Brad Waters' best bets and value play for Sale races Wednesday
Form expert Brad Waters analyses Wednesday's Sale meeting, presenting his best bets, value selection and jockey to follow.
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News.com.au
26 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Ferrari target 'magnificent' third straight Le Mans 24 Hour triumph
Ferrari's Formula One fortunes may be flagging but the Italian constructor start this weekend's Le Mans 24 Hour Race as favourites targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport's fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing's crown underway at 1600 local time (1400GMT) on Saturday. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite Hypercars will battle it out over 300 laps (4,000 kilometres plus) in front of a sell-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after a 50 year absence to land Le Mans' centenary race in 2023, repeating the feat last year. The Prancing Horse stable ended Toyota's run of five consecutive wins from 2018 to 2022 with the Japanese manufacturer out to reclaim their crown 40 years after their first Le Mans appearance. A shake-up in the regulations for 2023 sparked fresh interest in the premier class and this year Ferrari, Toyota and Porsche face challenges from Aston Martin, Cadillac, BMW, Alpine, and Peugeot. Ferrari's position as the team to beat is bolstered by their bright start to the season, reeling off wins in the first three world endurance races in Qatar, Imola and Belgium. But Antonio Fuoco, who took the chequered flag 12 months ago along with Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, is taking nothing for granted. "Compared to last year, everyone is closer to the other, it's going to be a tough battle," forecast the 29-year-old Italian driver. Ferrari team manager Batti Pregliasco is wary of the threat posed by Toyota. "The idea of winning a third Le Mans in a row would be magnificent," he said. "But the Toyotas are very strong here because they have the experience, the ability, and the means to win." - 'Bitter-sweet' - Nyck De Vries was sharing driving duties in the Toyota that came off second best in 2024, and the 30-year-old Dutchman is hungry for revenge. "Finishing second last year was a great result but after such a long race, with so many different emotions, it felt bitter-sweet, so we want to put that right this year," said De Vries, summarily sacked by Red Bull's then Alpha Tauri sister team midway through the 2023 F1 season. De Vries is one of a cluster of former F1 drivers including former world champion Jenson Button seduced by the lure of adding their name on the hallowed Le Mans roll of honour - just as Fernando Alonso did in 2018-19 for Toyota, the veteran Spaniard emulating the likes of F1 greats from yesteryear like Graham Hill, Phil Hill and Jochen Rindt. Joining the 21 Hypercars are 17 entries in the LMP2 class and 24 in the LMGT3 category in an event that has been visited by tragedy over the years, with 22 drivers perishing. Le Mans, where eye-watering speeds of up to 400kmh have been reached on the Sarthe circuit's Mulsanne straight, marks the 70th anniversary of the 1955 disaster this weekend when pieces of debris from Pierre Levegh's car rained down on the crowd, killing 81 spectators, although a definitive death toll was never established. A sombre reminder then of the dangers faced by the 186 drivers taking part -- including the all women 'Iron Dames' LMGT3 team of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Fry and Celia Martin. The encouraging news for this brave bunch is that the French met office forecast looks benign, with no rain or storms predicted over the weekend which kicks off with qualifying for pole on Thursday night.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Football world erupts after Ange Postecoglou torn to shreds by pundit for his ‘nuclear-strength bull***'
After being sacked by Tottenham last week the football world has largely rallied around Ange Postecoglou, thanking him for his service and his work in breaking Spurs' trophy drought. However not everyone has been kind with one pundit in particular sticking the boot into the Aussie on his way out. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy axed the boss early on Saturday (AEST), just over two weeks after Spurs lifted the Europa League trophy. Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. Victory over Manchester United in Spain ended the club's 17-year wait for a trophy, but it wasn't enough to save his job after Tottenham's worst-ever Premier League season where they finished 17th. Regardless, in the aftermath of his sacking several of the club's stars came out in support of the Aussie manager, with the likes of Yves Bissouma, captain Heung-Min Son, Richarlison, James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven and Lucas Bergvall all penning heartfelt messages of thanks. While others in the sporting world noted that Postecoglou leaves with a Tottenham legacy that can never be tarnished, ending the club's painful silverware drought. But while the tone has been overwhelmingly positive towards Postecoglou, a few pundits have sung a different tune, in particular, Jonathan Liew of The Guardian, whose scathing opinion piece on the Aussie raised more than a few eyebrows. In a truly inflammatory piece on Wednesday, Liew hinted Postecoglou was mostly talk with little substance and suggested he would be better off managing the likes of the struggling Japanese club Gamba Osaka or Australian cellar dwellars Perth Glory. 'For Ange Postecoglou, who always bristled at the idea that his wealth of coaching experience had somehow been earned in inferior competitions, perhaps his departure from Tottenham really can be a kind of springboard: to one of these prestigious, equally demanding leagues he keeps talking about,' Liew wrote in The Guardian. 'Maybe the struggling Gamba Osaka or Perth Glory could well have a vacancy soon. Motherwell are still looking. A step down? That's just your old-world, Eurocentric, Prem-brained snobbery showing right through there, mate.' But his swipe at the Aussie didn't stop there, summing up Postecoglou's reign rather harshly. 'There may never have been a manager better at defining his own terms of achievement; a managerial reign so evidently built upon a towering silo of nuclear-strength bull***,' Liew continued. 'A coach who urged us to judge him on the league now no longer judges himself on the league. 'A coach who blames Tottenham's abject league performance on a freak injury crisis also takes no responsibility for that injury crisis, for a style of play in which Tottenham comfortably spend more time in high-intensity sprints than any other Premier League team. 'A coach who claims he takes no notice of what is said and written about him has spent a suspiciously high proportion of this season reacting to things that have been said and written about him.' However, his opinion piece did not garner the kind of support he surely envisioned, with the football world turning on Liew. Australian sports reporter Mark Gottlieb wrote on X: 'Used to be a huge fan of Jonathan Liew's writing on football & cricket but he's consistently embarrassed himself with his coverage of Ange Postecoglou over the years. All the way back to those rude, arrogant podcast comments. Rarely seen such blatant England-centric snobbery.' 'This is awfully weird from Jonathan Liew,' X account Spurs Army wrote. 'I found this piece on Ange Postecoglou from Jonathan Liew oddly personal in its criticism of him,' another added. 'Good to see people calling out Jonathan Liew's latest snide piece on Ange Postecoglou. He's always had that tone about his writing in general and this vendetta was a personal one from the early days of the tenure,' a fourth wrote. Jonathan Liew previously admitted he 'can't stand' Ange The latest outburst isn't the first time Liew has torn into the Aussie - on a podcast in 2023 he accused Ange of speaking 'bulls***'. 'I'm just not having Ange,' Liew said on The Guardian's Football Weekly podcast in November 2023. 'I'm not having Ange Postecoglou. As a coach, I can't stand him.' When put to him by host Max Rushden that Postecoglou is a 'lovely man', Liew responded: 'He comes across as a lovely man. All of the people saying he's great, saying he's a great bloke — nobody knows him. 'All you know about him are the little 45-second clips that come from his press conferences or that turn up on your Twitter feed every week.' Liew then took potshots at Postecoglou, mocking his Aussie drawl and use of the word 'mate'. 'Honestly, it's just such bulls***,' Liew said. 'He is an unbelievable talker,' he said. 'On the pitch, things have been going well, but they have a good squad. There was a thirst there for these players to go out and play a high line. I'm not saying he hasn't coached them well. I'm just saying he hasn't coached them brilliantly. He's just said some things. Made them feel good about themselves and his good players have been infused with good vibes. 'What we're seeing now and what we're going to see over the medium and long term is that Spurs are going to regress. They are nowhere near title contenders. They don't have a coach or a squad that's going to get them anywhere near the title race.'
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Spot the Aussie: 2025 Winter Cup field at Rosehill Gardens a showcase for imports
It will be almost a case of 'spot the Aussie' when the Winter Cup field goes out onto the track at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. There are 14 stayers entered for the Listed $200,000 race over 2400m with 12 of them born overseas including topweight Changingoftheguard, a son of the greatest European stallion influence this century, Galileo. Changingoftheguard is among four Irish-bred stayers in the race, while there's five from France, two from Great Britain and one from New Zealand. The only colonial stayers in the Winter Cup are Steel Blaze and Whisker To Whisker – and they are the rank outsiders at $71 and $151 respectively. But this is hardly a new phenomenon. Stayers born in the northern hemisphere make up the bulk of runners in feature Australian distance races these days. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Just look at the make-up of the Sydney Cup (3200m) run earlier this year. Of the 20 starters, 19 were born overseas including the winner, Arapaho. The only horse in the race that was Australian-bred was Zardozi – and she was conceived in England. Godolphin mare Chanderi was served by champion English sire Kingman to southern hemisphere time and sent to Australia in-foal where she gave birth to Zardozi in the spring of 2020. In the Brisbane Cup (3200m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday, the 11-horse field has only two locally-bred stayers including last year's defending champ Alegron. Kris Lees, the champion Newcastle trainer who prepares Changingoftheguard, conceded the northern hemisphere stayers were generally superior to locally-bred stayers. 'The European horses are natural stayers, it is in their DNA,'' Lees said. 'Their aerobic capacity seems to be a lot stronger and they have such stout staying pedigrees.'' This is one of the reasons Lees has no issue starting Changingoftheguard first-up in the Winter Cup. 'He wouldn't show up in a race under 2000m,'' Lees said. Changingoftheguard, formerly trained by Aidan O'Brien in Ireland, is a rising seven-year-old but has only had 12 starts, winning the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot and finishing fifth in the 2022 English Derby behind Desert Crown. Williams sent Changingoftheguard down under last year and the stayer has had only one preparation for Lees, contesting three races last spring culminating with a good second in the Colin Stephen Quality. 'He ran a great race that day but we just felt he needed more time to fully acclimatise,'' Lees said. 'So, we gave him that opportunity, deliberately missed the autumn and he's coming up well. 'But the plan is to give him the one run then back off and put him away for spring.'' This is a blueprint owner Lloyd Williams has used often with his imported stayers he hopes could develop into Melbourne Cup contenders – one start in the second half of the season then concentrate on the spring carnival. Changingoftheguard back on the Roodee! Aidan O'Brien's Chester Vase and Royal @Ascot winner will make his return in the Ormonde at @ChesterRaces on Thursday... — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 9, 2023 • A Winter Cup at Rosehill seems a long way from the famous Flemington two-miler on the first Tuesday in November but it is not out of reach. Natski, who just happened to be an imported stayer, won the Winter Cup for the late Hall of Fame trainer Jack Denham then later that year ran a close second to Empire Rose in the Melbourne Cup. This was about the time when Williams started looking overseas for stayers. He had already won the Melbourne Cup twice that decade with Just A Dash (1981) and What A Nuisance (1985) and he wanted more. But it took Williams nearly 40 years to get it right before he won the Cup four times in eight years with imported stayers Green Moon (2012), Almandin (2016), Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020). Williams has owned a record seven Melbourne Cup winners – he also won the race with Efficient (2006) – but believes the days of the European-bred horses dominating Australian staying races could be numbered. • 'We're all devastated': Super stallion Snitzel dies 'One of the things you will find from this point onwards is there won't be as many stayers from Europe coming here,'' Williams said. 'They are breeding more 'mile' horses over there now. It won't be easy to go over there and buy a stayer in years to come, you won't find as many.'' Williams has two Irish-bred stayers with Lees he hopes could make it to the Melbourne Cup – and both have the bloodlines of the great Galileo coursing through their veins. Galileo, the sire of Changingoftheguard, is also the grandsire of Adelaide River who is also due to have one run this winter in the Listed McKell Cup (2400m) at Rosehill in two weeks. Adelaide River, a Group 3 winner in Ireland, is a rising six-year-old who has only had 14 starts but has been gelded since he finished fourth in the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes last spring. Williams remembers seeing Galileo race and also standing at Coolmore Stud in Ireland and describes the stallion as 'extraordinary''. Galileo, who was superbly bred by the mighty Sadler's Wells out of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Urban Sea, won six of his eight starts including the 2001 English Derby. But as good as Galileo was on the racetrack, he has been even better at stud. He was leading sire in Britain a record 12 times and is the only stallion to sire over 100 individual Group 1 winners before he passed away in 2021. • 'This wasn't a decision I made lightly': Cummings on shock Hong Kong switch One of those was Niwot, winner of the 2009 Winter Cup who trained on to contest two Melbourne Cups finishing unplaced in both before his 2012 Sydney Cup win, defeating the Williams-owned Efficient. 'When Galileo died, I thought Aidan would struggle to win the (English) Derby but he has won the race two years in a row without a Galileo,'' Williams said. Well, almost. Lambourn, winner of the Derby last weekend, is by Australia, the 2014 Derby winner and himself a son of Galileo. O'Brien's Derby winner last year, Auguste Rodin, was by Japanese superhorse Deep Impact but was out of Galileo's daughter, champion filly Rhododendron. Galileo is the complete thoroughbred, an absolute champion on and off the racetrack, but he has sired one even better than himself – the incomparable Frankel. Undefeated in 14 starts including 10 at Group 1 level, Frankel earned the highest Timeform rating of all-time at 147 and is now the dominant stallion in Europe with two British Sires titles so far. 'Frankel is a freak horse but the Galileos were able to do anything, they could sprint and stay,'' Williams said. 'I'm not sure if the Frankels stay as quite well but he has already sired a number of classic winners so time will tell.'' Happy Birthday, FRANKEL!🎈 ðŸ'— — Juddmonte (@JuddmonteFarms) February 11, 2025 Frankel is also represented in the Winter Cup with the improving Peter Snowden -trained stayer Touristic, a last start winner of the Listed Lord Mayor's Cup. In fact, two more of Galileo's sire sons have Winter Cup runners – Churchill is the sire of Sir Chartwell and Highland Reel has Speycaster. In latest TAB Fixed Odds betting on the Winter Cup, the favoured runner of the Galileo breed is Touristic at $4, then Changingoftheguard $8, Speycaster $26 and Sir Chartwell $41. 'Changingoftheguard is a dogged sort of stayer, very one-paced but he has ability. We will see how he goes on Saturday,'' Williams said. 'I was talking to Kris the other day about Adelaide River and told him to give that horse one run this winter then bring him back for spring. I think he's a pretty decent horse, too.'' â– â– â– â– â– Emerging sprinter ready to take next step Trainer Kris Lees believes the emerging Tasoraay can negotiate the step up to city grade when the sprinter chases a hat-trick of wins in the Racing And Sports Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Tasoraay is a lightly-raced three-year-old who broke his maiden at his fifth start at Newcastle last December then resumed with a decisive all-the-way win in a class 2 race at Scone on the opening day of the two-day Cup Carnival there last month. A city placegetter earlier in the season, Tasoraay impressive form surge has TAB Fixed Odds price assessors rating him a $5.50 chance and challenging $5 equal favourites Hell To Pay and Hopper at the top of betting. 'I thought Tasoraay won well first-up at Scone,'' Lees said. 'This is a jump in grade but he's come on really well since that run. He's a nice, little horse.'' The fav Tasoraay opens the day at @newcastleraces_ with a win for @Leesracing with Ben Osmond in the saddle! — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) December 19, 2024 Lees believes Kind Words is due for a change of luck in the TAB Handicap (2000m). Kind Words has been racing consistently without winning this campaign but she's out to $10 in latest betting after drawing the extreme outside barrier. 'I don't think she's had a lot of luck lately,'' Lees said of Kind Words. 'She was narrowly beaten at Scone then last start at Rosehill that was the race when Dylan (Gibbons on eventual winner Half Yours) took off mid-race. 'We were right behind him but she just couldn't get into the race. I thought she still finished off well without threatening.'' Two wins in a row to Half Yours thanks to an innovative @djgibbons22 ride! ðŸ'� @mcevoymitchell | @aus_turf_club — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 31, 2025 First Person just missed completing her hat-trick of wins when runner-up to Liberty State at Rosehill last start and she might be over the odds at $26 for the Asahi Super Dry Handicap (1100m). 'She's holding her form and although she probably wants it wetter coming back to 1100m will suit her.'' ...I think I won that quite well! First Person makes it two wins in a row with @TommyBerry21 handling the reins for @Leesracing! ðŸ'� @aus_turf_club — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 21, 2025 Meanwhile, Lees provided an update on his Queensland Oaks winners You Wahng (2025) and Amokura (2023). You Wahng Amokura has run her last race after finishing unplaced behind stablemate Loch Eagle at Randwick last week. Matriarch Stakes at Flemington,'' Lees said. 'Amokura has pulled up OK after last week it's becoming hard to keep her sound so we feel it is in her best interests to retire her to stud.''
