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The Fresno State football players wanted to be heard after so much frustration, so much uncertainty.

A season that had started with their coach leaving the job because of health problems, only to deteriorate further with four losses in six games during a maddening midseason stretch, was now back firmly on the upswing.

Their temporary coach having steadied them through every challenge, including his own uncertain future, those players yearned to preserve what might have been the best part of a burdensome season.

“We want Skip!” the players chanted in the locker room last November after a victory over Colorado State that made them eligible for a bowl game. “We want Skip!”

Tim Skipper, the interim coach who was practically a Fresno State lifer after having starred as a speck of a linebacker for the Bulldogs before going on to coach for them in various capacities, was making the best of what he had to work with once more.

It wasn’t the first or last time he would be needed in that capacity. The Bulldogs had tapped him to serve as the acting coach for a bowl game the previous season after coach Jeff Tedford’s first bout of health issues, and now UCLA is turning to Skipper to lead its team after the dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster on Sunday after the Bruins’ 0-3 start.

It’s an especially difficult spot given Skipper’s ties to his longtime friend, who hired him before this season as a special assistant to the head coach and once called himself “an honorary Skipper.” Skipper’s father, Jim, was Foster’s running backs coach with the Carolina Panthers. Skipper’s brother, Kelly, had been Foster’s running backs coach at UCLA.

“You know, DeShaun is kind of like family,” Jim Skipper said. “Tim’s got his work cut out, he knows that. But he’s up for the challenge. He’s been an underdog his whole life.”

This might be Tim Skipper’s greatest test, far greater than the six consecutive plays inside the three-yard line that the middle linebacker helped Fresno State stymie Ohio State during a goal-line stand in 2000. Among the biggest difficulties facing Skipper are rallying team morale and keeping the roster intact after a winless start that led to the firing of the coach who brought these players into the program. There’s also an offense and a defense that rank among the worst in the country and a persistent penalty problem.

“I know from the outside, people may look and say, the talent’s not changing, this imposing schedule isn’t changing, how can anyone expect different results?” said Paul Loeffler, Fresno State’s radio play-by-play announcer. “But I would say he’s a guy who can foster belief in young men because he believes. He’s relentlessly positive and it’s not fake positivity.

“There’s a gravitas there that I think the players would buy into and as hard as it’s going to be for him because of how close he and DeShaun have been for a long time, I think the way he attacks this opportunity will probably be colored by his experience last year.”

It was easy for Fresno State to turn to Skipper in July 2024 given his performance in guiding the Bulldogs to a 37-10 victory over New Mexico State in the New Mexico Bowl at the end of the previous season. The bowl triumph was welcome relief from a three-game losing streak and worries about Tedford after the coach stepped aside to address health issues.

After the game, Skipper dedicated the victory to his boss.

“He did a wonderful job getting our team prepared and ready for the bowl,” said Terry Tumey, the former UCLA nose guard who appointed Skipper as interim coach in December 2023 when Tumey was Fresno State’s athletic director. “This is a much larger stage, of course, but it’s not a foreign proposition for him to be in an interim situation and kind of taking over and kind of keeping things at bay as the administration figures out its next direction.”

Less than a year ago, Skipper made Fresno State seriously consider giving him the Bulldogs’ permanent job. The team got off to a 5-2 start before second-half slipups against Hawaii and Air Force were followed by a loss to UCLA in which the Bulldogs managed just a field goal after halftime.

Four days later, Fresno State athletic director Garrett Klassy hired USC linebackers coach Matt Entz as the Bulldogs’ new coach. Skipper eventually found a landing spot on Foster’s staff.

“He’s just somebody that’s very knowledgeable and he knows me,” Foster said in July. “So it’s just somebody that I know I can trust, and I’m just excited to be able to add somebody with that type of knowledge to our team.”

Given a new, unexpected opportunity as Foster’s replacement, Skipper, 47, might use any lingering disappointment from his last interim stop as motivation.

“Knowing Tim,” Tumey said, “he’s going to want to prove that he has what it takes to be a head coach, whether it’s this opportunity or somewhere else, and so he has something to prove too. I think our entire program at UCLA, we all have something to prove.”

Skipper’s lengthy coaching career has included stops at Western New Mexico, Sacramento State, Colorado State, Florida, Nevada Las Vegas and Central Michigan in addition to multiple stints at Fresno State. He’s mostly coached on defense but has spent four seasons as a running backs coach.

Scheduled to meet with the UCLA media for the first time on Wednesday morning, Skipper is known for a magnetic personality that allows him to quickly build trust among players. He’s already instituted one meaningful change in allowing photos and videos to be taken at practices after his predecessor had barred that custom.

“He’s so genuine, he’s so engaging, he’s got a million-dollar smile and he’s just present,” Loeffler said, “so I think he’s got a gift in terms of connecting.”

But he’s no softie. Pat Hill, the legendary former Fresno State coach known for backing up his “Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” mantra with victories over major-conference opponents, said his onetime star defender who still ranks as the second-leading tackler in school history will rise to his latest challenge.

“When he walks into a room, take away the stature — he’s a small guy, he’s 5 feet 8 — but he commands the room and he will get the respect of the team immediately,” Hill said. “I guarantee the team will play with more emotion and they will play harder now.

“I don’t know what the wins and losses will be with the people they have, I really don’t know enough about it, but from a standpoint of leadership and getting a message to the team, he’ll be outstanding.”

Tumey said the expectations going into UCLA’s Big Ten opener against Northwestern on Sept. 27 should be for Skipper to stabilize the program, make sure the Bruins are competitive in conference play and support his players.

But what if UCLA starts unexpectedly rolling off one victory after another?

“Hey, stranger things have happened,” Tumey said. “I was a part of that 0-3-1 football team that ended up going to the Rose Bowl [in 1986]. So you never know.”

CHICAGO — Saying he would do more if he were in Congress today to support LGBTQ rights — which he opposed when he served — former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) came out as gay Thursday in social media and web posts.

In the postings on Instagram and a web page, the 38-year-old also describes his anguish at being rejected by members of his deeply religious family, including his mother, after they learned last year he was gay.

The longtime Republican laments that he opposed same-sex marriage while representing his conservative congressional district in central Illinois, noting that Democrat and fellow Illinoisan Barack Obama once stopped short of outright opposition.

“That fact doesn’t make my then position any less wrong, but it’s sometimes easy to forget that it was leaders of both parties who for so long wrongly understood what it was to defend the right to marry,” he writes.

He adds: “The truth is that if I were in Congress today, I would support LGBTQ rights in every way I could.”

The onetime rising GOP star and prolific Republican fundraiser garnered national attention after appearing on the cover of Men’s Health showing off his six-pack abs. He successfully marketed himself during six years in Congress as an unwavering fiscal conservative.

Schock resigned from Congress in 2015 amid scrutiny of his spending. He was indicted a year later on charges that accused him of illegally dipping into campaign and government coffers to subsidize a lavish lifestyle. But all charges were dropped in 2019 amid criticism of how prosecutors handled the case.

Schock confirmed the posts’ authenticity in a text message to the Journal Star in Peoria, the heart of the congressional district he represented for six years.

As he composed the social media posts, Schock said he knew he could expect sharp criticism from the community to which he said he now wanted to belong.

“Where was I, they will ask, when I was in a position to help advance issues important to gay Americans?” his posting says.

Many longtime supporters of gay rights blasted him on social media Thursday, including Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims.

“Anyone can be gay. Everyone who is should be out,” Sims, a Democrat, said in a Facebook posting. “But to be a part of a Community, especially one you’ve attacked, you better start with an apology, make amends …”

Schock now understands, he said, that he is indebted to those activists who supported rights he opposed for so long.

“I can live openly now as a gay man because of the extraordinary brave people who had the courage to fight for our rights when I did not,” he writes.

Schock starts the postings on both Instagram and the web page with the words: “I am gay.”

He said he began driving to his mother’s house from Los Angeles to tell her that last year. But she had learned of it before he arrived, and when he spoke with her on the phone en route, “she told me to turn around and go back to LA,” he writes.

He adds, “I’ve come to terms with the fact that it might take my loved ones more time than I would like. And I realize some might never come around.”

He said he still receives occasional emails from family members “trying to sell me on conversion therapy,” the widely debunked notion that someone who is gay can, with therapy, become heterosexual.

Schock described growing up in a conservative Apostolic Christian Church where members even considered “watching TV to be sinfully idle,” he writes. He said he doesn’t think he was aware there were other gays in his midst.

“I understood that the teachings of my upbringing were pretty clear on the matter,” he said.

The ambitious Schock began buying real estate in high school, became a member of the local school board at 19 and an Illinois legislator at 23, then entered Congress at just 27.

He said the fact he is gay wouldn’t be a revelation for many who know him, adding that coming out publicly as gay is “just one of those things in my life in need of explicit affirmation … to finally validate who I am as a person.”

“In many ways,” he writes, “I regret the time wasted in not having done so sooner.”

LOVE Islander Millie Court has showcased her stunning figure in a beautiful red dress, leaving ex-boyfriend Liam Reardon to contemplate what might have been.

Millie took to Instagram to share a series of snaps of her wearing the plunging lace number.

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Earlier this month The Sun reported that Millie and Liam had split up for the second time.

It came after they’d first fallen for each other on series seven of the ITV2 reality show, which they went on to win.

They then broke up for the first time in 2022, before getting back together a year later.

They host the Liam and Millie podcast together, and for a while they were able to keep a long-distance relationship going, despite her being based in Essex and Liam living in Wales.

But unfortunately, it seems the distance between them became increasingly problematic, and they broke up for a second time earlier this month.

A source close to the couple exclusively told The Sun Online: “Millie and Liam have tried so hard to make their relationship work.

“But unfortunately, the distance was just difficult and they have sadly ended their relationship for a second time.

“Obviously, they’ve worked things out before, so friends are hoping this might just be a blip as it’s all still very fresh.

“But right now they are spending time apart. Everyone who loves them hopes they can work it out.”

When they broke up the first time Millie said the decision to split wasn’t taken lightly but was “best” for both of them.

She said on Instagram: “Hi everyone, to avoid any speculation Liam and I wanted to share with you that we have separated.

“It’s been a tough decision and I am gutted but it’s ultimately what is best for us right now. Thank you to every single one of you for supporting our relationship.

“Nothing will ever take away from the amazing experience we shared in Love Island and the past year and I wish Liam all the best in everything he does.

“We’re both ready for new chapters and I’m excited for what’s next. Love, Millie.”

Liam also addressed their first split, saying they were struggling to keep pretending to be happy, when that wasn’t how they were truly feeling.

 He said: “We want to keep it a bit more private to a certain extent.

“We spend our lives on social media, it’s hard not to share the relationship.

“But after Love Island we plastered as much of each other out there as possible, and I kind of felt like we had to show people we were really happy all the time even if we were unhappy.

“Now we’re just loving life.”

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Our Yorkshire Farm stars Amanda and Clive Owen split in 2022 but they continue working on their TV shows together

Amanda Owen said her ex Clive Owen was “still annoying” as she opened up about their separation.

The Our Yorkshire Farm stars called time on their relationship in 2022 following 22 years of marriage, yet they’ve carried on collaborating on television projects whilst co-parenting their nine children.

However, Amanda – known as the Yorkshire Shepherdess – confessed to Hello! magazine that the duo continue to get under each other’s skin, reports the Manchester Evening News.

She remarked: “What am I supposed to say, ‘We get on like a house on fire?’ Well, if we did, we wouldn’t want to separate, would we?

“He’s still the same annoying old Clive that he always was. I’ve seen him just now, and he’s still annoying – I annoy him, and he annoys me.”

The couple haven’t pursued divorce proceedings, with Amanda highlighting the complexities involved.

“How would we even divide that up?” asked the celebrity. “It’s tricky when businesses and families are so intertwined.”

Amanda and Clive rose to fame through television series Our Yorkshire Farm, which was launched in 2018 and spanned five seasons.

The show, which documented the couple’s lives at Ravenseat Farm, proved enormously popular with audiences.

Last year the stars returned in a new series, collaborating on Channel 4 programme Our Farm Next Door.

The series chronicles Clive and Amanda as they restore a crumbling farm in the Yorkshire Dales, with the help of their five children – Raven, Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Annas, Clementine and Nancy.

Both celebrities discussed their split during the programme, with Amanda stating that whilst they’d endured an “incredibly hard” period they had “got through it”.

Clive admitted that it had been “a strange few years” for them, adding: “We are now in a place where although we are not actually together, we are still in business together, we still have these kids together.

“It’s a crazy situation but it isn’t – it’s the most sensible thing for everybody to do,” he said.

Our Farm Next Door is available to watch on Channel 4.

ENZO MARESCA has a wealth of talent at his disposal at Stamford Bridge, with three Cobham starlets already working their way towards first-team involvement.

After starring during the international break for England‘s youth teams, 16-year-old Ryan Kavuma-McQueen and 17-year-old Shim Mheuka are two attackers the Italian boss is keen to have available for selection going forward.

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Mheuka, who made his Premier League and European debuts for the senior team last season, scored five goals in three games for the Young Lions, while winger Kavuma-McQueen made headlines with a four-goal haul against Germany‘s under-17s.

With Cole Palmer and Liam Delap both injured, there may be a spot for these youngsters sooner than anticipated, especially when the Blues travel to Lincoln in the Carabao Cup on 24th September, with Marc Guiu cup-tied for that game.

Maresca opened up in his Friday press conference on the impressive pair: “They are both in my plans, for sure. Shimmy was already with us and played some games for us last year. Ryan is more of a winger.

“I was watching when Ryan scored four goals against Germany, so I was very impressed, but I already knew him. One of my staff is always watching the youth team; they told me he was very good.

I’ve always said with young players, you have to be calm because they can change every day. For sure, though, he is one of the players we are looking at.”

Kavuma-McQueen is incredibly highly rated by those involved in the Chelsea youth system, and the Blues are keen for him not to become the next Rio Ngumoha, who joined Liverpool in pursuit of first-team opportunities he has now been granted.

That’s why, after fighting off interest from Liverpool and Barcelona for his signature, they will be thrilled that he is set to sign his first professional contract with the club when he turns 17 on New Year’s Day 2026.

While Maresca was left impressed by the two goal-scoring Brits at his disposal, he admitted he has a favourite when it comes to Blues’ youngsters.

BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK

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The Chelsea boss isn’t necessarily known for his enthusiasm in press conferences, but when asked about youngster Reggie Walsh, he was warmth personified with a smile plastered across his face.

Walsh, 16, has been training with the first team and was one of a record-breaking eight youngsters to be given a first team shot last season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get more chances this year with the Blues already facing injuries to some of their key midfielders.

Maresca added: “I like all the academy guys, but Reggie is the one I like more than the rest, he’s my favourite.

“He’s very good, but because they are from the academy, we need to protect them.

“We already have the youngest squad in Premier League history, and last year we gave so many debuts to academy players. But Reggie is doing things that I demand of other players, and does them without me asking him to. That’s why I love Reggie.”

While Brentford may come too soon for the Cobham trio, they are all likely to feature when the Chelsea U21’s take on Ipswich next Saturday at Kingsmeadow.

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ED Sheeran has revealed he has gone through with his plan to move to the US with his family.

Speaking in an interview for the 2 Johnnies podcast last month just before heading to the States, the A Team hitmaker said he was leaving Suffolk with wife Cherry Seaborn and their two daughters, Lyra five, and Jupiter, three.

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The family had spent their time living in a £3.7million pad – dubbed Sheeranville – which boasts a gym and pool, as well as a tree house and even a separate bungalow.

Yet Ed, 34, has said: “I’m just about to move to America.

“I feel like I might be the only person moving to America.

“I’m going on tour there for a while and I have a family so I can’t dip in and out.

“We’re going and settling there.”

Giving a glimpse into his home life on Instagram previously, he uploaded one showing him in a cosy-looking living area complete with a telescope for stargazing.

It also captured a huge library which was the perfect space for Ed and his song writing partners to pen his smash hits.

Ed’s sprawling £3.7million complex is made up of multiple homes — including swimming pool, two-storey treehouse and pub — and is in the Suffolk town he grew up in.

Land Registry records show that Ed bought his main home — a detached farmhouse and surrounding land — for £895,000 in June 2012

Despite the move, the Afterglow hitmaker has understandably retained his home but he also revealed he has built a second private boozer at his studio.

He said: “People always look at stuff like that in my lifestyle and think it’s a bit weird, but I think to go out and really let loose with camera phones round, you can’t really do that any more – as in like if you’re well-known.

“So it’s having a place where you can have a few pints, a dance, a sing, get a bit silly and not worry about it being on TikTok the next morning.”

OWN GOAL

Ed then admitted he will no longer be able to watch his beloved Ipswich Town, where he owns a 1.4 per cent stake and was their shirt sponsor.

Chatting just before they lost on penalties at Bromley in the Carabao cup four weeks ago, he said the match was going to be the only game he’d be seeing this season before settling in the US.

He said: “I went to almost every game last season – I think I can only make one this season because I’m moving to the States.”

ALL CHANGE

The Shape of You singer previously expressed a desire to move into country music and potentially relocate to the US.

He said earlier this year: “When you transition to country, you can’t transition back.

“Nashville is my favourite city in the States and it’s always been my end goal to move to Nashville and transition to country.”

However, he did not reveal in his more recent interview just before planning to fly out whether it was Nashville where he was now setting up home.

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EastEnders viewers think they know who Zoe Slater was talking about when she told mum Kat Moon ‘he’s alive’, after a flashback twist in the latest episode on the BBC soap

Viewers of EastEnders think they know who Zoe Slater is running from, and who she realised “is alive”.

The character made the comment in a recent episode after being shot by mistake. Zoe assumed someone was after her and that they had fired the gun, before flashbacks revealed some of her huge secrets.

Zoe told her mum Kat that someone was “still alive”, clearly shocked as if she’d thought they were dead. Then on Thursday we saw a deadly twist air involving Zoe and Max Branning, as their connection was finally explained.

We learned Zoe was trying to track down the son she’d abandoned at a hospital shortly after giving birth in 2006, with it revealed his twin sister had died. Zoe didn’t think she could look after him and asked for him to be adopted, before she fled.

READ MORE: EastEnders fans ‘know’ who father of Zoe’s babies is – and it’s not MaxREAD MORE: Zoe Slater’s twin shock as EastEnders reveals character’s tragic past in flashback episode

Years later and prior to her Walford return, Zoe met Max in Ibiza and the pair got close. She told Max about hiring a Private Investigator, explaining her debts.

She managed to track down an old neighbour of the family who adopted her son, and was told that if she gave him £5,000 she’d get some answers. Max wasn’t sure and thought something wasn’t right, but Zoe said he was the real deal and the neighbour would talk for the right price.

After an incident left him possibly dead though, Max and Zoe fled and parted ways. Now, fans think it’s this neighbour or even the Private Investigator that she was talking about when she said “he’s alive”.

So did she mean the man, the neighbour, that she thought she’d murdered by accident? Some fans questioned if it was the neighbour or the PI, or even a past character who is believed to have died.

One viewer said on social media: “Is this the guy who Zoe was refering to last night when she said ‘He’s still alive’ or could this have been referring to Max?” meaning the man who attacked Zoe. Believing it was the PI Zoe had attacked, when it was the neighbour, a fan added: “So is the enemy possibly the PI as we don’t know he is dead.”

As for the past character, a theory read: “‘He’s still alive’ is Vincent. Vincent is Ravi’s supplier. Zoe worked for him and owes him a lot of money. Vincent drives Howie out. This storyline ties the Slaters, the Foxes, and the Panesars.”

It comes as fans questioned if Zoe was tied into Ravi Gulati and Nicola Mitchell’s drug storyline, also featuring other characters. It was the constant references to Ibiza and her recent dash Barcelona that left fans wondering if she was linked to some other characters.

So is Zoe involved with their dodgy dealings? Fans certainly think so, taking to social media to share their theories. One fan said: “I think Zoe is the one that is behind the drugs thing with Ravi to get money to look for her son?”

Another fan theorised: “I’m convinced he’s part of Ravi’s drug storyline,” while a third fan recalled Nicola mentioning Ibiza recently. On Thursday we found out how Zoe met Max, and who she may have been running from.

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SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Many fled when wildfires devastated Los Angeles earlier this year, but Guillermo del Toro rushed back in, determined to save his lifelong collection of horror memorabilia.

It’s the same loyalty that finds him making another tough decision to protect the items he loves like family: letting some of them go.

Del Toro partnered with Heritage Auctions for a three-part auction to sell a fraction of a collection that is bursting at the seams. Online bidding for the first part on Sept. 26 started Thursday and includes over a hundred items, with more headed to the auction block next year.

“This one hurts. The next one, I’m going to be bleeding,” Del Toro, 60, said of the auction series. “If you love somebody, you have estate planning, you know, and this is me estate planning for a family that has been with me since I was a kid.”

Del Toro is one of the industry’s most respected filmmakers, whose fascination with monsters and visual style will shape generations to come. But at his core, the Mexican-born horror buff is a collector. The Oscar winner has long doubled as the sole caretaker of the “Bleak House” — which stretches across two and a half Santa Monica homes nearly overflowing with thousands of ghoulish creatures, iconic comic drawings and paintings, books and movie props.

The houses function not just as museums, but as libraries and workspaces where his imagination bounces off the oxblood-painted walls.

“I love what I have because I live with it. I actually am a little nuts, because I say hi to some of the life-size figures when I turn on the light,” Del Toro told The Associated Press, sitting in the dining room of one of the houses, now a sanctuary for “Haunted Mansion” memorabilia. “This is curated. This is not a casual collection.”

The auction includes behind-the-scene drawings and one-of-a-kind props from Del Toro’s own classics, as well as iconic works like Bernie Wrightson’s illustrations for “Frankenstein” and Mike Mignola’s pinup artwork for “Hellraiser.”

A race to save horror history

In January, Del Toro had only a couple hours, his car and a few helping hands to save key pieces from the fires. Out of the over 5,000 items in his collection, he managed to move only about 120 objects. It wasn’t the first time, as fires had come dangerously close to Bleak House twice before.

The houses were spared, but fear consumed him. If a fire or earthquake swallowed them, he thought, “What came out of it? You collected insurance? And what happened to that little segment of Richard Corben’s life, or Jack Kirby’s craft, or Bernie Wrightson’s life?”

An auction, Del Toro said, gives him peace of mind, as it ensures the items will land in the hands of another collector who will protect the items as he has. These are not just props or trinkets, he said, but “historical artifacts. They’re pieces of audiovisual history for humanity.” And his life’s mission has been to protect as much of this history as he can.

“Look, this is in reaction to the fires. This is in reaction to loving this thing,” Del Toro told the AP.

The initial auction uncovers who Del Toro is as a collector, he said. Upcoming parts will expose how the filmmaker thinks, which he called a much more personal endeavor. The auction isn’t just a “piece of business,” for him, but rather a love letter to collectors everywhere, and encouragement to think beyond a movie and “learn to read and write film design in a different way. That’s my hope.”

A house full of ‘unruly kids’

Caring for the Bleak House collection feels like being on “a bus with 160 kids that are very unruly, and I’m driving for nine hours,” Del Toro said. “I gotta take a rest.”

The auction will give the filmmaker some breathing room from the collection’s arduous maintenance. The houses must stay at a certain temperature, without direct sunlight — all of which is monitored solely by Del Toro, who often spends most of his day there.

He selects the picture frame for every drawing, dusts all the artifacts and arranges every bookshelf mostly himself, having learned his lesson from the handful of times he allowed outside help. One time, Del Toro said, he found someone “cleaning an oil painting with Windex, and I almost had a heart attack.”

“It’s very hard to have someone come in and know why that trinket is important,” he said. “It’s sort of a very bubbled existence. But you know, that’s what you do with strange animals — you put them in small environments where they can survive. That’s me.”

Each room is organized by theme, with one room dedicated to each of his major works, from “Hellboy” to “Pacific Rim.” Del Toro typically spends his entire work day at one of the houses, which he picks depending on the task at hand. The “Haunted Mansion” dining room, for instance, is an excellent writing space.

“If I could, I would live in the Haunted Mansion,” he said. “So, this is the second best.”

Building a mini Bleak House

In selecting which items to sell, Del Toro said he “wanted somebody to be able to re-create a mini version of Bleak House.”

Auction items include concept sketches and props from Del Toro’s 1992 debut film, “Cronos,” all the way to his more recent works, like 2021’s “Nightmare Alley.”

The starting bids vary, from a couple thousand dollars up to hundreds of thousands. One of Wrightson’s drawings for a 1983 illustrated version of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is the highest priced item, starting at $200,000.

The auction also includes art from legends like Richard Corben, Jack Kirby and H.R. Giger, whose work Del Toro wrote in the catalog “represent the pinnacle of comic book art in the last quarter of the twentieth century.”

Other cultural touchstones in illustration that are represented in the auction include rare images from the 1914 short film “Gertie the Dinosaur,” one of the earliest animated films, and original art for Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” by Eyvind Earle and Kay Nielsen.

“As collectors, you are basically keeping pieces of culture for generations to come. They’re not yours,” Del Toro said. “We don’t know which of the pieces you’re holding is going to be culturally significant … 100 years from now, 50 years from now. So that’s part of the weight.”

Luna writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Monday night that he’s firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook, an unprecedented move that would constitute a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.

Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is removing Cook effective immediately because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the accusations last week.

Pulte alleged that Cook had claimed two primary residences — in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Atlanta — in 2021 to get better mortgage terms. Mortgage rates are often higher on second homes or those purchased to rent.

Trump’s move is likely to touch off an extensive legal battle that will probably go to the Supreme Court and could disrupt financial markets, potentially pushing interest rates higher.

The independence of the Fed is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables it to take unpopular steps such as raising interest rates. If bond investors start to lose faith that the Fed will be able to control inflation, they will demand higher rates to own bonds, pushing up borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans and business loans.

Legal scholars noted that the allegations are likely a pretext for the president to open up another seat on the seven-member board so he can appoint a loyalist to push for his long-stated goal of lower interest rates.

Fed governors vote on the central bank’s interest rate decisions and on issues of financial regulation. Although they are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, they are not like Cabinet secretaries, who serve at the pleasure of the president. They serve 14-year terms that are staggered in an effort to insulate the Fed from political influence.

No president has sought to fire a Fed governor before. In recent decades, presidents of both parties have largely respected Fed independence, though Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson put heavy pressure on the Fed during their presidencies — mostly behind closed doors.

Still, that behind-the-scenes pressure to keep interest rates low, the same goal sought by Trump, has widely been blamed for touching off rampant inflation in the late 1960s and ‘70s.

The announcement came days after Cook said she wouldn’t leave despite Trump previously calling for her to resign. “I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” Cook said in a previous statement issued by the Fed.

Senate Democrats had expressed support for Cook, who has not been charged with wrongdoing.

Another Fed governor, Adriana Kugler, stepped down unexpectedly Aug. 1, and Trump has nominated one of his economic advisors, Stephen Miran, to fill out the remainder of her term until January.

“The Federal Reserve has tremendous responsibility for setting interest rates and regulating reserve member banks. The American people must have the full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve,” Trump wrote in a letter addressed to Cook, a copy of which he posted online. “In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter, they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.”

Trump argued that firing Cook was constitutional, even if doing so will raise questions about control of the Fed as an independent entity.

“The executive power of the United States is vested to me as President and, as President, I have a solemn duty that the laws of the United States are faithfully enacted,” the president wrote in the letter to Cook. “I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office.”

Among the unresolved legal questions are whether Cook could be allowed to remain in her seat while the case plays out. She may have to fight the legal battle herself, as the injured party, rather than the Fed.

In the meantime, Trump’s announcement drew swift rebuke from advocates and former Fed officials who worry that Trump is trying to exert too much power and control over the nation’s central bank.

“The President’s effort to fire a sitting Federal Reserve Governor is part of a concerted effort to transform the financial regulators from independent watchdogs into obedient lapdogs that do as they’re told. This could have real consequences for Americans feeling the squeeze from higher prices,” Rohit Chopra, former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said in a statement.

It is the latest effort by the administration to take control over one of the few remaining independent agencies in Washington. Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed’s chair, Jerome H. Powell, for not cutting its short-term interest rate, and even threatened to fire him.

Forcing Cook off the Fed’s governing board would provide Trump an opportunity to appoint a loyalist. Trump has said he would appoint only officials who would support cutting rates.

Powell signaled last week that the Fed may cut rates soon even as inflation risks remain moderate. Meanwhile, Trump will be able to replace Powell in May 2026, when Powell’s term expires. However, 12 members of the Fed’s interest-rate-setting committee have a vote on whether to raise or lower interest rates, so even replacing the chair might not guarantee that Fed policy will shift the way Trump wants.

Rugaber and Weissert write for the Associated Press.

Donald Trump ran on a promise to use the powers of the government for revenge against those he claims have wronged him. He now appears to be fulfilling that campaign promise while threatening to expand his powers well beyond Washington.

On Friday, the FBI searched the home of John Bolton, Trump’s first-term national security advisor turned critic, who in an interview this month called the administration “the retribution presidency.”

Trump’s team has opened investigations of Democrat Letitia James, the New York attorney general who sued Trump’s company alleging fraud for falsifying records; and Sen. Adam Schiff of California, another Democrat who as a congressman led Trump’s first impeachment.

The Republican administration has charged Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) over her actions at an immigration protest in Newark, N.J., after arresting Mayor Ras Baraka, also a Democrat. Under investigation, too, is former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a longtime Democrat now running an independent campaign for New York City mayor.

Trump has directed prosecutors to investigate two other members of his first administration: Miles Taylor, who wrote a book warning of what he said were Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, and Chris Krebs, who earned the president’s wrath for assuring voters that the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, was secure.

The actions look like the payback Trump said he would pursue after being hit with four separate sets of criminal charges during his four years out of office. Those included an indictment for his effort to overturn the 2020 election that was gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court, which said presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for official acts while in office. The remaining case was dismissed after Trump was elected in November, a consequence of Justice Department policy not to bring charges against sitting presidents.

The Trump team has countered by accusing the president’s foes of politicizing the legal process against him.

“Joe Biden weaponized his administration to target political opponents — most famously, President Trump,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said Saturday. Trump, she said, “is restoring law and order.”

In addition to making good on his promises of retribution, Trump has deployed the military into American cities, which he says is needed to fight crime and help with immigration arrests. He has sent thousands of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers to patrol the streets in the nation’s capital, after activating the guard and Marines in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Taken together, the actions have alarmed Democrats and others who fear Trump is wielding the authority of his office to intimidate his political opponents and consolidate power in a way that is unprecedented in U.S. history.

“You combine the threat of prosecution with armed troops in the streets,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College. “The picture is pretty clear for anyone who’s read a history book what kind of administration we’re dealing with.”

Past election investigations are a Trump focus

Trump began his second term as the only felon to ever occupy the White House, after his conviction last year on fraud charges related to hush money payments to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign.

He promptly pardoned more than 1,500 people who were convicted of crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — including people found guilty of sedition and of assaulting police officers.

His Justice Department, meanwhile, has fired some federal prosecutors who had pursued those cases. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi ordered a grand jury to look into the origins of the investigation of his 2016 campaign’s ties with Russia, and Trump has called on her department to investigate former Democratic President Obama.

The government’s watchdog agency has opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the special counsel who investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and the classified documents stashed at his Florida estate. Those cases were among several that dogged Trump in the years between his presidential terms, including the New York fraud case and charges for election interference in Georgia brought by the Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County.

All those investigations led him to claim that Democrats had weaponized the government against him.

“It is amazing to me the number of people the Trump administration has gone after, all of whom are identified by the fact that they investigated or criticized Trump in one way or another,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a former Justice Department official who is a George Washington University law professor.

On Friday, Trump used governmental powers in other ways to further his goals. He announced that Chicago could be the next city subject to military deployments.

And after his housing director alleged that one of the governors of the independent Federal Reserve had committed mortgage fraud, Trump demanded she resign or be fired. He took to his social platform on Saturday to highlight the claims, as he tries to wrest control of the central bank.

‘I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer’

Vice President JD Vance denied in a television interview that Bolton was being targeted because of his criticism of Trump.

“If there’s no crime here, we’re not going to prosecute it,” Vance said Friday in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Trump said he told his staff not to inform him about the Bolton search ahead of time, but he emphasized that he has authority over all prosecutions.

“I could know about it. I could be the one starting it,” the president told reporters. “I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer.”

Bolton occupies a special place in the ranks of Trump critics. The longtime GOP foreign policy hawk wrote a book published in 2020, after Trump had fired him the year before. The first Trump administration sued to block the book’s release and opened a grand jury investigation, both of which were halted by the Biden administration.

Bolton landed on a list of 60 former officials drawn up by now-FBI Director Kash Patel that he portrayed as a tally of the “Executive Branch Deep State.” Critics warned it was an “enemies list.” When Trump returned to office in January, his administration revoked the security detail that had been assigned to Bolton, who has faced Iranian assassination threats.

The FBI is now investigating Bolton for potentially mishandling classified information, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly. In contrast, Trump condemned the FBI’s search of his own Mar-a-Lago resort in 2022, which prosecutors say turned up a trove of classified documents, including nuclear data and other top-secret papers.

Retribution is wide-ranging, from judges to the military

Trump has also targeted institutions that have defied him.

The president issued orders barring several law firms that were involved in litigation against him or his allies, or had hired his opponents, from doing business with the federal government. Trump cut deals with several other firms to do free legal work rather than face penalties. He has targeted universities for funding cuts if they do not follow his administration’s directives.

His administration filed a judicial misconduct complaint against a judge who ruled that Trump officials probably committed criminal contempt by ignoring his directive to turn around planes carrying people being sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The actions are among steps that seem to be intensifying. Trump’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has fired several military leaders perceived to be critics of the president or not sufficiently loyal, and last week the administration revoked the security clearances of about three dozen current and former national security officials.

“It’s what he promised,” said Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official and Biden White House staffer who is a law professor at Loyola Marymount University. “It’s what bullies do when no one tells them ‘no.’ ”

Riccardi writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

SACRAMENTO — Moments after California lawmakers passed a plan designed to undercut attempts by the president and fellow Republicans to keep control of Congress, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state’s proposed partisan redistricting that favors Democrats is a necessary counterweight to President Trump’s threat to American democracy.

Trump’s assault on vote by mail and decision to send the military into U.S. cities are evidence of his authoritarian policies, and California must do its part to keep him in check, Newsom said.

By deploying federal immigration agents in roving street raids and activating thousands of members of the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., Newsom said, Trump is amassing “a private army for Donald Trump.”

“He’s trying to rig the election, he’s trying to set up the conditions where he can claim that the elections were not won fair and square,” Newsom said. “Open your eyes to what is going on in the United States of America in 2025.”

The argument is a preview of the messaging for the ballot measure campaign that Newsom and his Democratic Party allies will be running over the next 74 days.

On Thursday, California lawmakers signed off on a Nov. 4 special election that will put partisan redistricting in front of California voters.

The ballot measure, called Proposition 50, will ask voters to discard the congressional boundaries drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission in 2021 in favor of partisan districts that could boot as many as five California Republicans out of Congress.

“When all things are equal, and we’re all playing by the same set of rules,” Newsom said, “there’s no question that the Republican Party will be the minority party in the House of Representatives next year.”

California is “responding to what occurred in Texas, we’re neutralizing what occurred, and we’re giving the American people a fair chance,” Newsom said.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina accused Newsom of trying to “rig” the system to advance his own political career.

“Instead of fixing the homelessness, crime, drug, and cost crises crushing the Golden State, Gavin Newsom is tearing up California’s Constitution to advance his presidential ambitions,” Hudson said in a statement.

California’s new lines would neutralize efforts in Texas to redraw their congressional district maps to help elect five more GOP candidates in 2026. The Texas Legislature is expected to approve new district lines this week.

The other option, Newsom said, is for California and Democrats to “roll over and do nothing.”

“I think people all across the country are going to campaign here in California for this,” Newsom said. “They recognize what’s at stake. It’s not just about the state of California. It’s about the United States of America. It’s about rigging the election. It’s about completely gutting the rules.”

Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.

TEMPLEGATE tackles day three of the York Ebor Festival confident of bashing the bookies with his best racing tips.

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NIGHT RAIDER (3.35 York, nap)

He has shaped better than his form figures suggest, especially when sixth behind JM Jungle at Goodwood. He was the winner on the wrong side of the track there. Still unexposed at 5f and can improve again.

ZGHARTA (4.10 York, nb)

She was a typical Goodwood hard-luck story last time and this more conventional track should be ideal. She finished with running left and the return to this trip on fast could suit ideally. She is on a workable mark and shapes as one firmly on the up.

TRAWLERMAN (2.25 York, treble)

The Gosden stayer can reel in another nice prize after his demolition job in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. He made all that day and surged clear of a strong field, backing up a dominant win in the Henry II at Sandown. Proven over the trip and fine on this quick surface, he looks the class act here and hard to oppose.

Templegate’s TV verdicts

1.50

NAQEEB looks primed to land this hot handicap after a huge run at Goodwood, charging home for second despite losing a shoe during the race.

That backed up a storming third at Royal Ascot and he’s crying out for this sort of test.

A strong traveller with proven form on quick ground, he’s weighted to strike and looks ready to cash in.

Mount Atlas is a big danger up in class after a smooth Ascot win.

He’s clearly thriving but has a little bit more on his plate here from a career-high mark.

Insanity is one to note after a luckless third in the same race – he wasn’t ideally placed that day and could easily hit the frame again.

This Songisforyou was pitched into Group company last time and didn’t disgrace himself – he’ll find this easier and shouldn’t be overlooked.

French Duke hasn’t fired this season but has talent and is slowly coming down the weights.

2.25

TRAWLERMAN can reel in another nice prize after his demolition job in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

He made all that day and surged clear of a strong field, backing up a dominant win in the Henry II at Sandown.

Proven over the trip and fine on this quick surface, he looks the class act here and hard to oppose.

Al Qareem is thriving, especially at York, and arrives chasing a hat-trick after front-running wins in Listed and Group 3 company.

He’ll push the pace again and won’t go down without a fight.

Sweet William is consistent and stays all day but often gives ground away early and may need to be sharper from the gates to land a blow.

Al Nayyir bounced back with a narrow defeat to Coltrane last time and does stay this far, though he’s yet to score at this level.

Dubai Future has plenty of back class but has been found wanting in top races this term, while three-year-old Shackleton is a likeable type for the future but needs a big step forward to trouble these old hands.

3.00

DO OR DO NOT can get off the mark in the Gimcrack.

This son of Space Blues has danced every dance this summer, hitting the frame in three consecutive Group 2s.

He was just behind high-class performers at both Newmarket and Goodwood, shaping like a colt crying out for a big pot.

He’s tactically sharp, handles quick ground and looks rock solid with first-time cheekpieces added to the mix.

Reciprocated went backwards at Ascot after two easy wins and needs to settle better, while Rock On Thunder ran well at Newbury but needs more in this company.

Egoli has won twice and fared best on the wrong side of the track at Goodwood.

Any improvement on that would put him in the picture.

The speedy Comical Point needs a revival after flopping in the July Stakes at Newmarket last time.

Lifeplan impressed on debut but faces a major class hike, while Irish Fighter and Yorkshire Puds both look up against it in this good company.

3.35

NIGHT RAIDER can land a smash and grab in the £700,000 Nunthorpe (3.35 York, nap).

Karl Burke’s flyer is ideally drawn in stall eight and deserves a change of luck after winning on the wrong side at Goodwood last time.

He has loads of pace and will be right up there.

JM Jungle beat him and a few of the others in that race and looks dangerous again.

Arizona Blaze and Aussie Asfoora are in the mix too along with youngster Lady Iman.

Here’s my guide to the field, where I rate them from one (worst) to five (best):

JM JUNGLE 4

JUNGLE boogie. Thriving sprinter, has improved through the season and comes here on the back of a Group 2 win at Goodwood. 5f ideal, handles fast ground well and is a strong contender at a track he likes.

KERDOS 2

DON’T Ker. Well beaten at Goodwood but didn’t really get the run of the race. Has shown flashes of form this year, including a solid Group 1 run at Ascot. 5f suits but might find a few too sharp.

MANACCAN 1

NO Man. Back from a break this season and took a step forward last time in handicap company. Has Group form at best but looks vulnerable in this calibre of race.

NIGHT RAIDER 5

NIGHT fever. Has shaped better than his form figures suggest, especially when sixth behind JM Jungle at Goodwood. He was the winner on the wrong side of the track there. Still unexposed at 5f and can improve again.

RUMSTAR 3

STAR potential. Didn’t seem to like soft at the Curragh last time after a career-best Sandown win. Consistent and will prefer this going. Could bounce back and one of many place chances.

SPARTAN ARROW 1

BLUNT Arrow. Listed winner earlier this season and solid handicapper but hasn’t looked up to this grade in recent runs. Latest Goodwood ninth confirms he’s got something to find at this level.

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS 3

WASH and go. C&D winner in Listed last month, and third in a strong Haydock Group 2 earlier this season so deserves to be here. Ggoes well fresh, so could easily run into the frame again.

AIN’T NOBODY 1

NOBODY’S fool. Yet to score in 2025 but fair placed form in Pattern company earlier this term. Last two runs have been below that standard though and this looks a stretch on known form.

ARIZONA BLAZE 4

BLAZE on fire. Improving colt with a turn of foot and showed that with convincing Group 2 win in Ireland last time. Has high-level form at 5f and arrives at the top of his game. Major player.

ASFOORA 4

AS a chance. Australian mare with top-class back form, including a Royal Ascot win in 2024. This season’s efforts have been decent without being electric but now third-up and fitter. Should be thereabouts if able to bring her best form.

FROST AT DAWN 3

DAWN chorus. Group 1 runner-up earlier this summer and consistent at 5f. Fourth behind JM Jungle at Goodwood last time was solid. Likes fast ground, and strong pace will suit her style.

MGHEERA 3

HEER we go. Classy mare with two Group wins already this year. Not at best in Ireland last time but needed the run after a break. Has pace and on the each-way shortlist under Buick.

SHE’S QUALITY 3

QUALITY counts. Very solid filly, placed in last four Group runs and just denied by JM Jungle at Goodwood. Consistent, speedy and suited by conditions. Likely to run her usual honest race.

CELANDINE 2

HARD Cell. Good run at Chester last time and a previous Group 3 scorer. Ground no issue and course winner too but this is her toughest task to date and she may just get outpaced.

SAYIDAH DARIYAN 3

SAY maybe. Impressive winner of the Summer Stakes here last time over 6f and is improving. Likely to be ridden for a late burst and has claims if pace collapses. Needs another career-best.

LADY IMAN 4

IMAN of the moment. Unbeaten 2yo filly who took the Molecomb in style at Goodwood. Gets huge weight-for-age allowance and clearly fast. First time taking on older horses but her profile screams serious Group 1 potential.

SPICY MARG 3

NICE and Spicy. Has done little wrong so far and bolted up in minor race last time. Faces far stronger opposition but her finishing kick is potent. Gets lumps of weight and can hit the frame.

4.10

ZGHARTA was a typical Goodwood hard-luck story last time and this more conventional track should be ideal.

She finished with running left and the return to this trip on fast could suit ideally.

She is on a workable mark and shapes as one firmly on the up.

Wonder Star is a big threat after nearly landing a similar contest at Goodwood.

She travelled well there and is improving, but her draw and lack of experience in deeper handicaps are small concerns.

Akecheta caught the eye from off the pace at Goodwood and is well suited by a strong gallop.

She’s handicapped to strike again soon.

Cape Flora was visually striking at Leicester. This is tougher, but she’s unexposed.

Callisto Dream has shaped with promise all this season and she could improve for this step up in trip.

Templegate’s tips

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TEMPLEGATE tackles Saturday’s racing confident of keeping his hot run going – and building the bank for York next week.

Back a horse by clicking their odds.

MORE THUNDER (3.35 Newbury, nap)

Can go like lightning in the Hungerford Stakes. Trainer William Haggas has a fantastic record in this Group 2 with three wins since 2015 including last year with Tiber Flow. More Thunder looks more than capable of delivering at this level after his battling Bunbury Cup win at Newmarket last time. That came after six furlongs proved a couple of yards too short when he flew home for second in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot. He’s looked potentially more than a handicapper all season after he kicked off with back-to-back wins at Newmarket in the style of a classy performer. He deserves his chance at this level and looks well up to it.

CRACKING GOLD (3.00 Newbury, nb)

Can shine for Clive Cox. He has been in flying form all season and looks hard to beat. I go through all the runners for this race below.

SECRET GUEST (3.20 Ripon, treble)

Can star in the William Hill Great St Wilfrid Handicap. He was an excellent third in the race 12 months ago for trainer Bryan Smart who has given him a little break since a good second at Thirsk last time out. The five-year-old is back from just 3lb higher than last year but his rider’s claim takes care of that. He’s drawn well in stall 11 and ticks all the boxes for this competitive contest.

Templegate’s TV verdicts

NEWBURY

1.50

PINHOLE looked a lot more than a handicapper when bolting up at Ascot last time.

That was just his third run for Ralph Beckett and he stormed home over 1m4f to suggest this longer trip would bring further improvement.

He deserves another crack at this stronger company.

Epic Poet didn’t enjoy 1m4f in the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot after going close in the Yorkshire Cup and will be happier at this distance.

Nightime Dancer chased home potential superstar Scandinavia here last time and should find this challenge a bit simpler.

Candleford has a Listed win on his CV this season but needs to bounce back from a moderate effort at Goodwood last time.

2.25

RHYTHM N HOOVES is music to my ears. Robert Cowell’s speedster looked right back to his best when flashing home for second in a hot Ascot sprint last month.

He’s well-handicapped from just 2lb higher, thrives on fast ground and Billy Loughnane knows exactly how to deliver him late.

A truly-run race should see him swooping past tiring rivals in the final 100 yards.

Getreadytorumble is a big danger after a string of good efforts at this distance, while Glamorous Breeze has the class to pounce if the gaps open.

Sugar Hill Babe, drawn in stall one, could give them plenty to think about from the front but she’s likely to set things up nicely for the tip.

3.00

I’VE got a Cracking bet on the box at Newbury.

CRACKING GOLD (3.00, nb) was an impressive winner here two runs ago before close close at Goodwood. He can take another step forward for Clive Cox.

Classic, Consolidation and Leadman can give him most to do.

Here’s my guide to the field, where I rate them out of one (worst) and five (best) stars:

CRACKING GOLD 5

GOLD star. Looked better than ever with a strong Goodwood second in a big field last time. He’s suited by pace and trip, handles all ground and runs well fresh. Reliable and progressive profile suggests he’s the one to beat.

HAVANA PUSEY 2

HAV to pass. Likes to be up with the pace and held her own in a Group 3 latest after earlier handicap wins over this trip. Track and ground ideal, but needs to improve on last Goodwood showing.

CLASSIC 4

CLASSIC case. Thriving this summer with strong Ascot second and earlier Sandown win. That form looks rock solid, 7f ideal, handles ground, and has track form. Very likely to go close again.

LOU LOU’S GIFT 3

GIFT horse. Lightly raced filly, shaped better than result in a messy Ascot Group 3 last time. Down in grade, strong pace helps. Still has more to come at 7f. Place shout

JUMBY 3

BY law. Game veteran. Big run in Newmarket handicap latest and has tumbled down the weights. This is his trip but long losing run remains a concern. No surprise to see him in the frame.

WOLF OF BADENOCH 1

WOLF whistle. Well held at Ascot on turf return and cheekpieces stay on. Was useful as a two-year-old but may not have trained on. Others bring stronger current claims and more proven handicapping efforts.

CONSOLIDATION 4

NO Con. Career-best win at Goodwood two back, unlucky latest when getting stuck in traffic. Goes well on quick ground and 7f suits. Still unexposed and could well bounce back with a cleaner trip.

OBELIX 3

LIX not licked. Had no chance at Wolver last time from a wide draw on the back of a good York win. He likes this trip on quick ground and isn’t ruled out from 7lb higher.

LEADMAN 4

GOOD Man. Won nicely here before getting no luck at Goodwood last time. He’s best over 7f and his form ties in well with others here. His handicap mark is fair and he’s high on the shortlist.

COGITATE 2

SMALL Cog. Not disgraced in hot Ascot handicap last time but he’s not the easiest ride. Has come down weights but needs a step forward to score in this company.

DOCUMENTING 1

WHAT’S up Doc? Almost a teenager but is still competitive with good efforts this season in big fields. His fifth behind Obelix at York reads well but there’s no obvious reason why he’ll turn that around.

3.35

MORE THUNDER never wins by very far but he keeps producing the goods like when winning the Bunbury Cup here by a short-head last time.

That build on his staying-on Wokingham second and two other smart wins on the Rowley course this season.

He looks well up to Group 2 standard and proved his liking for this trip last time.

King’s Gamble came home strongly when just denied over six furlongs at Newbury last time.

That was his first run in 11 months and moving back up in trip makes him the main danger.

Witness Stand won the Lennox nicely at Goodwood and goes well here too.

He’s in the mix while Spy Chief was far from disgraced in the July Cup and is likely to go hard on the front end.

RIPON

2.45

NOVELLO LAD has won two of his past three and looks capable of another step forward.

He saves his best for six furlongs on quick ground and his double-figure draw is another plus.

The handicapper must have been in a good mood when hiking him only 2lb for scoring at Pontefract last time.

Paul Midgley does well at Ripon and can add to his tally.

Wreck It Ryley saves his best for Ripon and was less than two lengths off the pace at Yarmouth last time.

He looks a good price to make the frame.

Ziggy’s Ariel landed his last win here in April and is only 2lb higher today which makes him competitive.

Likely favourite Fortamour is a good performer at this level but he’s yet to win on quick ground which has to be a worry for the nine-year-old.

Dicko The Legend was good at York last time and is well drawn.

3.20

SECRET GUEST was third in this last season and is primed to go two better.

Trainer Bryan Smart seems to have laid him out for the race and has given him a break since his close second at Thirsk in early July.

He’s only 3lb higher than his last win and this trip and track are ideal.

You want to be drawn high and he’s handy in stall 11.

Rock Opera comes from box 14 and was a close-up third in good company at York last time.

That was over this trip on fast ground so he should be on the premises again.

Grant Wood won the Silver Cup on this card last year and has clearly been aimed at this race.

He’s a big price to make the frame despite a low draw.

Similar comments apply to Intervention who ran well at Chepstow last time and looks on a fair mark.

Prince Of Pillo is in stall 16 and likes this track. His trainer Richard Fahey won this race 12 months ago so he’s a threat.

NEWMARKET

2.05

BINHAREER made a mockery of his opening turf handicap mark when strolling to victory at Ayr last month.

His jockey had the luxury of dropping his whip but it made no difference as he hammered his rivals over this trip.

The ground was softer that day but he doesn’t need it on breeding and looks a typical William Haggas improver.

He’s up 8lb for that smooth success but that won’t put the brakes on as there’s a lot more to come.

Archduke Ferdinand looks a fair each-way price with his rider’s claim taking him below his last winning mark.

He is best over this trip and likes fast ground.

Addison Grey made a promising start to his handicapping career when beaten less than a length at Chepstow nine days ago.

This trip suits and there’s more to come after just four runs.

Silver Samurai ran better than fifth place suggests at Doncaster latest. That was over seven furlongs but he has enough pace to figure.

Templegate’s tips

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A responsible gambler is someone who:

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Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.

As part of a new challenge to push himself, the Marvel actor decided to learn to play the drums – but when he played in a stadium with pop star Ed Sheeran, he was terrified…

Terrified, sweating and short of breath, Thor actor Chris Hemsworth said playing drums for Ed Sheeran in front of 70,000 people was “the stupidest thing I could have done”. The Australian star, best known for playing a hammer-wielding Norse God, was wielding drum sticks instead as he took to the stage – and he was way out of his comfort zone. He says: “All the fans are going to be watching me destroy an Ed Sheeran classic.”

The scary challenge was part of a bold new mission for Chris, and this time, not in the Marvel world, in the real world. In a thrilling three-part series Limitless: Live Better Now, streaming today (Aug 15) on Disney+, Chris pushes himself further than ever – physically, mentally and emotionally – as he confronts some of life’s most universal challenges: pain, fear and cognitive decline. Determined to discover how we can all live better, Chris dives into three high-stakes challenges that promise real, immediate ways to sharpen our minds and strengthen our bodies.

In the first series, the 42-year-old discovered while filming that he is, biologically, eight to ten times more likely than the average person to develop Alzheimer’s disease because he carries two copies of a certain gene. “That warning sign was further motivation to take care of myself,” he says.

In this second series, filmed across six countries over two years, he climbs a 600-foot Alpine dam, learn the drums to perform live with Ed Sheeran, and endure South Korean Special Forces training. He adds: “I’ve always worked very hard on my physical fitness but I’m realising that I need to put as much work in for my brain as I do for my body. I’m diving head first into cutting edge science to uncover three secrets to living better.”

We see Chris struggling as he first starts to learn the drums, with Ed Sheeran telling him: “I think this might actually be the most difficult thing you do.” Just two months later we see Chris preparing to go on stage in the massive arena in Bucharest, Romania. Chris says: “Of all the stupid things I could have done, this feels like the stupidest. The moment I walk out and see how big that arena is, I’m starting to think ‘I’ve got to get out of here’.”

He adds: “Nervous energy, heart rate, sweaty palms, short of breath, all of that. The reality is kicking in and I’m feeling really terrified. All the fans are going to be watching me destroy an Ed Sheeran classic. It’s one take, one shot. I basically have no musical talent so how did I end up playing drums for one of the biggest pop stars in the world in front of 70,000 people?”

He adds: “This is the first challenge in a journey that will take me all over the world – discovering three powerful secrets to living better right now. Can we supercharge our brains by learning something new? Can we beat pain by reframing? And what benefits are there if we face the things that scare us most? It’s a life-changing mission that will push my mind and my body to the limits.”

Starting in London, where he has some cognitive tests, Chris says: “There are some days when I think my memory is pretty good but there are other days when I think ‘Something’s not firing properly’. I put it down to being overwhelmed by certain things and having too many things on my plate.” He is told that one of the best ways to boost his brain is to learn a new skill, especially a musical instrument, which activates visual, auditory and motor skills all at once.

Of course he decides to play the drums – he’s Thor. And of course he’s mates with Ed Sheeran. There’s a lot of stress but his surprise performance, to the hit Thinking Out Loud, is met with rapturous applause in the stadium. Chris says: “I haven’t ever had 70,000 people staring at me like this. Ed told me to take my headphones out and listen (to the applause). I’ll never forget that moment.”

*Limitless: Live Better Now is now streaming on Disney+

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