Jimmy The Bear worth the shout for passionate owner-breeder Mike Hirst
Hirst shouted drinkers at the Pavilion, a Salamanca Place, Battery Point, watering hole last Saturday after boisterously cheering for triumphant Jimmy The Bear in the Listed Winter Championship Final at Flemington.
'People were looking at me stupid,' the former Racing Victoria chairman laughed.
'(Partner) Lizzie and I were screaming out, 'Go Jimmy, go Jimmy' to the point they were all looking at us silly.
'I decided I better shout the bar because I interrupted their afternoon a little too much, it's a small pub though.'
Jimmy The Bear, trained by Patrick and Michelle Payne, is the $1.65 favourite in the VOBIS Gold Heath (2000m) at Caulfield.
The six-year-old Jimmy Creed gelding, out of Hirst-owned Belvedere Road, has won three of his past five starts and placed second twice in a stellar winter campaign.
Jimmy The Bear, a $1.2m prizemoney winner, is a product of a 30-year dedication to a breeding theory – built around a direct descendant of 1955 Kentucky Oaks winner Lalun.
Hirst discovered a great-great-granddaughter of Lalun racing in Rockhampton, one of only two relations of the American mare in Australia at the time, and eventually bought her for $3000.
Hirst initially offered $20,000 to buy River Royal, the great-grandam of Jimmy The Bear, but the former owner insisted on racing the filly in north Queensland.
Hirst tried a second time – at $15,000 – after River Royal raced without success only to be knocked back again.
Hirst finally secured River Royal, placed once in seven starts, and chased the dream to breed a Derby or Oaks winner.
He almost achieved the feat in 2019 with Victoria Derby runner-up Southern Moon, son of Puissance De Lune out of South Street, a daughter of Jimmy The Bear's grandam On Southbank.
'River Royal's progeny and her progeny's progeny have now won north of $4m (prizemoney),' Hirst said.
'It doesn't mean it's been profitable, by the way, in fact, it's not been!'
• Childs to carry out trainer's long-term Monash plan
Descendants of River Royal include 2006 Adelaide Cup runner-up Tubular Bells and 2012 Grand Annual Steeplechase winner Awakening Dream.
Jimmy The Bear's sister Jenny The Beaver has won two of 15 starts and is an $8 chance in a 2450m Benchmark 64 at Geelong on Thursday.
Belvedere Road is in foal to Blue Point.
Jimmy The Bear has two young half-brothers, an unraced Omaha Beach two-year-old and Ghaiyyath weanling.
JIMMY THE BEAR ðŸ�»ðŸ'°
The Winter Championship Final goes to Patrick and Michelle Payne's warhorse! Forgot You was a mighty run for third at $61 for Team Busuttin/Young in honour of Peta Tait ðŸ'– @TheBeeegan @mj_payne pic.twitter.com/dmu3cIP7sX
— 7HorseRacing ðŸ�Ž (@7horseracing) July 5, 2025
'I was probably breeding a bit too much stamina and stayer, originally, so I've tried to put a bit more speed into (the family) as we've gone along,' Hirst said.
Jimmy The Bear could be freshened after Saturday but Hirst deferred to Payne for any future decisions.
'I don't pretend to tell Patrick what to do, he's a genius at placing his horses,' Hirst said.
'We did push him last year to run in the Toorak (Handicap) and after he went no good (eighth), and Patrick didn't think we should do it but we wanted to have a crack, after that I promised we'd never, ever have a say in where he went, so I don't.
'That will be up to Patrick, I'm not sure what he wants to do but he's got to a rating now, if he wins again on Saturday … and it's no certainty, I'd imagine Patrick will freshen him up a bit … if he wants to have a crack in spring so be it, and if he doesn't, that's fine too.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
3 minutes ago
- ABC News
How a quote derived from a US president's speech is inspiring AFLW players
There is a quote that AFLW players often come back to by an American academic, which draws from a former US president. Author Brene Brown, in her popular book Daring Greatly, pens: "If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I am not interested in or open to your feedback." Here, Brown references Theodore Roosevelt's famous 1910 Man in the Arena speech, in which he argues: "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles … credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood." Or, in this case, women on a sporting field. In the last month, players and AFL stakeholders have been forced to publicly back the league's continued investment in the competition after reports clubs were told the AFLW was losing $50 million a year. It comes as a condensed fixture last year, which featured midweek games, saw average home-and-away crowds reach just 2,600. "We talk a lot about the person in the arena," Gab Pound, inaugural Carlton player, told ABC Sport. "Because feedback is the biggest thing in sports for athletes … [but] how do you take feedback when there can be a lot of noise and things coming from all these different places? "We kind of bring ourselves back to the arena. And if you're not in the arena with us, battling it out, your opinion doesn't really matter to us." Players have said they welcome performance critiques and have called for greater coverage of their games, including criticism, and argue it is fair game when it comes from people who regularly watch their games and understand the competition's contexts. However, for all the recent noise, the competition has come leaps and bounds from when Pound took the field for the very first game between Collingwood and Carlton eight years ago. Pound was 21 when she was drafted, coming from the Darebin Falcons like many inaugural players, including Daisy Pearce, Libby Birch, Darcy Vescio, Jess Dal Pos and Paxy Paxman. The step up from VFLW to AFLW, Pound said, was a keenly felt one. "Just the fact we got paid a little bit of money, we were kind of just, 'Is this a real kind of thing', because when I grew up, there was just no aspiration there," Pound said. "I grew up in Albury and country footy where there were no girls playing football. I was really excited when school came around [because] we played those little round robins each year." When Pound debuted, her teammate Keeley Sherar, the reigning club best and fairest, did not even play footy yet. Without a pathway yet, she played netball in her tween years. "I feel like players like Gab really built the foundations for what we get to do now," Sherar said. "I think I have two little sisters, they're in grade six and year nine, and they've been playing since Aus Kick, so I think it's awesome. "I didn't get that opportunity and they've really got this amazing pathway and so much opportunity, which a lot of us didn't have when we were younger." Sherar said a lot of girls in her sister's under 12 team come and watch her play along with her family. They recently made a "hot wheels" sign for one of her games; her nickname at the club. "I see them every Sunday and watch their games and they inspire me because I'm like, 'You guys are 12 years old and you're so good and have just so much energy,'" Sherar said. "That's something that really sticks with me … that's why I love playing, to inspire them." Pound said perceptions of AFLW had changed a lot over her time and she was starting to really see a shift, even in the media, towards appreciating how women could "play great competitive football". "The more support that we have, such as that investment through all levels of grassroots, all the way up to the pro level, it's only going to improve the product," Pound said. "And then I think that reflection to the wider society as well, it's only going to do good things for the perception of women." She said there was such a "big open space" for women's sport to take off in Australia. "Women's sport can go in such a good direction … you see that in American basketball at the moment, unreal," Pound said. "The crowds that they get, the hype that they get, it's just incredible, and that's something I want to see in future generations for AFLW. "There's such a product [there] waiting to really explode".
News.com.au
33 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Global music icon Snoop Dogg will headline the AFL grand final entertainment.
Global music icon Snoop Dogg wants to make the 2025 AFL grand final 'unforgettable' after being confirmed as the entertainment headliner for the MCG decider in September. The AFL confirmed the rap mogul would follow Katy Perry, Kiss and Robbie Williams who have been massive grand final day hits in recent seasons. 'It's an absolute honour to be hitting the stage at the AFL Grand Final — it's one of the biggest events on the Aussie calendar,' the music megastar said. ' Can't wait to bring the energy and celebrate with the fans. Let's make it unforgettable.' Snoop Dogg has been a sensation for more than three decades and in recent years has taken his talents to the NFL Super Bowl and the Paris Olympics. 'The AFL Grand Final is the biggest event on the Australian sporting calendar — and this year, it just got a whole lot bigger,' AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said. 'Snoop Dogg is a pioneer, a performer, and a true entertainer. He's played to packed stadiums around the world — but we think 100,000 fans at the MCG might just be his most iconic crowd yet. 'We want Grand Final Day to be an unforgettable celebration of footy — and beyond the four quarters of the match, a celebration of culture, energy, and entertainment. Snoop fits that brief better than anyone. 'From Long Beach to the biggest stage in Australian sport — Snoop Dogg is coming to the MCG for the Telstra Pre-Game Entertainment, and we're ready to make history.'
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Australia and England bring flawed sides to this year's Ashes, making for an epic series
The most common way to know a sporting event is epic is right in the middle of it, as you're revelling in the action. Other times it's when the dust settles after the fact that it dawns on you that you watched something really special. England's recent drawn series against India was a great example of this. Then there's the all-timer sporting events, ones that feature a lengthy runway building anticipation before living up to the billing. Everything suggests the upcoming Ashes series between Australia and England this summer will fall straight into the third category. These two teams have spent the past two years sizing each other up after settling for a 2-2 draw in the 2023 Ashes in England. The 2023 Ashes was box office to say the least. There were real victories, moral victories, rain delays, fiery confrontations, all the ingredients that make a Test series properly spicy. That the reaction to Ben Stokes and India's handshake drama from the fourth Test was loudest from Australia tells you everything you need to know about how hotly contested this summer will be, both on and off the field. Australia is keen to end "BazBall" for good, while England is looking for its biggest scalp under Brendon McCullum. For all of the positivity surrounding the way England has played its cricket since McCullum was named the Test coach, his side is yet to beat either Australia or India in a Test series. Two home series against the fellow members of cricket's "Big Three" have yielded 2-2 draws, while England was beaten 4-1 in India at the start of 2024. England is yet to tour Australia under McCullum. England will touch down this summer having not won a single Test in Australia since the 2010-11 series. The last three trips Down Under have yielded scorelines reading 0-5, 0-4 and 0-4. A similarly disappointing result this summer in Australia will suddenly make people wonder whether there has been any progress made at all under McCullum, even if that's not exactly fair. This series pits two flawed teams against each other and there is no clear favourite. While both teams have glaring flaws, they've also both got very obvious strengths. Which strength shines through and overshadows the flaw will determine the outcome. Assuming England is fully healthy, the batting line-up projects to be the strongest the tourists have brought to Australia since the victorious 2010-11 tour. The opening Test of the 2010-11 Ashes saw England roll out Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell and Matt Prior as its top seven at the Gabba. That combination arrived in Australian having played a couple of years together and was importantly followed by bowlers that were also serviceable with the bat in Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. All seven of England's top order boasted significant Ashes experience leading into that series. Strauss, Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood and Bell had all played a series in Australia prior to that summer and had won multiple Ashes series' as well. England's current first-choice top seven of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith have also played a significant amount of cricket together over the past couple of years. Like Cook and Strauss were in 2010, Crawley and Duckett are currently arguably the best opening pair in Test cricket. In 55 innings together, England's opening pair has scored 2,511 runs at an average of 46.50, registering five 100-run partnerships for the first wicket in the past three years. They currently sit 13th all time on the list of highest opening partnerships in terms of runs scored. For reference, Cook and Strauss combined for 4,711 runs at an average of 40.96 in 117 innings together between 2006 and 2012, the third-highest in Test history. Of England's top seven, Duckett, Brook and Smith will all be making their first Test appearances Down Under. How they handle the increased pace and bounce of Australian pitches will go a long way to determining the outcome of the Ashes. Crawley and Pope were here last time around and neither found much success, while Root and Stokes will be on their fourth Australian tours. England's batters have been prolific since McCullum took over, but there is no greater test in world cricket than facing Australia's quicks in Australia. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Scott Boland figure to be the four first-choice pacemen Australia use during the Ashes, and could potentially be joined by Michael Neser. Cummins is the youngest of the quintet at 32, and is likely to be the only one that will play all five Tests. How Australia chooses to rotate the others will be fascinating. Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins are the first-choice trio, but England will be wary of slacking off when Boland invariably makes his way into the side, particularly in Melbourne. England handled Boland with ease during the 2023 Ashes in the UK, but the 36-year-old is an entirely different proposition at home, where he has taken 49 wickets in just nine Tests at a stupendous average of 12.63. It's going to be well and truly a battle of fire versus fire when it comes to England's top order taking on Australia's pacemen. Both of these areas for either side carry significant question marks. We are just months out from the first Test, and no-one in Australia seems to know what its best top four is going to look like. Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith will be there, but the other two spots are a big headache for Australian coach Andrew McDonald. Sam Konstas has been trialled as Khawaja's opening partner with mixed results, which suggest he might not be ready to enter an Ashes cauldron. Marnus Labuschagne has been dropped from the side after a treacherous two-year run of form, having been such a reliable number three last time England toured down under. The fit again Cameron Green was trialled at number three by Australia in the World Test Championship final and the tour of the West Indies, and managed just one half-century in eight innings. The fragility of Australia's top order puts immense pressure on not only Smith, but the middle-to-lower order to deliver, and they've done so time and time again. As South Africa showed in the WTC final, if you've got a quality pace attack, then Australia's batting order is ripe for the picking. The question is whether England has that. England has the pace battery required to cause Australia trouble. Whether they're able to all get on the park is the real question. Jofra Archer has been slowly nursed back to red ball cricket with an eye to this tour for the best part of four years, and made a long-awaited return against India. England's attack looked very different in the two Tests Archer played against India compared to the three where he was absent. Rapid pacemen Mark Wood and Olly Stone are both coming off knee surgeries, and will not be able to be relied upon for five straight Tests. Wood was England's most penetrative bowler last time in Australia, taking 17 wickets in four Tests at 26.64 apiece. Bowlers like Wood, who live in the high-140s, are essential to winning a series in Australia. Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue, England's leading wicket-taker against India, will also have big roles to play in Australia. England will be fine rotating its out-and-out quicks depending on the venue, but will need to find its workhorse paceman that can front up day after day. Chris Woakes played in every Test of the India series, but his record outside of England leaves a lot to be desired. Woakes has played in seven Tests Down Under and averages 51.68 with the ball, managing just 16 wickets. His gentle low-130s pace rolls perfectly onto the bat in Australia, where there is not a lot of lateral movement like in England. The real X-factor with the ball for England is its skipper, Stokes. Last time England toured Australia, Stokes managed just four wickets in five Tests, as injury issues restricted him to being no more than a bit-part bowler. Before injuring his shoulder and missing the final Test against India, Stokes looked as damaging as he ever has with the ball. If Stokes is unable to contribute effectively with the ball, there is very little chance of England coming away with the urn in Australia. This summer's Ashes pits two of the generation's best Test batters — Australia's Steve Smith and England's Joe Root — against each other for potentially the last time. Since the 2023 Ashes, the two veteran superstars have gone on divergent paths. Root has played 23 Tests since that series, and has scored 2,127 runs at an average of 57.48, well above his career average of 51.29. He has scored nine Test centuries in that time. Smith has gone through one of the leanest patches of his Test career in that same time period. The former Australian skipper has scored 1,157 runs in 17 Tests at an average of 41.32 since August 2023, an average that pales in comparison to his career mark of 56.02. Since Smith really started hitting his straps as a Test batter just over a decade ago, he has rarely been out-batted in a series by a fellow member of batting's "Big Four", a group that also features Root, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson. Don't let Smith's soft-spoken nature fool you, he is one of the most ruthless competitors this generation has seen. Smith will no doubt have heard all the chatter about Root being the best in the world over the last few years, and will be hell bent on winning this personal battle. There is chatter that this series could be Smith's last. What better way to go out than winning the Ashes and ending the best batter of the generation debate for good? Root's incredible two-year run has seen his Test legacy launched into an entirely different stratosphere. He is now comfortably England's greatest Test batter, and is likely to overtake Sachin Tendulkar as the highest runscorer in the longest format of the game. However, there is a big gap in Root's Test resume — an Ashes century in Australia. If you exclude Bangladesh, where Root has played just two Tests, Australia is where his record is by far the poorest. Root has managed just 892 runs in 14 Tests Down Under since making his debut during the 2013-14 Ashes, and has a mediocre average of 35.68. He has only been dismissed in single figures five times over that journey, showing his propensity to do the hard work before getting himself out. But Australia has not seen this version of Root, the one that possesses an insatiable hunger for runs and lots of them. So here we are then, with both England and Australia having no more Tests remaining before the Ashes get underway in Perth on November 21. The runway is officially here and the trash talk has begun, as have the wild predictions from both sides. Strap yourselves in because this is about to be a generational summer of Test cricket.
