Federer out of French Open

BLACK CORTON (63) P Nicholls 9 11-12 (CD) ............. Bryony Frost TALKISCHEAP (104) A King 8 11-10 (D5) ....................... T Cannon CRIEVEHILL (63) N Twiston-Davies 8 11-7 .......... S Twiston-Davies KILDISART (35) B Pauling 8 11-4 (C) ................................ D Jacob DOUBLE SHUFFLE (63) T R George 10 11-3 (CD) .............. J J Burke ROMAIN DE SENAM (242) P Nicholls 8 11-1 ................. H Skelton MISTER MALARKY (63) C Tizzard 7 11-0 (C, D) ...... Jonjo O’Neill Jr. ADRIEN DU PONT (63) P Nicholls 8 10-12 (CD) .............. H Cobden HIGHWAY ONE O ONE (28) C Gordon 8 10-11 (C) .............. L Aspell SAMETEGAL (57) P Nicholls 11 10-8 ........................... B Carver (5) WHATMORE (42) H Daly 8 10-5 ................................... T J O’Brien

JUST A STING (57) H Fry 8 10-4 (CD) ............................... S Bowen AZZERTI (28) A King 8 10-2 .......................................... A P Heskin DASHING PERK (49) Dr R Newland 9 10-0 (BF, D) ... N De Boinville BETTING: 9-2 Adrien Du Pont, 6 Just A Sting, 8 Sametegal, Double Shuffle, 10 Whatmore, Kildisart, Black Corton, 12 Highway One O One, Dashing Perk, Talkischeap, 14 Others.

8-1 Held up in 5th, steady headway on inside 3 out, pushed along before weakened next, finished tired, 4th of 5, 25l behind Riders Onthe Storm at Ascot 2m 5f grad ch (2) hvy in Dec.

9-2 Mid-division, headway 8th, chased leaders 10th, chased clear leader 14th, pushed along before 3 out, closer next, challenged last, ridden to lead run-in, stayed on gamely, all out, won at Kempton 3m hcp chs 0-145 (2) sft in Dec beating Quarenta by hd, 11 ran. 11-1 Chased leader until 8th, chased leaders, weakened 4 out, mistake next, tailed off, last of 5, 37l behind Riders Onthe Storm at Ascot 2m 5f grad ch (2) hvy in Dec.

13-2 Chased leaders until mistake 1st, off the pace in mid-division, headway 8th, chased leaders 10th, ridden in 3rd before 3 out, weakened run-in, 4th of 11, 2l behind Just A Sting at Kempton 3m hcp chs 0-145 (2) sft in Dec. 14-1 Led until before 7th, pressed leader, in front again before 11th, pushed along when mistake and headed 2 out, weakened into 4th at the last, 4th of 10, 9l behind Regal Encore at Ascot 3m listed hcp chs (1) hvy in Dec. 6-1 Prominent until lost place 8th, behind from 12th, 6th of 8, 38l behind Domaine De L’Isle at Ascot 2m 5f hcp chs (2) hvy in Jan. 9-1 Held up towards rear, not clear run after 3 out, headway 2 out, went 3rd last, no impression, 3rd of 7, 14l behind Two For Gold at Warwick 3m nov chs G2 (1) sft in Jan. 7-4fav Led, joined 2 out, ridden and headed last, stayed on same pace run-in, 2nd of 9, 6l behind Mercy Mercy Me at Sandown 2m 4f hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft in Jan.

6-1 Prominent, led 6th until 7th, led before 9th, headed 10th, lost place 13th, soon behind, pulled up before 3 out, in a race won by Cepage at Cheltenham 2m 5f hcp chs (1) sft in Jan, 10 ran.

TENNIS Roger Federer has announced he will miss this year’s French Open after undergoing knee surgery.

The 20-time grand slam champion went under the knife in Switzerland on Tuesday and will not return to action until the grasscourt season at the earliest.

Federer, 38, wrote on Twitter:

“My right knee has been bothering me for a little while. I hoped it would go away, but after an examination, and discussion with my team, I decided to have arthroscopic surgery in Switzerland yesterday.”

The world number three added: “After the procedure, the doctors confirmed that it was the right thing to have done and are very confident of a full recovery. As a result, I will unfortunately have to miss Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogota, Miami and the French Open.”

Federer has been cutting down his tournament appearances in recent years in a bid to prolong his career.