
Bell backing Spicy Marg to pack Ascot punch
Spicy Marg will be partnered by Kieran Shoemark, and Bell said: 'She's all locked and loaded and we're very happy with her well-being.
'It (the draw) looks good, we've got Staya on our inside and all the major players seem to be drawn between eight and 15, so I think they're all in our sights so I'm very happy with the draw.
'It is a step up but the clock seems to say that she deserves to be in the race and she looks smart at home, so we'll see what happens on the day.'
The Karl Burke-trained Zelaina is another who made an impressive debut when scooting home by the same winning margin as Spicy Marg at Nottingham.
Richard Brown, racing adviser to owners Wathnan, said: 'We were delighted with Nottingham and we were excited the day we bought her, we were excited when we heard the reports from Karl, but she had had an interrupted prep going into Nottingham.
'She had banged a knee and she had missed 10 days so was definitely undercooked going there.
'We definitely think there is more improvement to come and she was very impressive. You have to be really excited about her and she's definitely one of the big hopes of the week.
'It's a Queen Mary and lots of people are thinking they have a big hope, but we think we do and we just need that bit of luck. They will be spread across the track and it will be a big field and fingers crossed she can do the job as she's a filly we're really excited about.'
American runner Lennilu puts her unbeaten record on the line after winning on the dirt at Keeneland and following it up with a turf victory at Gulfstream Park.
Trainer Patrick Biancone, who began his career in France when he sent out back-to-back Arc winners in All Along and Sagace, is happy with preparations and reported his filly was unfazed by the trip from America.
He said: 'She won her maiden easily. We then decided to train her hopefully for the Queen Mary and we won the prep race that was sponsored by Gulfstream. She won that easily too. We were expecting her to run well there, but expecting it is one thing, doing it is another.
'She travelled very well. She's walking around well now, she slept really well. We knew she'd travel well because when she ran in Keeneland she had to go 17 hours there and 17 more to come back and she took it very well.
'Ascot is a special place for every trainer in the world, especially the Royal meeting. I've been lucky in my life to have good horses and she's one of them. We're very happy.'
Aidan O'Brien will be represented by True Love, while other major players include Ralph Beckett's Society Kiss and George Scott's Staya in a field of 25.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scottish Sun
16 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Sprint sensation, 16, beats Usain Bolt's 100m record at same age to qualify for world championships
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) JAPANESE 16-year-old Sorato Shimizu has set a new world record for the fastest 100m time EVER achieved by an athlete under-18. The sprinting prodigy, who is still a schoolboy, ran 100 metres in just 10.00 seconds during a track meet in Hiroshima. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Sorato Shimizu celebrates his incredible time Credit: 2 Shimizu shows off his brilliant achievement Shimizu has beaten the previous record jointly held by American Christian Miller, and Thai ace Puripol Boonson, who both ran 100m in 10.06 seconds. And his incredible time smashes Usain Bolt's best time as a 20-year-old. The Jamaican icon, who still holds the overall world 100m record, had achieved a personal best of 10.03 seconds as a 20-year-old. Although at this point in his incredible career, Bolt was focused more on the 200m discipline. READ MORE IN SPORT COMMON KNOWLEDGE Major sporting event facing TV blackout for first time in 70 years Shimuzu's time was achieved at the Inter High School Championships. It places him fifth all-time among Japanese athletes. While he also now holds his country's high school record. The previous record of 10.01 seconds had stood for 12 years, having been set by Yoshihide Kiryu. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK Following his achievement, Shimuzu said: "I was determined to run under 10 seconds heading into the final. "I'm happy to have set a high school record. I'd like to get a taste of it if I can make it." Hurdler suffers very embarrassing wardrobe malfunction as privates are exposed during race The Athletics World Championships are set to be held in Tokyo this September. Shimizu's time has cleared the entry standard for the prestigious event.


Metro
5 hours ago
- Metro
Inside England captain Leah Williamson's romance with Miss USA winner Elle Smith
England captain Leah Williamson will be leading the Lionesses to hopeful victory in the Women's Euro 2025 finals tonight. Leah's England will take on former rivals Spain in St Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland, two years after losing out on their World Cup attempt. All eyes will be on the England team, including 29-year-old team captain Leah, who was permanently appointed to the post by England manager Sarina Wiegman in 2022. But what do we know about Leah's life away from the pitch? Does she have a girlfriend or partner? When not leading her team to victory, Leah has made headlines for her rumoured romance with former Miss USA Elle Smith. Here's all we know about Leah Williamson's relationship with the 27-year-old beauty pageant winner. American journalist and beauty pageant contestant Elle Smith was crowned Miss USA in 2021. In the run-up to the competition, she was named Miss Kentucky USA that same year, making her only the second woman from Kentucky to win Miss USA. She went on to represent the United States at Miss Universe, ultimately finishing in the Top 10, losing out to India's Harnaaz Sandhu. Although they became romantically linked in 2024, Leah and Elle have not officially confirmed whether they are in a relationship. Speculation that the pair were 'soft-launching' a relationship began in March, when Elle posted a video of her and Leah floating in the ocean together on a paddleboard. This came accompanied by the caption 'happy birthday my love x,' to which Leah responded with a series of emojis. Since then, they have continued to pop up all over each other's social media, including a picture of them celebrating England's 6-0 win against Portugal, back in May. In the black-and-white picture, Leah sits on Elle's lap, with the former Miss USA titleholder's arms around her. In response to the picture, Leah commented: 'We did it🥹🥹🥹' Last month, Elle shared a series of snapshots from their holiday to Majorca together – many of which saw the pair looking very loved-up indeed. These images included a snap of Elle and Leah on a paddleboard together, as well as shots of them all dressed up and headed out for dinner. Leah shared her own carousel of images on her Instagram page, too, which included a number of grabs of Elle smiling and contented. Leah also showed her appreciation when Elle shared a series of snaps posing in her Skims bikini while on holiday in Jamaica for her birthday last month. 'I have no words,' Leah wrote in the comments to the post – to which Elle responded: 'all yours.' More Trending She then commented again soon afterwards, writing: 'Just come for a second viewing.' Elle has shared a message of support ahead of tonight's final, posting a snap of herself in a t-shirt to her Instagram Stories. This wasn't any old England t-shirt either. The message emblazoned on the white tee's front in red writing? 'Live, Laugh, Leah.' Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: How much do women footballers get paid? England player salaries revealed MORE: Why are Mary Earps and Millie Bright not playing for England at Euro 2025? MORE: Who is commentating on England's Euro 2025 final vs Spain? BBC and ITV line-ups


Daily Record
7 hours ago
- Daily Record
The vanishing of Bubba Watson – how golf's forgotten icon and double Masters champ is fighting back
Bubba Watson is showing signs of life again following serious knee surgery and dropping off the big-time radar Bullish Bubba Watson reckons he's emerging from the anguish of serious injury and a major career slump. The American star was once a huge name in the game having claimed two-time Masters wins at Augusta and peaking at World No.2 in the rankings. Watson was a Ryder Cup regular and won 15 times on the circuit in total before a move to join LIV Golf. The 46-year-old was out for eight months after a serious knee injury required surgery and he returned to the game at the beginning of 2023. Watson has been a pale shadow of his former self in the time period since, but there have been real shards of light in recent weeks and again at this week's LIV event in England. The colourful star managed a tied-14th at the Masters this year having missed the cut in the previous two years, has had two LIV Top 10s this term and now sits second with a round to go at JCB Golf and Country Club. It's been slow progress, but Watson can finally feel good things happening and explained: 'The last couple years, it's been a struggle. Been a struggle mentally, physically and golf-wise. You want to play better, right? 'You don't think about it until it happens, where my knee, my forward knee is where I like to put all my weight on chipping and putting, and then when you go through surgery and go through muscle changes, you kind of create bad habits, and so my bad habits, getting back on my heels, maybe even on my other side, so I'm not the same technique that I've always used, if that makes sense. 'So in all my years of practicing and playing, my technique has now changed over these last couple years, so we really dug in and tried to figure out what it is. So we've tried to figure out that, and I think we made a big step forward in finding out what it is. 'As my leg gets stronger, it takes two years for your leg to get stronger in that position, so here we are. Now we're talking about some of my best finishes. Hopefully we can keep it going.' Watson is second with 18 holes to go in Staffordshire behind runaway leader Joaquin Niemann, but said: 'A high finish puts me, I think I'm like 30th or 31st in points, so it'll probably put me back close to top 24. 'I want to have a strong finish to the year and I see that I can do it. Now, will I do it is the question. But I would love to finish in the Top 20 if not better and have a chance to win and then challenge the Team Championship in match play. 'All of this is a positive step forward going forward in my career. Obviously the better finish I can do, the better it is for me, better for the team, better for everything. Yeah, I'm going to get out there and battle. 'Second place right now looks like it's a good place to finish, so it's going to be a battle for the second place, if nothing else.'