| Westwood eases fears over fitness • World No3 says he has been making great progress• 'I would be fine playing in all five matches'The world No3 Lee Westwood, who has been sidelined by injury for six weeks, has eased fears over his fitness for next month's Ryder Cup."I am pretty strong at the moment," the 37-year-old told the Golf Channel. "I would be fine playing in all five matches [at the Ryder Cup]. I haven't had any pain for three weeks. I've made great progress."A badly swollen right calf and ankle has kept Westwood out since the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, in early August.He plans to compete in a two-day charity event in Scotland early next week before playing 36 holes in one day later in the week to guarantee he can withstand two rounds in a day if called upon to do so by the European Ryder Cup captain, Colin Montgomerie, at Celtic Manor a fortnight on Friday."I haven't had a drink in four weeks," said Westwood."I have lost 12 pounds since the British Open [in July]. I just want to replicate the Ryder Cup with two matches in one day."Lee WestwoodRyder CupGolfguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Workforce gets amber light for Arc after Sandown racecourse gallop • Derby winner's track workout gets thumbs up• Third favourite not certain to run in Paris raceIt was a very big day for the men and women of Air Products plc, who came to their local racecourse for a conference and found themselves watching the Derby winner being tuned up for a possible run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday week.Twenty-odd suits sipped coffee and looked down from the balcony of a private box as Workforce took on two of his stablemates over a mile in a hastily arranged and unheralded contest that may as well have been laid on as a cabaret for the executive-types since there were only a dozen others present.Among those was Sir Michael Stoute, Workforce's trainer, who would probably have preferred to be the only person in the grandstand. As the three horses cantered round to the far side of the track Stoute began pacing, then humming to himself, eventually moving away from everyone else and watching alone from the top of a low wall.His edginess was unsurprising. Stoute has never won the Arc and Workforce, 5-1 third favourite and a seven-length winner of the Derby, would be a strong contender if in peak form, but the colt turned in a dire effort in the King George and has not been seen in public since.He looked fit and healthy yesterday and there was nothing wrong with his effort on the track, though it was possibly a shade underwhelming in light of the breathless reports of how fast he had been zipping up the Newmarket gallops recently. Official Style, who won a Windsor maiden last month, set the pace before being swept aside by Workforce at the two-furlong pole.Confront, the third horse, played a puzzling role. Having been Workforce's pacemaker in the King George, he was settled in last place for this gallop and was not hard pressed to follow his stablemate to the line at a respectful distance of five lengths. While Ryan Moore made sure that Workforce stretched out to the finish, Confront gave the impression he could have got closer. This is hardly great news for Stoute since Confront has failed to win since October.It was "a very satisfactory workout", the trainer said. "He's nice and relaxed, we're pleased with him." The important thing, Stoute added, was to get the horse back to Newmarket and see how he recovered from his exertions. We had a bad experience at Ascot, so that's why we're being cautious and there's nothing wrong with that. We can't confirm him [as an Arc runner] until we're really sure."Moore offered little to the press ("He's in good shape") and appears to have said little more to his employers. "He's never very effusive one way or the other but he seemed happy," was the report from Lord Grimthorpe, spokesman for Workforce's owner, Khalid Abdulla."I think what we're looking for is for the horse to show himself happy again, not only physically but mentally as well," Grimthorpe said. "Now we have to see him go the right way, check out fine, see how he does. And obviously Prince Khalid's got to be confident enough to give the go-ahead."You can never be sure about horses but we want to try. He is an important horse for us, so we don't want to go for the sake of it but equally we want to give him the best chance we can of winning a huge prize, one of the biggest in racing."All of the owner's eggs are in this basket, since his Byword is now an unlikely runner after disappointing in his trial, according to Grimthorpe. Nor will Workforce have a pacemaker, if he runs, as connections feel they can rely on the Arc being run at a searching gallop."I think you have to be happy," Grimthorpe said. "He's stretched nicely, he's done it. The important thing now is that he comes out of it well and continues to thrive. If he goes the other way, then we have to think again."Obviously this is another box ticked, so it's encouraging. Is there a green light? No. There's probably an amber."The executives turned back to their private box, apparently pleased by the diverting start to the day's toil. "That's worked really well," said a Sandown official. "Maybe we should keep a few old nags here and do that whenever there's a conference."Horse racingSir Michael StoutePrix de l'Arc de TriompheRyan MooreChris Cookguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Adlington wins England's first medal • Adlington claims bronze in unfavoured 200m freestyle• Wales's Jazmin Carlin wins silver behind Kylie PalmerRebecca Adlington won England's first medal of the Commonwealth Games, a bronze in the 200m freestyle. By the end of the evening session England had added two more medals at the swimming arena. Michael Rock swam a brilliant 200m butterfly in the outside lane, but was just beaten to gold in the final 20 metres by South Africa's Chad Le Clos. England's men's 4x100m freestyle team added another silver in the final race of the evening, their first medal in that event in 12 years. With 50m to go they were actually leading Australia, but again were squeezed in the final length. Scotland's David Carry also won bronze in the 400m freestyle.Wales's Jazmin Carlin beat Adlington to the silver and both were over three-quarters of a length behind Australia's Kylie Palmer, who took gold in 1.57.50sec. Adlington trailed along in seventh place for the first three lengths, before producing a strong finish to move up past her team-mate Jo Jackson and take third in a time of 1.58.47. Jackson finished fifth. "I couldn't see a thing, I couldn't see past Jo," said Adlington, who was swimming in lane seven. "I thought I'd get fourth or fifth so I'm very happy to have got third."The 200m is not Adlington's specialist distance, and this was the first time she has swum the event at an international meet. She had struggled to qualify from the heats in the morning. She was only sixth-fastest going into the final, and finished third in her heat. She blamed that on her preparation. "It's like nothing I've ever done before, we had to get up before 4am to leave the village in time, it was all crazy."Rebecca AdlingtonSwimmingCommonwealth Games 2010Andy Bullguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Commonwealth Games: David Millar beats Mark Cavendish to medal • Bronze for Scotland but Manxman misses out• Silver for Lizzie Armitstead in women's raceDavid Millar claimed Commonwealth Games bronze for Scotland as Mark Cavendish was beaten in the cycling road race in Delhi.The Isle of Man's Cavendish – winner of 15 Tour de France stages in three years – was the firm favourite for the 168-kilometre men's road race but lost the leaders on the final lap and finished in seventh place.The race was won by Australia's Allan Davis, who triumphed ahead of Hayden Roulston of New Zealand with Millar of Scotland third.Earlier England's Lizzie Armitstead won the silver medal in the 112km women's race as Australia's Rochelle Gilmore won gold and her compatriot Chloe Hosking took bronze.Commonwealth Games 2010CyclingMark Cavendishguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Uribe's blast helps Giants win NL pennant, World Series berth Juan Uribe hit a tiebreaking homer off Ryan Madson with two outs in the eighth inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |