Sir Busker is on the mend with a York return pencilled in after his right eye was saved by veterinary staff at the Dubai Equine Hospital.
The highly-popular gelding is trained by William Knight and owned by Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds and gave connections a day to remember when winning the Group Two York Stakes last season.
He was then a gallant third at 100-1 in the Juddmonte International, before starting out with a second-placed run in the Tandridge Stakes early this year and then flying out to the Middle East.
Ninth in the Neom Turf Cup at Riyadh and 10th in the Dubai Turf at Meydan, the bay then suffered from an eye injury that required him to stay put in Dubai and undergo an operation.
The procedure – which took flesh from his haunches and grafted it onto his eye – was a success and prevented the eye from being removed and from his vision being completely lost on the right side.
Sir Busker has since returned home and has been eased back into work by Knight, who is hopeful he can be back for the Ebor meeting on the Knavesmire in August.
“We’ve just had to take it steady with him, but I would love to try and have him back for the York August meeting – maybe something like the Strensall Stakes,” he said.
“That’s what I’m thinking about, we’re not going to rush him to get there but we hope he gets there in his own time.
“It’s been a long road back but we’ve managed to save the eye and he’s got vision in there, it’s nice to have him back and have him in work.”
Knight feels a return to the routine of training has done Sir Busker the world of good, and by the time he takes to the track again his wounded eye should bear very few signs of the operation.
“He was quiet for a good period of time when he got back, not his usual self, but he’s just started to perk up in the past couple of weeks,” he said.
“By getting him back into work we’ve got the whole system moving again and that’s what has done him good, rather than just going on the walker and being led out, when that happens they start to lose a lot of condition. Now he’s back in work and I think he’s done very well for it.”
Of the healing process of the eye, he added: “It’s a bit pink but by the time it gets to racing I would hope it will have gone, aesthetically it doesn’t look great but actually it is offering the eye protection in a way.
“It’s quite bizarre, the whole thing, but it is an amazing procedure.
“The first thing was saving his eye and then making sure he’s still got vision in it, which he definitely has though the percentage is hard to gauge until the skin graft properly disappears.
“Then we can get a proper look, but if you wave your hand on that side he blinks, so there’s definitely some vision there.”
Defending champions, USA, climbed to the top of Group A of the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup following a 6-0 drubbing of St Kitts and Nevis at CityPark in St Louis Wednesday night.
Jesus Ferreira scored a hat trick and Djordje Mihailovic added two more plus two assists to propel the USA to the resounding victory that sees the home side lead the group on goal difference over Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz who had earlier beaten Trinidad and Tobago 4-1.
The U.S. got on the scoreboard in the 12th minute when defender Bryan Reynolds played a ball into space that midfielder Gianluca Busio ran onto. He cut back across the box where Mihailovic was able to thump in the home the opener.
Reynolds then scored a stunner of his own in the 14th minute. After a corner kick bounced out of the box, Reynolds swung his foot, keeping his shot low and the ball kissed off the post and in for a 2-0 lead.
Next up, it was Jesus Ferreira scoring in the 16th minute, taking a pass from Alejandro Zendejas and running past a defender to fire a right-footed shot into the back of the net for a third goal in four minutes for the defending Gold Cup champion.
Ferreira doubled his tally in the 25th minute, making a run behind and ending up one-on-one with Saint Kitts and Nevis goalkeeper Julani Archibald, who wasn’t able to stop Ferreira’s low right-footed shot that made it 4-0.
And his hat trick was complete in the 50th minute, with Mihailovic finding Ferreira in the box, and the forward putting a quick right-footed shot past Archibald.
The U.S. extended its lead to 6-0 in the 80th minute, swarming forward in transition. Mihailovic finished a move that started down the right wing and saw Christian Roldan register the assist
The Stars and Stripes close out group play against Trinidad and Tobago on July 2, while St Kitts and Nevis faces Jamaica on the same day.
York’s chief executive and clerk of the course William Derby hailed news that the Sky Bet Ebor winner will be handed a “golden ticket” into the Melbourne Cup field as “fantastic”.
The arrangement was announced on Thursday with the Ebor, won by the Frankie Dettori-ridden Trawlerman last year, becoming the seventh win-and-you’re-in race for the £4.4m event in November.
The Ebor, worth £500,000 itself, is the first international race to provide automatic entry into the Australian showpiece event, which has drawn the interest of plenty of European-based trainers over the years.
Dermot Weld was the first to taste success in 1993 with the legendary Vintage Crop and he repeated the feat with Media Puzzle in 2002.
Alain de Royer-Dupre and Mikel Delzangles then provided France with back-to-back wins with Americain (2010) and Dunaden (2011), while Andreas Wohler struck gold for Germany in 2014 when Protectionist was ridden to victory by Ryan Moore.
More recently Joseph O’Brien twice (Rekindling 2017 and Twilight Payment 2020) and Charlie Appleby’s Cross Counter (2018) have improved the overseas raiders’ record.
The Cup itself will be in York during the Ebor meeting with the feature race taking place on August 28.
“It is fantastic to officially connect two iconic races in the Sky Bet Ebor and the Lexus Melbourne Cup with the introduction of a golden ticket for the Ebor winner into the race that stops a nation and indeed much of the world,” said Derby.
“With the York winner having finished in the top 10 at Flemington in three of the four years preceding the pandemic, this great news will give confidence to winning connections that that their start at Flemington is secure, further linking two great races.
“We look forward to welcoming the 2023 Lexus Melbourne Cup on all four days of the Sky Bet Ebor Festival (23-26 August) on its annual tour across the world. This makes us more hopeful that it can return to Britain after the first Tuesday in November.”
Victoria Racing Club chief executive Steve Rosich said the alignment with York was a natural progression.
“The Ebor handicap has been a proven pathway into the Melbourne Cup over the years and it is fantastic to be able to build on the association with Flemington and York racecourse,” he said.
“The introduction of a seventh golden ticket is exciting for both clubs and the connections of all potential Ebor runners. It further cements the Lexus Melbourne Cup’s international reach and appeal.”
Deauville Legend could take on defending champion Pyledriver in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, with trainer James Ferguson confident he will take “a huge step forward”.
Fourth in the Melbourne Cup on his previous run at Flemington, the lightly-raced four-year-old produced a fine run on his return from a 235-day break when beaten just under three lengths by Pyledriver in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.
A head runner-up in last year’s King George V Stakes, Deauville Legend went on to take two Group races and his Newmarket handler is happy to meet Pyledriver again in the all-aged Group One contest at the Berkshire track on July 29.
“That was huge after an extremely long lay-off,” said Ferguson.
“We knew it would be a tough ask and he just went for his girths half a furlong from home, and he will probably take a huge step forward from that.
“Deauville Legend will probably go to the King George. He’s had two solid runs at Ascot now and it is a track he obviously likes.”
Zoology almost made it a meeting to remember for the young trainer, the three-year-old stepping up on his fourth-placed effort in the Greenham to run Age Of Kings to a length in the Group Three Jersey Stakes on vastly different ground.
He stayed on nicely inside the final furlong to claim the runner-up spot under Oisin Murphy, and Ferguson feels he may be ready to go up in trip.
He said: “I’ve always been confident in the horse and I’m very grateful to have a Zoustar of his calibre.
“He has just done better with age and he’s developed mentally as well as physically. He looks a different horse to the one we had six months ago – he’s changed that quickly.
“I thought he ran really well and potentially he could step up to a mile.
“The Greenham at Newbury was on terrible ground. He is genuine. That’s Zoustars for you – they are genuine and very honest. But I can’t tell you where he will go next.”
Likewise, Canberra Legend, who was beaten three lengths by Waipiro in the Hampton Court, could also be upped in trip next time.
A son of Australia, he had previously disappointed in York’s Dante Stakes, finishing ninth of 11 to The Foxes.
Ferguson was happy to see him bounce back to something like his best at Ascot and has pencilled in the Group Three Gordon Stakes at Goodwood on August 3 for his next outing.
“Just put a line through the Dante,” he insisted. “We saw the real Canberra Legend this time and he will probably step up to a mile and a half. He will probably go to the Gordon.”
Demarai Gray had a birthday to remember, as he got on the score sheet twice to lead Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz to a 4-1 win over Caribbean rivals Trinidad and Tobago in their second Concacaf Gold Cup Group A fixture, at Citypark in St Louis, Missouri on Wednesday.
Gray, making his second appearance for the Reggae Boyz, celebrated his 27th birthday in style when he scored his first goal as a Jamaican international in the 14th minute and added a second in the 28th minute.
The Everton winger’s second came after Leon Bailey (17th) doubled the lead, while Chelsea-bound rising sensation Dujuan Richards, who was an 82nd-minute substitute, capped the victory with his first senior team goal in the 90+2 minute. With that, the 17-year-old became the youngest ever goalscorer in Gold Cup history.
Trinidad and Tobago got what turned out to be a consolation through Andre Rampersad in the 49th minute.
The win –which was also Heimir Hallgrimsson’s first since taking the reins as Jamaica’s Head coach late last year –provisionally saw the Boyz to the top of the standing on four points, one ahead of Trinidad and Tobago.
Group favourites United States, on a point, were leading newcomers St Kitts and Nevis, without a point, 4-0 at half-time in the late kickoff.
The much-anticipated clash between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago
Was the first international men’s game to be played at the 22,000-plus capacity stadium and though it wasn’t the most attractive or entertaining encounter, the spectators that turned out were well treated to five goals.
It was initially projected to be a close contest, especially as the Soca Warriors Head coach Angus Eve opted for a defensive 5-4-1 formation that was expected to prove difficult for the Reggae Boyz to break down.
But it became clear early that the objective of the formation would prove futile, as Michail Antonio dispossessed a defender a played a cheeky pass off to send Bobby Reid on his way. However, Reid took an unwanted touch and later hit the ball in the side netting.
The Soca Warriors briefly enjoyed a good passage of possession where they looked threatening in open play but couldn't create any meaningful opportunity and later found themselves behind.
In the 14th minute, a decent build up by the Reggae Boyz ended with Bailey finding an unmarked Gray, who buried his right-footed effort in the left corner beyond the slightly advanced, Frenderup in goal for Trinidad and Tobago.
Bailey doubled the lead three minutes later when he timed his run to perfection to latch on to a long pass from Joel Latibeaudiere and finished with aplomb in a one-one-one situation with Frenderup. The goal was initially flagged as offside, but that decision was later overturned on by VAR.
The Soca Warriors tried to play their game but were hardly allowed any room to cause any problems for Jamaica’s defence and, as such, only absorbed consistent pressure.
They found themselves 3-0 down before the half-hour mark after Kevon Lambert won possession and found Antonio. The West Ham man then slipped by a defender and placed a pass on a platter for the wide-opened Gray to complete one of the easiest finishes of his career.
As the score remained unchanged at the break, the half-time team talk by Angus, coupled with Jamaica's defensive frailties, saw Trinidad pulling one back four minutes into the resumption.
Captain Levi Garcia got away from Jamaica’s debutant Dishon Bernard and drove a pass in for Rampersad to apply a back heel finish beyond Andre Blake, while under pressure from two defenders.
Still, the Jamaicans continued to apply consistent pressure and created numerous opportunities to add to their tally, but those were squandered due to both faulty shooting and poor decision-making.
It wasn’t until close to the end that they got another when Richards’s shot from a distance took a wicked deflection and sailed past the flat-footed Frenderup, who had no chance.
Teams: Jamaica -Andre Blake, Damion Lowe, Kemar Lawrence (Dexter Lembikisa 46th), Bobby Reid (Shamar Nicholson 62nd), Joel Latibeaudiere, Kevon Lambert, Demarai Gray, Leon Bailey (Dujuan Richards 82nd), Michail Antonio (Corey Burke 77th), Dishon Bernard, Javain Brown (Daniel Johnson 62nd)
Subs not used: Coniah Boyce-Clarke, Jahmali Waite, Kaheem Parris, Jonathan Russell, Adrian Mariappa, Amari’i Bell,
Booked: Brown (9th), Lowe (75th)
Trinidad & Tobago: Nicklas Frenderup, Alvin Jones, Sheldon Bateau, Kareem Moses, Aubrey David, Shannon Gomez (Molik Khan 76th), Malcolm Shaw, Andre Rampersad (Kevin Molino 63rd), Ajani Fortune (Kaile Auvray 46th), Levi Garcia, Neveal Hackshaw
Subs not Used: Marvin Phillip, Denzil Smith, Leland Archer, Luke Singh, Triston Hodge, Ryan Telfer, Joevin Jones, Real Gill, Kadeem Corbin
Booked: Hackshaw (5th), Bateau (41st), Jones (73rd)
Referee: Fernando Guerrero (Mexico)
Assistant referees: Enrique Bustos (Mexico); Jorge Sanchez (Mexico)
Fourth Official: Reon Radix (Grenada)
Var: Benjamin Pineda (Costa Rica)
Avar1: Ricardo Montero (Costa Rica)
Former Barcelona and Argentina manager Gerardo Martino has been appointed as the new head coach of Inter Miami.
The 60-year-old Argentinian arrives at the Major League Soccer outfit co-owned by David Beckham after they sacked the latter’s ex-Manchester United team-mate Phil Neville earlier this month.
It will reunite Martino with his compatriot Lionel Messi, with the World Cup winner to join the Florida side after leaving Paris St Germain at the end of his contract.
Martino, who coached Messi with Barcelona and Argentina, said in a club statement: “I’m very excited to join a big club like Inter Miami and I know together we can accomplish many great things.
“The club has the necessary infrastructure to be a major competitor in the region and I believe that with everyone’s hard work and commitment we can get there.”
Beckham said: “’Tata’ is a highly respected figure in our sport whose track record speaks for itself.
“We are confident that his achievements in the game and experience as a head coach will inspire our team and excite our fans and look forward to seeing the impact he will have on and off the field.”
Martino has been a Copa America runner-up twice with Argentina and once with Paraguay, and also overseen Mexico winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Though his missed penalty saw the Reggae Boyz dropping points in their Concacaf Gold Cup opener against United States, winger Leon Bailey says it doesn't take away from the fact that he gave his best for the team.
With Jamaica up 1-0 in the first half of the game, Bailey could have doubled the lead but hit his 12-yard kick at a decent height for Matt Turner, in goal for United States to block. However, the Aston Villa man had a second bite at the cherry as the rebound came right into his path, but even then, he failed to capitalise with an empty net at his mercy.
The game ended 1-1 after Brandon Vazquez's 88th-minute strike, cancelled out Damion Lowe's 13th-minute goal at Soldier Field in Chicago.
While not using added pressure as an excuse, Bailey said critics have little idea of what it is like being a player of his calibre tasked with performing efficiently at all times.
"Do you know how much pressure I'm always under when I'm representing the national team? But that's no excuse for me because I've been in the game for too long now. I've been a professional for eight years. I'm used to pressure," Bailey said during a pre-game press conference on Tuesday.
The former Genk and Bayer Leverkusen player has often been heavily scrutinised for his style of play, as he tends to hog possession of the ball and oftentimes over dribbles, and, as a result, thwarts the team's progress in the process.
Still, Bailey, who made his Reggae Boyz debut in 2019 and has so far logged three goals and four assists in 19 games, rubbished those claims, while expressing his unwavering passion for leaving it all on the field.
"It has nothing to do with the way I play. If you watch how I play, you will see that I always try to do my best, I always work hard, and no matter what, I'll always give 110 per cent for my nation, and that will never stop," he declared.
"If that means I didn't perform well, then so be it. When I walk off the pitch I want to know that I gave my 110 and I did that against the US and nobody's ever going to take that away from me. Once my family is good, the team is good, we're all good, I'm good.
"I'm always going to be there for my teammates and so they're always there for me as well and that's what really matters. At the end of the day, football is a sport in that you win some, you lose some, you make mistakes, and you go again. That's just life and football," Bailey added.
The 25-year-old and the new-look Reggae Boyz team will be hoping to make amends when they take on leaders Trinidad and Tobago in their second Group A contest at City Park in St Louis, Missouri, this evening at 6:30 pm Jamaica time.
Meanwhile, United States and pointless newcomers St Kitts and Nevis, who went down 0-3 to the Soca Warriors in their open game, will do battle at 8:30 pm.
Reggae Boyz Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, who is still hunting his first win since taking the reins, knows the importance of this fixture with their Caribbean rivals and, as such, is backing his team to come good.
"The second game is always important. A win for Trinidad would get them through. We know what we are facing; we need to get good results against them. We just want to go out there so we can have a good performance and hopefully a win. That's the only thing we are thinking about at this stage of the tournament," Hallgrimsson said.
In their most recent meeting on Jamaican soil, Trinidad and Tobago won 1-0 with the other contest ending in as a goalless stalemate.
“The Trinidad games we played in Jamaica, there was a lot of long balls, there was a lot of fight everywhere on the pitch; it was not played much on the ground, those matches. We kind of played the same style in those games. It wasn’t pretty to watch, so, hopefully, we can do better. When we have the ball, we can hopefully play better than we did in Jamaica," the Icelandic coach stated.
“We will not get anything for free. We will face hard tackles, a lot of balls to fight for — the first balls, the second balls, we have just been talking about that. We are growing as a unit, as a team, and the understanding between the players about the tactics is increasing as we play more games together. We will grow as a team,” he ended.
Kevin Sinclair has been named as the injury replacement for Yannic Cariah in the 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier tournament, being played in Zimbabwe, Cricket West Indies announced on Wednesday.
Cariah, the leg-spinner and left-handed batsman, had surgery on a nasal fracture last week after getting hit in the nets. He has not recovered sufficiently to resume playing at this stage, CWI said. Sinclair the tall off-spinner and right-handed batsman is due to arrive in Harare on Thursday.
The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 approved the replacement. The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.
The Super Six stage will be played from Thursday 29 June to Friday 7 July. West Indies ended third in Group A with two wins and two defeats and play three Super Six matches against the sides qualifying in the top three positions from Group B. Those three matches will be against Sri Lanka, Scotland and Oman.
The final will be played at Harare Sports Club on Sunday 9 July. The two finalists will progress to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 to be played in India in October and November.
Full Squad: Shai Hope (captain), Rovman Powell (vice-captain), Shamarh Brooks, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Johnson Charles, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd and Kevin Sinclair.
Super Six Match Schedule
(all matches start at 9am/3am East Caribbean/2am Jamaica)
Saturday, 1 July: Scotland v West Indies, Harare Sports Club
Wednesday, 5 July: West Indies v Oman, Harare Sports Club
Friday, 7 July: v Sri Lanka, Harare Sports Club
PJ McDonald was once again seen to good effect aboard Vetiver in the British Stallion Studs EBF Eternal Stakes at Carlisle.
The northern-based rider broke his Royal Ascot duck in last weekend’s Hardwicke Stakes aboard Pyledriver, having previously guided the top-class performer to win last year’s King George at the Berkshire circuit.
McDonald was back on more familiar territory in Cumbria and jumped on the Andrew Balding-trained 7-2 chance Vetiver in the £50,000 Listed feature, a filly whom he had already won on twice.
Carrying the colours of Cheveley Park Stud, the chestnut daughter of Twilight Son was fitted with a tongue-tie for the first time and after briefly being stuck behind horses, she powered home to get up and beat Dandy Alys by half a length.
McDonald said: “I’ve won on her a couple of times around Beverley, but this was a different ballgame today.
“As you can see she wears a hood and she’s a free-going filly. I got into a nice enough rhythm on her and I was keen not to play my cards too early on the ground because at the end of the day today was all about getting her into the first three and picking up some black type.
“I’ve ended up getting myself into a little bit of a pocket, but to be fair to her she showed some guts to come out of there and stick her head out and gallop out through the line.”
There were jubilant scenes in the winner’s enclosure after Two Brothers (6-1) landed one of the feature handicaps on the card, the Stablemate By Agma Cumberland Plate.
Mick and David Easterby’s inmate had been placed three times since his last triumph and was rewarded for his consistency with a neck verdict over Ravenscraig Castle under Billy Garritty.
“That was very good, we couldn’t have asked for any more,” said Oliver Thompson, who owns the winner along with his brother, Gavin.
“We were optimistic. We’ve had the horse since he was a two-year-old and he didn’t run until he was three. We’ve had a couple of ups and downs, but he’s absolutely awesome!
“This is our first horse. We’re actually related to Mick and he’s found us a good one.”
Clear Angel (7-2) lunged late to lift the Jason Watson 25 Years Carlisle Bell Consolation Handicap.
Making his first appearance since winning at Wetherby in late April, Susan Corbett’s charge benefited from a patient ride from Graham Lee, arriving on the scene late to score by a head from Strongbowe.
Corbett said: “This has been a while in the making as he was a very expensive yearling (€120,000). He kept having issues and we actually bought him online for 1,500 guineas.
“We obviously needed to do some work on him, he had a bone chip and various things. He definitely likes a cut in the ground and we’ve been praying for rain for so long. We’ve had him a few races and either the ground was against us and one day he had an allergy to the shampoo we used!
“It’s been a comedy of errors and the lads that own him have waited a while, but now they’re getting their just desserts which is good. He just seems to be getting better and better.”
The John Quinn-trained Due For Luck (9-1) made a successful start to his career in the Mark Nield Wealth Management Restricted Maiden Stakes, pulling two and a half lengths clear under Jason Hart.
Sean Quinn, assistant to his father, said: “He’s always gone alright at home. We trained the mother (Vanity’s Girl) and she went well at home, but never quite did it on the track.
“I saw him at the yearling sales and he’s a fine beast, as you can see there.
“He’s from a fast family I think he’s quite quick. Jason said he’s still a little bit green, so maybe we’ll just go for a novice with a penalty and teach him.”
Title-chasing Joe Fanning landed the concluding Carlisle Supporting Racing Staff Week Fillies’ Handicap on Charlie Johnston’s 7-1 shot Kitai.
Hollie Doyle reached another notable milestone as she steered Mostawaa to victory in the £30,000 Stablemate By Agma Carlisle Bell.
Fresh from booting home three winners Royal Ascot last week, the record-breaking rider made the long journey north to Cumbria in a bid to secure her first victory at Carlisle – the only British racecourse to currently stage Flat racing where she had not previously enjoyed success.
Doyle fittingly broke her duck in one of the track’s most prestigious races, with the two bells on offer to the winner reputed to be the oldest sporting trophy in the world, having first been presented in 1599 when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne.
The Heather Main-trained Mostawaa was a 15-2 chance to complete his hat-trick following recent wins at Brighton and York. After racing prominently, the seven-year-old answered his rider’s every call to repel the sustained challenge of Liamarty Dreams by half a length.
“He’s turned a corner in his old age,” said Doyle.
“He won at Brighton and then he went to York, but I did get an easy lead that day and things fell right. Today there was plenty of pace on paper and it’s a stiff track on soft ground, but he stuck at it well and I think now you could probably investigate going up to 10 furlongs.
“Between the three- and the two- (furlong markers) I was thinking I hadn’t got much of a breather into him and we were going a good gallop. They got into a duel and to be fair the pair of them kept going.”
She added: “It’s great to have a winner here because it’s a good atmosphere and it’s a long way to come!
“I used to come up for the lady riders’ meeting so I’ve had a few rides, but no winner until today.”
Describing the West Indies as the worst fielding team in the ongoing CWC qualifiers in Zimbabwe, Coach Darren Sammy believes the team’s consecutive losses to the hosts and the Netherlands, is indicative of the true state of West Indies cricket.
The frustrated head coach was speaking after the West Indies lost to the Netherlands in a super over on Monday which leaves their chances of qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup in India hanging by a thread.
Having made 374-6, the West Indies were unable to successfully restrict the Dutch side from getting to 374-9 for a tie and triggering a super over. Logan van Beek, who scored 28 from 14 balls to get his side to the super over than smashed three sixes and three fours while scoring 30 runs off Jason Holder’s over.
He then took two wickets and conceded eight runs as the West Indies failed miserably in attempting to overhaul, the record-setting 30-run over by the Netherlands.
Sammy said afterwards, that the West Indies were on track for a possible victory but subsequently lost the plot.
“[At the] halfway stage, 374 on the board, I thought the batters did excellently but again it shows you where we are as a team. We were kind of poor tactically. We didn’t stick to the plans as long as possible and we just thought because we had 375 on the board that we should win, but cricket is not played like this,” he said.
“And it’s a lesson for us that you can’t take any game of cricket for granted.”
The head coach who was appointed just last month, believes his team approaching its nadir but remained optimistic about its future.
“I am a very positive thinker and I understand the journey that I have to take with this team. Sometimes you’ve got to reach rock bottom to come back up,” he said.
“I understand the challenges ahead and I also understand that things will not change overnight and it’s a true reflection of where our cricket is at the moment and we have a lot of work to do.”
The loss to the Netherlands means the West Indies, two-time champions, now face the near impossible task of qualifying for the World Cup. They must now win all their Super Six matches while hoping that Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka lose two of theirs and that the Netherlands lose at least one of theirs in order to qualify.
John ‘Shark’ Hanlon’s son, Paddy, rode his first winner under rules at just the second attempt when guiding Chef d’Etat to victory in the Richard Newland Racing National Hunt Flat Race at Worcester.
The young amateur – an experienced regular on the pony racing scene in Ireland – only picked up his licence a week ago and had his first ride at Leopardstown on June 22 when unplaced on his father’s Pahlavi.
The claims of Chef d’Etat were far more obvious, though, and he was sent off the 4-6 favourite to follow up his 33-1 debut win at Tramore.
On that occasion he was ridden by teenage American jockey Taylor Kingsley – but travel problems prevented her from taking the ride on this occasion, allowing young Hanlon to step into the breach.
Those who took the short odds never had too much to worry about, but the trainer was visibly relieved when the race was over.
“He gave it a peach, he stayed patient and stayed sitting and went down the inside, he gave it a lovely ride, so he did,” said Hanlon, who has enjoyed so much big-race success with bargain-buy Hewick in the last 14 months.
“He’s actually done a lot of pony racing, he won the Dingle Derby last year and that stands to him, pony racing means so much – around Ireland and England there should be a lot more of it.”
The winning rider told Sky Sports Racing: “He travelled beautifully for me, we got a gap up the rail and he got going. I feel so sorry for Taylor, she was supposed to ride but couldn’t get here.
“He travelled beautiful for me, when we turned in I knew we didn’t need to go quick straight away. He kept at it to the line to be fair and he’s a nice horse.”
He added: “This beats anything in pony racing and I’d just like to thank everyone involved for letting me ride.”
Desert Crown is back in light exercise following the setback which ruled him out of Royal Ascot.
Last year’s Derby winner has only been seen once in public since his famous Epsom win, when surprisingly beaten by Hukum at Sandown in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes.
He wowed gallop watchers when tuning up for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Frankie Dettori had been booked for the big day, but just over a week beforehand connections were dealt a blow.
Following a routine gallop he was giving off cause for concern and while no major damage has been discovered, Sir Michael Stoute’s colt was unable to go to Ascot.
Philip Robinson, owner Saeed Suhail’s assistant racing manager, said: “He’s started cantering, having been walking all last week, and is all is good.
“Nothing showed up on any scans or X-rays or anything, so it must have just been a bruise or something like that which just set him back 10 days.
“I’m not sure where he’ll run, I wouldn’t have thought Sir Michael will rush him back, he’ll just take his time and when he’s back in full work then he’ll make a plan.
“It was just one of those really unfortunate things that happens with horses, but they are athletes and these things happen.”
Jamaica’s Jaydon Hibbert, a freshman at the University of Arkansas, is among the three male finalists for the 2023 Bowerman Award, collegiate track and field’s highest individual honor. The finalists that also include Kyle Garland of the University of Georgia and Leo Neugebauer of the University of Texas.
Hibbert, Garland and Neugebauer won a combined four NCAA titles, obliterated four collegiate records and notched 10 all-time top-10 performances in their respective events. This is just the second time in award history that all three men’s finalists broke at least one collegiate record (2017 was the first).
Eighteen-year-old Hibbert, formerly of Kingston College in Jamaica, is the undisputed King of the Triple Jump in collegiate history.
The Arkansas freshman completed the NCAA title sweep with a victory at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. Hibbert unified the indoor and outdoor collegiate records with a 17.54m effort indoors to win that NCAA crown, followed by a majestic, world-leading 17.87m outdoors at the SEC Championships.
Both marks are also U20 world records.
Prior to Hibbert taking the collegiate scene by storm, both of the collegiate records in the triple jump had stood for more than 35 years. Even more impressive might be the fact that Hibbert only needed 12 jumps all season to achieve all of those feats.
Hibbert is the third male athlete from Arkansas to be named a finalist for The Bowerman, joining 2016 award winner Jarrion Lawson and 2022 finalist Ayden Owens-Delerme. Hibbert is the fifth freshman man to be named a finalist and the youngest to be named a finalist in award history.
Garland, who hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, starred in the combined events this year. He won the heptathlon crown at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships with a near world-record 6639 points and demolished the collegiate record in the process. Outdoors, Garland amassed two of the top-4 decathlon scores in collegiate history: the first coming at the SEC Outdoor Championships where he tallied 8589 points for what is now the fourth-best; the second in a runner-up effort at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships where he one-upped himself with 8630 points for the third-best.
Neugebauer, who hails from Germany, orchestrated a masterclass performance in the decathlon at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. It was on his home track in Austin, Texas, where Neugebauer amassed 8836 points to obliterate the collegiate record, set a German national record and climb all the way to No. 8 in world history.
Hibbert is one of two Caribbean athletes who are Bowerman finalists in 2023. On Monday, St Lucia’s Julien Alfred was among the three women finalists for the prestigious award.
Fan voting for The Bowerman begins Tuesday, June 27 on The Bowerman’s website and runs through Thursday, June 29. Paper voting also begins on Tuesday, June 27 and closes on July 14.
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