Ann Duffield’s Catterick course specialist Quercus brought up a fourth success at the track with an all-the-way win under Joe Fanning in the 5th Regiment Royal Artillery Handicap.
Racing off bottom weight, it was a canny bit of placing by Duffield, winning a 0-80 with the 56-rated six-year-old.
Only eight were declared and two of those ended up as non-runners and Fanning was happy to take up a prominent early position, and he was allowed an easy time on the front end.
Oso Rapido, winner of the race 12 months ago and the 100-30 favourite to repeat the trick, came with a late rattle but went down by a head.
“The track here suits him, quirky Quercus we call him, but he is actually really genuine, he just likes this track,” said Duffield.
“He did have the option of the five-furlong race on the card but over six he gets to go round the bend, which he loves.
“We’ll have a look in the book and see when we can come back here, there’s a chance he might be back next week under a penalty.
“They left him alone in front, which he loves, and Joe is obviously brilliant in front.”
Grant Tuer’s Bellarchi (4-1) needed seven attempts to open her account but the consistent filly finally managed it in the British Stallion Studs EBF Restricted Novice Stakes.
Placed in all but one of her previous six outings, and that was in Listed company and York, She was certainly deserving of her success.
Another to make all, she was sent for home under Sam James fully two furlongs out and held off Willolarupi by a length.
Tuer said: “She deserved to win one and she’s been good from day one.
“I was actually a little bit disappointed she didn’t win on her debut at Thirsk.
“She’s straightforward, she jumps and runs, she’s got a great mind and she knows her job – a great horse for a syndicate (Nick Bradley).
“We’ve bumped into one or two along the way but the only moderate race she’s run was in the Marygate at York, when she probably should have finished fourth or fifth and to this day I don’t know why she ran so badly, but she pretty much has run to the same mark every other time.”
Fresh from his Group One-winning exploits in the July Cup on Shaquille, Rossa Ryan made the journey north and was rewarded with a double, both trained by Ralph Beckett.
Campaign Trail was sent off the 2-5 favourite in the Watch Racing TV Now Restricted Maiden Stakes and had little trouble in seeing off two rivals.
Diamond Vega (2-1 favourite) was made to a work a little harder in the Download The Vickers.Bet App Handicap but ultimately ran out a cosy two-length winner.
Billy Garrity brought Slingsbytoo (10-1) with a wide late run to win the racingtv.com Handicap for Mick and David Easterby.
Though there has been no official word on the outcome of previous negotiations between horsemen and promoting company Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), both parties seem to have found common ground for the most parts, as live racing is set to return to Caymanas Park on Saturday by way of a six-race card.
This follows the cancellation of races on July 15 and 16, after the Patrick Smellie-led United Racehorse Trainers' Association of Jamaica (URTAJ) opted not to nominate as a show of their discontent to the promoting company’s offer of a $27-million purse increase.
Following a meeting on Monday, Smellie and a majority of his counterparts declared intentions to again withhold nominations, if SVREL doesn’t offer a more attractive purse increase, which all but signalled the possibility of another cancelled race day.
However, a meeting between representatives of the Howard Hamilton-led Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) and the promoting company, also held on Monday, seemingly broke the deadlock.
The owners' group during that meeting, recommended that SVREL’s overpayment of taxes on $6.2 billion in sales initially reported, amounting to what should be approximately $41.7 million in rebates, be put to purse money for 2023, along with the $18 million Quarterly Incentive payments to owners, trainers, jockeys and grooms.
Additionally, TOBA suggested that a three per cent commission earned from inter-tote wagering on local racing, could also be allotted to purses and they also required a full disclosure of SVREL’s arrangement with BetMakers as it relates to fixed-odds betting, with a view that a percentage of those profits should also put to purses going forward.
While SVREL chairman Solomon Sharpe and members of his team had requested time to take those recommendations into consideration, the nomination of horses to allow for this weekend's short programme, implies that some inroads have been made.
But Smellie when contacted, pointed out that he is not aware of any changes where their demands for a more substantial increase is concerned. As such, he expressed strong disappointment with his colleagues who nominated horses.
“I don't know what changed. Nothing has changed between us and Supreme Ventures Racing, so I'm very disappointed in about 50 per cent of the trainers that nominated horses, I don't think they know where we are going. We were fighting for something for the benefit of all grooms, trainers, owners, and horsemen at Caymanas Park,” a vexed Smellie said.
“Never in the history of Caymanas Park we had so much people together, but I understand that there was some rumours going around that Howard Hamilton had said on national radio that people must nominate. So somebody started that rumour and got some weak knee trainers jumping and I guess they started to nominate. So, to say disappointed is an understatement,” he added.
Still, the URTAJ president took heart from the fact that his group and those it represents, achieved its objective in making a statement.
“We have observed the myopic thinking of the promoters and some of these trainers. So we are here, we are going to gather again and have a meeting shortly and see where we move from here because if they want to race for 3.5 percent increase then they can do so.
“I thank all the trainers and owners that stood up and fight the cause because those other four races could have been filled if these guys didn't stand up and fight for what they believe in,” Smellie argued.
David Evans hopes the ground will be in Rohaan’s favour as the consistent sprinter bids for a fourth Group-race success in the bet365 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.
Bought for 20,000 guineas in October 2020, the Mayson gelding has proven to be a real money-spinner, winning nine times in 29 races for Evans.
He has climbed from basement-level handicaps on the all-weather to securing back-to-back successes in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot and a Group Two victory at Haydock.
Plans were hatched to head to both Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia last winter, but those ideas had to be shelved by the Monmouthshire handler when the gelding suffered a setback.
Winner of over £400,000, Rohaan was almost retired before striking late at Royal Ascot under Ryan Moore last summer, having previously suffered a dip in form.
He went on to add the Group Three Bengough Stakes at Ascot to his second Wokingham triumph.
While he has yet to show the same level of form that also saw him placed in the Sprint Cup at Haydock and sign off in October with a close-up fourth to Kinross in the British Champions Sprint, Evans feels he is getting there.
The five-year-old has had three runs this term, the last of which saw him beaten three lengths by The Big Board in a valuable five-furlong Ascot handicap last weekend.
Evans said: “After his injury, he took a couple of runs to get himself in peak condition and to have the confidence to let himself go like he did the other day.
“I only ran him there just to finish a race off. Hopefully he’ll have a good chance as he goes back up to six furlongs.
“Let’s hope the ground doesn’t go too quick. It is still saying good, good to soft.
“Hopefully Newbury will have a shower to freshen it up. I don’t think it will be fast ground anyway and he should go there with a decent chance – he was only beaten a length and three-quarters in it last year.”
July Cup fourth Art Power is set to make a swift return to action in the Barberstown Castle Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday.
Tim Easterby’s charge has already won three times at the home of Irish Flat racing, landing back-to-back renewals of the Group Three Renaissance Stakes in 2021 and 2022 as well as striking gold in the Group Two Greenlands Stakes earlier this season.
The six-year-old was well beaten in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot but showed his true colours back on an easier surface at Newmarket last weekend, finishing just under three lengths behind fellow Yorkshire-trained speedster Shaquille.
Art Power will be sent back into battle just seven days later as he bids for a first win over five furlongs since plundering the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap at the Royal meeting three years ago.
“He ran an absolute cracker in the July Cup, and he leaves on Thursday night for Ireland. He loves it there, it’s down to five furlongs but we think he’ll run a good race,” said Easterby’s son and assistant William.
“I think he prefers cut in the ground but it’s not vital. He’s run well on good to firm in the past, but slower ground does just slow the others down.
“He wasn’t born far from the Curragh and it’s an amazing thing, horses for courses, it seems to work.
“We love training in Yorkshire and we’ve lots of horses who like the tracks in Yorkshire, but when you find one who likes it somewhere, you run them there.”
Pascal Bary is dreaming of finally getting his hands on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe trophy having seen Feed The Flame become a leading contender for Europe’s richest middle-distance contest.
The son of Kingman grabbed plenty of attention when winning ParisLongchamp’s Prix de Ferrieres with real ease earlier in the campaign and as a result was sent off one of the main players for the Prix du Jockey Club last month.
He was only able to finish fourth in the Chantilly Classic as Jean-Claude Rouget’s Ace Impact stole all the headlines.
However, a step up in trip to 12 furlongs saw him back to his imperious best in the Grand Prix de Paris, where he proved he was a proper Group One performer by swooping late to down Irish Derby runner-up Adelaide River and John and Thady Gosden’s Oaks winner Soul Sister.
“He should do well in the autumn and he will stay at a mile and a half now,” said Bary.
“He doesn’t make any effort during the race, he can go very well and then accelerate.
“The reason he finished fourth in the Jockey Club was he had to fight too early, it was too fast for him. When he has time, he has a very good turn of foot.”
Feed The Flame is a best priced 14-1 for the Arc on October 1 and with Bary envisaging typical autumnal ground at ParisLongchamp as a positive for his charge, he will tune up for his date with destiny by running at the track in the Group Two Prix Niel on September 10.
“He will go for the Prix Niel and then the Arc,” continued Bary.
“In the Prix Niel he will have to fight with Ace Impact and he is a very, very nice horse. Hopefully over this distance we can get our revenge.
“Then in the Arc, I don’t know, we will have to take on Ace Impact and some good horses coming from England and Ireland. He should be a bit better in soft ground.
“It will come quick, it is less than two months, it will soon be tomorrow.”
Kihavah may drop in trip for the Sky Bet York Stakes on Saturday week ahead of a potential crack at the Ebor next month.
Classic-winning trainer Adrian Keatley feels his stable star, who has a handicap mark of 98, may have to win another race to ensure a place in the Sky Bet-sponsored feature handicap.
Having won his previous four races, including once over hurdles, Kihavah finished a game second to Saeed bin Suroor’s Live Your Dream at Newmarket last week.
“We might run Kihavah at York as a prep run for the Ebor as he’s short a couple of pounds on 98, he might need another couple to make sure he gets in,” said Keatley, who won the 2016 Irish 1,000 Guineas with Jet Setting.
“He’s got his confidence back, he had a couple of issues with his wind in the past, which we’ve played around with, and we seem to have found the key to him now.
“It was a massive run last week at Newmarket but the rain came a bit soon as it just made it a bit loose. Half a mile from home I thought he had no chance, but he pulled it out of the bag again.
“He’s a very big horse, he was very lean when I got him but he seems to be holding his condition now and taking his training better. Hopefully if he gets into the Ebor, he could be a good representative for us.
“We were thinking of Market Rasen this weekend, but when you are talking of races like the Ebor being a possibility, we can always go back jumping later.
“He’s very much a top-of-the-ground horse and because the ground got so loose last week it was a harder race than expected, so that was another reason we missed Market Rasen this weekend.”
The Sky Bet York Stakes is on the final day of the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival which gets under way on Friday at Pontefract and concludes at York on Saturday week.
Michael Dods reports his star filly Azure Blue to be none the worse following her disappointing performance in the July Cup on Saturday.
Having rounded off last season with back-to-back wins at Newmarket, the four-year-old picked up where she left off with a Listed success on the Rowley Mile in early May.
She subsequently got the better of multiple Group One winner Highfield Princess to land the Duke of York Stakes and as a result was among the leading contenders for last weekend’s Group One feature, but could only finish sixth of eight runners.
“She was on the wing, probably racing a bit keenly, but she’s come home fine,” said Dods.
“On the day she probably didn’t run her race, but she’s been fine since she came home anyway.”
The Darlington-based trainer is keen to let the dust settle before committing to future plans. Azure Blue’s big-race entries include the Nunthorpe at York, the Sprint Cup at Haydock and the Flying Five Stakes in Ireland.
“We’ll give her this week and see where we go next – we haven’t made any plans,” he added.
“One of the owners has gone on holiday so we’ll wait until they get back next week, discuss it with them and go from there.”
Equality will bid for a hat-trick when he takes a shot at the King George Qatar Stakes during the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
Owned by Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds, the five-year-old speedster dropped back to handicap company when scoring at Windsor on his penultimate start, before adding to his tally at Sandown in the Group Three Coral Charge
Connections were thrilled to get that first Group race victory under his belt at the Esher track and Equality will now head to the Sussex Downs for a contest handler Charlie Hills has won five times in the last six years thanks to Battaash (2017-2020) and Khaadem (2022).
“It’s really exciting and he was fantastic at Sandown,” said Sam Hoskins, racing manager for the owners.
“We kind of felt he had unfinished business at Group level and obviously there wasn’t much choice after his run at Windsor because he was up to a mark of 108.
“After Haydock earlier in the season our confidence was a bit dented, but the handicapper was good and let us drop back into handicap company and luckily he ran the same race as he did at Windsor at Sandown.”
He went on: “The plan is to go for the King George at Goodwood with him.
“He’s got a very high cruising speed and he should really enjoy a race like that, it’s really exciting.
“It’s going to be a hot race, Highfield Princess is probably going and a lot of other good sprinters will be heading there. It will be a red-hot affair”
There is further interest in the race for Hoskins in the form of Clive Cox’s Get Ahead, who also has the Group Two event in her sights.
Owned by Hot To Trot racing, for whom Hoskins also acts as racing manager, the four-year-old filly has enjoyed a fine season, scoring in the Cecil Frail at Haydock before being narrowly denied at Chantilly in the Prix du Gros-Chene.
She finished three lengths behind Equality when last seen in the Coral Charge, but Goodwood is poised to prove a more suitable venue for the daughter of Showcasing.
“She’s a cracking filly and things just didn’t go her way at Sandown,” continued Hoskins.
“She wants top of the ground and she is really interesting for Goodwood as she won over course and distance there last year beating Silky Wilkie.
“She has progressed again this season and will have a big each-way chance there hopefully.”
He added: “Both horses have had this as their aim and at the beginning of the season we thought if things go well and they progress as we hoped they might do, this is the race for them.
“They are not too dissimilar horses despite one being a gelding and one being a filly, and they are both horses with very high cruising speeds. You could run both of them over four furlongs if there was a race at that distance. It’s really exciting.”
Former India opening batsman Aakash Chopra has called for West Indies to be stripped of their Test-playing status. He believes that the team has been doing nothing in international cricket for a few years now and that they should be replaced by associate member teams from individual islands.
“They won’t be playing in the World Cup. In all three formats, they are lagging behind in the rankings. Eventually, there has to be a threshold,” Chopra argued during a question and answer session with Sportsekeeda.
“I have been talking about that tier system - promotion and relegation. Just because they are an erstwhile champion side, till when can you carry on with them as a Test-playing nation? The team, as such, is doing nothing.”
Chopra says that West Indies' lack of unity and coordination has been a major factor in their downfall, and that many top players prefer franchise cricket over representing West Indies.
“Their case is unique because they have separate islands. Their pitches are so slow. You saw it in Dominica and you will see it at Port of Spain as well. It’s not a bad idea. May be the island teams might play with more pride. All said and done, West Indies’ state of cricket is quite bad.
“The five fingers are split and everyone is thinking about themselves - be it Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua or Guyana. There is hardly any coordination. During their prime, Clive Lloyd kept them together. This team needs leadership, because it’s a scattered side. Every island nation has them own anthem. As it is, things were difficult and then players became T20 journeymen. The pride in playing for West Indies has reduced.”
Chopra's comments come at a time when West Indies are struggling both on and off the field. The team was recently hammered by India in the first Test in Dominica, and they are currently ranked ninth in the Test rankings. Chopra believes that the team needs to be shaken up, and that stripping them of their Test-playing status would be a wake-up call.
Chopra played 10 Tests for India between October 2003 and October 2004 scoring 437 runs at an average of 23.
Pyledriver is fully on course for the defence of his King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes crown following a racecourse gallop at Newbury on Wednesday morning.
Trained by William Muir and Chris Grassick, the six-year-old has won eight of his 19 starts, but has been blighted by injury setbacks which have kept him on the sidelines at key moments of his career.
He conquered German raider Torquator Tasso to land Ascot’s mid-summer showpiece 12 months ago, but was then not seen for 336 days before making a victorious return in the Hardwicke Stakes.
Training well since that Royal Ascot triumph, he came through one of the final pieces of his King George preparations with flying colours at Newbury, with the countdown now on for the July 29 Group One.
“He just did want we wanted and we were delighted with him,” said Muir.
“It was not a serious, hard gallop, it was just a day out really. He goes to Newbury, has a warm-up little canter and then covers the distance, that’s all. He did great.
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed and we’re in good shape. Fingers crossed we’ll be there at Ascot.”
Pyledriver has won three of his four starts at Ascot, with two successes at the Royal meeting accompanying the King George he has on his CV.
However, Muir believes that rather than being a track specialist, Pyledriver is simply a top-class performer who has the capability to thrive in all conditions.
He added: “Everyone says he loves Ascot but that is because it is one of the only places where the races are that we have run him.
“He has only run once at York and he won, same at Haydock, he’s both a winner and second in Group Ones at Epsom. I just think he’s a good horse. The races at Ascot suit him and that’s why we’ve kept going back there really.
“He’s extremely versatile – he’s versatile on ground, he’s versatile on course. He’s not one of those that you worry yourself stupid about what’s going to happen with the weather, whatever happens, happens, and you just turn up.”
Muir also delivered a positive update about Pyledriver’s half-sister Shagpyle, who started off with an eyecatching win at Ascot before being tapped for toe by a useful operator at Haydock.
“She’s fine and as I said when she first ran, she won’t be a filly who has too many runs this year, probably a maximum of four,” said Muir.
“She’s in good form and her work is totally different from when she started. Before she wasn’t strong enough to quicken and she used to just gallop away. We knew she was nice but we never put her under any real pressure because she wasn’t strong enough. Now she’s galloping really well.
“Her first run was really good, but it was on soft ground and she just got into that relentless rhythm and she was better in it than the rest. Then we went to Haydock where it was top of the ground and she didn’t mind the ground, but anything with a turn of foot quickened up and got us at it.”
The daughter of Frankel could head to Doncaster or Deauville for her next outing, while Muir isn’t completely ruling out taking up her entry in the St Leger later in the season despite envisaging it will be next term before she is seen at her best.
“If she were to win her next race easily and the ground was soft, then we would have one more run in a nice race and we’ve entered her (in the Leger) just to see what happens,” continued Muir.
“She is just a transformed filly from how she started the season and next year we will be purring about her because she will be going long distances.
“That’s why the Leger distance will suit her because she will get the trip, so although it is a bit of a throwaway entry, if we got there and it’s soft ground, you just never know.”
Desert Crown remains in contention for the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes after producing a “pleasing” piece of work under Ryan Moore at Newmarket on Wednesday morning.
The Saeed Suhail-owned 2022 Derby winner was beaten narrowly by Hukum in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown on his return to action in May following a year on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
Another minor setback prevented him from running in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and while subsequent scans proved negative, trainer Sir Michael Stoute suggested last week that he may not have enough time to line up in the all-aged showpiece at Ascot on Saturday week.
However, confidence in the camp is growing that the son of Nathaniel will take on this season’s English and Irish Derby winner Auguste Rodin, Epsom runner-up King Of Steel, last year’s King George winner Pyledriver and his Sandown conqueror Hukum in the Qipco-sponsored 12-furlong highlight after all.
The owner’s racing manager, Bruce Raymond, said: “He worked this morning and Ryan rode him.
“Michael was very pleased with him and I think there is a good chance he will go to Ascot.
“He worked nicely. It was a pleasing gallop. I can’t say he is certain for the race, but everyone was very happy with him. There’s a good chance he will go to Ascot.”
Desert Crown is currently a 10-1 chance with Coral for the King George, with Auguste Rodin their 9-4 favourite.
Make that three former high-profile FC Barcelona players now on Inter Miami.
The MLS club will sign veteran defender Jordi Alba, reuniting him with Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets.
Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas announced the move Tuesday, while also confirming Messi and Busquets will make their team debuts on Friday against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup.
"He will debut on Friday," Mas said of Messi. "How much, when, what he does, that’s up to him and (coach Gerardo 'Tata' Martino)."
Messi and Busquets both participated in their first practice with Miami on Tuesday, three days after Messi officially signed a 2 1/2-year contract that will be worth between $50-60million per year.
Messi, who turned 36 years old last month, revealed on June 7 that he would be joining Miami after 11 years with Barca.
Inter Miami announced the addition of Busquets a few weeks later and then disclosed in late June that Martino, who coached Barcelona in 2013-14, would be the club's new head coach.
The 34-year-old Alba joined Barca in 2012, and helped the club to six La Liga titles, five Copa del Rey trophies and the Champions League in 2015.
In 458 appearances for Barcelona, he registered 19 goals and 91 assists.
He'll continue his career with an Inter Miami team that is in last place in the Eastern Conference and mired in an 11-match winless streak since its last victory on May 13.
Guyana is on course to retain the overall title at the ongoing Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Junior Championships, having already secured a number of individual medals, which speaks volumes of their current vein of form heading into the Team and Doubles segment of the tournament in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Guyanese team which last year got hands on the overall championship for the first time since 2015 –after surrendering the 2017 and 2019 editions to Barbados –are now hunting a 14th overall lien on the crown.
They once enjoyed a streak of 12-consecutive wins, which was ended by the Barbadians, but if their form is anything to go by thus far, then they are on the verge of starting another streak.
Guyana have so far secured individual gold medals through Nicholas Verwey in the boys’ Under-19, Louis Da Silva, the boys’ Under-17 champion and Under-15 queen Avery Arjoon.
Kaylee Lowe, in the girls’ Under-13, Mohryan Baksh in the boys’ Under-17 and Kirsten Gomes in girls’ Under-19 category, all secured silver medals, while Ethan Bulkan in boys’ Under-11, Justin Ten Pow in the boys’ under-13 and Michael Alphonso in the boys’ Under-19, added bronze medal to the country’s tally.
The individual finals got under way with Bermuda’s Mason Smith and Benjamin Sherratt snaring gold and silver in the boys’ Under-11, following contrasting victories of Savante Padmore of the host nation and Bulkan. Mason bettered Padmore in three sets 11-3, 11-0, 11-3, while Sherratt required four sets to get by Bulkan.
After losing the first set, 11-8, Sherratt recovered the win the next three 11-9, 11-3 and 11-5 in a match that lasted 28 minutes.
Both Smith and Sherratt then required 23 minutes to settle business among themselves, with the former winning 16-14, 11-8, 11-7.
The boys’ Under-13 category was topped by Barbadian Ben Shepherd, who stamped his class in an 18-minute contest against US Virgin Islands’ Ethan Mohamed. He posted comfortable 11-1, 11-5 and 11-3 wins, while Ten Pow registered 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 against Levi Jack in the third-place encounter.
The host nation was not to be outdone in the boys’ Under-15 category, which was won by Jayden George, who scored a three set 11-5, 11-3, 11-1 win over Bermuda’s Owen Rosorea. Daniel Sealy of Barbados won the third-place contest 11-4, 11-2, 11-8 over Charlie Makin of Bermuda.
After enduring two highly competitive semi-final contest against Vincentian Jaydon Williams and Andrew Cox of Bermuda, Da Silva and Baksh battled out a pulsating boys’ Under-17 final.
Da Silva won the almost hour-long four set showpiece 17-15, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7. Prior to that, he defeated Williams in five sets 6-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 in a 54-minute-long match, while Baksh was comfortable 15-13, 11-4, 11-5 victor over Cox in less than half-hour.
Verwey was also comfortable in victory in the boys’ Under-19 gold medal match in which he bettered Barbadian Alex Stewart in straight sets 12-10, 11-1, 11-6.
Alphonso, who lost his semi-final contest to Stewart, bounced back to defeat, British Virgin Islands Jace Jervis, who had earlier succumbed to Verwey, in the third-place match. Alphonso won the five-set encounter 12-10, 11-7, 11-7, after losing the first two sets 13-15, 8-11.
On the girls’ side of action, Trinidad and Tobago’s Gia Ghuran won the Under-11 gold medal, following a 14 minute 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 win over Delilah Grace Pease of British Virgin Island, while Bermuda’s Taylor Kyme defeated Barbadian Peyton Marshall-Brancker 11-1, 11-2, 11-9 in the bronze medal match.
Lenna Hamati of Barbados copped the girls’ Under-13 top medal in a four-set match with Lowe which ended, 11-7, 11-7, 10-12, 11-2. Bermuda’s McKenna Kyme won the bronze with an 11-8, 11-5, 12-10 win over Guyana’s Tiana Gomes, who fought hard and won the second and third sets 11-2, 11-5.
Arjoon took only 16 minutes to crown herself queen in the Under-15 category, with straight sets, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 win over Bermuda’s Somers Stevenson.
Josie Thong of Trinidad and Tobago took bronze with a 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 triumph over Guyana’s Emily Fung A Fat.
In the Under-17 final, Barbadian Eboni Atherley, was comfortable in victory over Jamaica’s Sanjana Nallapati, scoring 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 to wrap up victory in 25 minutes.
Another Jamaican, Mehar Trehan took bronze, as she too brushed aside her opponent Safirah Sumner of Guyana, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 in under 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Under-19 crown also went to Barbados courtesy of Sumairaa Suleman, who rallied to beat Guyana’s Kirsten Gomes 11-8, 11-9, 11-6, after losing the first set 6-11 in a final that lasted just over half-hour.
It was an all-Jamaica battle for the bronze, with Savannah Thomson coming up trumps over Katherine Risden in an entertaining 49-minute five-set contest that ended 12-14, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11.
Everton winger Demarai Gray was the only Reggae Boy selected to the Concacaf Gold Cup Best XI unveiled on Monday.
The 27-year-old made the most in his first five matches with Jamaica, scoring two goals and chipping in with two assists while completing 86 percent of his passes. Jamaica lost to eventual champions, Mexico, at the semi-final stage.
The full team of the tournament is as follows: GK Guillermo Ochoa (MEX), DF Fidel Escobar (PAN), DF Johan Vasquez (MEX), DF Jorge Sanchez (MEX), MF Luis Chavez (MEX), MF Adalberto Carrasquilla (PAN), MF Orbelin Pineda (MEX), MF Edgar Barcenas (PAN), MF Demarai Gray (JAM), FW Jesus Ferreira (USA), FW Ismael Diaz (PAN)
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