held at KT Sonicboom Arena in Suwon.

The Asian Games-bound squad started the game allowing South Korea to score the first nine points and was left to play catch-up the rest of the way as Gilas got its exhibition series off on the wrong foot.

READ: Gilas Pilipinas at Asian Games 2026: What you need to know

South Korea managed to extend its lead from 24-18 after the first quarter to double-digits for most of the way as it was able to take advantage of Gilas’ struggles on both ends.

But the contest also allowed Gilas to tinker with the 11-man roster, with coach Tim Cone letting his assistants do the chores, given that they were the ones in charge of the Asian Games prep while he was busy with the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

Gilas will take on South Korea anew on Sunday at the same venue, before heading to Japan for the Asian Games.

The game was not televised back home, but netizens managed to find ways to watch via third-party streaming.

Robert Bolick, Zavier Lucero, RJ Abarrientos, Brandon Bates and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser started for Gilas in the tune-up.

Adrian Nocum, Justine Baltazar, Jerrick Ahanmisi and Justin Arana were later given some significant playing time, even when the game was already out of reach, even as Don Trollano and Sedrick Barefield played mostly in the first and fourth quarters.