Talking Horses: The latest news and best bets

The latest news and best bets in our daily horse racing blog, plus your chance to win Timeform's Racehorses annual in our tipping competition11am Injured Telescope pulled out of the DerbyTony Paley: Telescope, the leading British hope for the Derby at Epsom a week on Saturday, is injured and out of the premier Classic. "He has a sore left shin and won't be running," revealed trainer Sir Mic

The Breakdown | Lions advised to strike early to capitalise on Australia rustiness | Paul Rees

Matt Dawson believes the Wallabies' lack of a warm-up match before the first Test could be a key factor of the tourOne of the appeals of a Lions tour is that not even those in charge can see the bends that lie ahead. A sub-plot in the 1997 tour to South Africa was the confrontation at scrum-half between Robert Howley and Joost van der Westhuizen.Sunday newspapers which had made it the focu

Manchester City MLS franchise can help US soccer grow, says Hart – video

Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart says it would be 'great if soccer could grow' in the United States

Rory McIlroy comments on Sergio García's 'fried chicken' jibe – video

Rory McIlroy says the furore around Sergio García's 'fried chicken' comment in regards to Tiger Woods is 'a mountain out of a molehill'

Injured Telescope out of the Derby

• Colt has sore shin and will not run in premier Classic• Horse had disappointed in Lingfield gallop on WednesdayTelescope, the leading British hope for the Derby at Epsom a week on Saturday, is injured and out of the premier Classic."He has a sore left shin and won't be running," revealed trainer Sir Michael Stoute on Thursday morning.The colt disappointed in a racecourse gallop at Li

County Championship – live!

Cricket: Today's action from around the grounds with Richard Gibson and Richard RaeRichard GibsonRichard Rae

The great European Cup teams: Bayern Munich 1974-76 | Raphael Honigstein

Müller, Beckenbauer and co swept all before them in Europe for three seasons but their style never earned them universal lovePaul Breitner, the best afro-sporting, pipe-smoking Maoist left-back of all time, still remembers what he thought the instant Hans-Georg "Katsche" Schwarzenbeck took the shot that would become the most important goal in the history of the club; perhaps of any club, even

Super League Set of Six: Leeds defeat sets up Magic Weekend beautifully

Her Rugby League Association unveiled; Golden Point experiment fails down under; Adrian Lam is back for PNG1) Magic FormulaLeeds may not agree – although with five of the last six Super League titles in the bag, they can afford to be magnanimous – but their defeat by St Helens in the first Monday night match of the season has set up the Magic Weekend beautifully. Saints will go into their d

Classic YouTube | Del Piero's delights, tennis meltdowns and the danger of fan GoPro filming

This week's round-up also features top-corner goals, terrifying arm-wrestling and George Reynolds: Playing By His Own Rules1) Free-kick goodness for you: the Alessandro del Piero Juventus collection, a similar one of David Beckham's and a long-range howitzer compilation. Plus the joy of top-corner goals and, keeping the upbeat tone, the Real Oviedo story.2) The Exorcist x Over the Top = th

Football transfer rumours: Karim Benzema to Manchester United? | Paul Doyle

Today's piffle wants to be told how bad it isPeople are wising up to sockpuppetry but that's OK because The Rafa Benítez Experience shows that it is time to move on to the next level: mockpuppetry. What that means, readers, is that if you want to burnish your image, the thing to do is not write fake rave reviews of yourself but rather hire a mob to publicly taunt and abuse you. Do it now, rea

Allan Border, no more Mr Nice Guy

Australia's captain epitomised a hard-nosed approach that was to form the bedrock of the great sides that followedThroughout much of the 1980s Australian cricket was a mess, the national team cast about on the winds of rebellion, hamstrung by retirements and peppered by regular defeat. Yet in the 1990s the Baggy Green side was one of the greatest the sport has seen. A generation of England fa

LeBron, Birdman and Heat finally overcome Pacers in overtime

LeBron James buzzer beater and perfect shooting from Chris 'Birdman' Andersen claims 103-102 overtime win over Indiana Pacers in Eastern Conference final Game OneMiami Heat 103-102 Indiana Pacers_Heat lead series 1-0_A LeBron James overtime buzzer beater gave Miami an exhilarating victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game One of the Eastern Conference finals.James drove almost unattended

David Warner expresses regret at Twitter outburst

• Australia batsman fined A$5,570 over incident• Player says he was angry about IPL articleThe Australia batsman David Warner says he regrets his Twitter outburst against journalists, for which he was fined A$5,570 (£3,600), but says he was angry at his picture being used in an article on spot-fixing allegations in the India Premier League."Obviously [the match-fixing allegations are] dis

The Gruppetto: 24 hours at the Giro d'Italia | James Callow

Veni, vidi, Visconti | Mark Cavendish rattled in race for red | Is Vincenzo Nibali invincible?_Welcome to the latest edition of the Gruppetto, your daily blogpost on the Giro d'Italia, reflecting on the previous stages and looking ahead to stage 18. Do get involved below the line, or email me at james.callow@guardian.co.uk. You can find __all the Gruppettos in one place, right here__._Yeste

Dylan Hartley says Northampton's underdog spirit can upset Leicester

• Saints captain promises thunderous Premiership grand final• Hartley relishing battle with his Lions rival Tom YoungsNorthampton have never previously reached a Premiership grand final but those who give them little chance of defeating Leicester should pause before betting their mortgage on the outcome. Rarely has a team of supposed underdogs sounded as motivated as the Saints and their cap

Carl Froch ramps up rivalry ahead of Mikkel Kessler rematch

• Briton says he will 'kill' Danish super-middleweight contender• Froch to defend IBF title at O2 Arena on Saturday nightCarl Froch stares at the goose bumps that have risen on his muscular left arm and a shiver runs through him. There have never been any doubts that his fight with Mikkel Kessler at the O2 Arena in south‑east London on Saturday night in defence of his IBF super-middleweight

Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers expects quick decision on Andy Carroll

• Manager cools on swap with Newcastle's Hatem Ben Arfa• Striker harbours doubts on West Ham move after £15m offerBrendan Rodgers expects a quick resolution to Andy Carroll's future at Liverpool, with the striker's hopes of a return to Newcastle United receding.West Ham United have had a £15m offer accepted by Liverpool for the 24-year-old, who was initially reluctant to move to east Lond

Tottenham target Leandro Damião and Roberto Soldado for next season

• Scott Parker and Tom Huddlestone available for transfer• Gareth Bale 'very disappointed' to miss out on top fourTottenham Hotspur hope to demonstrate their ambition remains intact despite a failure to reach next season's Champions League by renewing their efforts to sign the Brazil forward Leandro Damião and seeking to pair him with Valencia's Spain international Roberto Soldado.The pur

Chelsea target £20m striker Yilmaz

• Turkish champions value Yilmaz at more than £20m• Romelu Lukaku may be loaned out again by ChelseaChelsea's pursuit of a striker to add to their forward options has led the reigning European champions and Europa League winners to lodge an inquiry with Galatasaray about the availability of their Turkey international Burak Yilmaz.Yilmaz, whose career has taken in spells at Besiktas, Fener

PSG lure Rooney with wages pledge

• French champions want to pair Rooney with Zlatan Ibrahimovic• Forward would need to be convinced of Ligue 1's qualityParis Saint-Germain have informed Wayne Rooney's representatives that they would be willing to match his current wages as they seek to convince the unsettled England striker to leave Manchester United for Parc des Princes.Rooney's future at Old Trafford has been in seriou

Durham 259; Middlesex 11-2 | County Championship Division One match report

• Durham 259; Middlesex 11-2• Middlesex accept their bowling let them downThere were times on the opening day of this top-of-the-table contest when the progress made was as glacial as that of the diggers preparing the foundations for the new grandstand.A lack of pace in the surface made for attritional fare, and both teams were left to reflect on indifferent starts to a match that could h

Burgeoning Bundesliga shows Premier League the way | David Conn

With two teams in the Champions League final the Bundesliga's traditional ownership model is paying dividendsSaturday's European Champions League final at Wembley marks a strange kind of celebration for the Football Association's 150th anniversary, with the triumphant arrival of two German clubs to compete for this highest prize. Bayern Munich's and Borussia Dortmund's accession to the final

Cavendish faces uphill Giro battle

• Cadel Evans closes on Briton in _maglia rosso_ rankings• Movistar's Giovanni Visconti breaks clear to win stage 17Mark Cavendish, just as he did in 2012, goes into the final few days of the Giro d'Italia with a narrow lead in the points standings and in the knowledge that, while victory would give him a "full house" of points jerseys from all three major Tours, the outcome is largely out o

Lewis Hamilton positive before Monaco after nasty F1 surprise in Spain

• 'Spain result could easily be repeated if we get it wrong again'• Mercedes must improve race pace at this weekend's raceLewis Hamilton's new team-mate was found snoring in the Mercedes motor-homeon Wednesday, his head in the lap of the British driver who rubbed his ears affectionately. "He was out late last night," said Hamilton, with a grin as wide as the paddock. "When I go to bed, he si

Golf's failure to embrace demographics across society is hard to stomach

There are golf clubs across England that still have no members from ethnic-minority backgroundsWhen Tiger Woods was 14 he was acutely aware of the racist undertones that lingered in country clubs across the US. The world No1's success ever since may have challenged golf's outdated perceptions of race, but 23 years after conducting that interview there remains a worrying shortage of non-white

Glamorgan's Jim Allenby makes hay before Leicestershire collapse

• Glamorgan 442-9 dec, Leicestershire 142 • Repreived ex-Leicestershire man undefeated on 136When it comes to cricket, the law of the ex tends to become even more absolute when you give the 'ex' concerned another chance by dropping him early in his innings.Having let Jim Allenby escape on 20, a relatively simple chance at long-leg the previous evening, young Nathan Buck can have feared on

Roberto Martínez to decide Wigan future in 24 hours, says Dave Whelan

• Wigan owner suggests Martínez has several options• Everton, Stoke and Málaga among the clubs linkedThe Wigan Athletic chairman, Dave Whelan, has said he expects Roberto Martínez to decide whether he is staying with the relegated FA Cup winners on Thursday.Martínez and Whelan met on Wednesday to discuss the club's plans following relegation from the Premier League, and the manager's unce

Horse racing tips: Thursday 23 May

Swift Bounty at Goodwood is the best bet of the dayGoodwood2.00 Kiyoshi 2.35 Swift Bounty (nap) 3.10 George Guru 3.45 Trapeze 4.20 Silver Samba 4.55 EmiratesdotcomHaydock2.20 Continuum 2.55 Right Step 3.30 Nathr 4.05 Basseterre (nb) 4.40 Homage 5.15 OetziSalisbury6.10 Seaham 6.40 Levi Draper 7.15 Azelle 7.45 Crimson Knight 8.20 Dusky Lark 8.50 Duke Of PerthSandown6.00 Cay

Brian Greenhoff, former Manchester United and England defender, dies

• Greenhoff played with brother Jimmy in 1977 FA Cup win• He won 18 England caps and played 271 games for UnitedBrian Greenhoff, the former Manchester United, Leeds United and England defender has died, aged 60.Greenhoff made 271 appearances for the Red Devils and won 18 caps. Born in Barnsley, Greenhoff joined United as a youth player in 1968 and was part of the team that won the old sec

County cricket – live!

Cricket: Follow the latest action from the County Championship with Richard Rae and Richard GibsonRichard RaeRichard Gibson