Prima Bella primed to put the brakes on Hawker Hall's meteoric rise
Prima Bella, a very lightly raced four-year-old in the Matthew Smith stable at Warwick Farm, returns for her first outing and only fourth career start since two runs last spring.
That came after she was forced out through injury for nearly a year after making a big impression on debut with an all-the-way win at Wyong late in 2023.
But the hard work and long wait can start to pay dividends when she tackles a Benchmark 64 Hcp over the flying 900m.
And connections will be buoyed by the conditions having watched her win the first of two recent trials in heavy ground by nearly five lengths.
Standing in her way, though, could well be home track three-year-old Hawker Hall who reloads a month after blitzing his maiden opposition by nearly four lengths when resuming as the hottest of favourites, also in heavy ground.
And Hawker Hall, a gelding by Russian Revolution with leading trainer Kris Lees, has since won a trial in soft going by a big margin.
Hawker Hall has drawn wide, while Prime Bella is nicely placed from barrier five for what looms as a mouth-watering battle made for the conditions, and could pitchfork either galloper into metropolitan company next start.
Prima Bella opened around $3.80 in early betting ahead of Hawker Hall ($4.20), with a big gap to honest mare One Kind on the next line around $8.00 and resuming four-year-old Kiribati $10.00.
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The Advertiser
13 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Injury rules another Knights player out for the year
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Gamble returned off the bench against the Warriors in round 20 last month and was then promoted to the starting side against Canberra the following week, but was dropped for Newcastle's clash with Penrith last Friday. Jake Arthur started at five-eighth and made his club debut in the 48-12 loss to the defending premiers. Gamble has now joined a growing list of Knights players out for the year, which includes fullback Kalyn Ponga, five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe and back-rower Dylan Lucas. His latest injury also comes after Knights officials told him he was free to explore leaving the club at season's end - a year earlier than contracted. Whether he now plays another game for the Knights remains to be seen. The Knights have signed Eels half Dylan Brown for next season, on a 10-year, $14-million deal which has pushed Gamble and fellow playmaker Jack Cogger down the pecking order of halves options. It's understood Gamble recently attracted interest from Super League clubs. The Redcliffe product has played 44 games for the Knights over the past three years. He joined the club ahead of the 2023 season and made a career-high 24 NRL appearances that year. Injuries largely restricted him to 14 games in 2024, and only six this year. Newcastle face North Queensland in Townsville on Sunday. The Knights are placed 15th ahead of their last four games, but are only a win ahead of last-placed Gold Coast Titans. They are in a five-way fight to avoid wooden spoon. Newcastle have run last on four occasions, in 2005 and through 2015-17. Newcastle's injury woes have worsened with another player expected to be ruled out for the season. Luckless playmaker Tyson Gamble looks set to be unavailable for Newcastle's four remaining NRL games after suffering several facial fractures playing NSW Cup on Saturday. The 29-year-old copped a head knock in the 55th minute of Newcastle's 30-12 loss to Manly at Brookvale. He remarkably played out the full 80 minutes, despite the NSW Cup side being well out of finals contention. The cheekbone injury continues a difficult campaign for Gamble, who has been limited to just six NRL appearances this year, largely due to injury. He shaped as the first-choice halfback ahead of round one but missed the opening six rounds due to a debilitating back problem that required surgery. He then returned in round seven but suffered a broken nose and was forced to have surgery and miss multiple matches. He broke his thumb mid-season, which also required surgery, and again missed several games. Gamble returned off the bench against the Warriors in round 20 last month and was then promoted to the starting side against Canberra the following week, but was dropped for Newcastle's clash with Penrith last Friday. Jake Arthur started at five-eighth and made his club debut in the 48-12 loss to the defending premiers. Gamble has now joined a growing list of Knights players out for the year, which includes fullback Kalyn Ponga, five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe and back-rower Dylan Lucas. His latest injury also comes after Knights officials told him he was free to explore leaving the club at season's end - a year earlier than contracted. Whether he now plays another game for the Knights remains to be seen. The Knights have signed Eels half Dylan Brown for next season, on a 10-year, $14-million deal which has pushed Gamble and fellow playmaker Jack Cogger down the pecking order of halves options. It's understood Gamble recently attracted interest from Super League clubs. The Redcliffe product has played 44 games for the Knights over the past three years. He joined the club ahead of the 2023 season and made a career-high 24 NRL appearances that year. Injuries largely restricted him to 14 games in 2024, and only six this year. Newcastle face North Queensland in Townsville on Sunday. The Knights are placed 15th ahead of their last four games, but are only a win ahead of last-placed Gold Coast Titans. They are in a five-way fight to avoid wooden spoon. Newcastle have run last on four occasions, in 2005 and through 2015-17. Newcastle's injury woes have worsened with another player expected to be ruled out for the season. Luckless playmaker Tyson Gamble looks set to be unavailable for Newcastle's four remaining NRL games after suffering several facial fractures playing NSW Cup on Saturday. The 29-year-old copped a head knock in the 55th minute of Newcastle's 30-12 loss to Manly at Brookvale. He remarkably played out the full 80 minutes, despite the NSW Cup side being well out of finals contention. The cheekbone injury continues a difficult campaign for Gamble, who has been limited to just six NRL appearances this year, largely due to injury. He shaped as the first-choice halfback ahead of round one but missed the opening six rounds due to a debilitating back problem that required surgery. He then returned in round seven but suffered a broken nose and was forced to have surgery and miss multiple matches. He broke his thumb mid-season, which also required surgery, and again missed several games. Gamble returned off the bench against the Warriors in round 20 last month and was then promoted to the starting side against Canberra the following week, but was dropped for Newcastle's clash with Penrith last Friday. Jake Arthur started at five-eighth and made his club debut in the 48-12 loss to the defending premiers. Gamble has now joined a growing list of Knights players out for the year, which includes fullback Kalyn Ponga, five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe and back-rower Dylan Lucas. His latest injury also comes after Knights officials told him he was free to explore leaving the club at season's end - a year earlier than contracted. Whether he now plays another game for the Knights remains to be seen. The Knights have signed Eels half Dylan Brown for next season, on a 10-year, $14-million deal which has pushed Gamble and fellow playmaker Jack Cogger down the pecking order of halves options. It's understood Gamble recently attracted interest from Super League clubs. The Redcliffe product has played 44 games for the Knights over the past three years. He joined the club ahead of the 2023 season and made a career-high 24 NRL appearances that year. Injuries largely restricted him to 14 games in 2024, and only six this year. Newcastle face North Queensland in Townsville on Sunday. The Knights are placed 15th ahead of their last four games, but are only a win ahead of last-placed Gold Coast Titans. They are in a five-way fight to avoid wooden spoon. Newcastle have run last on four occasions, in 2005 and through 2015-17. Newcastle's injury woes have worsened with another player expected to be ruled out for the season. 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Gamble returned off the bench against the Warriors in round 20 last month and was then promoted to the starting side against Canberra the following week, but was dropped for Newcastle's clash with Penrith last Friday. Jake Arthur started at five-eighth and made his club debut in the 48-12 loss to the defending premiers. Gamble has now joined a growing list of Knights players out for the year, which includes fullback Kalyn Ponga, five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe and back-rower Dylan Lucas. His latest injury also comes after Knights officials told him he was free to explore leaving the club at season's end - a year earlier than contracted. Whether he now plays another game for the Knights remains to be seen. The Knights have signed Eels half Dylan Brown for next season, on a 10-year, $14-million deal which has pushed Gamble and fellow playmaker Jack Cogger down the pecking order of halves options. It's understood Gamble recently attracted interest from Super League clubs. The Redcliffe product has played 44 games for the Knights over the past three years. He joined the club ahead of the 2023 season and made a career-high 24 NRL appearances that year. Injuries largely restricted him to 14 games in 2024, and only six this year. Newcastle face North Queensland in Townsville on Sunday. The Knights are placed 15th ahead of their last four games, but are only a win ahead of last-placed Gold Coast Titans. They are in a five-way fight to avoid wooden spoon. Newcastle have run last on four occasions, in 2005 and through 2015-17.
The Australian
a day ago
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NRL 2025: Stefano Utoikamanu welcomes brutal Storm draw before finals
Some teams would appreciate a soft month of footy heading into the finals, but Storm prop Stefano Utoikamanu says his side welcomes their brutal run home that starts with a showdown against the team looking to win a fifth title in a row. The Panthers beat Melbourne in last year's decider and have won nine matches in a row to go from last spot after 12 rounds into the top four on the back of last week's thumping win in Newcastle. Thursday's game is the start of a brutal month for the Storm who then face the Bulldogs (third), Roosters (ninth) and finish with a trip north to take on the Broncos (sixth) as they look to secure a top-two finish. They've already beaten Penrith this year and knocked them off twice in the 2024 regular season, with stiff competition in August set to be the perfect preparation for them in the finals. The Panthers were too good for Melbourne in last year's grand final. Picture: Pete Dovgan/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images 'I wasn't here last year, but a lot of the boys here played in the grand final,' Utoikamanu said. 'Penrith didn't really start the year that well, but I think they've won nine straight now so you can see them as the in-form team of the comp, so it's going to be a good game this week. 'For us, the finals aren't far away. Those four teams (that we're playing) are all going to be in the finals probably, so it's definitely a good preparation. I'd rather this (than winning by 50). 'Finals footy is a different game. I haven't even played in the finals before, but speaking to the other boys, it's probably going to be reffed a little differently and I think it's going to be more of a grind. 'Winning games by 50 is not going to help us, so these next few games is good preparation for us.' Josh King and Stefano Utoikamanu have been enormous for the Storm with Jahrome Hughes out injured. Picture:The Storm will be without injured halfback Jahrome Hughes, but their defence has lifted with him out of the side, with the premiership favourites conceding just 12 points in their past two outings. Utoikamanu has also lifted since he played the final two State of Origin games for NSW, with coach Craig Bellamy praising his impact through the middle in wins over the Eels and Broncos. 'I've felt like I probably had to step up a little bit, especially coming out of Origin and being an Origin player,' the prop said. 'It still feels a bit surreal to me that I played Origin this year, but coming out of that, I feel like I had to prove something a little bit. 'Coming here has probably been the biggest move of my career so far. 'Craig always tells us to play to our strengths, and I feel like I've been doing that every week.'
News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
‘Winning games by 50 is not going to help us': Storm begins brutal finals preparation with grand final rematch against Panthers
Some teams would appreciate a soft month of footy heading into the finals, but Storm prop Stefano Utoikamanu says his side welcomes their brutal run home that starts with a showdown against the team looking to win a fifth title in a row. The Panthers beat Melbourne in last year's decider and have won nine matches in a row to go from last spot after 12 rounds into the top four on the back of last week's thumping win in Newcastle. Thursday's game is the start of a brutal month for the Storm who then face the Bulldogs (third), Roosters (ninth) and finish with a trip north to take on the Broncos (sixth) as they look to secure a top-two finish. They've already beaten Penrith this year and knocked them off twice in the 2024 regular season, with stiff competition in August set to be the perfect preparation for them in the finals. 'I wasn't here last year, but a lot of the boys here played in the grand final,' Utoikamanu said. 'Penrith didn't really start the year that well, but I think they've won nine straight now so you can see them as the in-form team of the comp, so it's going to be a good game this week. 'For us, the finals aren't far away. Those four teams (that we're playing) are all going to be in the finals probably, so it's definitely a good preparation. I'd rather this (than winning by 50). 'Finals footy is a different game. I haven't even played in the finals before, but speaking to the other boys, it's probably going to be reffed a little differently and I think it's going to be more of a grind. 'Winning games by 50 is not going to help us, so these next few games is good preparation for us.' The Storm will be without injured halfback Jahrome Hughes, but their defence has lifted with him out of the side, with the premiership favourites conceding just 12 points in their past two outings. Utoikamanu has also lifted since he played the final two State of Origin games for NSW, with coach Craig Bellamy praising his impact through the middle in wins over the Eels and Broncos. 'I've felt like I probably had to step up a little bit, especially coming out of Origin and being an Origin player,' the prop said. 'It still feels a bit surreal to me that I played Origin this year, but coming out of that, I feel like I had to prove something a little bit. 'Coming here has probably been the biggest move of my career so far. 'Craig always tells us to play to our strengths, and I feel like I've been doing that every week.'
