What's on: Sporting Life pick out five big sports events for the week ahead

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Sporting Life highlights the main events of the week with key details and odds, so you don't miss a thing.

Racing – QTS Ayr Gold Cup Handicap

The Ayr Gold Cup is the big betting heat on Saturday with a maximum field of 25 set to go to post for the valuable and historic handicap.

The race is a rare feature event missing from the CV of top Newmarket handler William Haggas and he could look to set the record straight with Nahaarr, who won a good race at Newbury before just being found out by the sharp track and drying ground when sent off favourite for the Stewards’ Cup at Glorious Goodwood.

Andrew Balding knows what’s required in the Ayr cavalry charge, having won it with Highland Colori (2013) and Donjuan Triumphant (2017), so it’s also worth keeping a close eye on who he chooses to run, with Chil Chil and last weekend’s Portland scorer Stone Of Destiny potentially in contention this time around.

Racing - Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes

Newbury stages a good quality two-day meeting on Friday and Saturday with Listed honours up for grabs on day one.

The Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes has attracted a strong entry at the five-day stage with Charlie Appleby responsible for three of the most high-profile names.

Glorious Journey and D'bai are both very smart operators who have performed with credit at a higher level this term, but perhaps more interesting is the possible return of Zakouski who remains lightly raced but full of potential.

The four-year-old has only met defeat once in four career starts to date and looked very good when winning a couple of times in Dubai last winter.

With the likes of Jash and Motakhayyel also in the mix, this has all the makings of a hot contest.

Football - Premier League

We've got a couple of Monday Night Football games for you this week as Sheffield United take on Wolves before Chelsea's expensively assembled side visit Brighton looking to start what needs to be a title challenge to justify Roman Abramovich's investment.

It's a big week for Chelsea, who then host champions Liverpool on Sunday in their first home game of the season - that will provide a great yardstick of how far they've come and after Jurgen Klopp's side opened up with a 4-3 win over Leeds, anything could happen.

Manchester United get their campaign underway belatedly by hosting Crystal Palace after getting an extra week off, along with Man City, following their extended European seasons.

Newly-promoted sides Leeds and Fulham have an early-season meeting after both lost their opening games but under very different circumstances, while Arsenal look to back up their impressive opening day win when they host West Ham.

Golf – US Open

It’s major two of three in 2020 as the best players in the world head for the fearsome New York, where Geoff Ogilvy won the US Open 14 years ago. This long, demanding course is sure to push players to their limits and beyond and whoever does win the title come Sunday will have earned it.

The field is shorn of Brooks Koepka, the 2017 and 2018 champion having withdrawn through injury, but otherwise it’s a who’s who of elite golfers. New dad Rory McIlroy is not as close to the top of the betting as we’d perhaps have expected when golf resumed and it’s in-form Dustin Johnson, winner of this in 2016, who is set to go off a popular favourite.

Sky Sports begin their coverage shortly after midday on Thursday and New York is welcome news for punters who were up until the early hours with the west-coast PGA Championship. A further boost has been provided by Sky Bet, who are offering 11 places on each-way bets.

Snooker – Championship League

The first exchanges of a fragmented Championship League begin on Sunday as the best players in snooker return to action for the first time since the World Championship.

Judd Trump will look to put that disappointment behind him and is one of the star names in action early, whereas those tuning into Eurosport’s coverage will have to wait a while for Ronnie O’Sullivan, a fabulous winner at the Crucible last month.

This unique tournament returns after it brought snooker out of lockdown as Luca Brecel won the title. Round-robin group games over four frames make for some strange results – but who will follow the Belgian in going all the way?

Responsible gambling

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