Jessica Harrington’s Jetara successfully stepped up to Listed class with a tenacious display in the William Hill Epic Value Mares Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.
The daughter of Walk In The Park is bred to be smart, being from the family of several high-class performers, including Jetson, Jered, Jett and Champion Hurdle hero Jezki.
Jetara was a Listed winner in the bumper sphere last season and went on to be placed in Grade Three company over hurdles in the new year.
She failed to fire on her first start of the current campaign at Down Royal but made the most of having her sights lowered when belatedly opening her account over timber at Fairyhouse last month and she was a 2-1 joint-favourite stepping back up in grade under Sean O’Keeffe.
The five-year-old mastered Banntown Girl halfway up the home straight and passed the post with six lengths in hand over the staying-on A Penny A Hundred.
Harrington said: “She was good. She’s got the experience from last year and is a second season novice basically.
“She goes on that heavy ground, unlike the rest of the family. She’s hardy now and she won going away, she quickened up great.”
Jetara will now bid to pick up more valuable black type in Graded company.
“I don’t know where we’ll go, she might get an entry in the mares’ race at Christmas (Grade Three Kerrymount Mares Hurdle at Leopardstown) and then there is one at the end of January (Solerina Mares Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse),” Harrington added.
“We’ll look at anything over two and a half miles or two-five. I might even try and find a three-mile race in England.
“The mares’ novice at Cheltenham is only two miles. I’d rather wait and go to Fairyhouse for the Grade One, that would be her aim in the spring.”
Deborah Cole is yet to decide the next destination for Long Distance Hurdle third Flight Deck, admitting she is still very much on a high from the bargain buy’s surprise heroics this autumn.
The nine-year-old won five times in 15 starts when previously trained by Jonjo O’Neill, but was picked up for just £5,000 at the sales in the summer and has since really enjoyed himself in his new surroundings at Cole’s Solihull base.
His first start for new connections was at Cheltenham in October when belying odds of 66-1 to grab the bronze medal in a Pertemps qualifier and he then excelled himself in even deeper waters when a close-up third behind staying stalwarts Dashel Drasher and Paisley Park at Newbury.
Those two performances have seen Flight Deck – who runs for The Steve, Joe And Steve Syndicate – more than cover his purchasing costs, with the past few months very much a blur for the trainer, who is still trying to let Flight Deck’s underdog achievements sink in.
For now though, she is content to continue letting the dust settle while the horse recharges his batteries ahead of a return to the track in the new year.
“We haven’t really made a detailed plan yet, we’re just seeing how he is and it’s been a bit of a fairy story with him really,” said Cole.
“He’s fine, he’s really well. Next on the agenda will probably be a little break and I think he is a horse you have to keep sweet and happy.
“It’s all a bit surreal and when he ran so well at Cheltenham we were a bit surprised, and then when he backed it up at Newbury, only beaten by two exceptionally good horses, and not beaten that far really, it was just amazing.
“To have a horse of that quality and for that cheap is just amazing and we feel very lucky. People are paying hundreds of thousands of pounds for these horses and there is never any guarantee, is there. He just slipped through the net, I think.”
Flight Deck’s stellar display in esteemed company at Newbury has Cole considering continuing on a Graded level journey for his next start, with Cheltenham’s Cleeve Hurdle on January 27 a possible option.
However, the West Midlands handler concedes she has never had to consider these calibre of races previously and is very much taking it one day at a time, while also embracing the challenge of mapping out Flight Deck’s next movements.
“It’s tempting (to stay at Graded level) and he’s obviously got a lot of ability,” continued Cole.
“We may do, but it is all new and we’ve never dealt with horses who would go for Graded races up until now, so it’s a bit of a learning curve really. We’re enjoying it though, obviously!
“We’re not in any rush with him and there’s plenty of time. We’ll probably have a look in the middle to the end of January and see what there is then really.
“There is that (the Cleeve) and we have pondered on that, but I don’t know. I think we’re still trying to keep our feet grounded because he could put in a stinker, but who knows.
“He’s obviously in a very happy place now – and for all our horses, that is very important.”
Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz captain and shot stopper Andre Blake, will host a goalkeeping clinic at the UWI-Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, on December 14 and 15. The clinic will run from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day.
This clinic will provide exceptional goalkeeper training to more than 24 youth goalkeepers selected from the top ISSA Manning Cup and daCosta Cup teams, and two female goalkeepers from Reinas Academy.
The goalkeepers will receive top-notch training led by the experienced Phil Wheddon, who also serves as Andre Blake’s goalkeeper coach at Philadelphia Union.
Wheddon is the only goalkeeper coach in United States history to have coached both the men’s and women’s national teams in a FIFA World Cup. He coached in three World Cups and won two Olympic gold medals with United States.
Other participating goalkeeper coaches include Jamaica Under-20 coach Andrew Sewell, national goalkeeper Jahmali Waite, Reinas Academy’s Neo Oxford and Kingston College’s Robert Beckford.
Blake, who will lead the Reggae Boyz into Concacaf Nations League semi-final action, as well as the CONMEBOL Copa America next year, explains the rationale behind the initiative.
“To whom much is given, much is required, and so this is my way of supporting the next generation of goalkeepers. I want to see what these goalkeepers look like and try to educate them on what it will take to get to the next level. Having Phil on board is great because he brings an extensive amount of knowledge and experience with him,” Blake shared.
Blake’s initiative is supported the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), Sagicor Foundation, Spectrum Systems Limited, TruShake, Powerade, Courtyard Marriott, Leep Marketing, and UNL Sport.
Alan King has identified the Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton as a possible next port of call for Edwardstone following his admirable defence of the Tingle Creek on Saturday.
The nine-year-old was a brilliant winner of the Sandown showpiece last season and returned to the Esher track to defend his crown over the weekend.
Edwardstone had plenty on his plate as he looked to turn the tables on Jonbon following their clash in last month’s Shloer Chase at Cheltenham – and while he again came off second best, he did at least close the gap on Nicky Henderson’s star chaser.
King immediately ruled out an appearance over three miles in the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day, but the Barbury Castle handler is keen to step his charge up in trip on his next start.
“He ran very well and has come out of it well and we’ll probably look to step him up to two-and-a-half in the new year,” he said.
“He’s definitely not going for the King George, but there is the Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton in January. We’ll have a look at that and, whether he goes there or not, I think his next run will be over two-and-a-half, as it will give us an idea what we’re doing with him.”
With the Queen Mother Champion Chase already shaping up to be a straight shootout between Jonbon and his formidable Irish rival El Fabiolo, the Ryanair Chase could end up being Edwardstone’s Cheltenham Festival target if he can prove his stamina in the meantime.
King added: “You’ve obviously got Jonbon and the horse in Ireland and you wouldn’t really look forward to taking those two on.”
Angus Eve received a contract extension to lead Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors into their crucial Concacaf Nations League playoff against Canada, as they hunt a spot in next year’s prestigious CONMEBOL Copa America tournament.
Should the Soca Warriors succeed in bettering their North American opponents in March, the possibility exists that Eve might not be the one to lead them beyond that, as he is not expected to receive a new contract before the Normalisation Committee’s term ends, also in March.
This was confirmed by the Normalisation Committee’s chairman Robert Hadad, on Saturday.
Eve, who recently blasted the twin island republic’s football fraternity for its lack of support, got his desire where signing a new contract is concerned, but Hadad ruled out another extension by the Normalisation Committee, whose own tenure will also end in March.
“His contract ends in March when our term ends, so in principle we agreed that we wanted the coach to run the same timelines as the Normalisation Committee,” Hadad said on the ISports radio programme on Saturday.
“Subsequent to that, the new in-coming president and the new in-coming ex-co (executive committee) can decide who they want to be their coach. Angus would have every opportunity with them to prove himself before (the end of his tenure) and hopefully, they would continue, and they would make that decision. But in principle, we did say all along that we do not think that we should be hiring a coach or anybody for that matter to exist beyond our term,” he added.
Hadad was also reluctant to have the Normalisation Committee extend itself more than necessary before its tenure ended.
“The Normalisation Committee has been making a lot of decisions without a technical committee in place and we believe that we need to give the new, in-coming executive committee the opportunity to set the football and Trinidad and Tobago Football Association up the way they want it,” he said, as he threw his support behind Eve.
“Angus though I would say is exceptional. He’s done a fantastic job, Angus and his entire team. I would expect him to be very professional because it is in his interest, if his desire is to continue coaching Trinidad and Tobago, to perform in that game on the 23rd,” Hadad noted.
Eve guided the Soca Warriors through a spirited Concacaf Nations League campaign, as they topped their group in League A action, and progressed to the quarterfinals where, despite losing on aggregate, they inflicted a famous second-leg defeat on United States.
Hadad pointed out that the Normalisation Committee always had confidence in Eve’s leadership.
“We were very optimistic that we would perform well all along. Angus took us to where we are today, and we had faith in Angus all the way through. We understood what his development plans were; he was very candid with us, he explained to us what he was doing and when something didn’t go right, he would not be running and hiding, he would be discussing the matter with us,” Hadad shared.
“We thought him (to be) the best option to get us to where we are today. Now that he has gotten us here, yes, it is a little uncomfortable that his term ends in March and he has this very big game, but we believe if he gets us into that game against Argentina (opening Copa America match) and we manage to defeat Canada, we think that the new executive committee would consider him,” he opined.
You Wear It Well will go back against her own sex in the new year after failing to really fire in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown on Saturday.
With the Grade One contest rescheduled following the abandonment of racing at Newcastle the previous Saturday, and Constitution Hill and his stablemate Shishkin withdrawn on account of testing conditions, everything appeared to be falling into place for Jamie Snowden’s star mare.
The six-year-old had already shown her well-being this season by landing a Listed prize at Wetherby, and with Snowden having won the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury the previous weekend with Datsalrightgino, You Wear It Well was favourite to provide him with another major Saturday success in Esher.
Ultimately, though, the daughter of Midnight Legend was well beaten in third place behind the popular veteran Not So Sleepy and fellow mare Love Envoi, and Snowden feels his charge underperformed.
He said: “I think the handicapper had it on form that she had to improve to win that race, even without the two defections. She ran all right, but probably hasn’t run her race, I would have said.
“Her price was probably skewed by the form of the yard and this, that and the other, but she’s run OK in the circumstances.
“She goes on soft ground, but that really was terrible ground on Saturday and she didn’t really get into any great rhythm. She was a bit keen early on and missed a couple of hurdles.
“Take nothing away from anyone, but it probably wasn’t her true running.”
You Wear It Well’s main objective is to secure a second Cheltenham Festival success in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle in March, having last season landed the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
What route she takes to Prestbury Park is uncertain, but she appears unlikely to take on the boys in the meantime.
“I think going back against her own sex makes sense really,” Snowden added.
“Due to a lack of a realistic opportunity for her in December, we thought we’d take our chance in the Fighting Fifth, and the fact that she went off favourite suggests it wasn’t a ridiculous decision to go down that kind of route.
“It didn’t quite work out, but we’ll dust ourselves down and go again. There are mares’ races for her at Sandown and Doncaster and Warwick, so there are plenty of opportunities between now and March.”
After playing out a goalless first half in which Thomas of Cavalier had the best of the few chances created between both teams, as his close-range effort was kept out by Shaquan Davis, who got down well to his right, Mount Pleasant broke the deadlock five minutes into the resumption.
Frankie Dettori is one of six nominations for this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
The Italian had announced that 2023 was to be his last in the saddle but he enjoyed so much success that he has been tempted to continue his career in America.
His supposed farewell season got off to the perfect start when he won the 2000 Guineas on Chaldean and ensured he won two of the five Classics on offer by taking the Oaks on Soul Sister.
Further big-race glory followed at Royal Ascot in the Gold Cup on Courage Mon Ami and the winners continued to flow – so much so that he later admitted that by August he was having second thoughts about his retirement decision.
On Champions Day at Ascot, his scheduled last meeting in Britain, he produced a stellar ride on Trawlerman in the Long Distance Cup and signed off in customary fairytale fashion by winning the Champion Stakes on King Of Steel.
So far Sir Anthony McCoy is the only jockey to have won the award in 2010. Dettori himself finished third in 1996, the year of his Magnificent Seven. Hollie Doyle was third in 2020.
The event will take place on Tuesday, December 19 and the other nominees are cricketer Stuart Broad, England goalkeeper Mary Earps, wheelchair tennis player Alfie Hewett, heptathlete Kataina Johnson-Thompson and golfer Rory McIIroy.
Dettori has just completed a spell on reality TV show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, in which he was the first contestant to be voted off.
Coral make Dettori a 16-1 chance to win with Earps their 1-7 favourite.
West Indies T20I Captain Rovman Powell has expressed excitement at the return of all-rounder Andre Russell to the West Indies T20 side on the eve of the first of five games against England.
Russell last represented the West Indies at the ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai two years ago.
“It’s always good to have Andre Russell in a West Indies team,” Powell said in a pre-match press conference on Monday.
“We know the quality that he comes with and he’s fit and rearing and ready to go put on the maroon again for the people of the Caribbean. It’s exciting time for me as a Captain and also for the fans,” he added.
Powell and Russell, along with fellow squad members Nicholas Pooran, Kyle Mayers, Akeal Hosein and Jason Holder, were most recently a part of the Abu Dhabi T10 League, a fact that the skipper thinks will help them in this upcoming series.
“We have enough cricket under our belt to do well at the international level. It’s good that the guys played games in Abu Dhabi right down to the finals and if you look at the individual performances, they were very good so that brings confidence coming into this series,” Powell said.
“I’m very excited. When you look on our team that includes so much returning guys, it’s a powerful team. Having said that, we still have to play some good cricket and put it together as a complete team and from an individual perspective,” he added.
The last time the West Indies hosted England for a T20I series, they came out as 3-2 winners. Powell finished that series as the second-leading run scorer with 147 runs in three innings, including a career best 107* at Kensington Oval, the venue for Tuesday’s series opener.
“It’s always nice to be in Barbados. It always brings back good memories especially against England so it’s good to be here,” Powell said.
“It’s important for me to try my best and lead from the front. Once you lead from the front, players will always follow so I’m looking at my personal game and once I come to the party, naturally the guys will follow,” he added.
With the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup a few months away, Powell says this series gives the team an opportunity to find combinations that will work for them.
“It’s very important. It’s good that we’ve played T20 series’ before so we have an idea of the combinations that will work well for us. These five games against England provide another opportunity for us to fine tune whatever areas we need to fine tune,” he said.
In a lavish ceremony held in the heart of Montego Bay, Jamaica, Sunshine Girl defender Shamera Sterling exchanged vows with her long-time partner, Andrew AJ Humphrey, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The union marks the second marriage among the Sunshine Girls, as netballer Shimona Nelson recently tied the knot with Buay Jok in Australia less than a month ago.
Shamera Sterling, renowned for her exceptional skills on the netball court, recently earned the title of Suncorp Super Netball Player of the Year. The wedding ceremony was a celebration of love and commitment, bringing together family and friends to witness the union of the outstanding defender and her newlywed husband.
Humphrey, a recent graduate of the University of the West Indies, shares a sports background with Sterling. Having played as a defender for his high school Herbert Morrison High in DaCosta Cup football, Humphrey's connection to the world of sports mirrors Sterling's own illustrious career.
The ceremony holds sentimental value for both Sterling and Humphrey, as the defender attended Queens High but began her high-school career at Anchovy High School, not far from Hebert Morrison High School, where her husband was a student before continuing his education at the University of the West Indies. Sterling is also a graduate of the university.
Their love story endured the test of distance and time, as Sterling spent the majority of the last five years playing professional netball overseas. She began her journey with the Loughborough Lightning in England and has been a standout player for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Suncorp Super League since 2019. Sterling's prowess on the court has earned her recognition as one of the best defenders in the world.
The wedding festivities were a blend of joy, laughter, and the promise of a shared future. As Sterling and Humphrey embark on this new chapter of their lives, their love story stands as a testament to the strength of their affection for each other, overcoming challenges and distance to build a life together. The Sunshine Girls, both on and off the court, continue to inspire with their achievements and celebrations of love.
Fergal O’Brien’s Dysart Enos will take another step in her hurdling career when she lines up at Cheltenham on Friday.
The five-year-old was unbeaten in bumpers, including taking the Listed Alan Swinbank at Market Rasen ahead of the equally-promising Queens Gamble and then the Grade Two Nickel Coin at Aintree by nine lengths.
Her hurdling debut came at Huntingdon in November, where the bay was the seven-and-a-half-length winner of a mares’ two-mile novice event.
Cheltenham is her next destination as she holds an entry for the British EBF “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle, a race in which she we take on geldings over two miles and a furlong.
“That’s the plan, to go and give her a spin around there,” O’Brien said.
“I know we’re against the boys, but fingers crossed it’ll be a good bit of experience for her.
“It’s a very competitive novice hurdle on paper, but we have to go and try these things, the main reason is to get her there and to see how she handles Cheltenham.”
Stablemate Bonttay is entered at the same meeting as she is due to run in the Virgin Bet Every Saturday Money Back Mares’ Handicap Hurdle after winning her seasonal debut at Hereford in early November.
The six-year-old has never been out of the top two in nine starts, winning six times with a record of two from three at Cheltenham.
“She’s in good form, we’re really happy with her,” O’Brien said.
“She won very well at Hereford and we were pleased with that, she loves Cheltenham – she’s run there three times and won two and was second in the other.
“If you could pick a track that wouldn’t suit her it would be Hereford over two miles, it was just a case of wanting to get a run into her and get the freshness out of her, then this race was always the target.”
Jamaica’s Mariah Gordon made history on Saturday with the country’s first ever Gymnastics gold medal at the Pan American Hopes Tournament at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston.
Gordon took home gold in the 11-12 Uneven Bars category ahead of Colombia’s Gabriela Herrera and Panama’s Aylin Lan.
Gordon had a 3.600 score for difficulty and an 8.633 score for execution for an overall score of 12.233, 0.067 more than Herrera and 0.433 more than Lan.
Jamaica also secured another medal through Zuri Mantadara-Clarke in the 11-12 Vault category. Mantadara-Clarke produced an overall score of 12.566 to finish fourth overall behind Panama’s Lan (12.600), Venezuela’s Mia Morales (12.700) and Puerto Rico’s Amaia Lebron (12.900).
Jamaica also finished fourth in the overall team standings with a score of 87.097. Colombia won the team title with 93.931 ahead of Venezuela (91.464) and Argentina (88.897).
Joseph O’Brien is pondering the options for Grade One scorer Banbridge ahead of his impending return to the track.
A Cheltenham Festival winner over hurdles in 2022, the seven-year-old made a real impression in his novice chasing season, winning at Cheltenham in the autumn and chasing home El Fabiolo in the Irish Arkle before securing big-race success at Aintree in the spring.
Soft ground and the persistent wet weather has so far seen him kept under wraps this season, but O’Brien is eager to get his campaign up and running and is mulling over the numerous upcoming options.
A step up to three miles could be on the cards if electing to run in either Leopardstown’s Savills Chase (December 28) or the Savills New Year’s Chase at Tramore, while a trip to Kempton for the Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase on January 13 is another possibility.
“He’s in good shape and he has a few options over the Christmas period and into the new year and when we find the suitable race for him he will be ready to make his reappearance,” said O’Brien.
“He has the entry at Leopardstown and there is also the Silviniaco Conti at Kempton in the new year and there’s the race on New Year’s Day at Tramore. There are different races over the next month or so that are all possibilities.
“We’re looking forward to getting him back out.”
O’Brien is also planning a Christmas appearance for taking Fairyhouse scorer Nurburgring, who will take the next step up the juvenile hurdling ladder in Leopardstown’s Grade Two Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle on December 26.
He added: “I’m very pleased with him and I thought he was quite impressive as well (at Fairyhouse).
“The plan for him is he is likely to go to Leopardstown at Christmas time for the juvenile hurdle there.”
Love Envoi is pencilled in for a Sandown return after her second-placed performance in the relocated Fighting Fifth on Saturday.
The seven-year-old was back in action after 224 days off the track, her final run of last season being a beaten effort at Punchestown where she picked up an injury.
Prior to that she was enjoying a very successful campaign, however, winning twice at Sandown before being finding just the great Honeysuckle too good in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The complexion of the Fighting Fifth changed twice before the race, firstly because of the relocation of the contest from Newcastle to Sandown and secondly because of the withdrawal of leading hurdler Constitution Hill.
Without Nicky Henderson’s champion in the line-up the Harry Fry-trained Love Envoi started at 6-4 with only Jamie Snowden’s You Wear It Well more fancied as the 5-4 favourite.
Love Envoi was held up in last place in the early stages of the race and did not jump fluently to start with, but as the contest unfolded she stayed on to chase home Hughie Morrison’s veteran Not So Sleepy, who was an eight-length winner at 9-1.
The runner-up is owned by Noel Fehily Racing Syndicates and the former jockey was not disheartened by the performance after a significant lay-off for the mare.
“She’s fine, she did well to finish second but she was a bit slow and ring rusty early on,” he said.
“Then when she got into it she actually ran a good race in the end.
“The first two she jumped really up in the air and slow, she was definitely ring-rusty but she warmed up into it and came from a long way back.
“Overall it was a good run. I wouldn’t think the ground had anything to to do with it, I’d be surprised if it did.
“Harry always said she was only just about ready to start so I think she will come on plenty for the run.”
One of Love Envoi’s Sandown successes last term was the Listed Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Mares’ Hurdle in early January, a race that she will now target again.
Fehily said: “We’ll head to Sandown for the mares’ hurdle she won last year, all roads lead back there at the minute.”
The Fehily syndicates also had another runner-up at the meeting as Insurrection came home second in the Grade Two Betfair Beacons Winter Novices’ Hurdle.
The Paul Nicholls-trained gelding was making his second start over obstacles after an easy win on debut last month, lining up at Sandown a 5-2 chance under Harry Cobden.
He looked the winner for almost all of the race and was only passed on the run to the line as Dan Skelton’s Deafening Silence headed him before the post.
“We were very happy with him, he looked the winner jumping the last but he just didn’t quite stay on that ground up the hill,” said Fehily.
“He’s a lovely young horse, he jumps for fun, we were very impressed with him.
“We don’t have any plans at the minute, we’ll give him a week or two and then make plans, it’ll be after Christmas and new year probably.”
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