THE Greatest Show on Turf is BACK as Cheltenham Festival returns to Prestbury Park.

Four thrilling days of action sees the very best horses from Britain, Ireland and France come together for one of the highlights in the sporting calendar.

Paul Edwards

Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to have a number of runners at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival[/caption]

Cheltenham Festival betting offers and free bets

28 races will take place across the four-day spectacle, attracting fans from all around the world.

Some familiar faces will be running horses at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, including none other than Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson.

The iconic manager enjoyed a superb third day at Cheltenham last year when two of his horses rode to victory, which saw him pocket a whopping £275,000.

Sir Alex will be hoping for more paydays at Prestbury Park this week, and SunSport can reveal all the horses Fergie is running so you can back them, too!

What horses is Sir Alex Ferguson running at Cheltenham Festival 2025?

Sir Alex Ferguson will potentially have SIX horses running at Cheltenham Festival this year.

On the opening day (Tuesday, March 11), Fergie will run L’Eau Du Su in the 2pm Arkle Novices’ Chase, whilst Potters Charm will be racing in the Novices’ Hurdle at 1.20pm on Wednesday.

Day Three of Cheltenham will see Sir Alex have a whopping FOUR runners, including a defending champion.

Protektorat will be aiming to win the Ryanair Chase (3.20pm) for the second year running.

While, Monmiral will not race in the Pretemps Network Final Handicap, the race he won last year, as he has been entered into the Stayers’ Hurdle on Thursday instead.

Fergie’s other potential runners on Day Three include Caldwell Potter in the Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (2pm) and Il Ridoto in the Plate Handicap Chase (4.40pm).

Thursday at Cheltenham will be the final day for Fergie’s horses, with the football legend not expected to have any running on Friday.

CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2025 LIVE: LATEST TIPS AND RESULTS FROM THE GREATEST SHOW ON TURF

Cheltenham Festival 2025 schedule in FULL

Tuesday, March 11 – Champion Day

1.20pm: Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ (Grade 1)
2pm: My Pension Expert Arkle Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
2.40pm: Ultima Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap)
3.20pm: Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
4pm: Unibet Champion Hurdle (Grade 1)
4.40pm: Hallgarten And Novum Wines Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap)
5.20pm: National Hunt Novices’ Chase

Wednesday, March 12 – Style Wednesday

1.20pm: Turners Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
2pm: Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase
2.40pm: Coral Cup Hurdle (Premier Handicap)
3.20pm: Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
4pm: BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1)
4.40pm: Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap)
5.20pm: Weatherbys Champion Bumper

Thursday, March 13 – St Patrick’s Thursday

1.20pm: Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2)
2pm: Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap Chase
2.40pm: Pertemps Network Final (Premier Handicap)
3.20pm: Ryanair Chase (Grade 1)
4pm: Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
4.40pm: TrustATrader Plate (Premier Handicap)
5.20pm: Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup

Friday, March 14 – Gold Cup Day

1.20pm: JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1)
2pm: William Hill County Handicap Hurdle Race (Premier Handicap)
2.40pm: Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase (Grade 2)
3.20pm: Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
4pm: Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1)
4.40pm: St. James’s Place Festival Hunters Chase
5.20pm: Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle

How to watch Cheltenham Festival 2025

• In the UK, you can watch the first SIX races of each day on ITV1.
• You can live stream ITV’s coverage for FREE via the ITVX app/website.
• The final race of each day will not be shown on ITV, but Racing TV (a paid for channel) will provide FULL coverage of the Cheltenham Festival, including the 5.20pm of each day.

TWENTY women have come forward to reveal how common medicines led to dangerous and impulsive sexual behaviours.

They say they were never warned about the devastating side effects of dopamine agonist drugs, taken by potentially hundreds of thousands of Brits.

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One woman recalls leaving her house at dawn to seek out sex, wearing a see-through top and jacket (stock picture of model)[/caption]

Some women told the BBC they were compelled to engage in risky sexual behaviour, like flashing in public, and had no idea what was driving it.

Others claim they felt compelled to gamble or shop with no history of such activities.

One accumulated debts of more than £150,000.

These drugs are primarily used to treat Parkinson’s disease, which around 145,000 people in the UK.

They’re also used to treat restless leg syndrome (RLS), which affects up to three million Brits.

Not everyone with Parkinson’s or RLS takes dopamine agonist drugs, but they are a common treatment option for many people.

A report by drugs firm GSK confirms a link between these medications and “deviant” sexual behaviour, including incidents like a sexual assault on a child.

Yet, there was no mention of this in the patient leaflets.

The UK medicines watchdog says there’s a general warning about increased libido and harmful behaviour.

GSK says a risk of “altered” sexual interest is also referred to in the leaflets.

Like many women, Claire first developed RLS during her pregnancies.

The relentless need to move was often accompanied by sleeplessness and a crawling sensation under her skin.

The condition persisted after giving birth and she was prescribed the dopamine agonist drug Ropinirole, manufactured by GSK.

It initially worked wonders for her RLS, she said, but after a year or so she began feeling unprecedented sexual urges.

“The only way I could describe it is it was just deviant”, she explained.

She said the medication made her act in ways she never would have before, even engaging in risky sexual encounters in dangerous places.

Claire recalls leaving her house at dawn to seek out sex, wearing a see-through top and jacket.

She says she would flash her chest at any man she could find.

She did this often, in riskier spots, even though she had a partner.

Claire had no idea the drug was to blame until years later – when she stopped taking it and the urges disappeared.

Organising phone sex with strangers

Sarah was in her 50s when she was prescribed another dopamine agonist drug made by a different manufacturer.

“Previously I’d have had no interest if Brad Pitt walked in the room naked,” she said.

“But it turned me into this raging woman who kept taking sexual addiction further.”

Sarah started selling used underwear and explicit videos online, while also organising phone sex with strangers.

She also developed a compulsive shopping habit, accumulating £30,000 in debt.

To cope with the effects of the dopamine agonist, she turned to painkillers and sleeping pills and eventually landed in rehab.

This led to losing her driving license and her job.

Impulsive behaviours, such as gambling and heightened sex drive, have long been listed as side effects of dopamine agonist drugs.

These affect an estimated six per cent to 17 per cent of RLS patients, according to NICE.

The NHS defines a “common” side effect as one that impacts just one per cent of users.

The drugs mimic dopamine, a brain chemical that helps control movement and pleasure.

But agonist drugs can over-stimulate these feelings and under-stimulate the appreciation of consequences – leading to impulsive behaviour.

In 2011, four Parkinson’s disease patients took legal action against GSK, claiming Ropinirole caused gambling debts and ruined relationships.

They argued that, despite studies linking the drug to these behaviours since 2000, GSK didn’t add warnings until 2007.

The case was settled, but GSK denied any responsibility.

Torturing cats

Serious side effects have been reported worldwide, particularly in relation to the use of drugs for Parkinson’s disease

In France, a man won damages after Ropinirole triggered compulsive homosexual urges, while another man with no criminal record started torturing cats.

In the US, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine warns the drugs should only be used short-term, like in end-of-life care.

Dr Guy Leschziner, a consultant neurologist, said the drugs still play an important role but he believes that drug companies, health authorities and doctors need to better warn patients of these side effects.

“Not everybody knows the kinds of really quite dramatic changes that can occur,” he explained.

In a statement, GSK told the BBC Ropinirole had been prescribed for more than 17 million treatments and undergone “extensive clinical trials”.

It added the drug had proven to be effective and had a “well-characterised safety profile”.

“As with all medicines, [it] has potential side effects and these are clearly stated in the prescribing information,” it said.

‘Altered or increased sexual interest’

In response to its 2003 research linking the drug to “deviant” sexual behaviour, GSK told the new organisation that it shared the findings with health authorities.

This led to updates in the prescribing information, which now lists “altered or increased sexual interest” and “behaviour of significant concern” as side effects.

The current patient information leaflet for Ropinirole mentions changes in sexual interest five times, mostly warning that such feelings could become “abnormally high,” “excessive,” or “increase[d].”

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said that while a specific reference to “deviant” sexual behaviour is not included in warnings, such impulses vary and a general warning about activities which may be harmful is included.

It also stressed the importance of healthcare professionals explaining the potential risks to patients, highlighting that not everyone experiences these side effects.

The Department of Health and Social Care declined to comment.

AS emergency services raced to contain the huge fireball that erupted over the North Sea, mystery swirled about what could have caused the horror collision.

Steering a path through heavy fog, the container ship Solong pummelled full speed into the side of the US tanker Stena Immaculate yesterday off the coast of Yorkshire.

X/Tessaronnews

Shocking pictures show how flames ripped through an oil tanker yesterday[/caption]

BBC

Emergency services rushed to the scene[/caption]

AP

New pictures show the damage caused by the direct hit[/caption]

It has sparked a desperate battle to contain the disaster, which may yet turn into an environmental catastrophe, with both ships carrying goods that pose an immense threat to local wildlife.

Remarkably, all but one of the crew from both vessels managed to survive after a mayday call was sent out.

But as the fire continued to burn overnight, glaring questions are starting to be asked – over what could happen next, and how such a devastating collision happened in an age of cutting-edge navigation technology.

Here, we look at the questions that must be answered before we can understand what really happened.

How did the crew make it off?

Data from MarineTraffic shows that the collision between the vessels happened shortly after 9.45am.

Almost immediately, both ships’ captains ordered their crews to abandon ship.

Despite their immense size, neither ship, fortunately, had a huge number of crew members.

The Solong had 14 members on board, while the Stena Immaculate had 23 on board.

By a miracle, almost all crew members from both ships made it out alive, aside from one member of the Solong, who it is believed is lost to the North Sea.

They faced not only the cold waters of the ocean, but the raging fire and potentially toxic fumes.

It has been reported that a number of the crew had been brought ashore by a commercial catamaran, followed by a couple of harbour pilot boats.

Nonetheless, it remains unclear how almost all of the crew members were so lucky to survive such a massive collision.

Was foul play involved?

The anchored Stena Immaculate was carrying US military fuel, which has led to questions over whether the collision is an act by a hostile power.

A senior White House official has refused to rule out the possibility that the systems onboard the Solong could have been hacked, turning it into a kind of spear that was steamed directly towards the US ship.

BBC

Aerial images show the extent of damage to the North Sea vessel[/caption]

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Fire and rescue services attend the collision off the coast of the Humber Estuary[/caption]

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The incident followed a collision between oil tanker MV Stena Immaculate and the cargo vessel MV Solong[/caption]

States such as Russia have in the past proved that they are more than capable of using cyber tactics as a threat of force.

Given how bizarre and unusual such a collision like this is, foul play is by no means implausible – especially given how direct a hit this was. 

Why didn’t the autopilot work?

The sea conditions at the time of the collision have been described as reasonable, aside from the haze and smog – but this is nothing ships can’t deal with.

The Solong is believed to have been on autopilot, but these systems are designed to spot obstacles such as other ships and correct their course in time.

Yet it remains unclear why these systems onboard the Solong didn’t work. 

When autopilot is used, a course is programmed and the ship will follow – though numerous alarms and warnings on the ship’s bridge would have sounded at the threat of a collision.

PA

The Stena Immaculate oil tanker sustained a ruptured cargo tank[/caption]

VesselFinder

MV Solong was carrying highly toxic sodium cyanide[/caption]

“It seems a mystery, really, because all the vessels now have very highly sophisticated technical equipment to plot courses and to look at any obstacles or anything they’ve got to avoid,” said Martyn Boyers, the chief executive of the nearby Port of Grimsby East.

“It’s difficult to suggest what went on, other than the fact it should never have happened,” he added.

This suggests that human error could be to blame for the collision – though the idea that the crew simply ignored, or never noticed, the warnings, would be extraordinary.

How much oil will leak – and can they remove it in time?

Should all 18,000 tonnes of oil on board the Stena Immaculate leak, it would rank as one of the largest oil spills in British history.

And the rescue teams face a race against time to clean up what has already spilt, as it’s been confirmed that fuel has entered the water.

UN Maritime Security Leader Chris Reynolds has warned that crews face a “very short window” to remove the oil, before the environmental threat it poses increases.

He explained that any leaked oil could emulsify, reaching the coast as oil emulsion, a form of oil which could have a “devastating effect” on the wildlife.

Now that the search and rescue stage is over, crews will be focussing on this clean-up. 

However, given the relatively short distance from the coast, it may not be long until oil begins to come ashore.

What could happen to the environment? 

Scientists, conservationists, and wildlife experts are already sounding the alarm over the threat this collision poses to the environment. 

Jet fuel, which the Stena Immaculate was carrying, is more toxic to marine life than other kinds of oil, such as diesel or crude oil.

Fortunately, the chemical make up of jet fuel makes it easier for bacteria to break it down, which it is hoped will soften any impact, and avoid clogging the features of birds. 

Nonetheless, it still remains extremely toxic and poisonous – threatening the local wildlife, including seabirds, fish and seals.

The coast near the collision site is home to England’s largest gannet colony, and is also home to large colonies of puffins and grey seals, which are currently in pup-rearing season.

Conservation charities will currently be watching with bated breath to see if the disaster can be contained – and catastrophe can be avoided.

How long will it take to salvage the ships?

Questions will soon be asked over how long the remains of the vessels will be left floating before they can be safely salvaged.

Floating debris can be an extremely dangerous collision threat to passing ships, but crews face a number of factors before they can move in.

Safety is paramount, so it must be ensured that any fire is completely extinguished, which, given the nature of the fuel, is no easy task.

The force of the collision will also have severely damaged the structures of both ships, potentially leaking further fuel, and making the structures dangerous to board. 

Once the fire is out, however, the challenge of ensuring the vessels are safe remains – given the extremely toxic cargo that’s on board. 

Eventually, both ships will be salvaged and removed from the area – but just how long this will take is impossible to say.

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The RNLI took part in rescue operations that saw 32 people were reportedly brought ashore[/caption]

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Crew members from Bridlington RNLI return to the lifeboat station after being involved in the rescue op[/caption]

FESTIVAL goers were thrilled when the official line-up for Glastonbury was FINALLY announced, with lots of top acts set to play.

However, fans have come up with a theory about this year’s festival – and are now convinced they know who else will join the bill.

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Glastonbury will welcome some huge names this summer[/caption]

Instagram / @glastofest

The Glastonbury 2025 line-up was released last week[/caption]

Spotify

Fans think the Wombats will be heading to Worthy Farm this year[/caption]

Last week, fans went wild when it was announced that The 1975, Olivia Rodrigo, and Neil Young will all headline the famous Pyramid Stage this summer.

These huge acts will be joined by other members of music royalty, both new and old at Worthy Farm between June 25 and 29.

However, fans are still speculating there are other acts still to be released.

They are now convinced that noughties Indie band Wombats will be playing the iconic festival.

Hailing from Liverpool, the group are known for songs like Greek Tragedy and Let’s Dance to Joy Division.

It comes after the group revealed they were heading back out on tour this summer.

Discussing this on Reddit, one fan said: “Thought the Wombats be a shoo-in with their new album and them touring (playing Liverpool June 19th), wonder if a band of this size could get announced later on?”

Another agreed: “I think they’ll play Other stage first band of the festival!”

This fan added: “I’m also praying for a Wombats announcement!

“You’d think it’d be likely.”

BIG LINE-UP

The Eavis family – who’s farm the iconic festival has been held at since its creation – work hard to find the perfect blend of acts.

This year’s festival has something for everyone,which includes a mix of heavy rock, indie, rap, jazz, acoustic, or dance.

Other highlights at this year’s Glasto includes Rod Stewart, who will perform his classic tracks in the Sunday afternoon legends slot.

Loyle Carner is headlining the Other Stage on the Friday, while Charli XCX is also performing.

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Olivia Rodrigo is bringing pop-punk to Worthy Farm[/caption]

Sunday night will see dance legends The Prodigy close the Other Stage.

Raye and US rapper Doechii are also heading to Glastonbury, as are the Deftones and Amyl and the Sniffers.

Other acts performing are Ezra Collective, Noah Kahan, The Libertines, Nile Rodgers and Chic, Wolf Alice and Biffy Clyro.

Alanis Morissette, Busta Rhymes, Gracie Abrams, and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty are also on the bill.

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Sir Rod Stewart is in the legends slot[/caption]

Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall is performing at the event for the first time fresh from winning Best Pop Act at the Brits.

Britpop veterans Supergrass, rising star Myles Smith, indie stars Wunderhorse and Inhaler, Weezer, country star Shaboozey and noughties art rockers Franz Ferdinand are dotted around the line-up.

RUMOUR MILL

There are still some heavily rumoured names that haven’t made the cut.

Fan theories of who else could be heading to Glastonbury, have been popping up left, right and centre.

This includes Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan.

Fans are also convinced that Basement Jaxx will be add to the bill.

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Neil Young is set for a big summer here in the UK[/caption]

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Matty Healy’s 1975 is headlining in the Friday night[/caption]

She'll be stepping down next month.

The opening day of Cheltenham Festival 2025 is here as a feast of horse racing action underway.

Day 1 brings us Champion Day with seven races taking place on the famous track with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle raising the curtain.

Six more races will follow over the course of the afternoon, concluding with the National Hunt Chase.

Metro‘s live blog will have race results, winners and updates throughout the day across all seven races with all the latest betting tips and odds to help you bag a few winners.

He's sent a warning.

Next gen PlayStation games will feature AI powered characters you can talk to, if a leaked prototype from Sony is anything to go by.

It's been dubbed a 'culinary abomination'.

Quite the kitchen disaster.