Calandagan rules supreme for France in King George as Jan Brueghel fails to fire
Francis-Henri Graffard's gelding was bidding to keep the trophy in the Chantilly yard after Goliath prevailed 12 months ago, with his key rival seemingly
Aidan O'Brien's
Coronation Cup winner Jan Brueghel, who had edged the Aga Khan Studs-owned four-year-old at Epsom.
Calandagan was the well-backed 11-10 favourite to turn the tables and after an incredibly patient ride from Mickael Barzalona he swept through to pick off all of his rivals and pass the gallant Kalpana ahead of the line for a one-length triumph.
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Irish Daily Mirror
12 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
England footballers to lose major part of Euro 2025 prize money post-final win
England clinched their second European Championship title in three years after defeating Spain in Sunday's final. However, a significant portion of their prize money could be deducted due to the tax payable on their earnings. The Lionesses had to rally from behind in the Euro 2025 final after Mariona Caldentey netted the opener for Spain in the first half. Alessia Russo levelled the score just before the hour mark, pushing the match into extra time and eventually penalties. Lionesses' goalkeeper Hannah Hampton saved two penalties in the shootout, with Chloe Kelly scoring the decisive penalty that sent England fans into raptures. Prior to the tournament, UEFA announced a record £34million in prize money available to the 16 competing nations. A whopping £4.4m was set aside for the champions, including performance bonuses, with participating teams obliged to distribute between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of their prize money among the players, reports the Express. According to The Guardian, the Lionesses agreed on a bonus structure with the FA ahead of Euro 2025, which would see England stars collectively receive a payout of £1.75m if they won the trophy. Following England's victory, leading audit, tax and business advisory firm, Blick Rothenberg, revealed that over three quarters of a million pounds could be deducted from the Lionesses' prize fund and paid to HMRC. England Lionesses stars will be forced to give up a large chunk of their Euro 2025 prize money (Image: GETTY) Robert Salter, a director at the firm, commented: "The Lionesses will be thrilled with their victory at Euro 2025 for what it symbolises and the hard work that went into achieving it. "However, they will face a substantial tax bill to HMRC on their prize money, with a combined total tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC) liability of approximately £788,900 for the entire team. "Despite the Lionesses not earning as much as their male counterparts, the average bonuses per player of £73,000 each will ensure that all squad members are subject to an effective marginal tax rate of 47 per cent - 45 per cent income tax and 2 per cent NIC on their income above the £125,140 per annum threshold, meaning they could be paying around £34,300 each in tax." He further noted: "In addition to the tax and NIC payable on the winning bonuses by the players personally, the FA should be liable to employers' NIC on the prize bonuses, which will cost the FA roughly £255,000 more. "Many players are also earning significant amounts through marketing, appearance fees and image rights, which are also taxable. "Their earnings from these sources are likely to surge considerably over the coming months given their success and the ongoing rise in the profile of women's football, meaning HMRC will be reaping even more tax 'wins' in the future."
Irish Times
18 hours ago
- Irish Times
Pacemaker Qirat stuns Sussex Stakes big guns at Goodwood to win at 150-1
Field Of Gold's pacemaker Qirat caused an almighty shock with a 150-1 victory in the Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. John and Thady Gosden's Field Of Gold was a 1-3 shot to follow in the hoofprints of his sire Kingman by adding this prestigious Group One contest to his previous top-level victories in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the St James's Palace Stakes. The Ralph Beckett-trained Qirat, who was last seen finishing 27th of 30 runners in the Royal Hunt Cup, was supplemented for the race last week at a cost of £70,000 (€81,000) in a bid to ensure the red-hot favourite had a strong gallop to aim at. But the race did not go to script, with Qirat keeping up the gallop to emerge triumphant under Richard Kingscote, despite the best efforts of Rosallion, who was a neck adrift at the line. READ MORE Field Of Gold, meanwhile, had to settle for a laboured fourth, with Aidan O'Brien's Henri Matisse third. Beckett said: 'Richard has always been a very good judge of the clock. The last thing I said to him was keep going with this fellow, he could run really well. 'He loves this place and I wanted to enter him because his work was really good. It's a horse race and anything can happen.' Qirat's dam, Emulous, also produced last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner for Beckett in Bluestocking. He went on: 'I thought he looked a million beforehand and that in the race he would set the pace from the front, and the longer he lasted the better for those concerned with the favourite. 'He's always threatened to be a good horse and today he showed it. 'What about the mare? To come up with Bluestocking and him. She's been like a hole in the wall, like a cash machine.' Kingscote, who recently announced he is taking up a licence in Hong Kong, said: 'I feel like a villain but when I saw it wasn't a grey nose [Field Of Gold] coming towards me I just kept going.'
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Gordon D'Arcy: Australia got it all wrong by relying on two players to carry the whole team
There are moments in life and sport when you want to wring every last drop out of an occasion, aware that it is a feeling that might not be replicated again and therefore should be cherished for all its worth. One such snapshot in time was at Twickenham following a fiercely contested win over England . The ice baths had long ceased to pinch the breath, the water more temperate and for a while no one moved. We just wanted to stay in that space, untouched by the outside world. We would always have Paris , too, winning the Six Nations there. A few of the lads were stuck in doping control, which bought the rest of us an unexpected hiatus – time to sit, reflect and savour what we had done, before the real world came crashing back into our lives. You could see that same desire to freeze a moment in time written all over the Lions players' faces in Melbourne as Hugo Keenan glided over the try line to seal a series win. Finn Russell's conversion attempt was an irrelevance. READ MORE The final whistle was the cue to release a torrent of emotion as the players came together to celebrate, bound up in the struggle and the shared sacrifice. You don't get many of those moments in a career. Thrilling second Test saves Lions tour from ignominy Listen | 24:20 The arguments will continue to rage about the quality of the matches on this tour. That's a fair debate but history doesn't care much for the context; it records outcomes. These men have joined an elite club. They are British and Irish Lions with a series win in the southern hemisphere. That carries weight. Australia , for their part, finally delivered a performance that represented some of their qualities as individuals and as a team. It wasn't enough to win the match, but it did salvage some pride, and arguably the series as a whole. 'Ruck-gate' has dominated the headlines in the aftermath. Opinions are a dime a dozen on both sides of the argument, whether a pundit, fan or former player. The truth is the game was not decided by a single moment. Australia's Will Skelton of Australia (right) attempts to get past Ollie Chessum of the Lions during the second test. Photograph: David Davies/PA Wire What cost Australia the win was their inability to create meaningful chances in the second half. They came away with just three points after the break, a solitary Tom Lynagh penalty that wasn't enough to see them over the line. A familiar name for all Leinster fans, Will Skelton led from the front for the Wallabies, demonstrating how much he was missed in that first Test. With Rob Valetini as a sidekick, they battered the Lions' defensive line and created chances for teammates. Skelton drew in multiple defenders and forced the Lions to contest every ruck. The pair created chaos in the tight channels. A rugby truism is that the team that wins the gainline wins games. For all our attempts to complicate things, that basic truth never changes. You either break the line by force or finesse. And for 30 minutes, Australia did both. They used tip-on passes, back-to-back carries, and targeted the Lions' biggest players and drew them into collision. They got quick ball and, in doing so, slowed the Lions' ability to set defensively. That's the virtuous circle of rugby – win the collision, win the ruck, win the next phase. In the wide channels, Australia looked slick. Scrumhalf Jake Gordon, who had a fine game, kept changing the point of attack and mostly did it off front-foot ball. That's when the Wallabies were at their most dangerous. The try that stood out came from a breathtaking counterattack. It was the first real glimpse we got of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii with space and ball in hand. And what a sight it was. He's still new to rugby union, but there's no mistaking his talent. He's not a Sonny Bill Williams clone. Sure, he has the size, but it's his balance, footwork and feel for the game that stood out. When he tore the Lions open to set up Tom Wright's try, it felt like a turning point. I thought, 'this is it'. The Lions were rattled. Australia were ahead on the scoreboard and playing with ambition. That was the moment to push on and kill the game. But it never came. Instead, they let the Lions back in, conceding two tries in quick succession before half-time. And then, like steam escaping a valve, the momentum was gone. The Lions' Jamison Gibson-Park makes a break for it against Australia. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho Valetini didn't reappear for the second half. Skelton was effectively done after 30 minutes despite staying on for 47, having emptied the tank. When you build a game plan around two forwards, even world-class ones, you're living dangerously. The 6-2 bench split suggests the plan was to batter the Lions up front. But when the game shifted to the edges, Australia didn't adapt. That's the part that stood out most for me. The lack of in-game management. From about the 32nd minute onwards, Australia stopped trying to win the match and started trying not to lose it. You could feel it in the way they played. Their energy dipped, their ambition narrowed. And slowly, the Lions reeled them in. The Lions themselves were far from flawless. They weren't dominant and this was no vintage performance. But in the big moments, their key players showed up. Russell was relatively quiet by his standards, but when he influenced the game, it mattered. Jamison Gibson-Park grew into the contest too. The build-up to Tom Curry's try, for example, came straight from the improvisational part of JGP's brain. That's not on a play sheet. That's instinct, trust and clarity under pressure. It was also the moment the Lions took control and Australia never quite recovered. The win keeps the quest for a series shutout alive and the potential to create another storied chapter in Lions history. But it also leaves plenty of questions about where Australian rugby is really at. You can't rely on two players to carry your entire team, not against this level of opposition. And when the game flips, when your power game fades, you need leaders who can see the shift, sense the opportunity and pivot accordingly. In the end, it was the Lions who had those players who made the difference. They did so in flashes and it was nothing sustained, nor was it polished. But it was enough. And sometimes in rugby, as in life, enough really is enough. Australia had their moment, and they let it slip. The Lions took theirs and closed the door.
