Sporting Life Through The Lens: A review of the weekend sport in pictures

The mare who stops a nation

For those who set their alarms early on Saturday, Winx delivered in spectacular style. It was her fourth Cox Plate but, perhaps as importantly, it was a performance which helps underline her ability to an international audience.

Benbatl, a Group One winner on his previous start, was laughed at by the sensational seven-year-old who entered the history books with her 29th victory in succession, a streak dating back to the spring of 2015.

Longevity, class, style, adaptability. She is formidable.

The Futurity's bright...

Aidan O'Brien has now won nine renewals of the Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster, few as dramatically as Saturday's success for Magna Grecia.

For much of the one-mile contest it looked as though the favourite would come up short but he stayed and stayed and got there in the end.

Sky Bet left Magna Grecia unchanged at 16/1 for next year's 2000 Guineas.

As you were, nothing to see here.

West is best

Cheltenham returned with its Showcase meeting, a relatively low-key start to an otherwise high-class programme which takes us all the way to March.

Paul Nicholls was among the winners with Modus on Saturday while John McConnell showed he is more than capable of mixing it with the big boys after his well devised plan for Pearl Of The West came to fruition.

Read about it all here.

Top of the world

Lewis Hamilton moved to second on the all-time list of F1 Drivers' Championships with his fifth success, ten years on from his first, at the conclusion of the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was able to splutter home in fourth in Mexico on Sunday, his car struggling throughout a race won by Max Verstappen.

Feel for Finau

Tony Finau is six-foot-something, he's got a film-star jaw, he's happily married, with children, and he's one of the most awesomely powerful golfers on the planet.

Last year he earned about $5.7m on the course and he made his Ryder Cup debut, all while remaining one of the most popular players on the circuit.

Yet it's easy to feel a little sorry for him, as his wait for a second PGA Tour title continues after a play-off defeat to the ruthless Xander Schauffele in the WGC-HSBC Champions.

Here's how it happened.

Cameron Champ - remember the name

With a name like Cameron Champ, you'd better be good at something.

Turns out he's more than good at golf. We're talking about an extraordinary talent here and one capable of turning the Sanderson Farms Championship into a rout.

It's 99 not out for Fed

Roger Federer claimed his 99th career title with victory over Marius Copil in Basel.

The ageless, beautiful so-and-so delighted the home support (Basel is in Switzerland) to land his ninth Swiss Indoors title, winning 7-6 (5) 6-4.

The Machine is back!

James Wade ended a near five-year wait for his eighth major PDC televised title after defeating Simon Whitlock 11-8 in the European Championship final.

The Machine's last major title came back at the Masters in 2014 while you have to go back to 2011 when he celebrated a TV ranking tournament at the UK Open.

Wade has endured a lean period in his career since his heady days of winning the World Matchplay (2007), World Grand Prix (2007, 2010), Premier League (2009) and the first of his two UK Opens in 2008 but recently insisted he's enjoying his darts again and ready to challenge following the birth of his first child Arthur 13 days previously.

Unsurprisingly he dedicated this trophy to his baby boy.

Click here for a full report and stats from the weekend's darts.

England are all-white

England signed off the limited-overs leg of their Sri Lankan tour with a return to winning ways in Colombo as Joe Denly ended an eight-year exile in style.

England have played 384 international matches since Denly last appeared on the big stage - a low-key outing against Pakistan in February 2010. Four wickets and 20 runs made it an excellent comeback in a side who continue to dominate with the white ball.

Click here for the match report and stand by for Test series tips soon.

Fury shows fight in Pulev defeat

Hughie Fury gave it his best shot against Kubrat Pulev and a partisan crowd in the Bulgarian capital on Saturday night, ultimately losing a unanimous points decision.

Fury had started brightly before he was cut above the left eye early on and from there was always on the back foot - often literally.

We don't have a picture, but we do have a report.

Saracens on-song

Saracens continued their excellent start to the season as they beat Leicester Tigers in the Premiership Rugby Cup on Saturday, before Newcastle and Exeter played out a rare draw on Sunday.

And finally, it's only football

It was an extraordinarily difficult weekend in the world of football, with events on the field rendered insignificant by those on it.

Glenn Hoddle, former England manager and one of the most elegant players of his generation, suffered a heart attack on Saturday; later, there was a helicopter crash outside Leicester's King Power Stadium, with their owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, among five victims.

Events on Sunday were accordingly muted in the main, as Manchester United and Chelsea both won but Arsenal were denied all three points by a late Crystal Palace equaliser. You can read about that here, with news of the Betfred Cup in Scotland here.

On Saturday, Liverpool went top with a convincing victory while Bournemouth's remarkable start to the season continued. A review of the day's action can be found here while we've also news from the Championship, League One and League Two.

But all real meaning comes back to what happened on Saturday evening. Come Sunday afternoon, the pavement outside Leicester's ground was covered in tributes. Long may they be remembered along with an owner whose impact on his football club was, in every sense, profound.