Kevin Blake has three picks for day one of the York Ebor Festival, an afternoon headlined by the Juddmonte International Stakes.

The Ebor Festival at York can make a game claim to be one of the very best four days of Flat racing anywhere in Europe. It is packed with quality stakes races and fiercely-competitive handicaps that present a great challenge no matter what your preferences. I’ll do my best to pull a few winners from it in the coming days in this column….

The opening Hong Kong Jockey Club World Pool Handicap (1:50) starts this meeting off on Wednesday in devilishly-difficult style. Cases can be made across the track and while he has shortened up in price since the betting opened, I am sticking with the Richard Spencer-trained The Man.

Spencer is on track to have his best-ever year, and he is particularly good in these valuable sprint handicaps. The Man has shown a liking for this track, winning here in May 2025 and finishing an excellent head second in this race off 92 last year.

A winter in Dubai didn’t yield the riches it promised, but it would be no surprise at all if his connections have been targeting this meeting with him ever since he returned from his post-Dubai break. He has had two runs to blow away the cobwebs in the last seven weeks and shaped well on both occasions. He can be expected to be at fever pitch here and with the draw appealing as having been kind to him, a big effort should be forthcoming.

The Tattersalls Acomb Stakes (2:25) is the first of what will be a feast of two-year-old races at this meeting, and my preference is for the Ed Walker-trained Alfred Wallace. A son of Dubawi out of the wonderful race mare Snow Lantern, he is certainly bred to be smart. He showed plenty of promise when putting up a good figure in victory at Thirsk in May and shaped well for a long way before weakening late after forcing the pace in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.

Switched to an even stiffer seven furlongs in the Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot, his connections opted to experiment with completely different tactics by dropping him in and riding with patience. The experiment proved to be a roaring success, as he overcame trouble in running to produce a fine winning effort. He could well be able to improve on that now that the key to him has been found and I expect him to run a big race.

My final selection of the day comes in another ridiculously competitive sprint handicap, the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Handicap (4:45). It is worth taking a shot on the Michael Keady-trained Underwriter. The three-year-old might well prove to be one of the bargains of the season, as he was bought by current connections for just 4,600gns in a Tattersalls online sale at the beginning of July.

His first run for them only showed subtle promise, but his latest effort in a valuable sprint handicap at Ascot was notably eye-catching. Locked up and shuffled back to last in his group inside the final furlong, he flashed home in the final 100 yards and would have been third in another stride. That was very promising indeed and with the handicapper having dropped him quite aggressively from his high of 92, he looks a well-handicapped horse. If he can build on his Ascot effort, he will have a very serious chance.

Alex Albon has signed a one-year contract extension with Williams to continue driving for the team until the end of the 2027 Formula 1 season.

The British-born Thai driver’s current deal had been set to expire at the end of 2026, but has now secured his future ahead of the sport resuming after its summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend.

Albon has scored just five points during the opening 11 rounds of the season, with Williams performing well below expectations after the introduction of the new regulations at the start of this year.

Albon said: “Since joining Atlassian Williams F1 Team in 2022, the transformation this team has made is difficult to put into words.

“One tough year doesn’t tell the full picture, and it only gives me more motivation to keep building and pushing together with the factory and our fans to achieve great things.

“Our story is not over yet, so my full focus now is on doing whatever it takes to get us back up the grid.”

The 2027 campaign will be Albon’s sixth season with Williams and his eighth in F1. The 30-year-old became the first driver to bring up 100 races for the team at the final round before the summer break in Hungary, having earlier in the season surpassed Nigel Mansell’s record of 95.

Williams team principal James Vowles said: “I am delighted that Alex and Atlassian Williams F1 Team are continuing our extraordinary journey together.

“Alex has been a leader of this transformation project since day one and we have plenty of unfinished business that we are determined to achieve.

“Alex is one of the best drivers on the grid and knows better than anyone the enormous improvements we have made in recent years – re-signing him shows the belief we both have in the direction we are heading.”

The future of Albon’s team-mate Carlos Sainz remains uncertain with the Spaniard, whose deal expires at the end of 2026, having expressed doubts over whether he wants to continue with Williams amid their ongoing struggles.

The short-term nature of Albon’s deal perhaps reflects reservations of his own about remaining with the team long term, but also that there are no realistic alternatives available to him at the moment.

Albon began his F1 career with Toro Rosso in 2019 before being promoted to drive for Red Bull during the season.

However, after struggling alongside Max Verstappen he was let go at the end of 2020, and ended up without a seat for 2021 before joining Williams the following year.

Albon’s most successful season for Williams came last year when he finished eighth in the world championship, with the team claiming fifth in the constructors’ standings and appearing well placed to push on under the new regulations.

However, that has not materialised, with Williams third from bottom in 2026 on just 11 points despite possessing the Mercedes power unit that has powered the Silver Arrows to a commanding lead at the top of the standings.

The Formula 1 season resumes after the summer break with a Sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix from Friday, with every session live on Sky Sports. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is contesting her siblings’ plans to sell the family’s remaining 17.8 per cent ownership stake in the team.

Josh Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger agreed a deal earlier this month to buy the controlling interest in the Lakers at a valuation of $12.5bn (£9.3bn) – a record for a professional sports team.

Kushner and Iger are reportedly buying about 65 per cent of the team from Mark Walter, who also owns a stake in baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers along with Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly. They would own about 83 per cent if they also reach a deal with the Buss family.

Jeanie Buss has been the Lakers’ governor since 2013 and the death of her father Jerry Buss, who had purchased the team in 1979.

She led the family’s move to sell a controlling stake of the team to Walter last year at a valuation of $10bn, in a deal that ensured she remained in position until 2030.

The decision to sell would end Jeanie’s tenure, because the job requires at least 15 per cent ownership of the team.

The Buss family released a statement on Monday, saying: “We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction.

“We love the Lakers, Lakers fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”

But Jeannie Buss’ attorney, Adam Streisand, wrote to representatives for her five siblings to state that any decision to sell the family trust’s ownership stake “would be and is void”, according to ESPN.

“Co-trustees are bound to vote to ensure that the minimum 15 per cent ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain controlling owner,” the letter is reported to have said.

“Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”

The Lakers have 17 NBA titles, 11 of which have come under the Buss family’s ownership, but the six siblings have been in frequent conflict since their father Jerry’s death, with Jeanie firing Jim from his job as the Lakers’ head of basketball operations in 2017, followed a week later by a lawsuit against her brothers amid an attempt by Jim and Johnny to oust her as the Lakers’ controlling owner.

Joey and Jesse were fired from their front-office jobs with the team last November.

The sale agreement with Kushner and Iger also still has to be approved by the NBA’s board of governors, which could take months, and comes after Kushner’s name was attached to a controversial plan proposed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to sell off stakes in the governing body’s competitions to private investors.

Thrive Eternal, an American venture capital firm founded by Kushner, was due to lead the proposed investor group for the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal until plans were scrapped in the face of fierce criticism and threats of boycott from some of its continental confederations, including UEFA.