Jamaica senior men's team Captain Andre Blake has become a naturalized citizen of the United States of America.
Blake, a three-time MLS goalkeeper of the year, passed his naturalization exam earlier this month and was sworn in on Monday, july 24. He, his wife and two children are now dual citizens of the US and Jamaica.
“Becoming a US Citizen is incredible. it’s been my family’s home for the past 12 years. Our youngest was the only US citizen, and now all four of us have become citizens. Having an American passport is a privilege, and I’m proud to be a US citizen, a Philadelphian, and of course, as always, Jamaican. It’s the best of both worlds, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds,” Blake said.
Union head coach Jim Curtin extended his congratulations to his veteran goalkeeper.
“Andre has been an exemplary athlete and person, both on and off the field. He’s a true Philadelphian already and has been for many years, and for him to now have official citizenship is special for him and his family. His leadership, commitment to his community, and incredible talent, make him someone we want in our city and on our field forever. We extend a big congratulations to Andre, and we’re lucky to have him,” the proud coach said.
Blake is the longest-tenured player, with 231 combined MLS regular season and Audi MLS Cup playoff appearances since being drafted from the University of Connecticut in 2014.
Earlier this season, Blake passed former teammate Ray Gaddis for the most starts in team history. In 2022, Blake made history when he became the first player in MLS history to win MLS Goalkeeper of the Year three times. To add to his accolades, Blake is a four-time MLS All-Star and won the 2022 John Wanamaker Athletic Award, presented to the athlete, team, or organization which has done the most to reflect credit upon Philadelphia and the team or sport in which they excel.
He is the first men’s soccer player to receive the award since it began in 1961.
Shuwari made it two wins from two starts when staying on best of all in the European Bloodstock News EBF Star Stakes at Sandown.
Rookie trainer Ollie Sangster hit the mark with the New Bay juvenile on debut when she showed a good attitude after a slow start in a fillies’ novice at Newbury last month.
Ridden by Oisin Murphy for her second start, the 9-4 second favourite settled well in behind early leaders Fallen Angel and Eminny, with the free-going 11-8 favourite Soprano, trying seven furlongs for the first time, also tracking them.
Murphy’s mount made smooth progress turning in and with the field looking for better ground up the centre of the track, she was upsides Soprano and Fallen Angel with two furlongs to race.
Owned by the trainer’s mother, Lucy Sangster, in partnership with Ballylinch Stud, Shuwari found plenty for pressure on the rain-softened ground and out-battled the gallant Fallen Angel (4-1) by half a length, with the tiring Soprano a length further back in third.
Sangster, gaining the biggest win of his burgeoning career thus far, said: “I’m delighted. Oisin gave her a lovely ride. I was on the fence this morning (about running her) having seen the report from last night, but I spoke to John O’Connor, one of the partners at Ballylinch (Stud) that stand New Bay and he was fairly confident they do go on the ground so we thought we would take our chance.
“If she didn’t handle it we would have given her an easy race, but she dug deep and we are delighted.
“Oisin was thrilled, naturally, although he said it was probably not ideal ground but that she is a very tenacious and courageous filly. Hopefully we might have some nice targets later in the year.
“She has a great attitude and is a straightforward horse to train at home and that is good on the raceday, too. I’ve some nice juveniles but she is at the top at the pile at the moment. ”
Considering future targets, the 26-year-old added: “The Group Three Prestige Stakes at Goodwood might be for her and then I suppose something like the Rockfel and maybe the Fillies’ Mile, but that is ambitious and we will see how we progress between now and then.
“I’d like to think she will stay the mile next year as her dam (Lady Pimpernel) is by Sir Percy so I suspect she will stay. She strikes me as a filly that will stay as she relaxes well and she finishes out well to.
“I suspect there is a bit of stamina in there, but I think the speed comes from her class.
“I’m lucky to have a horse like this in the yard. It is nice to have good support and nice horses to work with.”
Godolphin’s Arabian Crown produced a pleasing success on his second start when taking the Martin Densham Memorial British EBF Maiden Stakes under William Buick.
The Dubawi colt looked better the further he went in the seven-furlong event and despite showing a fast-ground action, handled the soft ground well enough to score by two lengths from Navy Jack.
Winning trainer Charlie Appleby said: “Stepping him up to the mile will most definitely be the next step.
“Something like the Ascendant at Haydock Park or the Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury are two races that we have used before.
“I’ve spoken to Alex (Merriam, assistant trainer) who is at Sandown and we are all on the same page that stepping him up to a mile is the way forward.”
The famous ladies’ amateur race on King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes day may now be a thing of the past, but success in the contest will always being among the most prized memories of Kylie Manser-Baines.
The event, which was run over seven furlongs, always came with the promise of a prize worth having – formerly a diamond necklace when De Beers were the sponsor and latterly a Longines watch.
Ascot has always been the venue of the race, with the exception of the 2005 renewal when the track was being redeveloped and Newbury stepped forward to host the fixture.
It was this stroke of luck, and the difference in the gradient between the two tracks, that gave Manser-Baines the best day of her amateur career.
Riding for John Best at the time, Manser-Baines was assured her mount, Mine Behind, would not stay the distance but the switch to Newbury’s flat track made all the difference when the horse, historically a sprinter, stepped up in trip.
Manser-Baines said: “I was really lucky that both my second and third rides were winners, so I thought ‘this is easy, I’m going to ride in this big diamond race’, but you had to have 10 rides.
“The first year I couldn’t ride in it, but the second year I said to my boss, John Best, that I was going to ride in it but he said we didn’t have a suitable horse.
“It’s a really hard for an owner to put you up as an amateur, I wasn’t very good but I was very, very competitive and I still am!
“I said I was going to ring the owner of Mine Behind because I knew the horse and looked after him at home. I said he was the only horse that could run in the race even though it wasn’t his trip. They said ‘oh he’s been running rubbish anyway, just enter him!’.
“It was the year that Ascot was being done up, so it was held at Newbury – if it was held at Ascot he definitely wouldn’t have got the trip. It’s seven furlongs and everyone thinks the track is flat at Ascot but it’s a bit of a stiff finish, I was lucky that it was at Newbury which is an easy, flat, galloping track.
“He was such an easy horse, you could canter down to post on the buckle end. My boss didn’t come that day, he was at another meeting, so my friend drove the box and the owner was there.
“My boss said to me ‘just keep hold of him or he won’t get home, it’s too long for him’ and I jumped out of the stalls, he never pulled, he was the best ride ever, but he was wanting to get to the front and I thought if I kept tucking him away he was going to get the hump.
“So I kicked on from miles out, it was very untidy, very scruffy. Luckily he held on, but the boss said ‘you kicked too soon’. The owners were over the moon, it was my first time riding in it and I got really lucky, everything fell my way.”
Manser-Baines graduated from amateur to apprentice, selling the necklace to fund the car she used to travel the country during her riding career.
She said: “The necklace was beautiful, but I have to admit I did sell it to buy a car. I kept the car for years and years and it got me around the country when I was riding. It was a beautiful necklace, but I couldn’t wear it every day as I didn’t dare and I really needed a car!
“I stopped riding in 2012, I was never the best jockey and my ability and my weight definitely held me back. It was great fun and I miss it a lot. I have two very good jobs now but nothing compares to it really.”
The two jobs in question are vastly different as Manser-Baines retains her racing connection by retraining and rehoming racehorses but is also a full-time firefighter.
She found the retraining work came to her effortlessly after her riding career ended and she gained a reputation as being a skilled horsewoman that would ensure the horses in her care were responsibly rehomed, whereas the firefighting followed when she decided to balance her time on the yard with another profession.
“People think that we don’t care about them after racing, which is absolute rubbish. We have the horses at home and it is lovely, it’s all I’ve ever wanted but it is hard work,” she said.
“Twelve years ago it was really hard to rehome an ex-racehorse, no one wanted them and the amount of people doing what I do was in the single figures. Even the worst rider in racing can still really ride, whereas outside of racing people often can’t handle them and as they were the cheapest horses you could get, they could end up in unsuitable homes.
“Now there are a lot of people doing what I’m doing, which is a good thing, there’s lots of people that want thoroughbreds and lots of people to retrain them. Trainers aren’t giving them away and they shouldn’t because they have got a value.
“I really care about where they end up so I’m probably the worst retrainer in a way! The best from a trainer’s point of view but the worst from a business point of view because I care so much about where they go.
“I’ve still got all my racing contacts and I get a nice, steady trickle of horses, and each year I also have a broodmare and try to breed a decent racehorse.
“I’ve got a mare called Bungledupinblue, by Bungle Inthejungle, who has been covered by Sergei Prokofiev. He was a Coolmore horse who will have his first runners next year.
“This year I was watching how all the Bungle Inthejungles were doing, next year I’ll be watching how all the Sergei Prokofievs are getting on.
“It’s nice to have an interest, I’ve got a lot of friends in racing still and it’s lovely to follow the racing and have a connection with it.”
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Double Trigger’s third Goodwood Cup win – and the man on board that afternoon, Darryll Holland, remembers it as one of his favourites in the saddle.
Few horses in the modern era had a following as large as Mark Johnston’s chestnut, who built up an amazing record.
From winning on his debut at Redcar by 10 lengths, he went on to win the Sagaro Stakes twice, the Henry II Stakes twice, the Doncaster Cup three times and the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
By the time Holland’s association with him began, Trigger’s star was on the wane. Well beaten in the Sagaro and Henry II Stakes when going for a third win in both, he was sent off an unconsidered 25-1 shot for the 1998 Gold Cup.
Holland was riding freelance at the time and picking up a lot of rides for Johnston as something of second string, with Jason Weaver required elsewhere. Weaver himself had enjoyed some great days on Double Trigger, but later in his career connections felt a change of jockey now and again just perked him up.
Michael Roberts took over from Weaver to win Trigger his second Goodwood Cup in 1997, but when it appeared the now seven-year-old had grown tired of him, up stepped Holland.
It was so famously nearly the perfect start for the combination too, beaten just a neck by Kayf Tara in the Gold Cup before their popular Goodwood success.
“Teaming up with Double Trigger was just unreal because he’d lost his way a bit,” said Holland.
“Jason Weaver had been brilliant on him, but I’d just started to ride for Mark and everything I was getting on at the time seemed to win. Jason was going to the bigger meetings where it was harder to win and I was picking up the spares and having loads of winners.
“Mark and Ron Huggins (owner) decided Trigger needed a change of hands, so I got on him in the Gold Cup when Frankie (Dettori) collared me right on the line, but he ran a great race.
“At Goodwood he was going for his third win in the race. I didn’t normally hear the crowd in a race, but that day I did. It was unbelievable and the scenes coming back in – I’ll never forget that.
“There were a few reasons he was so popular – like Stradivarius he was flashy with his big white face and white socks, but he had this never-say-die attitude where he could get headed but come back and win. The crowds love that.
“We went on to win his third Doncaster Cup after, he was just unbelievable. At Donny it was never in doubt, I felt, but at Goodwood we got passed and I ended up in about sixth place and I was thinking we had a mountain to climb, but he kept persevering. We were a good combination that day.
“Looking back, that was one of those races that I’ll never ever forget.”
The most famous horses in history have all had something different about them, and Trigger certainly fell into that category.
“He was a character all right. When you get on a horse like him, on a big stage, it instils something in you. It gives you that extra push. Horses like him don’t come along often, I knew he was on for his third Goodwood Cup and that was a huge achievement,” said Holland, now making his name in the training ranks.
“I thought he could have had one more year given the way his last three races had gone with me, but he went off to stud.”
Five years later Holland was to partner another popular old character to a famous Goodwood victory, The Tatling in the King George Stakes.
Trained by the veteran Milton Bradley, who sadly died earlier this year, The Tatling was just beginning to make a name for himself as a sprinter and had won a Listed race at Sandown earlier in the month.
He was already with his third trainer though, and it is unusual for a six-year-old to find as much improvement as he did under Bradley.
However, his breakthrough Group success should never really have happened. Bradley wanted to run him in the Stewards’ Cup, the big handicap, but due to an administrative error he was forced into the then Group Three, over a furlong shorter.
“What I remember about that race was that I wore a jockey cam, so the footage of the race was shown on TV and it was surreal,” said Holland.
“I was riding him right out the back and I just weaved through horses, passing nearly the whole field, so everyone got the chance to see what it was like for a jockey.
“That was one of his most impressive victories with me as they went really quick. He loved Goodwood as he liked passing horses and they went very quick that day. Once he passed one, he passed the whole field.
“That win gave him a big confidence boost as he was second in the Nunthorpe next time. He was a bit of a character, you had to get on him on the track, you’d have to give him his head as if you took a hold he’d fly-leap down to the start.
“You had to give him a long rein and he’d carry his head on the floor – it was one of them, you were in the unknown for the first 200 yards and then he’d just hack down.
“We went on to win the King’s Stand the next year, 2004, yet I remember Hayley Turner winning on him years later (2011). Milton tried to retire him once, but he just wasn’t happy in a field so he had to bring him back. He even won two races at 14. Incredible.”
Paddington is a hot favourite to add a fourth Group One to his CV in Wednesday’s Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.
Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-old has won each of his five starts this term, including the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes and the 10-furlong Eclipse against older horses at Sandown at the start of July.
Paddington is set to drop back to a mile on the Sussex Downs and he is O’Brien’s only possible runner among 10 contenders, with Nostrum, from Sir Michael Stoute’s yard, and the Roger Varian-trained Charyn the only other three-year-olds in contention.
Inspiral, representing John and Thady Gosden, leads the older charge after finishing second in the Queen Anne and would be renewing rivalries with Modern Games (fourth), Berkshire Shadow (fifth) and Chindit (sixth) from that Ascot heat.
However, Richard Hannon will be keeping a keen eye on conditions for the last-named runner.
He said: “I’ve got Chindit in the Sussex. He is in the form of his life, but if it’s soft ground, I don’t know what we are going to do.
“It was subject to conditions that he goes to the Sussex. I might put him in the Prix Jacques le Marois (at Deauville), or the other one at Goodwood, the Group Two (Celebration Mile).
“We have a few options. He is a tough horse and I’m very happy with the way he is training.”
Facteur Cheval is an interesting French raider, while July Cup third Kinross could step back up in trip and Aldaary rounds out the possibles.
Hannon has given Dapperling, who made much of the running before being collared by Relief Rally in the Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury on Saturday, a couple of entries on Wednesday’s card.
The Fitri Hay-owned juvenile has potential targets at Goodwood which include the British EBF 40th Anniversary Alice Keppel Fillies’ Conditions Stakes or the Group Three Molecomb Stakes.
“It was a cracking run (at Newbury). I was delighted. I thought she’d nicked it for a bit,” said Hannon.
“We knew she’d improved a good bit physically and I was just pleased to see her running so well. They’ve put her up 8lb (to a mark of 84).
“She has taken it lovely. She had a canter on Tuesday morning and is as good as gold.”
The Molecomb has attracted 18 entries, with Baheer also featuring for Hannon while other leading contenders include Windsor Castle winner Big Evs, six-length Sandown Listed winner Kylian and O’Brien’s Alabama.
The Group Three Whispering Angel Oak Tree Stakes has 20 contenders headlined by Olivia Maralda, Potapova and White Moonlight.
As the highly anticipated Netball World Cup in South Africa gears up to begin, player security fears have shaken the competition. Jamaica's netball captain and West Coast Fever star, Jhaniele Fowler, fell victim to a robbery just 24 hours before the tournament's tip off.
The 34-year-old shooter took to Instagram to share the distressing incident, revealing that she had been robbed and faced attempts of intrusion into her room in South Africa. Fowler expressed her frustration, stating, "This is so unfortunate, this place isn't safe. First, they stole money from my purse, now people are trying to come in on us in our rooms. Really!"
Fowler's experience has heightened concerns about the safety and security of players during the prestigious event. With the World Cup set to begin on Friday, players and officials are anxious about ensuring the safety of all participants.
Despite the unsettling incident, Fowler remains focused on leading Jamaica to a first-ever world title. Speaking about Jamaica's World Cup campaign, she expressed their strong desire to "bring gold back to Jamaica." With Fowler's experience and leadership, the team is optimistic about their chances of winning the coveted title.
"Our aim is to be here until the end and be on that podium, but we have to take it one game at a time," said Fowler, emphasizing the team's focus on taking each match step by step.
A trip to the Breeders’ Cup could be on the cards for Manaccan, despite missing the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes at York after a setback.
John Ryan’s crack sprinter has been a real flag-bearer for the Newmarket yard and won four times last season.
A four-year-old son of Exceed And Excel, he signed off his previous campaign with victory in a Group Three on Dundalk’s all-weather surface and opened the new campaign with a narrow defeat under a penalty when placed behind Vadream in the Palace House at Newmarket in May.
However, he was a late withdrawal from the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and plans to go up in class at York have also been shelved.
Ryan explained: “I’m going to leave him out of the Nunthorpe. He had a bit of a hiccup in training and it has meant me giving him a few weeks’ rest.
“Basically I’m not going to get the time, or by the looks of things, the ground that I want.”
He added: “Good, good to firm is his ideal ground. I know he has run on soft ground, but that’s not his thing. He is a lot better on good, good to firm ground, and that is not what it is going to be by then, the way we are going.”
Manaccan won three of his last four runs last season, including twice in Listed company, and Ryan is setting sights higher for the Newsells Park Stud-owned colt this term.
One target could include the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in November.
Ryan said: “He would be rated high enough for a Breeders’ Cup and there are not too many horses of his calibre in the world, and it would be a thought in our mind.
“But at this point in time, we have to only think about what is around the corner, but unfortunately what is round the corner is only a few weeks away. He’s going to be a week short of where I want him to be.
“We’ll make another plan, simple as that. I’m not rushing him back. It is not life-threatening, not a long-term issue, but it just means he is not into full work at the moment.
“It has been a tough decision to make, but it is the right decision to make and it is better to make it now and let everybody know.
“The ante-post stuff means a lot to people now and, having had a discussion with the owners, the right thing to do is not to go to York. Why rush him when there will be other things to go for?
“It is just annoying, because it is a Group One, but it’s not going to fit, so the time to pull it is now.
“He’s all right and will be back to fight another day.”
Derby one-two Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel are among 11 runners declared for a star-studded renewal of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot.
Despite the late withdrawal of last year’s Epsom hero Desert Crown, Saturday’s Group One showpiece looks the race of the season so far, such is the depth of the field.
Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin saw off Roger Varian’s King Of Steel by half a length in the premier Classic in early June, with Auguste Rodin subsequently completing the Derby double in Ireland, while King Of Steel dominated the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
There is little to choose between the pair in the betting ahead of a highly anticipated rematch.
Joining them at the head of the market are the Owen Burrows-trained Hukum, a dual winner over the course and distance and too strong for Desert Crown in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown when last seen, and John and Thady Gosden’s Coronation Cup winner Emily Upjohn.
The latter is the only filly in the line-up and will be ridden by Frankie Dettori, who is chasing a record eighth King George success before his planned retirement later this year.
It is a measure of the strength of the race that defending champion Pyledriver is only fifth in the betting, despite an impressive return in the Hardwicke Stakes at the Royal meeting.
Auguste Rodin is joined by a trio of stablemates in Bolshoi Ballet, Luxembourg and Point Lonsdale.
The other hopefuls are Melbourne Cup fourth Deauville Legend (James Ferguson), last year’s Irish Derby and recent Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud scorer Westover (Ralph Beckett) and five-time Group Three winner Hamish (William Haggas).
Desert Crown will miss Saturday’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth II Qipco Stakes at Ascot due to a leg infection.
The 2022 Derby winner, who was off with an ankle injury for a year following his Epsom triumph, was beaten on his return by Hukum in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown in May.
Sir Michael Stoute’s charge had been working well in the build-up to a clash with that rival at Ascot and was also set to take on this year’s Derby one-two Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, along with the high-class filly Emily Upjohn in a mouthwatering renewal of the mile-and-a-half contest.
However, the four-year-old will now be rerouted to next month’s Juddmonte International Stakes at York.
Bruce Raymond, racing manager to the colt’s owner Saeed Suhail, said: “Desert Crown doesn’t run, he has got a leg infection.
“The plan is to go to York, but that is as much as I know.”
Group One winner Dubai Mile has been ruled out for the rest of the season through injury.
The three-year-old was expected to make his debut for Martyn and Freddie Meade in Saturday’s Sky Bet York Stakes on the Knavesmire having joined from Charlie Johnston.
However, last season’s Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner suffered an injury during his final piece of work on Tuesday.
“We were preparing him to run in the Sky Bet York Stakes when he suffered a conjugal fracture on his near-hind fetlock, so it is an absolute tragedy,” Martyn Meade told the Press Association.
“We were giving him his last bit of work yesterday on our watered peat moss gallop, which was absolutely perfect for him, but it was just a complete freak accident.
“We managed to get him straight up Newmarket, where he has been operated on and it has been pinned. That appears to be a success.
“However, he is clearly out for the rest of the season, I would think. It always happens to the best horses. You wouldn’t believe it.”
The son of Roaring Lion progressed nicely through his juvenile campaign for Charlie and Mark Johnston.
Yet he had failed to build on that success in three starts this term. Although fifth to Chaldean in the 2000 Guineas, he was subsequently ninth in the Derby and finished eight lengths behind King Of Steel in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Thereafter, he joined the Meades’ Manton Park Stud after a deal was secured to purchase a half-share in the colt from owner Ahmad Al Shaikh, with a view to a stallion career.
“We will have to assess how he recovers from that surgery and assess whether or not he will have a racing career or whether he will be going to stud,” Meade went on.
“It is heartbreaking really, also for Ahmed who is our joint-owner, who has been very good about it, I have to say. He has been very understanding.
“When it happens, it affects everyone, the lads who do them, they get very upset by it, understandably so. It is terrible for everyone. A huge blow.”
As the start of the much-anticipated Vitality Netball World Cup draws closer, Trinidad and Tobago’s competitive spirit is very much stimulated, as they are on a mission to regain their status as perennial title contenders.
In fact, the confidence exuded by Co-captain Afeisha Noel is just one indicator of the belief and unflinching desire in the Calypso Girls camp to not only achieve a rise in the ranking, but to go as close as possible to a podium finish on this occasion.
This, as the twin island republic remains one of only three teams to have lifted the Netball World Cup trophy in the tournament’s 60-year history. The other two are of course powerhouses Australia and New Zealand.
Trinidad and Tobago boast this unique distinction, having shared the title with Australia and New Zealand in 1979. Back then the tournament was played over two round-robin group stages with no play-offs, and after the three nations all finished with eight wins and one loss, they were declared joint winners.
They also placed second and third at the 1983 and 1987 editions but have lost competitive shape since then with their next best finish being a sixth at the 1995 staging.
However, Noel declared that they are now out to right that wrong, and a possible top four or top five finish, which would all but underline their resurgence for future success.
“Being the only team from the Caribbean to have won a World Cup is really great and a legacy that me and my teammates represent. It's been nearly 50 years since that T&T win in 1979, and for some of that time, we were still at the top of world netball and we were still contenders, but that has changed and for a lot of reasons,” Noel said.
“We've found it difficult to get the whole team back to playing at that competitive level, and it's not for lack of trying. The slide didn't happen overnight, and it didn't happen with one team, or at one tournament. So, the comeback story won't be just one episode.
“So, we are heading into this World Cup as an underdog, but we will get back (to being title contenders), it may not be now, but that doesn't mean we won't give it our best shot. We will take every opportunity to step up that ladder back to the top of the podium. This World Cup is one of those steps in our journey back…or maybe even two...you never know,” she told Sportsmax.tv from the team’s base in Cape Town.
According to Noel, the Calypso Girls are now ready and raring to perform with much gusto and prove competitive throughout the tournament, having now adjusted to the conditions since their arrival in South Africa almost two weeks now.
Trinidad and Tobago, currently ranked at 10 in the world, is grouped in Pool D alongside Uganda, Singapore, and defending champions New Zealand.
“Things have fallen into place nicely. The first two days here in South Africa had the ladies a bit flustered and jet lagged, but we’ve overcome that. Being that we are Caribbean people, and are used to warm weather, we focus on working around and adapting to South Africa’s winter weather, so we are hyped and ready to get back on the court and have another productive session before game time,” Noel shared.
“We all have mixed emotions. Some are hyped and ready to go and there is some nervousness as well, but we're more excited than anything else. We have been grinding in our training sessions, but we are all in a good space heading into our first match up,” she noted.
That first match is scheduled for Friday against number two-ranked New Zealand, which will be followed by a clash against Singapore the following day, before they come up against Uganda on July 30.
Noel, who along with Shaquanda Green-Noel and Daystar Swift, are expected to lead from the front, pointed out that she is more anticipating a rematch with Uganda.
“The match up against Uganda is something of a personal one for me given that we lost to them at the Commonwealth Games last year. We went back over the tapes from that game and taking whatever lessons we can from our mistakes,” she revealed.
“As for Singapore, I’ve never played against them and even though it's obvious that they are ranked lower than us, we are not taking any team for granted because nobody came here just to shop for fridge magnets,” Noel ended.
Pat Cosgrave has left the UK to embark on a new challenge and will now call Saudi Arabia home as he continues his riding career oversees.
The 41-year-old, who was champion apprentice in Ireland in 2003, has won Group One contests in Germany, Australia and the UK and has ridden over 100 winners for trainers Jim Boyle, William Haggas and George Baker in his career.
He is also no stranger to success further afield and liked up with Saeed bin Suroor to win the UAE 1000 Guineas in 2020 and was also aboard the Godolphin handler’s Gifts Of Gold on Saudi Cup Night in 2021 when the duo landed the valuable Red Sea Turf Handicap.
Cosgrave has now been handed the chance to become retained rider for 2022 Saudi Cup-winning owner Prince Saud Bin Salman Abdulaziz’s, an opportunity he has jumped at.
He said: “I’d only been back from Dubai (back in March) for a couple of weeks and was approached by Prince Saud Bin Salman Abdulaziz’s team about the opportunity.
“I knew how successful their operation was over there, particularly given they won the Saudi Cup back in 2022 with Emblem Road, but it was a tricky time to make a decision as racing was just getting going again in the UK.
“I thought about it for a little while and decided it was a good thing to do. The racing, as well as other sports in Saudi, seem to be getting bigger and better every year and it’s an exciting time to be getting involved.”
Cosgrave hit the headlines earlier in the year when he received a 28-day ban for easing up on 1-6 favourite Concorde in the final stages of a mile handicap at Chelmsford.
He added: “I have been going along OK in the UK. There were a couple of silly incidents that put me on the sidelines for a bit, but overall I was doing well, winning some decent handicaps and operating at a good strike rate.
“I was riding winners for the likes of George Boughey, Richard Hughes, George Baker and Jim Boyle, so things were going OK, and they were looking after me well, but it feels like the racing in Saudi is really progressing and I think it’s a great opportunity to take.”
Cosgrave is not the only member of the weighing room on the move, with Andrea Atzeni having been granted a part-season licence by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Atzeni’s licence in the far east runs from July 17 until February 12 next year and he is expected to be in Hong Kong for the start of the new season at Sha Tin on September 10.
The Classic winning rider said on his twitter account: “Looking forward to my new challenge!”
Hukum’s jockey Jim Crowley is excited to be part of Saturday’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth II Qipco Stakes and hailed one of the deepest renewals in recent years as “great for the sport”.
The Group One Ascot showpiece looks set to feature Derby one-two Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, last year’s Epsom hero Desert Crown, defending champion Pyledriver and the first two home from the Coronation Cup, Emily Upjohn and Westover among others.
The Owen Burrows-trained Hukum, who won last year’s Coronation Cup before injury sidelined him for a year, returned to defeat Desert Crown in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown in May.
With the ground currently described as good, good to soft in places at Ascot and rain forecast on Wednesday evening, connections of the Shadwell-owned Hukum are growing increasingly confident that the six-year-old will handle the white-hot opposition.
Crowley is happier when he lets his riding do the talking and the former champion jockey knows the quality of the opposition could not be higher.
“All I can say is that Hukum is in great form. It is a very, very good race – the best King George I’ve seen on paper for a long, long time, and it is great to be part of it,” he said.
“The horse is in great form going into the race and that is all we can ask for. If he is good enough, he is good enough.
“It is great to be part of it and great to be riding a horse with a chance in it.”
Hukum goes into the contest as the winner of six of his last eight races. The two defeats came by a head to Hamish in the September Stakes at Kempton in 2021 and by a length and three-quarters to Shahryar in the 2022 Dubai Sheema Classic.
After making a pleasing return at Sandown and following sustained support in recent days, he is now vying for favouritism with Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel with some bookmakers.
Crowley has ridden in most of the top races around the world, yet sees the mile and a half midsummer spectacular as one of the most eagerly-anticipated in recent times.
“I’m the same as all the other jockeys, really – it is going to be very exciting for a lot of people to watch and it is going to be very exciting to ride in it, but on the other hand, it is very important,” he said.
“It is great for the sport – it is what people want, isn’t it? It is our version of the Arc.
“No-one is ducking it, so that means everyone fancies their chances. It is when they don’t fancy their chances they start ducking it.”
Crowley added: “We are very happy with him and very respectful of the opposition, because it is a very good race. Any rain would not be a negative, it would be beneficial to him.”
Hukum’s connections will be content, with almost their ideal ground conditions on the cards.
Ascot’s clerk of the course Chris Stickels is expecting overnight rain into Thursday.
Speaking at 4pm on Wednesday, he said: “The going is good on the straight course, and good (good to soft in places) on the round course. We had two millimetres of rain on Monday and have not had any since.
“We are expecting rain this evening and through the night. The ground would be getting quicker as we speak – it would be getting close to good to firm now in places – but obviously it is going to rain, so, we won’t see that change. We are expecting between seven and 15 millimetres.
“Until we get the rain we don’t know what the going will be but 12 millimetres will probably make us good to soft.”
Paddington’s rate of improvement compares to nothing Aidan O’Brien has seen before as his three-time Group One scorer attempts to keep his winning streak going in the Qatar Sussex Stakes.
The son of Siyouni has won six races on the bounce and having started the season winning a heavy ground Naas handicap has progressed to become one of the standout three-year-olds of the season.
Having landed the Irish 2,000 Guineas in May, he quickly asserted himself as the leading miler of the Classic crop when taking the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, before stepping up in trip to down Emily Upjohn in a thrilling renewal of the Eclipse.
Now the outstanding Ballydoyle colt returns to the eight furlongs over which he made his name at the Qatar Goodwood Festival and O’Brien believes his rise to the top has no equal during his long and distinguished training career.
He said: “What he has done has been incredible. He’s gone from strength to strength with every run and it is very unusual.
“I know Ryan (Moore) is very impressed with him all the time and he looks a very serious horse at the moment. I think he’s standing up to a lot of scrutiny by the other horses that have gone by before him.
“It’s very unusual what he is doing and the ease with which he is doing it and the way he is doing it.
“It’s very hard to compare him but I’m not sure we’ve ever had a horse that has made that improvement in the way he is doing it, mentally, physically and confidence-wise and everything really. He just looks so natural.”
Having seen off Emily Upjohn over 10 furlongs at Sandown, Paddington could have another John and Thady Gosden-trained star filly to tackle on the Sussex Downs in the form of Inspiral, who the bookmakers feel has the best chance of knocking Paddington off track.
It will be the first time he will have faced older horses over a mile, but the master of Ballydoyle is eager to see a competitive contest so he can get a true feel for Paddington’s potential accomplishments.
“We always treat every horse with total respect, but we’re also delighted when the races are as competitive as they can be because that is what we all want to see,” said O’Brien.
“That is what we need to gauge our horses and know where we are going next.
“The more competitive it is and the better the horses are that are in there, the better it is for us and everyone else, we think.”
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