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Daily Telegraph
29-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Telegraph
Casino, Goulburn previews: Colt Prosser eyeing a feature double
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Wauchope trainer Colt Prosser has spent the best part of last week cleaning up after the devastating floods on the Mid-North Coast. Now, he will be hoping for a clean sweep of Casino's two big annual features. Wauchope is an hour's drive from Taree and while that essentially makes the two towns neighbours, Taree was more or less ground zero for the big weather event. 'It was not too bad, just a lot of flooded stables,' Prosser said. 'Safety-wise we were all good. The town coped a lot and went under and everyone was isolated. 'It was a big weekend on the tools and the wheelbarrow and shovels but we'll be okay, a lot of people did it a lot worse than us.' Prosser's Beef Week Cup participant, Cenotes, will tackle the $45,000 1400m feature first-up having last been seen on October 11 when down the order in the Port Macquarie Cup. This will be only his second 'Cup' but certainly not the last, according to Prosser. 'Cenotes is going to be in for a nice campaign,' the trainer said. 'He is going to be in all the Country Cups around the corner. 'He is first-up and he's just been ineffective at anything under a mile so if he can run good race, I'll be happy. 'I expect him just to improve with a run under his belt.' Cenotes will be ridden by Country Championship Final winning jockey Ben Looker who boasts a favourable record on the son of Rebel Dane of three wins and a second from six rides. Looker was also Prosser's choice for Bjorn Ironside who will square off with stablemate, Dis Is Heaven, in the Casino Flying over 1000m. Bjorn Ironside's current personal best was his close and closing third in this season's MNC Championship Qualifier over 1200m but his one and only 1000m test was hard to forget, even for Prosser. 'He's only had one go at 1000m and he smashed them,' the trainer said. 'This is up in grade and he hasn't had a run since he went to Brisbane but I brought him home and he's freshened-up good.' Dis is Heaven, meanwhile, will be taking a step back in class when he steps out in the Casino co-feature. That's because his last run was at the midweeks where he finished third in the 1000m Benchmark 72, $60,000 affair. 'He's going great and he doesn't mind a soft track,' said Prosser. 'I just would have liked to draw a little bit better at Casino with him but he can be a run-on horse so if they happened to be put a bit on pressure on, he can relax and finish off. 'I was really disappointed I couldn't go back to Sydney with last week when we were flooded in, I couldn't get there. 'He hasn't had too many dramas. He's nice and fit and he's going well.' ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Former jockey, now Hawkesbury-based trainer Blake Ryan is hoping the well-bred two-year-old Nothing But Net can pull of a slam dunk on debut at Goulburn Nothing But Net was one of 138 foals to emerge from the first crop of ATC Sires' Produce and Champagne Stakes winner, King's Legacy. His grandam is Georgette Silk whose single win came on debut in the 2020 ATC Widden Stakes. 'He has always shown me a little bit,' Ryan said. 'He was in our Ready 2 Run draft and he breezed up the quickest of the lot but was passed in. 'He went online and when the client sold him, Matthew (Sandblom) bought him and gave him back to me to train. 'He seems to be a horse that a 1000m isn't going to be his go. He is bred to be a 1400m horse so he is going to improve.' Nothing But Net won't be alone on the trip to Goulburn. He'll be accompanied by another blue blood, namely Asuriito, who lines-up in the Pat Murphy Racing Class 2 Handicap (1000m). A son of Brazen Beau, Asuriito, went to the Sapphire Coast on May 4 armed with an impressive record of two wins and a third from five starts. And while costly in defeat for his many supporters, he left Bega with excuses. 'That track was very, very heavy and gluey,' Ryan said. 'On paper its says it was a Soft 7 but the grass was very long and it was very boggy. That, coupled with the weight, made it hard for him. 'He is an honest little campaigner. He had a tough run at Canberra before that but he keeps bouncing out of it, I'll give him that much. 'I would have liked to have a little bit better but only that dog-leg corner there at Goulburn from the 1000m, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle for him.' Granted, Ryan's immediate focus is on Goulburn but once he's done there, he will be in countdown mode to Saturday's Midway Handicap at Rosehill where he is represented by the always reliable Lady Extreme. 'I'm really happy with her. 'I think she is going as well as she has ever gone,' Ryan said. 'And a heavy track wouldn't bother me. She's a duck.'
Hindustan Times
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Player drops mobile phone while batting during County Championship match, hilarious gaffe leaves commentators in splits
A bizarre scene played out in a recent County Championship match in England, as a batter accidentally carried a mobile phone onto the field, and proceeded to have it slip from his pocket while attempting to run a double. On the second day's play in the fourth round of the Country Championship, Lancashire bowler Tom Bailey came out to bat to try and extend his team's first innings total against Gloucestershire at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. Very early in his innings, Bailey tried to make a quick turn for a two at the non-striker's end, but perhaps not realising he had his phone in his pocket, had it slip out and fall to the pitch. Bailey didn't notice the phone slipping out, with the Gloucestershire bowler Josh Shaw picking it up off the pitch. However, it remains unclear whether the phone was returned to the umpire, or subsequently sent back to the dressing room. The commentators had a bit of a laugh at the expense of Bailey, who seemed completely unaware of what had happened on-pitch, an extremely rare sight at such a high standard of professional cricket. 'Something has dropped out of his pocket. I think it's his mobile phone!' one said, while his partner quipped 'No way!' 'As much as it is hilarious and we are laughing about it, I almost wonder if that's going to have to be reported. The fact that he was out in the middle with a mobile phone in his pocket,' added one of the commentators to plenty of laughter. Despite the gaffe early in his innings, Tom Bailey went on to play a nice little hand, staying not out on 22* facing 31 deliveries. His innings having come in at number 10, just after the team had reached the 400-mark, help Lancashire reach a first innings total of 450. Bailey then returned to open the bowling with the fresh new ball, even taking a wicket as he dismissed top order Gloucestershire batter Miles Hammond while the latter was batting on 97. Bailey's faux pas comes in a season where Lancashire have struggled through the first part of the season in Division Two of the County Championship, having drawn all three of their games thus far in this season. This follows a tough 2024 in which the historic County were relegated from Division One.
News.com.au
04-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Grafton preview, inside mail and tips: Robert Agnew's stable starting to take shape as we head into winter
Recent Country Championship Final-participating trainer Robert Agnew will be making regular trips from Port Macquarie to Sydney this winter with his three-year-old stable pillars Pony Soprano and Show 'Em Howl. Agnew will head north on Monday with another of the barn's three-year-old brigade, Bondi Prophet, scheduled to resume at Grafton in the Hip Pocket Workwear Benchmark 58 Handicap (1030m). Bondi Prophet, a $30,000 Agnew Racing purchase at the 2023 HTBA Yearling Sale, has banked $31,575 in his eight starts so far. The only real blemish on his record came at his most recent appearance on January 11 when beating one other to the line at Coffs Harbour. 'All his runs are good, he was just at the end of his prep last time,'' Agnew said. 'He was flat. We just went to the well one too many times with him. 'He had a good racing prep which matured him. I used to take him to the races and he would just sweat and annoy you and do everything wrong but the by the end of that prep, he would stand in the stalls good and you wouldn't have to hose him in summer and all that immaturity has gone out of him now. 'The good, tough, hard prep that he had has really made a horse out of him and he's working very sharp.' Bondi Prophet has it bred into him to be every bit as tough as Agnew attests. The gelding's third dam is Tempest Morn who famously contested the AJC Oaks, SAJC Australasian Oaks, SA Oaks, Queensland Oaks and Queensland Derby in consecutive starts. For the record, the Gooree-owned filly won the Australasian Oaks and was runner-up in each of the other classics. Agnew meanwhile will use Monday's opener at Grafton to take the wrapping off his intriguing two-year-old first starter Dirty Does It which leads the field out in the Prestige Wedding 2YO Handicap (1030m). While the gelding is bred to win a Derby not a Slipper, he has shown enough natural talent at home and in his trial to suggest at least some kind of positive showing, albeit at a distance way short of his future best. 'Dirty Does It is a work in progress and is going to be a much better three-year-old,'' Agnew said. 'But he's done a good job to get to where he is. He got broken-in off a racetrack and the first time he saw a racetrack was when he came up here to get pre-trained. Then he came straight to my barn and he's got through to a trial and race (on Monday) all in his first real preparation. 'He is only going to get better in the future. 'His sire, Endless Drama, ran third behind Winx and Hartnell in the Apollo Stakes so he was very handy. 'Dirty Do It is definitely a nice horse. He can gallop. 'He might be a little too 'new' and all the rest of it but I think he'll get through the wet. 'He's just got to do everything right and he'll go for a spell straight after this and he'll come back a really nice horse.' Not only is Dirty Does It a grandson of the French Derby winner Lope De Vega, his classic credentials are underlined by the fact that his grand-dam is a sister to the internationally acclaimed racehorse and sire, High Chaparral. â– â– â– â– â– RACE 7 She's Enuff has raced here at her home track 17 times in her 39 starts. Three of her four wins have been here and she is one from two at the track and trip. She has won on heavy once, seemingly without being an absolute muddie. He's A Copy Boy handles all conditions. The Samantha McGuren-trained gelding has a win and three thirds here at Grafton and is effective indeed around the mile. Bet: She's Enuff each-way. RACE 8 Bondi Prophet eight starts for a win and two thirds. Indeed, if you can excuse the final run of the preparation last time in, you'd be a hard market to find fault with pretty much all of the remaining seven runs and that deals him in today. Snow Falcon is a last start Grafton 1106m winner on a heavy (9)and that came two starts after he split Bodhi Boy and Laizabout in a deep Class 2 at Port Macquarie. Bet: Bondi Prophet to win, Daily Double 1st Leg 10, 2nd Leg 1. Hey Daisy was $2.70 into $1.95 on debut at the Gold Coast on April 11 and ran right up to her backing; leading from barrier 10 to win by two-lengths. Well-bred filly in the astute Paul Shailer stable. Just has to take the next step - and handle the heavy track at the same time. Church Rock has a win and two thirds from six starts but perhaps of most significance is that she was once runner-up here on a heavy (8), albeit over 1400m. Bet: Hey Daisy to win. Majorelle has won eight times in her 22 starts (with six placings as well) which is a credit to her and her trainer Matthew Dunn. It's not easy to win that many from so few, especially in the Benchmark era. This daughter of Zoustar has a win and a second from three runs at Grafton, she is one for one at the track and distance and once beat Tectonic Plate on a heavy (8). Bow is third-up here having run fourth to Majorelle at her most recent outing. Drawn well again. Bet: Majorelle to win, Bow to place. â– â– â– â– â– BEST BET Makes his NSW debut off an impressive recent trial here. NEXT BEST Race 6 No. 12: Heart Of Platinum Ready to peak here out to 1735m, fourth run in. VALUE
