Tripoli Flyer booked his ticket to Aintree in the spring with an impressive display at Lingfield.
A keeping-on fifth on his rules debut at Chepstow in October, Fergal O’Brien’s five-year-old was a 15-2 shot for the opening Winter Million Open National Hunt Flat Race that kicked off the action on Sunday.
He showed plenty of speed and class to down the well-regarded Nicky Henderson-trained 8-11 favourite Kingston Pride in the hands of Paddy Brennan and now has connections dreaming of bigger and better objectives later in the season.
“We’ve got some lovely bumper horses, but I thought he was very good, he was very impressive,” said O’Brien.
“I thought the Henderson horse had solid point-to-point form and the horse who was second to him (The Enabler) has won a Listed race.
“We thought he would appreciate the surface and the good thing about this horse is his owner as he gave him time after his first race at Chepstow because he had a hard race.
“He was only a four-year-old then and we put him away, I think he went to Paddy’s for a bit and then to an event rider down the road who did a lot of work with him. He came back to us and we just had to put the finishing touches to him ready for today.
“Today was always a plan because we thought he would appreciate the better ground.
“The plan, please God, is to go straight to Aintree. We think he will love the flat track and Paddy said the ground, although he got through it at Chepstow, will be important to him.
“I thought he was impressive but he will have to do it on grass now. Going forward he’s a beautiful jumper, so we will look forward to him.”
There was a shock in the Weatherbys Digital Solutions Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle as Ben Clarke’ 40-1 shot Ooh Betty landed the spoils with the assistance of the stewards.
It was Henderson’s Aston Martini that was first past the post following a ding-dong battle after the last, but the placings were reversed after an inquiry.
“She is battle-hardened and she’s not the sexy option in the race, but I think running in handicaps has served her well as she had to battle hard there and be brave,” said Clarke.
“She got bumped a couple of times coming up the home straight and Ben Jones (jockey) felt it cost him, but saying that, it is not the way we want to win a horse race – Nicky was incredibly gracious so I will drop him a bottle of wine.
“At the back of my mind, I’ve always thought if we get half-decent ground at Cheltenham, she could go there for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. We’ll sit tight and she doesn’t want a bog – she can’t run in proper, proper soft ground – so we will plot our way there.
“Endless Escape was beaten just over 10 lengths in the Cheltenham race last year and this mare would be a much speedier type, so we have half an idea what it takes – not as much as Nicky does – so we’ll see, it could be an option.”
JPR One stamped his class on the Download The Racing App Now Lightning Novices’ Chase at Lingfield.
A winner on his chasing debut at Newton Abbot in October, Joe Tizzard’s charge looked set to follow up in the Arkle Trial at Cheltenham the following month when unseating Brendan Powell at the final fence.
In December, he finished a creditable third in the Grade One Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown and got back on the winning trail in this Grade Two event, which was saved and rescheduled following the abandonment of the opening day of the Winter Million Festival on Friday.
There was drama from the off, with Matata hanging violently left on the approach to the first fence, badly impeding the 9-4 favourite Djelo, who had nowhere to go and ultimately came to grief.
Matata attempted to make every yard of the running from that point on, but 6-1 shot JPR One took over travelling strongly five fences from home and looked in control for the remainder of the race.
Matata did his best to make a race of it in the home straight and was making inroads on an idling JPR One late on, but the latter was good value for the winning margin of half a length.
Tizzard said: “He was really good today. I’m not making too many excuses for Sandown, I just think he got stuck in the Sandown ground, which you can.
“We had a little walk down the straight today and I was amazed by how well it walked. It was an easy watch today, he travelled great and jumped for fun and that’s the horse we think we’ve got up against the best two-mile novices in England anyway.
“We’ve always held him in pretty high regard and he perhaps didn’t get to the levels over hurdles, but certainly over fences, if he didn’t have that little stumble at the back of the last at Cheltenham, he was going to look majorly impressive.
“I think the ground at Sandown just took its toll but today is the best we’ve seen him and he’s got a fair bit about him on the day.
“He’s got so much athleticism and Brendan has got the hang of not getting too excited – and you could tell he enjoyed that today. We think he’s a smart horse with a big future.”
Coral cut JPR One to 16-1 from 25-1 for the Arkle Trophy and Tizzard confirmed that Cheltenham Festival contest as his next objective.
He added: “We’ll have to take him to the Arkle now, he deserves to be there.
“He’s only a novice for one year, so I would have thought we would have a crack at it. He’s already proved he runs well around Cheltenham, so I don’t know why we wouldn’t.”
Harmonya Maker bounced back to form with a gutsy victory in the Grade Two Carey Glass Irish EBF Mares Novice Chase at Thurles.
The seven-year-old had jumped left when beaten at Cork last month and put in a below-par effort when a distant third behind Hauturiere in Limerick’s Dawn Run over the festive period
However, Gordon Elliott’s charge turned the tables to beat that rival with a one-and-a-half-length verdict at 100-30 on this occasion.
Silent Approach set the pace, followed by Harmonya Maker and then Hauturiere, who was put on the back foot by a mistake five out.
Harmonya Maker took control between the final two fences and was always doing enough under Jack Kennedy to fend off Hauturiere’s late challenge.
Kennedy said: “She threw her race away jumping left at Cork two runs ago – whatever that was about that day, but she jumped straight today.
“She had been disappointing in her last couple of runs but did what we had been expecting her to do all along.
“For whatever reason, she had been disappointing but it is great for her to put her best foot forward and is back to what we thought she’d be.”
The winner was cut to 16-1 for the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase at Cheltenham with Betfair and Coral.
Former CEO of ICC Cricket World Cup, Chris Dehring has called on the Government, Opposition, Jamaica Cricket Association and the Jamaican people to end the persecution and bring Lawrence Rowe home and give him all the honours due.
Dehring was in Broward County, Florida on Friday, one of the venues for the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup to be staged later this year, delivering the keynote address at the 50th anniversary banquet in celebration of Rowe’s epic triple century against England in 1974.
Amongst the West Indies legends present were Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Andy Roberts, Dr., the Hon. Courtney Walsh O.J., Collis King and Joel “Big Bird” Garner, all former teammates of Rowe, along with Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan.
Rowe was one of several West Indian cricketers who were members of a rebel tour that played matches in then-apartheid South Africa in the early 1980s. Poorly paid and unable to break into a powerful West Indies side, Rowe and others like Collis King, Sylvester Clarke, Colin Croft and Ezra Moseley among others opted to earn between USD$100,000 and US$125,000 to play across two tours from 1982-83 and again from 1983-84. The participants received life bans from Caribbean cricket in 1983 and in many instances, were ostracised socially and professionally.
Dehring, in saying that it was time for Rowe to be forgiven, also lamented at where the banquet was being held.
“This banquet celebrating 50 years since the herculean triple century by one of Jamaica’s greatest sporting icons, should have been staged in Jamaica with the full and unequivocal support of the Jamaican government, cricket association and people of Jamaica. That it is being held in Florida and not in Jamaica, ironically mirrors the embarrassing fact that the T20 cricket World Cup is also being staged this year in Florida, and not in Jamaica. “Look at what we have come to!” he remarked.
He added further, his disappointment at the mural at Sabina Park celebrating some of Jamaica’s most famous cricketers with Rowe noticeably absent.
“Black South Africans forgave their oppressors years ago through their Truth and Reconciliation process. To see a mural unveiled at Sabina Park honouring 19 of Jamaica’s greatest cricketers, and no Yagga Rowe is as abhorrent to the ground he helped make famous, as it is to the glorious game itself. It is time to end this farce.”
“To put it in perspective,” he continued, “‘Jamaicans still sing, dance and celebrate to Vybz Kartel and Ninjaman music. There is no protest or public outcry when those songs play on the radio or at parties, the works of art of these convicted murderers that our children sing word for word! Yet forty years later, we are trying to erase from history the body of work of a man whose only real crime, if any, was to continue to earn an honest living in his profession, after his employers had let him go, in the only place willing to pay the value his services were worth.
“Other West Indian “rebels” went on to play again for the West Indies, even at Sabina Park, cheered on by my fellow Jamaicans; if Yagga had chosen to rob a bank, he would long have been out of jail. It’s time to let him go. Free Yagga,” the former Jamaica youth batsman concluded.
Former trainer Keith Reveley has spoken of his immense pride after seeing son James belatedly break his Grade One duck in Britain aboard the hugely impressive Il Est Francais at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.
The Reveley name is, of course, steeped in northern jumps racing history, with Keith’s late mother Mary a pioneering female trainer who saddled more than 2,000 winners during an illustrious career.
Son Keith later took over the reins at the family’s Saltburn base before calling it a day himself in 2017, while James Reveley has gone on to establish himself as a leading jockey in France.
It is eight years since the proud Yorkshireman took the Gallic plunge and it could hardly have worked out better, as he has been crowned French champion jumps jockey on three occasions and won a whole host of major prizes, including a hat-trick in the prestigious Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.
His father is delighted with his son’s achievements across the Channel, but admits it was extra special to see the Reveley name back in the big-race winner’s enclosure on home soil after Il Est Francais, jointly trained by another French-based Englishman in Noel George, produced a scintillating display in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase.
“It was a great day and what made it even better was we managed to go, as we were en route to France to see the grandchildren and called in at Kempton on the way, so it was absolutely brilliant,” he said.
“The style with which the horse did it took me back to the old days, as James always rode well from the front. I remember him riding a horse called Night In Milan for me, who used to make the running and jump for fun around Doncaster.
“Funnily enough, we walked the track together an hour before the race at Kempton and for once everything worked out as we’d hoped. I said to him ‘Harry Cobden always likes to go a bit wide, so you should be able to get a nice run down the inside and it’s all about rhythm and jumping’.
“I said ‘make sure you give him a breather round this last corner, don’t press him the whole way’, and I honestly couldn’t believe how well everything was working out just as we’d spoken about, as it not very often does.”
Keith Reveley himself landed the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase – then the Feltham – with the Mick Fitzgerald-ridden Ungaro in 2006, while James partnered the stable’s Tazbar to finish second to the brilliant Long Run three years later.
In Il Est Francais, though, Keith feels his son has come across the horse of a lifetime.
He added: “The Feltham was the only Grade One I actually won as a trainer, so it was a magical day to see James win it and we just pray the horse stays in one piece. Hopefully he won’t need to start training just yet, as long as that horse is still around!
“He’s an exceptional horse. I’ve actually been to Noel’s to see him work in a morning and he’s the most gorgeous horse to look at.”
Connections have already nominated the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris as Il Est Francais’ first major target for this year, with a return to Kempton for the King George also high on his agenda.
Should he come through both of those assignments unscathed, then a tilt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup may loom large in 2025, although Reveley senior does have some reservations about the suitability of that particular test.
“I must admit I think the Kempton track suits him, as the horse has got loads of natural pace, and whether he wants three and a quarter miles around Cheltenham is another thing,” he went on.
“I know he’s won around Auteuil on soft ground, but they go much slower early on in the races there and whether he’ll suit the slog of Cheltenham, we’ll have to wait and see.
“James is adamant he will suit the Grand Steep – because the pace is quite relaxed early on over there, he’s confident that the trip won’t be a problem for him, but off a flat-out pace over three and a quarter miles at Cheltenham, it’s a different ball game altogether.”
While Reveley certainly does not begrudge his son’s success, he admits he had initially harboured hopes he would continue to ride in Britain at least part-time to aid his own career before the lure of French riches proved too much for him to resist.
“He used to stay with me for the winter and then go back to France every April time and stay there for the summer,” he recalled.
“I always thought it was working well, as he’d usually get maybe 50 winners in England during the winter and I thought he had a good career, but the French people kept saying if he went full-time he’d be champion and, as it turned out, the first year he went there full-time, he was champion, so it worked out.
“I wouldn’t say it was devastating for me because I’m proud he’s done so well, but it more or less put paid to my training career because it’s a hard enough job as it is without your son moving away.
“To be fair, I think the French racing suits him because he’s always been a good horseman over a jump and obviously in France, you’ve got the bullfinch fences and different types of obstacles.
“In English races, they go very fast early on and it’s a little bit of a war of attrition, whereas the French tend to be a little more tactical and rely on the jumping a little bit more. It’s worked out very well, he’s had a great time and hopefully he has a few more years at it yet.
“It was nice to see him do it on English television at Kempton. I’ve had a lot of people commenting how good it was to see him winning over here and how it’s nice to see he’s still got his northern accent!”
Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Coneygree is reported to be loving life in retirement, almost five years after running his final race.
In an era increasingly dominated by a handful of powerhouse yards and owners with deep pockets, the recently-turned 17-year-old was an all too rare diamond in the rough for the husband and wife training partnership of Mark and Sara Bradstock.
Nine wins from 18 starts tells only half the story of a rollercoaster ride which saw Coneygree become the first horse since Captain Christy 41 years earlier to claim Gold Cup glory as a novice in 2015.
Just minutes after being pulled up in a handicap chase at Ascot in February 2019, Sara Bradstock announced the fairytale had come to an end, but she is delighted with how her pride and joy is enjoying life out of the spotlight.
“He’s at home with me and lives just outside the house. He’s having a lovely time and goes out leading the babies and does whatever he wants really,” she said.
“He enjoys letting himself out of his stable quite often! He has done a bit of ROR (Retraining of Racehorses) in the past and actually he did a team chase with my son in the autumn, which he very much enjoyed, but he won’t be doing too many of those because it’s a bit hard on the old limbs!
“He’s pretty happy really and I think it’s very important these horses stay in a place where people know them well. We know everything about him and therefore we know if he’s feeling a bit sore or what have you, but at the moment he’s in good nick and gets ridden out whenever I’ve got time.
“He deserves everything he gets. He quite likes people coming round and saying ‘can I look at Coneygree’, because he likes to be the centre of attention and is not very happy when there’s people in the yard and they’re not looking at him!
“There is something weird about good horses, they just know they’re important – and he definitely knows he’s very important.”
Coneygree’s racing journey began in November 2011, when the son of Karinga Bay – bred by Sara Bradstock’s late father, Lord Oaksey – made a successful start to his career in a Uttoxeter bumper.
“We had him in training as a three-year-old but he was very big and tall and weak, so he’d probably been with us for a year by the time he ran,” Bradstock recalled.
“We knew he was nice before he went to Uttoxeter, but he was never a flying workhorse. We knew he was a great athlete, in that you couldn’t seem to make him tired, but if anything wanted to work faster than him, he was happy to let them.
“We knew he was pretty good, but we didn’t know he was as good as he was.”
While well beaten in a Listed bumper at Newbury on his next outing, Coneygree bounced back with a vengeance the following season, winning his first three starts over hurdles, including back-to-back Grade Two victories at Cheltenham.
He had to make do with minor honours in third behind two subsequent Festival winners in At Fishers Cross and The New One next time, on what proved to be his final outing over hurdles, as he suffered the first of several injury setbacks which plagued his career.
Bradstock added: “He’s got these very long back legs, which were partly what made him so good, but they were awfully fragile and it was during that season over hurdles when he got his first stress fracture.
“When we were getting him ready the following season, he jumped onto a stone and cut his tendon, so he had another five months off after that, so he ended up being off for about 18 months in all.”
Coneygree’s chasing career belatedly got under way in the winter of 2014, although not at the first time of asking, as he was withdrawn at the start prior to his planned fencing debut at Plumpton by the on-course veterinary team, much to the frustration of his connections.
In the end, though, it mattered not, as the following week he made a successful start over the larger obstacles in Grade Two company at Newbury before striking Grade One gold for the first time when landing the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day by a distance.
If it was not clear already, it was becoming obvious the Bradstocks had a serious weapon on their hands.
“I’d much rather have cruised around Plumpton, but the vets wouldn’t let us, which was just one of those stupid things, so we ended up going into a Grade Two at Newbury and then Kempton,” said Bradstock.
“I remember everybody saying he only won like he did at Kempton because a couple of the others fell over, but they fell over because they were novices trying to jump with him and they just couldn’t.”
It was a couple of months later when the Gold Cup dream came into sharper focus after Coneygree made it three from three over fences in Newbury’s Denman Chase, his first forray outside of novice company.
The Wantage team considered going back into novice company at the Cheltenham Festival, but Bradstock insists the decision to go for Gold Cup glory was ultimately relatively straightforward.
She said: “Everybody thought it was the most extraordinary thing they’ve ever seen, but for us it was a no-brainer because he was very fragile.
“You could see he had a chance in the Gold Cup and if he went and won the RSA (Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase) by 30 lengths, we’d have been thinking ‘why didn’t we go for it?’.
“He had already had a couple of stress fractures, so while he was fit and well, we just thought ‘why not give it a go?’.”
What followed was a sensational display in the Cotswolds as Coneygree belied his inexperience with a relentless front-running display under Nico de Boinville.
Asked what she could remember of the occasion, Bradstock replied: “Absolutely nothing! It was a complete blur.
“I remember coming home, but I actually don’t remember the day. The main thing I remember is getting him home and he was OK, which with him was always the main thing.”
The following November, Coneygree made a successful start to his next campaign in a small-field conditions race at Sandown, but it proved to be his final victory.
He returned from another year out to finish second in the Betfair Chase at Haydock and was third in a humdinger of a Punchestown Gold Cup later that season, but only made it to the track five times in the next two years and failed to complete on four occasions.
“He came back and won at Sandown and then he started having more problems, but he did run that great race at Punchestown, where he suffered another overreach, otherwise I think he could have won,” said Bradstock.
“It was difficult trying to keep him in one piece after that. I just think the wear and tear stopped him having control of his back legs and he started to overreach quite badly – and that was, in the end, what stopped him, as you don’t want to go on and on until they get hurt.
“He did extremely well for us and won a Gold Cup – and without all his problems, I think he could have won several.”
Bahamian World Indoor Championships 60m hurdles silver medallist Devynne Charlton gave an early indicator into her form this season with a personal best and national record 7.75 to win at the Corky Classic at the Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday.
Charlton, who also took 100m hurdles silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, won ahead of Americans Tia Jones (7.80) and Masai Russell (7.88).
She also took the 60m hurdles at the UK Rod McCravy Memorial in Louisville in 7.88 on January 13.
Elsewhere on the track, Jamaican Texas Tech sophomore and former Wolmer’s Boys and Kingston College standout Shaemar Uter ran 46.04 for second in the men’s 400m behind Oklahoma senior Zarik Brown (46.03). Dubem Nwachukwu, running unattached, was third in 46.30.
In the field, Kentucky junior Luke Brown jumped 16.80m to win the men’s triple jump ahead of Miami’s Russell Robinson (16.59m) and Texas Tech’s Garison Breeding (15.82m).
Ralford Mullings threw 18.58m for top spot in the men’s shot put ahead of Baylor’s Gary Moore (18.20m) and Miami’s Milton Ingraham (18.07m).
Two-time World 100m hurdles champion Danielle Williams will be honored by her alma mater, The Queen’s School, at the 22nd staging of the Queen’s/Grace Jackson Meet set for January 27 at the National Stadium in Kingston, the school announced on Thursday.
Williams, who was named as the runner-up for the 2023 Sportswoman of the Year award at the 2023 RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards ceremony at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Friday, addressed students at the school that same morning.
After expressing gratitude to the school’s principal, Ms. Jennifer Williams, as well as the alumnae association, Williams reflected on her years spent at the school.
“I am a proud Queen’s alum. The years I spent here still remain the most formative of my life. I learned discipline, hard work and importance of a community. These are values that have shaped me into the woman I am today,” she said.
Her parting message to the students was to take their education seriously and to always strive for excellence, no matter what others may think.
“Take education seriously, it can be the key that opens many doors. Put trust in God. He’s given us so many gifts and will provide opportunities to use them. Glorify him in all you do. Be kind to others and always seek to do the right thing. Enjoy the time spent at The Queen’s School, form genuine friendships, believe in yourselves, set a standard for your lives. Excellence does not tolerate mediocrity, strive to be excellent in all you do,” she shared.
“People will underestimate you, doubt you, tell you what you can and can’t do but they can’t stop God’s anointing. What is for you will always be for you,” Williams added.
The Queen’s/Grace Jackson meet will commence at 8:30am, with the 400m Class 3. The special 60m event for elite athletes will headline the day’s proceedings.
Vandeek is set to start off his season in the Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock in May.
The unbeaten Simon and Ed Crisford-trained colt carried all before him in his juvenile year, with his four wins featuring Group One strikes in the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes.
He is seen very much as a sprinter rather than one for the mile of the Classics and Haydock will be his destination before his first major target, the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.
“He’s looking super, he’s trotting and we’ll probably start him off in the Sandy Lane at Haydock at the end of May. One run before Royal Ascot,” Simon Crisford told ITV Racing.
“Commonwealth, July Cups – those sort of races we’ve got up our sleeve. The idea of not starting off in the Pavilion (Stakes, at Ascot) is we’d have to start training him a month earlier. Quite frankly, with the weather we’ve got at the moment, we’re wrapping him up in big, thick blankets.”
He added: “He was a little bit on the leg as a two-year-old. He was tall and lanky and never really looked like a sprinter physically. But now he’s beginning to take shape as a sprinter. His temperament is great and there’s so much to love about him.
“He’s done exceptionally well over the winter and fingers crossed he’s got a big season ahead.”
Oh So Grand swept aside her rivals in the BetMGM Winter Oaks Fillies’ Handicap at Lingfield.
Trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, who saddled Al Agaila to win the race last year, Oh So Grand was a well-fancied 11-8 favourite for the 10-furlong contest after winning each of her last two starts, including the trial for this contest last month.
Miss Bluebelle set out to make all, while Jack Mitchell was happy to settle towards the back of the pack aboard Oh So Grand, with only Queen Regent behind him in the eight-runner field.
The pacesetter was still in front with a furlong to run, but when Mitchell popped the question Oh So Grand picked up and grabbed the lead in a matter of strides.
Queen Regent followed her through down the middle of the track but could not match the winner’s sharp turn of foot, eventually coming home a length and a half adrift, with 33-1 shot Dayzee running a creditable race to be beaten two and three-quarter lengths in third.
Simon Crisford told Sky Sports Racing: “I think she’s still improving. I mean obviously we’ve seen in every race she’s been on an upward curve and she seems to be really developing into a smart filly.
“Hopefully she can be a Group filly for the summer when we get her on turf. I would be inclined to keep her over this trip, a mile and a quarter that suits her well, but she’s nimble and light on her feet – she’s not one of these galumphers, she’s got something about her.
“I really don’t know (what is next), this race was always the target so I haven’t thought even thought about what’s happening tomorrow, let alone in a few weeks’ time.
“We will have a look, see how she is, how she comes out of the race. There could be races coming up for her, obviously you’ve got (All-Weather) Finals Day and stuff like that. Who knows – we’ve just got to work it all out.”
When the Draw for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup took place last month, players from qualified teams to contest Round one waited with bated breath to see where in the bracket their team would be placed.
In fact, much of the anxiety around the announcement was focused on which Round One winner would advance to face last year’s Leagues Cup Champions Inter Miami –the team of Argentina superstar Lionel Messi –in the Round of 16.
In the end, the draw pooled another Major League Soccer (MLS) Nashville SC and Dominican Republic’s Moca FC as Round one opponents, and the two will crosswords to decide who will oppose Messi’s side in the Round of 16.
For Moca’s striker Gustavo Ascona, who is an Argentinian by birth, defeating Nashville and playing against Messi would be the opportunity of a lifetime.
“Playing against Messi would be my life’s dream, like for any Argentine. I went home for vacation at the holidays and everyone in my hometown was talking about me playing against Messi. It’s crazy, and it would be a dream. You really can’t describe it any other way,” Ascona said in a recent interview with Concacaf.com.
“We have to keep our feet on the ground, work hard in the first game, get the biggest advantage possible that we can get here at home and later we’ll see what happens,” he added.
Ascona is well aware that getting by their Round one opponents Nashville is no easy feat, but at the same time, he believes the task is by no means impossible, provided Moca executes efficiently against the 2023 Leagues Cup runners-up.
He recalled Haitian club Violette’s victory over MLS side Austin FC in last season Round of 16 as proof that Caribbean teams can get the job done.
“We know that it (Nashville) is a really difficult opponent. We know what kind of league they play in, but we have confidence in ourselves. We know what we can give, and sometimes football brings surprises. Just look at what Violette did last season. Why can’t we repeat that?” Ascona asked rhetorically.
The 36-year-old attacker enjoyed good form for Moca in the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, as he scored four goals over the course of eight games. It took a last-second equalizer by eventual champions Robinhood of Suriname, to defeat Moca FC in the semi-final.
However, Ascona and company were still able to secure a coveted spot in the Champions Cup with victory over Jamaican club Harbour View in the third-place decider.
“It was really hard, because we had other objectives and we had the game in Suriname in which they scored in the last minute, and we lost in penalties. That was a tough blow. But we regrouped to try to get that last spot, we set out to make it ours and we got it, so it was satisfying,” Ascona shared.
“It was hard and tough to keep a positive mindset because we had come off of losing another final in the domestic league here. It was really tough in Jamaica. It was a positive to get a win there and then manage the game here, but they fought until the very end,” he noted.
Reaching the Champions Cup was also a historical moment for Moca, as it marked the first ever Champions Cup qualification for the club. They now join Cibao FC and Atletico Pantoja as Dominican Republican clubs to achieve the feat in recent years.
That accomplishment and, by extension, the responsibility as the country’s lone representative on this occasion, is something that Ascona doesn’t take lightly.
“The truth is that when one arrives to a team, you always think about making history, in leaving something. This is my third year with Moca and thankfully things are going well for me. Now we’ll just see if we can keep progressing in this stage that we are in and play against some of the other big clubs in the tournament,” Ascona reasoned.
“It’s really wonderful to have that responsibility of being the only Dominican team in this tournament. I think every fan of Dominican football is going to be following that game, so we are going to have the support of a lot of people,” he ended.
Dan Skelton is relying on Pembroke’s thirst for testing conditions coming to the fore when he lines up in the Download The Racing App Now Lightning Novices’ Chase at Lingfield on Sunday.
Held in high-regard over hurdles last term, he improved on his first two appearances over fences when relishing the bottomless ground at Aintree last month.
That victory came over two and a half miles, but with Skelton expecting stamina to be at a premium in this Winter Million Festival event, he has few concerns about dropping back in distance.
He said: “I think two miles is more his trip. Obviously he won the other day (at Aintree) over two and a half in unraceable ground but I think he handles the type of ground particularly well.
“I’m pretty certain it is going to be testing conditions – I don’t think it will be anything like Aintree, but it will be tacky, they have had the sheets down a long time and it’s going to be hard work.
“Whether it is hard enough work we will wait and see, but having said that this Lightning Novices’ Chase is a good race for the money on offer. I think it’s a very good race and we will get to see where we stand.”
Five will go to post for the Grade Two event saved from Friday’s abandoned Lingfield card and Joe Tizzard will saddle JPR One who was not disgraced in Grade One company last time having previously been set to lay down a statement victory at Cheltenham before a mishap after the final fence saw him unship Brendan Powell.
Djelo has barely put a foot wrong since switching to the larger obstacles and Venetia Williams’ exciting six-year-old will seek to remain unbeaten and add to the Pattern honours he secured at Ascot before Christmas.
Meanwhile, Nigel Twiston-Davies has a strong hand, saddling two live candidates in the Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned Matata and Wayward lad winner Master Chewy, the latter impressing when downing Nickle Back at Kempton following some game efforts in defeat.
“Master Chewy was brilliant last time, winning the Wayward Lad at Kempton, so why shouldn’t he be again?,” the trainer told his William Hill blog.
“Matata, similarly, has had a terrific season and was runner-up by just a length at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, giving nearly a stone to the winner.
“This will be a hot race, everyone’s got each other to beat. Hopefully my two will show the others what they’ve got.
“Master Chewy should, if everything goes to plan, be heading straight for the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival after this.”
L’Homme Presse sets out to prove he very much remains a Cheltenham Gold Cup contender when he makes his eagerly-awaited comeback in the Fitzdares Fleur De Lys Chase at Lingfield.
The feature of Lingfield’s Winter Million Festival has attracted a field of six and it is Venetia Williams’ high-class staying chaser that sets the standard, despite being off the track for over a year.
He looked booked for second in the King George VI Chase before unshipping his big-race pilot Charlie Deutsch at the last while giving chase to Bravemansgame, and before that had built up an impressive chasing CV which includes victory at the Cheltenham Festival as a novice and a mammoth effort off top-weight in Newcastle’s Rehearsal Chase.
Following a long 13-month wait, L’Homme Presse – who is as short as 12-1 for the Gold Cup – now seeks to reaffirm his position towards the top of the staying chasing ranks, with connections optimistic of a bold bid in the two-mile-six-furlong affair.
“It’s been a long 13 months and a lot of effort has been put in to get him back,” said Andy Edwards, who owns L’Homme Presse in partnership with Peter Pink.
“This trip, for his comeback is ideal really, it’s an intermediate trip and it should suit him down to the ground.
“He doesn’t lack in pace and he certainly doesn’t lack in staying power as we saw in the Brown Advisory.
“He is ready to go, but he has had 13 months off. He’s run well fresh before, but whether he can run to the top of his form having had so long off we will find out.
“It’s no good looking at basic ratings because that is the best he has ever done and it’s unlikely he can achieve that first time out, but of course we are hopeful that he can.”
L’Homme Presse will be in receipt of 4lb from former Gold Cup third Protektorat, with Dan Skelton switching tactics to target this race after the nine-year-old’s failure to defend his Betfair Chase crown in November.
He has since run in handicap company at Cheltenham and his handler is confident he has his Grade One scorer in peak condition as he searches for a slice of the £165,000 prize-fund.
“He’s in good form and we were always coming here after the December race,” said Skelton.
“He’s got a job on giving weight away to a few, but it’s a race we’ve always had in mind and I’m very happy with him.
“If it’s not happening, you have got to change and we’re changing up. The trip is no issue and I’m really looking forward to running him.”
Fergal O’Brien’s Highland Hunter and Sam Thomas’ Welsh Grand National winner Iwilldoit are both 11 now and will attempt to land a blow for the veterans, while Kim Bailey won the inaugural running of this race with Two For Gold and attempts to repeat the dose with Does He Know.
The field is rounded off by Gary Moore’s Full Back, who is a long way adrift of his rivals on ratings and returns from 434 days off the track.
The final day of Lingfield’s Winter Million Festival on Sunday is expected to go ahead as planned, although it will be subject to an 8am precautionary inspection on raceday.
The three-day fixture was due to begin with a jumps card on Friday, but a frozen track saw that cancelled. Saturday’s middle day on the all-weather had no issues.
With temperatures rising ahead of Sunday’s National Hunt action, a 2pm inspection was called on Saturday to assess any progress in the condition of the ground, a check which showed conditions had improved significantly.
Charlie Moore, head of clerking at Arena Racing Company, told ITV Racing: “We’ve had difficulty with the forecast this week, it’s been four degrees wrong on two nights. It’s amazing this track has taken minus 8C and minus 7C in the last two nights.
“If we had to race today, we could make this track raceable with some track adjustments. We’re going to pass the inspection, but we are going to put in a precautionary inspection at 8am tomorrow purely because we are aware at around 10/11 o’clock tonight it could get down to just touching freezing.
“If that was wrong and it was minus 2C we could have a moment of sweat in the morning, but if we get what is forecast we’ll be texting everyone around seven o’clock in the morning saying ‘we’re on’.
“I will be very surprised and hugely disappointed if racing did not take place tomorrow.”
The ground is reported to be good to soft, soft in places, but it was not such good news for Fakenham’s Sunday card, as officials were forced to abandon due to a frozen track.
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