Marco Botti paid tribute to his compatriot Stefano Cherchi after the young jockey died as a result of injuries sustained in a fall in Australia last month.
The 23-year-old was riding at Canberra on March 20 when his mount, Hasime, fell in the Affinity Electrical Technologies Plate, with two other riders escaping serious injury after being unseated in the incident.
Cherchi received medical treatment at the track before being transferred to hospital and was found to have sustained a head injury and internal bleeding.
The New South Wales Jockeys Association posted on X, formerly twitter, on Wednesday: “With deep sadness, the Cherchi family have announced their beloved son Stefano passed away peacefully today.
“The family are very grateful for the love, prayers & messages sent by the racing community across the world.”
The majority of Cherchi’s success in Britain came aboard horses trained by fellow Italian Botti, the man who provided his most recent mount in Britain at Chelmsford in November.
Cherchi partnered 38 winners for Botti while in the UK, and the Newmarket handler was hugely saddened by the news of his death.
He told the PA news agency: “We were devastated this morning when we heard that Stefano had passed away. I think it was midday in Australia and we just heard an hour ago basically.
“It’s just devastating news for all of us. We knew it was a bad fall and we knew things didn’t look great, but you live in hope and hope for a miracle. Hopefully he’s going to a better place and we will never forget him – he will always be with us.”
Botti added: “His charm and his way of behaving with people, he was such a nice guy. For me, he was a little bit like a son to be honest.
“When he left for Australia, we had a chat and in a way I was happy he was going to try to have a career there. He had a couple of winners recently and things were just picking up and then this happened. Life is tough.
“For us he was always a good judge in the mornings. He rode some of our nice horses and his feedback was incredible. As a jockey he just needed to get on good horses and he would have proven himself.
“Away from the saddle he has always been a really good guy. We were texting each other through the winter and I was hoping he would come back in the spring.
“It’s very sad for the family and all his friends. It’s like we lost a member of the family to be honest.”
The Sardinian-born Cherchi made his British debut in 2018 and rode his first winner the following April aboard the Botti-trained Withoutdestination at Wolverhampton.
He teamed up with a wide variety of trainers, including Godolphin handler Saeed bin Suroor for whom he partnered eight winners, and Newmarket trainer Amy Murphy who provided 10 victories from 175 rides.
Cherchi struck gold four times for David Loughnane, who said on X: “We are all completely devastated with the loss of Stefano Cherchi.
“He was an absolute gentleman and a pleasure to have known and worked with. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”
In a statement, the British Horseracing Authority said: “We are heartbroken to hear the news that Stefano Cherchi has died following a fall at Canberra racecourse last month.
“Stefano rode over 100 winners in Britain before moving to Australia, and the high esteem in which he was held around the world is clear to see.
“Our thoughts are with his friends, family, and everyone who has had the pleasure of working with him. The entire racing industry will be in mourning after the loss of such a talented young man.”
Marsh named captain in Australia's T20 World Cup squad as Smith and Fraser-McGurk miss out
Mitchell Marsh will captain Australia at next month's T20 World Cup, but Steve Smith and Jake Fraser-McGurk have been left out of the 15-man squad.
Marsh, who has shared the duties on an interim basis since Aaron Finch's retirement, was named the Baggy Greens' permanent T20 skipper on Wednesday.
Test captain Pat Cummins, fast bowler Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell have also been named in the squad, which features 11 of the players that were part of the team that won this tournament in 2021.
However, there is no place for former skipper Smith following a difficult spell of form, while Fraser-McGurk is also absent despite his impressive form in the Indian Premier League.
"This is an experienced squad with extensive World Cup experience that offers a variety of structures and covers the scenarios the panel believes will factor in the West Indies with the unique nature of the venues and our opponents," selection chief George Bailey said.
"Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly.
"Being constrained to a squad of 15 for World Cups is always a challenge given the different scenarios and options we’d like to cover.
"Ultimately, the balance of the final 15 needs to provide the best chance of being successful in this campaign."
"It's been an immense privilege to play for my country and now an even greater honour to lead the squad to a World Cup," Marsh added.
"We have had some strong success in recent times, and I am hopeful that will continue in what looks like a wide-open tournament."
Australia will begin their tournament against Oman on June 5, while they will also play England, Scotland and Namibia in Group B.
Australia's provisional squad:
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Windies to test T20 World Cup readiness against South Africa, Australia in Jamaica and T&T; final squad to be named this week
With the ICC Men’s Twenty 20 World Cup now just about a month away, Darren Sammy and his West Indies team will up the tempo on preparations, before testing their readiness for the June 1-29 global showpiece, with a final warm-up match against Australia in Trinidad and Tobago.
Sammy’s final squad, which is expected to be named sometime this week, will be one of nine teams to travel to the Trinidad and Tobago in May for eight warm-up matches, four of which will take place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, while the other four is scheduled for the historic Queen’s Park Oval. The teams will arrive in twin island republic on May 21.
The revelation came from Cricket West Indies’s (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave during the recently-concluded CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, in Port of Spain.
Grave explained that the final West Indies squad will not convene in full until they travel to Jamaica at the end of May to engage South Africa in three warm-up contests. However, he pointed out that there will be a camp in Antigua prior, which will involve members of the final squad, who are not plying their trade in the Indian Premier League.
From Jamaica, the Rovman Powell-captained squad will then travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the clash against 50-over World Cup winners Australia, ahead of the tournament to be hosted in the Caribbean and United States.
West Indies, the 2012 and 2016 champions, are hunting a third T20 World Cup title.
“We’re going to have a week-long preparation camp in Antigua from May 12, before heading to Jamaica. We’re then going to leave Jamaica and come here to Trinidad and Tobago for a week’s preparation, including playing at the historic Queen’s Park Oval on May 30, in an evening fixture against one of the tournament favourites Australia,” Grave shared.
“That will probably be one of the only games in the warm-up schedule that will be ticketed, and we certainly hope that the fans here in Trinidad, and particularly those in Port of Spain, will come out and rally behind the West Indies in that warm-up match, which is the final game we’ll play before we head to Guyana for the opening game on June 2,” he added.
West Indies, who are drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, Uganda and Papua New Guinea, will open against the latter at the Guyana National Stadium on June 2.
Grave urged fans to come out and rally behind the West Indies outfit in their push to start the tournament on a high.
“Making sure we have a huge party in Georgetown, and we get off to a winning start (will be crucial). We all know in these global tournaments, confidence and momentum are important and we can think of nothing better than starting with a victory in Guyana and ending it in Barbados on June 29 with a similar victory,” Grave said.
Supreme Ventures Racing urges review of racing rule after Caymanas Park abandonments
Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), operators of Caymanas Park, have called for a review of Rule 44 (iii) enforced by the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) following the cancellation of two races during the April 27 race meet at Caymanas Park.
In a press conference on Monday addressing the abandoned races, SVREL Executive Chairman Solomon Sharpe expressed frustration with the rule, highlighting its potential impact on the racing industry.
"This rule, unique to Jamaica, imposes a strict five-minute limit after the published post time for races at Caymanas Park," Sharpe stated. "It fails to account for various factors that can delay race starts and penalizes all stakeholders when races are abandoned, affecting punters, jockeys, grooms, trainers, owners, promoters, and the government."
Last year, Caymanas Park contributed over $260 million in combined taxes to the government's coffers. Sharpe urged the JRC to engage SVREL in discussions on Rule 44, emphasizing the need for constructive dialogue to address the rule's impact.
"We were not consulted during the initial discussions on this rule, and now, with two races abandoned in a single race day, our concerns have materialized," Sharpe explained. "SVREL is open to collaborating with the JRC to review and refine this amended rule."
Representatives from the Grooms Association, Jockeys Association, and the United Racehorse Trainers Association echoed SVREL's concerns and supported the call for a review of Rule 44.
Sharpe concluded by appealing to regulators, stakeholders, and the public to support the growth of the horseracing industry in Jamaica. "Horseracing has immense potential in Jamaica and can become a significant foreign exchange earner. Realizing this potential requires collaboration among all stakeholders."
SVREL has been operating Caymanas Park since March 2017 after the government divested the property. With investments exceeding J$4 billion in product enhancements and innovations like the Mouttet Mile, which boasts the largest purse in the English-speaking Caribbean, SVREL remains committed to advancing the horseracing experience in Jamaica.
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