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New Paper
4 days ago
- Sport
- New Paper
June 10 South Africa (Kenilworth) form analysis
Race 1 (1,000m) (2) MARKETA ran a lovely third last time. On her current form, she has a good winning chance. (4) SPIRIT has run some fair races and will be right there in the finish. (3) DAY IN DAY OUT was very disappointing last time, but if he can put that run behind him, he could finish in the money. (9) THE ROARING ROCK ran a decent fifth last time. The form of that race has worked out well, so watch him closely. Race 2 (1,200m) (4) MATCH THAT's last run in the Grade 3 Winter Nursery was an absolute cracker. Hard to beat. (2) PARALEGAL ran just under five lengths behind the winner last time. Brevan Plaatjies takes off 2.5kg and she has a good place chance. (3) SPORTS FAN won well last time. If she can build on that, she could run in the money. Newcomer (9) PANJANDRUM makes her debut run. Watch her. Race 3 (1,200m) (11) FUTURE FREE finished like a train on debut to run third. He will take a lot of beating. (10) PALANCAR finished second in the same race as Future Free on May 13. On that last run, he will have a good each-way chance. (16) AFRICAN MEMOIR ran a nice fourth on debut. Watch him closely at a decent price. (13) KANAAL SKATER disappointed last time. If he can bring his debut run to the track, he could trouble them all in the finish. Race 4 (1,200m) (2) CLAIR DE LUNE made up good ground last time. Jockey Gavin Lerena takes the reins and she has a good winning chance. (15) RED TAFFETY improved from her first start into her second. A good each-way chance. (3) HERITAGE RIDGE was badly inconvenienced from the 200m mark to the finish line last time. With a clear passage, she could finish in the money. (8) MISS WILLIAM travelled well but flattened out when they turned for home over 1,400m last time. She drops in trip to 1,200m, watch for sharp improvement. Race 5 (1,500m) (2) BEACH QUEEN was very disappointing last time. Muzi Yeni gets the ride back and, from a good draw, she will go very close. (1) OCOTILLO ran a good third last time. From a good draw, she should have no excuses. (4) LADY VERITAS was beaten just over three lengths on debut. She will improve from that run. (9) KISSES improved a lot in her last start, when she went to the front and stayed on for third. If she can build on that, she could sneak into the places. Race 6 (1,800m) (4) STRAWBERRY THIEF won going away last time. Although she was given six points for that, she will take a lot of beating again. (3) LICKETY SPLIT had some traffic problems behind Strawberry Thief last time, but still managed a third. With a nice pull in weights with Strawberry Thief, she will go close to winning. (6) LAVENDER BAY has a good each-way chance again. (5) TAP SHOES finished fourth last time. On her best form, she could sneak into the places. Race 7 (1,600m) (3) SUGAR MOUNTAIN won impressively last time. He raced just off the speed early and flew home to win. He is classy and will take a lot of beating again. (5) MAGIC VERSE ran a terrific third in the Listed Pocket Power Stakes last time. If he can bring that run to the races, he will be right there in the finish. (8) SEEKING THE STARS gets the blinkers fitted and steps up in trip to 1,600m. If he stays the trip and can overcome the tricky draw, he could finish in the money. (4) MUCHO DINERO never raised a gallop in his last start. If he can put that poor run behind him, he can win a race like this. Race 8 (1,200m) (9) DANCE VARIETY needed his last run in the Grade 3 Champagne Stakes. If he has improved, he will take a lot of beating. (5) KAIBOY is talented. Jockey Andrew Fortune rides and he will be flying home late. (4) ARCTIC WIZARD could be the dark horse. Yeni knows him well and, with no weight on his back, he must be respected. (10) DUMBLEDORE won a gutsy race last time. Richard Fourie takes the ride and the 4YO could finish among the places on his best form. Race 9 (1,200m) (6) SUN DAZED was inconvenienced at the 350m mark but still motored home to run third last time. This looks to be the perfect race for him and, if he gets some luck in the running, he will be hard to beat. (3) LOVERS LANE needed the run from a small break last time, when he caught the eye late to finish third. If he has come on further from that, he could trouble them all in the finish. (1) MONT LOISIR has been in great form of late. He drops back to 1,200m and must be respected. (9) GRAVITY made lots of ground to win last time. With apprentice Plaatjies taking off 2.5kg, it helps. He will be running on strongly late. Race 10 (1,000m) (7) PINK PIGEON ran a cracking second last time. On her best form, she will take a lot of beating. (5) PEACE OF MIND had no luck in the running last time. If this speedball gets to the front, she will be hard to catch. (8) GOLDEN TATJANA's form lately is better. She could finish in the money. (2) THE CHARLESTON has been rested for 104 days. If she does not need the run badly, she could sneak into the places.
The Guardian
18-04-2025
- General
- The Guardian
William Morris's legacy of radical creativity
Re your editorial (The Guardian view on William Morris: how the Strawberry Thief took over the world, 11 April), William Morris developed the Strawberry Thief pattern at his Merton Abbey Works on the banks of the River Wandle. The workers who turned the design into a 'swinish luxury' formed a close-knit community – the carpet knotter Eliza Merritt remembered 'a tradition of comradeship'– whose members lived long, creative lives. The tapestry weaver William Sleath was rescued from destitution by Morris, who took him on as an apprentice at age seven. Sleath became a sensitive artist who continued to produce oils and watercolours into his 70s. His fellow weavers Walter Taylor and William Knight painted still lifes and scenes around Merton Abbey. Far from failing in 'his dream of making art for all', Morris sowed seeds of creativity at Merton Abbey that grew in radical ways. Taylor left the works to become a teacher, and delivered a tapestry course at the Central School of Arts and Crafts designed to provide occupational therapy and retraining for soldiers disabled in the first world war. One of his first students was Percy Sheldrick, who was employed at Merton Abbey after the course and rose to become master weaver. Those seeds continue to grow. Strawberry Thief may have taken over the world, but in south-west London the community arts group Made in Merton is trying to keep it local with activities that aim to connect people to the spirit of collective making. In our first project we made banners in a community workshop bearing the words 'art', 'made' and 'people', with the letters cut from upcycled Morris fabrics. We then marched along the River Wandle, ending up outside the local Sainsbury's, which stands on the site once occupied by Merton Abbey Works. A glorious occasion, made by the people and for the DadleyMade in Merton, London When my wife, Helen, was dying last year it was thought we could get carers and have her at home instead of hospital. I told her I was buying new curtains for the room she would be in and ordered some with William Morris's Strawberry Thief design to be made at Cae Du Designs in Harlech. There they are in the room where she would have died. She never came home, so she never saw them, but was overjoyed that I'd ordered her favourite Morris design for her. When I look at them, I think of her exclaiming her delight, and so I'm grateful to William P ButlerPwllheli, Gwynedd Do you have a photograph you'd like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers' best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.
The Guardian
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on William Morris: how the Strawberry Thief took over the world
The great 19th-century designer William Morris wasn't thinking of a £2 floral iPhone cover when he wrote 'Tomorrow, the civilised world shall have a new art, a glorious art, made by the people and for the people.' In his lifetime he failed in his dream of making art for all, while paying his workers fairly. Only the homes of the wealthy were decorated by Morris & Co. As he feared, he had simply been 'ministering to the swinish luxury of the rich'. But today his designs can be found everywhere, from John Lewis to Chinese online marketplace Temu. His Strawberry Thief print is the most popular item in the V&A museum shop, and the internet is awash with AI-generated posters for fake William Morris V&A exhibitions. A new show, Morris Mania, at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, explores how his botanical prints went viral, with a callout to the public to loan their own Morris ephemera. Morris would be thrilled and appalled at this democratisation of his work. His legacy, like his life, is one of contradictions: he was a radical socialist and hugely successful businessman, who made wallpaper for Queen Victoria; a passionate champion of craftsmanship and workers' rights, whose designs have become a template for mass-produced tat. An early environmentalist, he raged against the waste and pollution of the industrial age. His 1890 utopian sci-fi novel News from Nowhere imagined a future in which there is no money, private property or big cities. In the end, he thought only upending the whole capitalist shebang would do. But Morris's ideals survived into the next century, influencing political thinking about the arts. Labour's Clement Attlee, Aneurin Bevan and Tony Blair were all fans. The ethos behind the Design Council, which celebrates its 80th anniversary this month, was not just to help rebuild the economy after the second world war but to improve people's everyday lives. Shops like Habitat and designers such as Terence Conran took up Morris's challenge to bring good design to the high street. In the return to 'Victorian values' of the Conservative 1980s, Laura Ashley filled homes with Morris-inspired soft furnishings. Even British nuclear submarines were upholstered in his rose-print linen (Morris would not have approved). Now we are having another Morris moment. Perhaps the joyful expression of nature in his patterns is the key to their enduring appeal. His motto, 'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful', may have struck a chord in lockdown. Gen Z turned to crafting, and 'cottagecore' took off. For many, our homes are also our offices; we want them to be 'beautiful'. Morris has always been design's visionary and conscience. Today, we need him more than ever. As Morris mania proves, designers – however unwittingly – have played no small part in fuelling overconsumption. They have the power to shape our world and future. Eighty per cent of the environmental impact of any new product is determined at the design stage. Good design is no longer just about form and function. Designers are responding to the climate emergency with innovations that are aesthetic and sustainable. As globalisation itself is under scrutiny thanks to US tariffs, Morris reminds us to think about where goods come from and how they were made. Do you really need that cheap Strawberry Thief-patterned toothbrush holder?
