Cheltenham festival switch to Saturday a gamble not worth taking

For the fourth year running, Cheltenham saw an increased attendance at its season-opening Showcase meeting over the weekend, as 31,125 racegoers made their way to the home of jumps racing. The total was a record since what was previously a midweek meeting moved to a Friday/Saturday slot in 2007, while the 21,113 crowd on Saturday was also a record for the second day of the meeting.It was a very positive start, in other words, to Guy Lavender’s first full season as the chief executive at Cheltenham, and the man tasked with turning around the sudden – and still largely unexplained – slump in attendance at the festival meeting over the last three years.Lavender, who joined Jockey Club Racecourses after a seven-year stint as chief executive of the MCC, spent much of Friday and Saturday touring the enclosures to get feedback from spectators on the changes to the customer experience that he has implemented so far, such as the removal of most restrictions on the areas where racegoers can consume alcohol and (small) reductions in the price of a pint.And he was also, perhaps, sounding out early reactions to an idea which was initially floated in the Racing Post last week, that the festival meeting should switch from its current Tuesday-to-Friday slot to a Wednesday-to-Saturday schedule instead

‘I’m making it work’: Lando Norris confident he is finally getting to grips with his McLaren

Lando Norris has said he is finally confident handling his McLaren car after a dominant victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix that moved him to the top of the world championship standings with four races remaining.The British driver won at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez with a superb drive from pole to flag. With his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri finishing only fifth and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third, the Briton now leads Piastri by one point and Verstappen by 36. Piastri had held the title lead since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but Norris has moved to the front as the championship enters its final run-in.He has struggled for much of the season, particularly in qualifying, not enjoying the feel of the grip from the front axle as much as he would like while Piastri enjoyed a strong run of results

England look to dodge lightning strike after familiar crumble in opening ODI

At the time and taken in isolation England’s opening one-day international against New Zealand on Sunday seemed wild, chaotic, bizarre. As they batted at the start of the game wickets fell to the first ball, the ninth, the 12th, and – except for the period when the brilliant Harry Brook was joined at the crease by Jamie Overton – fairly regularly thereafter. Beyond that pair, the rest of the team scored 25.But to anyone who witnessed the start of their last series in the format, against South Africa at Headingley last month – when they lost the toss, were put in to bat and rolled for 131 – it was a very familiar kind of freakishness. Indeed in 12 bilateral ODI series since their 2022 T20 World Cup win they have won the first game twice and lost it nine times (one was abandoned) – and in all but one of those defeats they batted first and posted a score that was easily chased down, losing by six wickets, eight wickets, four, seven, eight, four, seven and most recently four

The old man and the mirror: Aaron Rodgers meets the quarterback he used to be

The four-time MVP faced his old team on Sunday night and put in a respectable performance. But it was Jordan Love who was able to control the gameIt all started so well. And then it fell apart.For two quarters, it looked like Aaron Rodgers might conjure one of those nights, the sort that ends with a smirk, a wink, and a reminder that he can match any of the league’s young pups. It was the first time in his career that he played against Green Bay, where he spent nearly two decades, won four MVPs and a lone Super Bowl

Crunch time nears for Australia as selectors try to fit Ashes batting puzzle pieces together | Martin Pegan

The Great Australian Bat Off has returned for a brand new season with fresh faces and forgotten favourites bidding to join the cast for the Ashes series opener. In a major subplot, captain Pat Cummins is officially out of the first Test and is all but certain to be replaced by understudy Scott Boland, while the final auditions to claim a spot in the squad will be staged across the Sheffield Shield matches that begin on Tuesday as much as the T20 series against India.The main storyline will be familiar to seasoned fans as the Australia selectors largely repeat last year’s search for an opener to partner Usman Khawaja. But the return to form of Marnus Labuschagne, and injury concerns for Cameron Green and Beau Webster, are plot twists that have thrown up more uncertainty over which six batters will be included for the Perth Test.Green was pulled from the ODI series against India due to side soreness in what chair of selectors George Bailey said was a “conservative” call, but doubts remain over his ability to bowl early in the Ashes

‘I could have killed them’: Lawson’s fury after narrowly missing hitting marshals

Liam Lawson issued a damning broadside after he narrowly missed hitting two marshals on track at the Mexico City Grand Prix, warning that he could have killed them and branding it dangerous and unacceptable.In the race which was won in dominant form by McLaren’s Lando Norris, the Racing Bulls driver had started in 15th place but took damage on the opening lap and made an immediate pit stop.When he emerged from the pit lane he was confronted with two marshals running across the track having been clearing debris from the opening corners directly in front of the New Zealander.“Mate. Oh my god, are you kidding me? Did you just see that?” he said to his engineer on team radio