Cheltenham: All eyes on Galopin Des Champs on Gold Cup day
All eyes are on Galopin Des Champs, who is aiming for a third successive Gold Cup at the climax of the Cheltenham Festival.General admission for the Gold Cup has sold out, with nearly 70,000 spectators gathered at Prestbury Park.The total attendance for the week is still expected to pass 200,000 but will be significantly down on the record 280,000 that attended the first post-Covid meeting open to spectators in 2022.Galopin Des Champs is bidding to become the fifth horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup three times.
Going for gold: Galopin des Champs, trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins, is aiming to join just four other horses who have managed to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup three times.
Action shot: Kargese and jockey Paul Townend looked victorious after they won the William Hill County Handicap.
Triumphant: Jonjo O'Neill Jr aboard Poniros after winning the JCB Triumph Hurdle on day four of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.
A-list racegoers: Actor Henry Cavill was among some of the celebrities watching the races. He is pictured here with his girlfriend Natalie Viscuso and British equestrian and member of the royal family, Zara Tindall.
Trackside thrills: Henry Cavill reacts as he watches the JCB Triumph Hurdle.
Famous faces: Jeremy Clarkson enjoying the last day of the Cheltenham Festival with his girlfriend Lisa Hogan.
Baking queen: Dame Mary Berry was also spotted at the fourth day of the Cheltenham Festival.
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Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
CONCACAF monitoring situation in Los Angeles ahead of Gold Cup opener
June 11 (Reuters) - CONCACAF, soccer's governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, said on Wednesday it was in "close and ongoing communication" with local officials as protests in Los Angeles continue, raising concerns ahead of the Gold Cup's opening match at SoFi Stadium. The tournament begins on Saturday with Mexico facing the Dominican Republic, but tensions remain high across parts of the city following a series of immigration raids that sparked widespread demonstrations. "The safety and well-being of all participants, fans, and stakeholders is the Confederation's highest priority," CONCACAF said in a statement. "We will continue to actively monitor developments as we work toward delivering a world-class tournament that highlights the best of our sport in a safe, inclusive, and enjoyable environment for all, starting with the opening match on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Los Angeles." Los Angeles is also preparing to host matches for the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, with Paris St Germain taking on Atletico Madrid at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Sunday.
NBC News
4 hours ago
- NBC News
U.S. soccer team tunes out criticism from former players, Tyler Adams says
Tyler Adams says the U.S. soccer team has tuned out criticism from former players. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, who share the American goals record with 57 each, are among those who have been critical of current regulars not in the struggling roster preparing for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. "We don't talk about that internally as a group," Adams said Wednesday during a Zoom interview with The Associated Press. "The noise on the outside is the noise on the outside. I think we need to focus on what we need to do as a group and continue to build." Star Christian Pulisic is skipping the June camp and Gold Cup to rest after playing about 120 games for club and country over two seasons. "Whether it was Gold Cup, whether it was Copa (América), whether it was Confederations Cup, whether it was the World Cup, I wasn't going to miss competitions," Dempsey said last week on the "Men in Blazers" podcast. "For me, I don't understand it because that wasn't my mentality. I always wanted to play in those games." Watching Portugal celebrate its win over Spain in Sunday's European Nations League final, Donovan said on the Fox postgame show: "I can't help but think about our guys on vacation not wanting to play in Gold Cup." Pulisic has not spoken publicly of his decision. The U.S. has lost four straight games, its longest skid since 2007, following a 4-0 rout Tuesday night by Switzerland. "This is part of the process," Adams said. "You're going to win games. You're going to lose games. It's about continuing to build that. I think we're on the right path. We have to continue to build and try the things that we've been training. It'll take a little bit of time, but it will come together." Adams didn't dress for the Switzerland friendly but is confident he will be ready for the Gold Cup, where the Americans open Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago. "A little turf toe-type injury. More of an overuse thing probably than anything — overload. It was something that I picked up when I came into camp," Adams said. "Progressing well right now, but just trying to be smart and manage it." Adams, who captained the U.S. at the 2022 World Cup, funded a pair of mini-pitches at Pulaski Park in Poughkeepsie, New York, near his home in Wappinger. He spoke on the Zoom about his work with Allstate, the U.S. Soccer Foundation and Black Star Soccer to construct fields about the size of basketball courts at the Fisher Magnet Upper Academy in Detroit and The Bell Avenue School in Yeadon, Pennsylvania. "Before the World Cup hopefully we plan to do one more with a city unnamed yet," Adams said. "It's something that I think has real impact, continues to grow the sport, serves underserved communities." Now 26, Adams is feeling back to his old self. He had back surgery last July with Dr. Robert Watkins and returned to the field with England's Bournemouth on Oct. 26. Adams played in 28 Premier League matches this season after being limited to three in 2023-24 because of leg injuries. "It's definitely enjoyable when you're healthy," he said. "The 16-to-18 months that it was just on and off inconsistency is something I never had in my career and never had to battle. And then when it hits you and you go through that, you just learn different ways to navigate things, enjoy life, just not take things for granted, all the little things." Since Mauricio Pochettino took over as U.S. coach last fall, players have had more autonomy to break away from rigid positioning employed by his predecessor, Gregg Berhalter. "From a positional standpoint, obviously we had probably a little bit of a different structure under Gregg," Adams said. "Maurizio gives the players freedom to find spots they're comfortable in and see how they can affect the game in different ways. I think our attacking players definitely have freedom to try and find the ball and create things in the right areas of the field. So, yeah, I think he gives everyone freedom, but there's still structure to the way that we want to play." Adams will be with the U.S. team in Austin, Texas, next Wednesday, and following intently when the Premier League releases its 2025-26 schedule at 3 a.m. CDT. He feels improved because of his time with Leeds in 2022-23 and Bournemouth the past two seasons. "After you play in the Premier League, every game feels slow,'" he said. "No matter what game I play in now the game feels slow. You look at your schedule when the season comes out and you have to play in a row Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City, Liverpool, Manchester United, all these big games back to back to back you just learn how to make decisions quicker and if you don't, you get punished."
BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Concacaf in 'close communication' with LA authorities over Gold Cup
Concacaf says it "remains in close and ongoing communication with local authorities, host venues, and the participating national teams regarding the evolving situation" in Los Angeles before the opening match of the Gold Cup in the city on governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean is preparing for Mexico versus Dominican Republic at the SoFi has seen a fifth day of protests and hundreds of arrests over US President Donald Trump's immigration Sunday, the city is also due to host the first of the six Club World Cup matches to be played at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena over the next fortnight, with Paris St-Germain facing Atletico association Football Supporters Europe (FSE) told BBC Sport it is "deeply concerned".Concacaf said: "The safety and wellbeing of all participants, fans, and stakeholders is the Confederation's highest priority."We will continue to actively monitor developments as we work towards delivering a world-class tournament that highlights the best of our sport in a safe, inclusive, and enjoyable environment for all."The Mexico team has already changed its hotel in LA because of safety concerns amid the disturbances, according to the Associated mayor Karen Bass declared an overnight curfew within a relatively small area of the city's downtown district, saying businesses were being vandalised and looted. Meanwhile, the immigration raids that triggered the protests last Friday have continued, with deployed National Guard troops now protecting border control agents on enforcement overnight curfew is in force after violence in downtown LA. Elsewhere, much of the protest activity has been peaceful. Demonstrations have been confined to relatively small pockets of LA, while also spreading to other US row with state officials ramped up after he deployed troops to LA. The president has now vowed to "liberate" the city, but has been accused by California Governor Gavin Newsom of an "assault" on Tuesday, Trump defended his decision to send 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines, saying it was to prevent the city being "conquered by a foreign enemy".However, European fans group FSE said: "The current policing approach in the US is wholly unfit for international sporting events. "The continued use of excessive force against peaceful protestors is especially alarming. Fifa must act now. "It has a responsibility to use its influence to ensure that the human rights and civil liberties of all attending fans are protected and respected."It also criticised Trump's immigration policies, claiming they "pose a direct threat to the safety and wellbeing of visiting fans". As well as PSG and Atletico Madrid, LA is due to host Inter Milan, who play Mexican team CF Monterrey at the Rose Bowl next week Trump announced a travel ban which places full restrictions on citizens of 12 countries entering the United States, as well as partial constraints on seven others as part of an immigration crackdown he says is needed over security threats. The order contains an exemption for participants in major sports events such as the 2026 Fifa World Cup and 2028 LA Games. However, it is not clear if the Gold Cup and Club World Cup are covered by the Florence, executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance, said: "If sport governing bodies turn a blind eye to the escalating rights violations in the US, sporting events risk not only reflecting those abuses - but actively deepening them."In LA, where major football matches are about to take place, protesters are being criminalised, journalists unlawfully targeted, and immigrant communities subjected to enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention."It is the duty of sporting event organisers to conduct thorough and ongoing human rights risk assessments and take immediate, concrete action to ensure that human rights won't be sacrificed for the sake of the game."Fifa, Concacaf and the LA authorities have been approached for comment. Why are people protesting in LA? The demonstrations began on Friday after it emerged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were carrying out raids in areas of the city with prominent Latino have stepped up after Trump returned to the White House and pledged to crack down on illegal BBC's US partner, CBS News, reported that recent operations took place in the Westlake district as well as in Paramount, south of LA - where the population is more than 82% were also reports of an ICE raid at a Home Depot shop in Paramount, which officials told the BBC were later told CBS that 44 unauthorised immigrants were arrested in a single operation at a job site on Friday. Another 77 were also arrested in the greater LA area on the same day. Where are the protests in LA, and what's happened? The protests have been limited to certain areas of the LA has been declared an "unlawful assembly" area by police, and the mayor has imposed an overnight curfew in a zone of about one square kilometre after days of this area, protesters have been accused of attacking or looting buildings, setting cars on fire and blocking roads. Law enforcement officers in riot gear have responded with flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets and other non-lethal downtown Federal Building has been a particular flashpoint after it emerged that ICE detainees were allegedly being held there. ICE accused "over 1,000 rioters" of surrounding and attacking the building on Saturday.A Home Depot shop in Paramount, roughly 20 miles (32 km) south of downtown LA, has been another site of confrontation between authorities and the city, at least 338 people have been arrested since Friday, according to the latest figures provided by the city's police chief, Jim McDonnell, on Tuesday have been no deaths reported in the city linked to the protests.
