Reigning champions Jamaica College had their progress halted by bad weather conditions, as they were well on their way to a second-consecutive victory in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup on Friday.
Giovanni Taylor’s hat-trick had the “Dark Blues” 3-0 up against Cumberland High when the game was called off after 25 minutes due to rain and lightning. The fixture will be competed on a date to be decided.
That postponement resulted in Kingston Technical provisionally assuming pole position in Group B on six points, following their 4-0 beating of Meadowbrook High, who are current fifth on a point.
Meanwhile, third-placed Spanish Town High (two points) and fourth-placed Tivoli High (one point), played out a 2-2 stalemate in the other group b contest.
Despite the slight setback where their schedule is concerned, Jamaica College’s assistant coach Raymond “Stampie” Watson, pointed out that they remain on course to achieving their objective.
“We are getting there. So far, we are looking positive, and the players are enjoying themselves, but this is the first round, and we are looking to be in it at the backend of the season where title contention is concerned so we continue to put in the work,” Watson told Sportsmax.tv.
Elsewhere in Group E, St Catherine High made it two-in-two with a 10-0 blanking of St Mary’s College, while last year’s semi-finalist Mona High, also secured a second win on the trot, with a 5-0 whipping of Innswood High.
Fourth-placed Norman Manley got their first points on the board, as they clipped Holy Trinity High 1-0.
Friday's results
Group B
Jamaica College 3, Cumberland 0 (Game called off due to inclement weather)
Tivoli High 2, Spanish Town 2
Kingston Technical 4, Meadowbrook 0
Group E
St Catherine 10, St Mary’s College 0
Mona High 5, Innswood High 0
Holy Trinity 0, Norman Manley 1
Saturday’s games
Group A
Penwood High vs Charlie Smith @ Maverley Football Field
Hydel High vs Camperdown @ Royal Lakes
Kingston College vs Calabar @ Stadium East
Group D
Clan Carthy vs STATHS @ Alpha Academy
Cedar Grove Academy vs Bridgeport @ Cedar Grove Academy
Excelsior High vs Tarrant @ Excelsior
Group F
Ardenne High vs Waterford @ Ardenne
Campion College vs St George’s College @ Campion College
Pembroke Hall vs Jose Marti @ Pembroke Hall
Group G
Donald Quarrie vs Ascot High @ Harbour View Mini Stadium
St Jago vs Wolmer’s Boys @ St Jago
Vauxhall High vs Papine High @ Vauxhall High
*All games are scheduled for 3:30pm.
Barbadian jockey Rico Walcott has landed a solid ride, the 6-1 morning line bet War Bomber in Saturday’s rich Ricoh Woodbine Mile at Woodbine racetrack in Toronto, Canada.
Only six horses will contest the CAN$1 million event over eight furlongs on turf and while War Bomber is only the fourth-best fancied in the field, the five-year-old gelding is coming off a big win in last month’s CAN$200,000 King Edward Stakes with Walcott and trainer Norman McKnight is hopeful he can register a repeat added-money win.
“I thought he raced fantastic in the King Eddie,” McKnight said in a DRF web site story. “He came out of the race in good shape. We breezed him the other day, and Rico thought he breezed better than before his last race. I hope he’s right. I hope he reflects that when he runs,” McKnight added.
The 34-year-old Walcott, a 13-time champion jockey at Canadian tracks including eight titles at Northlands Park, is having his first season at Woodbine and has already recorded two stakes wins at the Toronto Oval. Three other Caribbean jockeys have previously won the Woodbine Mile – Barbadians Patrick Husbands and Slade Callaghan and Trinidad and Tobago-born Richard Dos Ramos.
World-famous owners Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby won last year’s Woodbine Mile with the super three-year-old Modern Games and return – again with jockey William Buick -- with another Ireland-bred entry, Master of The Seas, an even-money favourite for the Woodbine Mile, jointly the richest race in Canadian racing along with the King’s Plate.
The event is a key prep for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at California’s Santa Anita Park in November and one of three Grade 1 ‘Win and You’re In’ Breeders’ Cup Day qualifiers on Saturday’s card, along with the Summer and Natalma stakes for two-year-olds.
The Woodbine Mile field also includes the 5-2 second favourite Shirl’s Speight who will be ridden by John Velazquez, the most successful Woodbine Mile jockey with five wins. Shirl’s Speight was fourth in last year’s Woodbine Mile.
Legendary Day is unlikely to be seen back over hurdles any time soon having gained his biggest pay day to date in the Betfred Mallard Handicap at Doncaster.
Trained by Adrian Keatley, the five-year-old was bought out of Hughie Morrison’s yard as a dual-purpose prospect, yet despite winning on his first attempt over timber, two subsequent defeats tempered enthusiasm.
In any case, when you have a Flat horse capable of winning £60,000 handicaps you are probably better off sticking to what you know and that is what Keatley, an Irish 1,000 Guineas-winning trainer with Jet Setting when still based in his homeland, intends to do.
It was a narrow success – one of the biggest of 3lb claimer Mark Winn’s career – having been left in front a long way from home, but Legendary Day (12-1) held off 33-1 chance Oneforthegutter by a short-head.
Keatley said: “We bought him for 8,500 guineas to do both and he’s won over £70,000 for us now, but I won’t be in a rush to go back hurdling with him as he’s not a natural. He did win first time over them but he’s not good at getting in and popping, so he could damage himself with his technique.
“There’s nothing wrong with his technique on the Flat. He’s been knocking on the door in these sort of races. Joe Fanning rode him at York earlier in the season and was adamant he’d win one. Oisin (Murphy) rode him the last day in a big race at York and was very happy with him also.
“I said to Mark today, I just thought with his 3lb it might help us get there and it did.
“I’d been watching Mark for a while, he’s a good rider and an astute young man with a good head on his shoulders and I just thought that 3lb would be crucial.
“He was following the fancied one (The Goat) who quickly fell away, so he found himself in front and there was nothing he could do. Thankfully it worked.”
Keatley went on: “We’ve had a good year. We restocked in the middle of last year, we’ve 21 boxes, we rotate as we go and keep it as fresh as we can.
“These are the days you want to have winners, the big meetings.”
Winn said: “He travelled through the race lovely but when I asked him he found it a bit too well and I was in front a long time.
“He has cheekpieces for a reason, but even so he stuck at it very well. It was tight enough and you never like to be too confident.”
Richard Hannon’s Circe had shown up well on her debut at Sandown earlier in the month and had little trouble opening her account at the second attempt in the Coopers Marquees EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes.
In truth, not many got involved, with Marie Ellen trying to see them all off from the front but Sean Levey always looked confident.
The 3-1 favourite hit the front still on the bridle just over a furlong out and despite looking green in the closing stages, won by a length and a half.
Levey said: “She was very impressive, we liked her first time and she ran in a quality race, beaten by two horses with experience.
“We hoped she’d stepped forwards and she has. I would have liked to have seen her put her head down a bit more and run right through the line, but I didn’t really get a chance to do that as she did it too easy.
“She’s a big horse with plenty of scope and she’ll make a nice three-year-old.”
William Buick guided the George Boughey-trained Baradar (100-30 favourite) to an easy win in the Doncaster Groundworks Reinforcements Handicap, while Ralph Beckett’s Mistressofillusion (7-2) made all in the British EBF Ruby Anniversary Premier Fillies’ Handicap.
“Calypso cricket” is what head coach of the West Indies Women’s team, Shane Deitz, wants his team to play going forward.
The Australian 47-year-old, who was appointed in July this year, believes that the West Indies will have to play a more attacking brand of cricket to compete with the best teams in the world.
“The brand of cricket I want us to play is definitely the traditional West Indian ‘calypso’ brand of attacking, taking it to the opposition and getting on the front foot. It’s the way I’ve always coached cricket around the world and that’s not going to change here,” Deitz said in a press conference on Tuesday.
“It’s a style of play that I think is effective so the players will definitely be getting the message that we’re here to win and we’re going to win by playing attacking, free-flowing cricket,” he added.
The former Vanuatu and Netherlands Women head coach believes the implementation of this new philosophy will take time, but will be worth it in the end.
“It may take a little bit of time to really adjust to or a few skillset upgrades in players but we’ll work towards that so they’ve got the ability to play that style of cricket and I think that’s the most successful brand of cricket around the world,” he said.
“Australia play it at the moment in women’s cricket and are consistently getting over 300 in ODIs and 160 to 180 in T20Is so we’re definitely going to follow that method and play that style of cricket and play the Caribbean way,” added Deitz.
Deitz will get his first opportunity to see the team in a competitive outing when they embark on a tour of Australia for three ODIs and three T20Is from September 30-October 14.
He says this will be a great opportunity to see some of the players first-hand against some world-class opposition.
“I’ve only been here for the WCPL to see them live so I think this tour to Australia will be a great opportunity for me to see the players first-hand against the world’s best and a team that has dominated women’s cricket around the world,” he said.
“This is a great test for us and a way for me to see the reality of where we’re at, what we need to work on and what areas we need to improve so we can formulate a long-term plan to work on players to get them up to that world class, elite level and challenge Australia, England and India who have been challenging for World Cups,” Deitz added.
As for the nucleus of his team going forward, Deitz pointed to current skipper Hayley Matthews, former captain Stafanie Taylor and all-rounder, Chinelle Henry.
“Obviously we’ve got a few players who are near the top of the world rankings with Hayley (Matthews) and Stafanie (Taylor). (Chinelle) Henry is also showing signs of being an elite level cricketer,” he said.
Frankie Dettori will don the Juddmonte silks when he makes his final British Classic appearance aboard Arrest in Doncaster’s Betfred St Leger.
The Italian has won the Town Moor showpiece six times throughout his career and struck in the colours of the Abdullah family with Logician in 2019.
Dettori was expected to partner his Royal Ascot winner Gregory in his last shot at Classic glory, but made a late switch to the John and Thady Gosden-trained stablemate after a wet week in South Yorkshire.
And it could be somewhat fitting that he bows out for connections who have provided him with some of the biggest victories in his career.
“Any time Frankie is on board is great and I suppose the association he has had with Juddmonte over the years has been so strong and we’ve had so many big days together that we can hopefully dream of another on Saturday,” said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for the owner.
“It would be special and it’s a hot race, it’s certainly hard to dismiss much in the race. They are all of a similar level and it’s definitely quality over quantity.”
The race offers Arrest the chance for Classic redemption having fluffed his lines when sent off favourite in the hands of Dettori in his final Derby at Epsom earlier in the summer.
However, connections believe they made the wrong decision to run the son of Frankel on quick ground during the height of summer and are hopeful their high-class colt will stay the stamina-sapping one-mile-six-furlong trip in his preferred ground.
Mahon added: “In fairness to the horse, his record is pretty solid and we made two bad calls with the horse running him on good to firm ground at Epsom and Ascot. To be fair they were two big races and big meetings and we just made the wrong call and we’ve learned from that.
“We know he likes an ease in the ground and if you forget those two runs, then his record is pretty outstanding.
“It’s like everything, until you try it, you don’t know 100 per cent (if Arrest will stay). But it didn’t look like he was stopping at the end of the Geoffrey Freer, so you would have to think he will be fine over it. Over a mile and five and a half at Newbury he looked comfortable enough, so we just have to be hopeful he gets the extra furlong.”
Arrest is one of three for the Gosdens alongside Gregory and Middle Earth as the Clarehaven team seeks a second British Classic of the campaign.
Kieran Shoemark takes the ride on Gregory, who although tasting defeat for the first time in the Great Voltigeur, showed his liking for this trip when winning the Queen’s Vase at the Royal meeting before that.
“He’s got a great mind and he is a pretty laid-back character,” said John Gosden.
“I trained both the mother and father and he’s inherited all the good traits of their mental attitude towards racing.
“We gave him all the time he required and he’s done nothing but shine this year. I think he’ll enjoy the distance, although we are perfectly aware it looks like being a vintage St Leger.”
Middle Earth was supplemented into the contest by owners Qatar Racing having proven his class in York’s Melrose Stakes and the mount of Oisin Murphy ticks plenty of boxes despite stepping up markedly in class.
Gosden added: “He’s proven he stays the trip, which let me tell you, the one mile, six furlongs and a few yards, it is a long straight, it tests the tactical speed and the stamina. He looks like he should be able to answer those two calls.
“If you’d won a handicap in the style he did at York, that was a tougher race than some of the trials. If you’ve got the right horse at the right time and he handles the ground, then he has every right to be there.”
While the Gosdens field a team of three, there will be four from Aidan O’Brien’s all-conquering Ballydoyle string, including Continuous who lowered the colours of Gregory at York last month.
He is the mount of Ryan Moore and is joined by Bahrain Trophy runner-up Tower Of London, Alexandroupolis and Denmark as the handler searches for his sixth win the race.
O’Brien said: “Continuous is very well. He came out of York very well. He’s a horse that has class and you can take your time with over a mile and six (furlongs).
“Tower Of London just got beat at Newmarket. He will get the trip, he’s a brother to Capri. He handles good ground and we’re very happy with him.
“Alexandroupolis was second in a Derby Trial and then suffered a setback. We’ve always liked him and think he’s come forward plenty from his last run, but will probably come forward more after this.”
Godolphin are no strangers to success in this contest and their hopes are carried by Simon and Ed Crisford’s Chesspiece, who was only a neck behind the reopposing Desert Hero in the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood and will relish the extra two furlongs.
“It’s a big day and he’s done well progressing this season,” said Ed Crisford.
“It’s a tough race, the St Leger, and there’s some good horses in it and he has a few lengths to make up on those higher-rated horses, but he wants every yard of the trip and it looks like being suitable ground for him.
“If he can improve a little bit, I’m sure he will be in the mix.”
Chesspiece’s training team recently celebrated their first Group One success when landing the Prix Morny and now look to quickly follow up in one of the oldest races on the calendar.
Crisford added: “It’s exciting to be a part of the Leger, it is always a great race and to have a horse with a bit of a squeak is great.
“You will have to really stay well in the Leger – I think our fella will stay well and I think with the softer conditions, it will be a grinding sort of race. He’s there with a chance for sure.”
Trueshan lit up Doncaster as he returned to his best to register a remarkable success in the Betfred Doncaster Cup Stakes.
Retirement appeared to be looming when the seven-year-old disappointed earlier in the season, but given a wind operation and a 135-day summer break, Alan King’s charge roared back to form on Town Moor.
Victory looked unlikely in the early stages of the Group Two contest as Trueshan refused to settle for Hollie Doyle, travelling keenly when held-up behind the steady early pace set by Ryan Moore aboard Broome.
Doyle allowed her mount to stride on approaching the turn for home and it proved to be a race-winning move from the rider as the long-distance veteran powered his way to the head of affairs.
With the rest of the field remaining glued to the inside rail, Trueshan set sail solo up the centre of the track, before edging his way across to battle John and Thady Gosden’s Sweet William who had emerged from the pack to lay down a stern challenge.
Trueshan, however, would not be denied and he stormed to the line to win by a length and a quarter.
Paddy Power and Betfair now make the 100-30 scorer a 5-1 shot to win the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup for a fourth straight year at Ascot on October 21.
Big Evs bounced back to his very best with a devastating display in the Carlsberg Danish Pilsner Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster.
Mick Appleby’s speedster has struck big-race gold at both Royal Ascot and the Goodwood Festival when claiming the Molecomb Stakes, but having been tasked with taking on his elders in the Nunthorpe last time, was unable to get involved and was ultimately one of the disappointments in York’s premier sprint.
Back to racing against his own age group, the son of Blue Point put his rivals to the sword from the very start to add this Group Two prize to his growing CV and having been fast away from the stalls in the hands of Tom Marquand, the 9-4 favourite scorched his way up Town Moor as his rivals chased the pacey youngster’s tail in vain.
The two-and-three-quarter-length winner now appears to have booked his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup in November.
Appleby said: “After he jumped out of the stalls there wasn’t really a doubt. Once he got three or four lengths on them they weren’t going to catch him. You’ve got to be up the front on this ground.
“It’s not the ideal ground for him but he’s got the job done well. He’s won a Molecomb and the Flying Childers on soft ground now.
“We just had to put a line through the Nunthorpe. I think he just had an exceptionally hard race at Goodwood, I think that just took its toll.
“I think it will be the Breeders’ Cup next for the Juvenile Turf Sprint, straight there. It’s five furlongs at Santa Anita which should be ideal. If he can get the rail he could be difficult to peg back.
“He’s been an amazing horse, the owners have turned down some big bids and there’ll be more now, but luckily he’s not for sale.
“Coming into this, I was thinking that one race didn’t make him a bad horse. If he’d disappointed again then we’d have been scratching our heads but he’s got the job done well today.
“Tom rode him today as Jason (Hart) was at Chester for his boss (John Quinn). If Highfield Princess goes to the Breeders’ Cup that means Jason will be, so he’ll be there and all being well he’ll be riding him again. Tom was a great replacement today.”
In a groundbreaking move, Sportsmax Limited, the leading sports broadcasting channel in the Caribbean, has launched a state-of-the-art studio and production facility at its parent company Digicel Headquarters, located at 14 Ocean Boulevard in downtown Kingston. This multi-million-dollar investment marks a significant milestone in the evolution of sports broadcasting in the region.
For the past 13 years, Sportsmax had been broadcasting from its previous location at 22 Chalmers Avenue in Kingston, where it further established itself as the premier sports channel in the Caribbean, reaching millions of viewers across 26 countries.
At the launch event, Digicel Group CEO Oliver Coughlan emphasized the substantial investment made to upgrade the facilities to accommodate this move to downtown Kingston. He underlined the broader strategy behind Digicel's involvement in the sports media landscape, saying, "Over 10 years ago, Digicel made a strategic decision to get involved, purchase, and become a partner of Sports Max. We did it because our core competency is mobile, but we wanted to be a total entertainment provider."
Coughlan continued, "We want to have the best content across the Caribbean, and I think it's only fitting that this studio is in Jamaica because as an Irish person when I came here first, you know, we all know your track and field gods and goddesses. We watch them from across the world. When we come here and we see the religion that track and field is, it's just amazing to watch."
Regarding the upgraded studio's capabilities and offerings, Coughlan elaborated, "We see this as just another stepping stone in that amazing development of Sports Max within the digital family. This is state-of-the-art. It was an investment that I must thank Gyorgy for. When I came here about three years ago now, Gyorgy came up with a business plan and to invest a large sum of money, and that very first meeting we had has now resulted in this state-of-the-art complex."
Gyorgy Zsembery, Group Chief Executive Officer, Home and Entertainment at Digicel, shared insights into the goals and plans for the new facility, stating, "So my thoughts are very simple, you know. Sports Max started as a sports channel, but this is a media company with a lot of capabilities how to produce anything as it is now. It's not just sports channels what we produce, and also we do live productions, events, productions all the way to advertising."
Zsembery further emphasized the regional impact of this investment, saying, "We want to develop this business that others also use it, but at the same time we know that for our products, we have the best technical infrastructure. And you know it can be used for apps, it can be used for anything which is related to media or entertainment. So definitely not just moving something existing into this, but how to develop further for any companies in the region."
Regarding the new broadcast studio, Zsembery emphasized that it is comparable to the very best in the world.
“This is real like ESPN, Sky, CNN, the same level because I think when you do something you always have to do the best, which is in this moment the latest (technology). So we decided that we're investing into the best.”
Nicolas Matthews, CEO of Sportsmax Limited, highlighted the channel's rich history and its commitment to delivering exceptional content, saying, "We have been broadcasting and producing several sporting content for over 21 years. "
Matthews also shared exciting news about future programming, stating, "In addition to this extensive list of content, we will also provide the most anticipated event on the sporting calendar. Do you know what this is? All right, but this is the 2024 Paris Olympics next year. And guess what? We will be there and we'll be showing you Shericka Jackson breaking the 200-meter world record and we'll also be putting the cap on Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's retirement from track and field because she'll be performing at the Olympics in 2024."
In emphasizing the studio's capabilities and future potential, Matthews stated, "We haven't simply rebranded or relocated. We have reimagined the metaphorical ladder into an escalator which has now enabled us to not only meet our viewers' needs but has driven us to become the go-to business enterprise in media. We are now more equipped to efficiently handle all facets of production both in studio and outside broadcasts and you can look forward to this new state-of-the-art facility that our team has been expertly trained to operate and ensuring that we give you the best meter solutions available in the Caribbean. And I tell you when you see this, there's nothing else like this in the Caribbean."
Matthews and Zsembery cut the ribbon to unveil the new studio, which drew immediate praise from the awestruck guests that included Tessanne Chin, the winner of the 2013 edition of the Voice, who performed for the historic occasion.
With its new state-of-the-art facility, Sportsmax Limited is poised to continue its legacy of delivering top-quality sports content to the Caribbean and beyond, cementing its position as a premier sports broadcasting channel in the region.
Roger Teal could have a smart operator on his hands after Dancing Gemini stormed to victory in the Betfred Flying Scotsman Stakes at Doncaster.
The Lambourn-based trainer won this Listed event with Tip Two Win in 2017 and his latest scorer arrived on Town Moor on an upwards curve having won well at Newbury last month.
Always travelling smartly in the hands of Lewis Edmunds, the son of Camelot moved purposely to the front a furlong from home and galloped on powerfully to the line to make a real statement, registering a commanding four-and-a-quarter-length victor over Andrew Balding’s Gushing Gold.
Tip Two Win would go on to finish second to Saxon Warrior in the 2000 Guineas and it appears Teal is already dreaming of next year’s Classics with his impressive youngster.
Before that though, he could return to Doncaster for the Futurity Trophy next month and both Paddy Power and Betfair go 20-1 from 66s for that end-of-season Group One event.
Teal said: “That was really impressive. We’ve held him in high regard all year. He did a piece of work last week that was breathtaking and I knew we had him in good shape heading into today.
“I said to Lewis, ‘if we can back up that bit of work, you’ll be going past the lollipop in front’ and he did. It was a very nice performance.
“We won this with Tip Two Win and I think he could possibly be as good, he’s got a similar profile because he’s got speed, with a good turn of foot and a good cruising gear.
“He’s in the big one here at the end of the season, but we’ll play it by ear and see how he comes out of today. If all is well and the owner is happy, we might take a punt, if not we’ll wait for next year when we’ll go for a trial before the Guineas.
“Lewis is a very underused jockey – I shouldn’t say that because more people will start using him. Fair play to the owner because Rossa Ryan was supposed to ride him last time but got claimed by a bigger stable, but Lewis did a great job at Newbury and he has again today.
“He handles the soft, when I watched the first I thought it was a little softer than they thought as they were well strung out, so I said to Lewis, ‘don’t sit too far off the pace and give him every chance’.
“We really fancied him on his debut but he was slowly away before passing everything bar the winner but he’s come on bundles, he’s improving with every race. He’ll get a mile no problem.”
Spycatcher will try to take advantage of conditions at Doncaster when he lines up in the Betfred Park Stakes on Saturday.
Karl Burke’s five-year-old thrives when the mud flies and following a week of rain on Town Moor, he appears to have the perfect opportunity to continue his stellar 2023 campaign.
He is yet to finish outside the money in five starts this term and having made a successful trip to Deauville to claim the Prix de Ris-Orangis on his penultimate start, returned to the Normandy coast to run a career best when second in the Prix Maurice de Gheest.
Seven furlongs presents a different challenge for the son of Vadamos, but the Spigot Lodge handler is keen to strike while the iron is hot.
Burke said: “We wanted to really keep him at six and he is in the Renaissance Stakes the following week at the Curragh, but this doesn’t look the strongest Group Two in the world and the ground is in his favour.
“He seems in great form so I think we’ll let him take his chance. At this time of year the ground can change and you’d hate to miss Doncaster and then it turns up decent ground at the Curragh.”
John and Thady Gosden’s Audience claimed the Criterion Stakes on reappearance and then left a disappointing showing at Goodwood behind him when second to Kinross at York last month.
However, his below-par performance on the Sussex Downs came with ease in the ground and Chris Richardson, managing director for owners Cheveley Park Stud, once again has slight reservations about conditions.
He said: “He came out of York really well but my only concern would be the ground I suppose, because all of his best efforts have been on good ground. He ran poorly at Goodwood on softish ground, so hopefully we get a drying scenario.
“It’s a trappy race and obviously Karl Burke’s horses are flying. But we deserve to be in there and John has been happy with him.
“If he had been allowed to race on his own at York rather than in a group, then he might have gone a bit closer, but he definitely has the ability as we saw.”
The son of Iffraaj somewhat lost his way at three, but has been revitalised since being gelded and connections are delighted he has now started to give a glimpse of his true ability this season.
Richardson added: “I think gelding him has made all the difference. We always knew the ability was there, it was just a question of making him concentrate on what he needed to do rather than other things.
“It wouldn’t normally have been our plan to geld a horse of this quality, but he just made it a challenge last year. It’s nice he’s back on track now and fulfilling his potential.”
Andrew Balding’s Sandrine was not far behind Audience when third in the City Of York Stakes and excels over this distance, while Bunbury Cup scorer Biggles represents last year’s winning stable in his first outing in stakes company.
Eve Johnson Houghton’s Jumby and Charlie Hills’ Pogo complete the select field of six.
The Saint Lucia Kings confirmed their place in the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Playoffs following a comfortable seven wicket victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
The Amazon Warriors won the toss and opted to bat first and it was a decision that was to backfire as the innings never really got going until the final five overs. Despite some late power hitting the Amazon Warriors could only post 167-5 which appeared subpar at first glance.
That proved to be correct as the Saint Lucia Kings confirmed that by chasing down the 168 to win with 15 balls remaining.
Earlier the Amazon Warriors suffered a slow start as Matthew Nandu was run out for three inside the PowerPlay and that setback contributed to the Warriors only reaching 35-1 at the end of the initial six overs.
That sedate start was difficult for the home side to overcome as the CPL’s top run scorer, Saim Ayub, fell for 16 in the ninth over with the score on 50-2.
However, Shai Hope and Azam Khan then Khan and Shimron Hetmyer helped rebuild the innings before late fireworks from Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd ensured 72 runs were added in the final five overs to set the Kings 168 to win.
That 168 proved to be well under par as the Kings made easy work of the chase.
Although Johnson Charles fell for one in the second over that was to be as good as it got for the Amazon Warriors as Colin Munro and Bhanuka Rajapaksa put on a devastating partnership of 132 runs from 82 balls.
Rajapaksa holed out for 86 to deep mid-wicket and Munro followed shortly after for 55, but the job was done. It allowed Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza to see the chase home with three overs remaining.
The win ensures the Kings qualify for the playoffs with one game to spare.
Scores: Saint Lucia Kings 170-3 (Rajapaksa 86, Munro 55; Shepherd 1-15, Tahir 1-34) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 167-5 (Khan 40, Hope 38; Joseph 2-31, Raza 1-14) by seven wickets.
Owen Burrows is considering options at home and abroad for Alflaila after taking plenty of positives from his performance in last weekend’s Irish Champion Stakes.
The four-year-old was a 7-1 chance for the Group One feature at Leopardstown, his second run of the season after returning from a lay-off to land the Group Two York Stakes in July.
But with a slow start putting the Shadwell-owned colt on the back foot from flag-fall, Alflaila was last of all turning for home before making significant inroads on the leaders to finish fifth, in the end beaten just over three lengths by the winner Auguste Rodin.
While disappointed the race did not go as planned, Burrows was not discouraged by the performance and is hoping for strong end to his campaign.
“He’s grand, he’s come out of Ireland well. It just didn’t really go to plan as such but he seems fine,” the trainer said.
“It wasn’t quite the plan to be that far back, but he can jump a bit slow and round there it was always going to be difficult if he did that.
“Considering he was 10 or 12 lengths down turning in and he got beaten by just over three, I think that’s still a pretty promising performance for his first time in the Group One.
“On a different track and a different day I don’t think he’s going to be too far off, so there were plenty of positives to take from it.”
On future plans, Burrows added: “We’re just weighing up our options as to where we go next now.
“That was only his second run this year, he’s in the Champion Stakes, he’s in the Prix Dollar on the Saturday of the Arc weekend which possibly, with the way French races run, might not suit him.
“Then he might be on his travels again though the winter. He’s only had two runs so he can have a busy end to the year.”
With their preparations marred by financial constraints, Trinidad and Tobago’s senior women’s Head coach Richard Hood is bracing for the daunting task of trying to secure a spot in next year’s Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup.
Hood and his Soca ladies will begin their hunt for qualification on September 26 away to Mexico, and the performance there is expected to set the tone for the remainder of the busy period.
Aside from the financial woes which has limited their preparations, Hood is also faced with the issue of some senior players being reluctant to represent the twin island republic, which means he will have to rely on his young charges to make the most of the campaign.
“I would say we are in a difficult position. We always knew that we were going to be in a difficult position because there are certain constraints where the TTFA is concerned, financially that is, and we will never get the kind of preparation that we really need in order to excel. But as a staff, we accept that and we will try to do the best we can do with the limited resources available to us,” Hood said in a recent interview with Guardian Media Sports.
“We are going to put our best foot forward, we are going to prepare the team to the best of our abilities, and hopefully on game day, we get the players to come out and execute the plan and we get the results we are hoping for,” he added.
Despite being a mere six weeks into camp, Hood has identified some positives in terms of player quality that he believes can be used to good effect.
“Based on what I have seen so far; we have two maybe three players who can definitely be added to our roster. The problem we always encounter though, is whether the university players would be released from their colleges. We have communicated with the players and most of them, who we are interested in, have indicated that they will be available, so for the most part, we ought to get the players that we want,” he shared.
Trinidad and Tobago are in Group A of League A alongside Mexico and Puerto Rico. After opening on the road, the Soca ladies will host the return leg against the Mexicans on October 27, before visiting Puerto Rico on December 1 and again on December 5, at home.
After group play, the three League A group winners will qualify for the 2024 Women’s Gold Cup Group Stage. The three second-place finishers of the League A groups and the three League B group winners, will advance to the Women’s Gold Cup Preliminaries.
“The encouraging thing for me is that there is some talent that we could work with. There are some players I would have liked to be part of it who, for one reason or the other, will not be part of it, some locally and some foreign-based players as well. But we will work with what we have and do the best with what we have,” Hood ended.
League A Group B comprises Panama and Guatemala with the loser of the Olympic playoff between Jamaica and Canada to join them.
Meanwhile, Group C is made up of Costa Rica, Haiti and St Kitts and Nevis.
As the calls for support for Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz continue to grow, noted sports consultant Carole Beckford, has added her voice to the effort and even went as far as to suggest ways in which seats can be filled for the upcoming local leg of the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying playoff against Canada.
Beckford, like Head coach Lorne Donaldson and Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) President, Christopher Samuda, believes the Reggae Girlz are deserving of every bit of backing, and, as such, are urging Jamaicans to show out at the National Stadium on September 22.
This, as the second leg scheduled for September 26 at the close to 40,000-capacity BMO Field in Toronto, has already been sold out.
In fact, Beckford went further to recommend that schools such as Excelsior, Holy Childhood, Meadowbrook, Alpha, Holy Trinity, Camperdown and Dunoon, dismiss classes at 1:00 pm, to allow the girls time to get home and back to the game.
She said businesses that employ individuals with girls at those schools, could also release them early to possibly accompany their children and Corporate Offices with women as CEOs could buy tickets for their employees.
Additionally, she suggested that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JFC) could make adjustments for vehicular movements until match time, to allow one-way traffic up from Arthur Wint Drive.
According to Beckford, the show of support would be somewhat of a celebration for the 37th-ranked Reggae Girlz for their exploits at the Fifa Women’s World Cup where they held France and Brazil to goalless stalemates and secured their first ever World Cup win with a 1-0 scoreline over Panama.
In the process, they became the first Caribbean nation –male or female – to play in the knockouts of the World Cup, since Cuba’s feat in 1938.
“This match could be a homecoming for the ladies, who were in the final 16 at the recently concluded World Cup in Australia/New Zealand. The Girlz deserve our support, let us all wear Jamaican colours next Friday. We will be up against the Reds,” Beckford urged.
Should the Girlz secure a victory and a draw against Canada, it would see them being the first Caribbean nation to qualify for women's football at the Olympic Games. It would also secure the Jamaicans the second automatic spot for the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup, alongside United States.
The loser will drop into a women’s Gold Cup qualifying Group A, which includes Panama and Guatemala. They would play home and away games against these two teams starting October 25, with an away game in Panama.
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