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The Age
30-05-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Race-by-race preview and tips for Saturday meeting at Rosehill
4. Codetta might find 1100m a touch sharp, given her three runs to date have been over 1200m, but there is enough in the early price to take the punt on her. She remains an underrated filly for Michael Freedman despite her good record. The prospect of a soft track is perfect too. She is versatile in terms of where she can settle, which gives apprentice Jace McMurray a few options pending her getaway. She resumed a winner last time in, albeit in provincial Class 1 company. Was well beaten before spelling by Scintilla, but the winner is a smart filly, and Flying Thinker was back in third. 13. Ellipsis has been met with early support. She's an improving Bjorn Baker-trained filly. Only won narrowly first up, but there was merit to that performance, hitting the front a long way from home. Flying Embers ran her to a narrow margin, and she has since won twice herself. Ellipsis tackles this five weeks between runs but has won a trial since. Maps well from the inside. 6. Don't Forget Jack has had three different homes despite being just six starts into his career. How To Play It: Codetta WIN Race 6 - 1.55pm: RANVET HANDICAP (1500m) 8. Scalextrics was posted three deep at Doomben last start. It was a brave effort to keep finding the line to hold down fifth. The race was won by Fukubana, a good form reference for this despite the four-length margin. The five-year-old, trained by Matt Smith, may have been flattered by the heavy track given he loves wet ground, but Saturday's track, although improving, should still be rain-affected. Prior to last start Scalextrics ran a close-up third behind Thunderlips who has run well since. Back in fourth was 7. Little Cointreau, which the market has pegged as one of the key chances. 3. Furious looked the winner at Kensington last start, dropping back to midweek company but was run down by Pippie Beach in a tight finish. They beat the third horse two lengths. Has won out to the mile, so 1500m looks perfect third up. 4. Enter The Dragon has scrambled home by narrow margins at his past two starts, but winning has become a habit for this three-year-old. His record reads five wins from seven starts. How To Play It: Scalextrics EACH WAY Race 7 - 2.30pm: ASAHI SUPER DRY HANDICAP (1200m) 10. Kerguelen has only raced once in the past 10 months. He was beaten as an odds-on favourite at Canterbury back in November. It was only narrowly. He was tipped straight out thereafter. The four-year-old has trialled twice ahead of his return, doing it comfortably. To this point, the gelding boasts a record of 5:2:3-0. One of those defeats was to Cool Jakey and another Eye Of The Fire. Kerguelen is a proven fresh horse, is still progressive and should get the perfect run in transit from the draw. Kerrin McEvoy jumps aboard for the first time. Four of his five starts have been on heavy tracks. 2. Spanish Fox has found 1100m too sharp in two runs back. He is creeping out to his right trip now. He strung together five straight wins last campaign out to 1300m. Like the way he kept chasing Zealously at Scone last start. 9. Unstopabull caught the eye when running fifth in that same Scone race. He was dragged back to last in the run. Hoping for a cleaner getaway on Saturday. Out to 1200m now on a soft track looks ideal. How To Play It: Kerguelen WIN Race 8 - 3.05pm: KIA LORD MAYORS CUP (2000m) 5. Glory Daze appreciated getting out to 2000m third up. It looked like a form reversal on paper, but his first and second up runs did have merit. His record over 2000m reads 4:3-1-0. The six-year-old is a big gelding, so needs room. That sees barrier 2 potentially pose some problems, but with clear running, he'll be hard to hold out on the quick backup. It was a very testing, heavy track last Saturday, but Glory Daze has bounced out of that run for the stable to turn him out seven days later. Evenly matched race, and that might give him a small edge. 7. Kadavar is likely to still be a run short of producing his best, and he maps to be giving away a big head start from the wide gate, but he charged home in the Scone Cup over the mile first up. Looking back on 11. Don Diego De Vega 's two failures over the spring, we can chalk those down to not being comfortable on good tracks. His two prior Australian runs, on soft and heavy ground, are perhaps a better indication of his talent. How To Play It: Glory Daze WIN Race 9 - 3.40pm: CAPTIVANT @ KIA ORA HANDICAP (1800m) 12. Freight Train hasn't had much go his way in his past two starts. Given his tendency of laying in, connections have decided to try the four-year-old the Sydney way for the first time. The son of Shamus Award, trained by Price and Kent, has travelled like he has had something to offer in his two most recent runs, but has struck traffic. First at Flemington and then most recently at Caulfield behind stablemate Wonderkid. The appeal of Freight Train also lies in the fact that he brings a different form line into this. The Scone 1700m reference looks the obvious one here, but it was a blanket finish. Still not sure how 14. Gentileschi didn't win at Scone. She rushed home to be beaten a nostril. Not even. She was only second up there. Like the progression out to 1800m and she appreciates getting her toe into the ground. The barrier isn't so scary once you factor in the emergencies. 7. Kind Words was just as strong to the line and just missed herself. She too is suited creeping out to 1800m. How To Play It: Freight Train WIN Race 10 - 4.20pm: TAB HANDICAP (1200m) 10. Weeping Woman looks to be flying off her two trials. The Joe Pride-trained mare trucked to the line in the first of those before gapping her rivals most recently. She is an improving mare, yet already boasts a record of four wins form 10 starts. She ended last campaign a 3.5 length winner at Wyong, running second to Gangster Granny at Canterbury prior to that. The 1200m as a kick off says she is ready to go first up given that she has resumed over 1000m in her three previous campaigns. Has good natural speed but she doesn't have to lead. 7. Pajanti didn't get the clearest of passages at Randwick first up, charging home into second behind all-the-way winner Memoria. Like that she has been kept fresh since, five weeks between runs, given the mare's first up record. 17. So You Pence dodged the heavy track last Saturday where she was set to jump a firm favourite in Highway Handicap company. How To Play It: Weeping Woman WIN
West Australian
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Screen Queen: Girls, Nine Perfect Strangers, Sirens, The Handmaid's Tale and The One That Got Away
You couldn't pay me enough money to redo my twenties. Yes, they were fabulously fun. But they were also incredibly tough. I was out there trying to carve a place for myself in the world, but really just floundering about, playing pretend — I cringe to think about it. A few years after I'd aged out of this era, Lena Dunham's excellent of-its-time drama Girls hit screens in 2012. I dipped in, watching through slitted fingers as her character Hannah lived a life that looked eerily similar to the one I'd just escaped. It was triggering as all get-out. Recently, on a flight, I decided to dive in for a rewatch — and it hits different this time. Instead of being embarrassed for the central characters, I wanted to reach out and give those deluded pretend-adults a great big hug, to scoop them up, set them on the right path, and slap them out of all the myriad bad decisions they (I?) made through their coming-of-age years. The show is so keenly observed, so pitch perfect, so cringingly awful, I couldn't look away and I'm now three seasons into my binge watch, absolutely relishing my time with Hannah, Marnie, Shosh and Jessa. In fact, the more I watch, the more I realise Dunham may well have been the 'voice of a generation' her character professes to be in the show's pilot episode — the writing is SO GOOD. Turns out I'm not the only one loving a rewatch — TikTok is full of people in their thirties and beyond taking another gander, having similar reactions. Gen Z has discovered it too, and it turns out the more things change, the more they stay the same: reports from the trenches confirm nothing much has moved on in the decade or so since this dropped. Dunham has a new TV project in the works titled Too Much, based on the next phase of her life — her thirties — which she spent in the UK. It's on its way to Netflix and dropping July 10. Can't wait to cringe-watch this one, too. If you caught this unhinged series the first time around, you'll definitely want to tune in again. Nicole Kidman's Masha is up to her old tricks, this time running a retreat at an alpine sanitarium in Austria. Season one covered what transpired in Liane Moriarty's novel, so it will be interesting to find out how they've moved the story along from that source material. This season sees a whole new cast, including The White Lotus' Murray Bartlett, who has packed his suitcase (and hopefully won't be fouling it during the course of his stay!) for a stint at Masha's new retreat. Book me in! Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy and House Of The Dragon star Milly Alcock star in this dark comedy, about a woman (Fahy) who becomes concerned her younger sister (Alcock) may have been taken in by a cult-like figure (Moore) at her deluxe seaside home. This week's penultimate episode is setting things up for one heck of a finale. I'm absolutely LIVING for this series, so will be tuning in with the rest of you as it all unfolds. Under His Eye. This great Welsh drama is the perfect addition to ABC's crime line-up. Absolutely living for the URST (that's unresolved sexual tension) between the two central characters.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mason Jones eager to spoil Jeremy Stephens' UFC return: 'All he wants is a big KO to impress Conor McGregor with'
Five years ago, anyone in the know on the European MMA scene would've confidently told you that Mason Jones was a nightmare matchup for Paddy Pimblett. The Welsh fighter had just become the lightweight champion of Cage Warriors and 'The Baddy' was on the comeback trail after suffering a hand injury that sidelined him for nearly two years — the longest spell of inactivity Pimblett has observed in the sport. Advertisement Both debuted in the UFC in 2021, and while Pimblett is currently one of the hottest commodities on the promotion's books, Jones is now on the rebound as his second stint in the Octagon begins Saturday night when he faces returning hometown hero Jeremy Stephens at UFC Des Moines. 'You're either on the up or you're on the down,' Jones told Uncrowned days before their meeting from his hotel room in Des Moines, Iowa, 'and when you're on the down, it is a sharp decline.' Nobody saw it coming for Jones. A dynamic talent, he bulldozed his way to the top of the European ladder with a lust for battle that would make Genghis Khan blush. His reward on reaching the UFC was an immediately stern test against heavy-handed Mike Davis, and although Jones' hand wasn't raised, leaving with a Fight of the Night bonus was a welcome consolation. Advertisement In his sophomore outing against Alan Patrick, a peak display of Jones' powers unfolded. He bludgeoned the Brazilian over the course of the first five minutes to the point that Patrick skipped the stool and sat right on the mat between rounds. He wore a crimson mask just a minute into the second round — but when he was accidentally poked in the eye, Patrick deemed himself unfit to continue. The no contest made it no wins in two tests for 'The Dragon,' and when Patrick pulled out of their expected rematch, current ranked featherweight David Onama stepped in for a short-notice debut. Jones finally secured his first UFC win, but the victorious glow didn't last long as a subsequent 2022 defeat in his London showdown with veteran striker Ludovik Klein cast doubt on his future with the promotion. Advertisement Later that night, with the UFC already preparing to launch the rocket it fastened to Pimblett's back after his submission over Jordan Leavitt, Jones approached his fellow Cage Warriors alum at his afterparty. In his unique way, the Liverpudlian offered his commiserations to the Welshman. 'As soon as he saw me, he looked at me as if to say, 'Awh f***.' But I just shook his hand," Jones recalled. "I said, 'Congratulations, you're a superstar now. I'm sorry we didn't get to fight, but you deserve every bit of credit you get.' I meant that. I'd never wish anything bad on Paddy, but I'll admit that I'm envious. I wished that it was me in that spot.' Six weeks later, Jones's first UFC stint was over. Advertisement The unexpected detour brought a lot of new tension with it. There were fraught family ties, challenges to his long-term relationship and the financial struggles that come with parting sponsors. Jones dealt with it the same way he dealt with everything in his life up to that point — he worked harder. Initially, it seemed like a pie in the sky goal when he set out to reclaim his UFC status. Jones went back down the same beaten path he used to enter the fray, claiming four wins under the Cage Warriors banner to stamp his passport back to the big dance. Mason Jones' first UFC run did not live up to expectations. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) (Jeff Bottari via Getty Images) His pockets may be a little lighter, but suddenly hope is in abundance for the knockout artist. Advertisement 'Put it this way, I've got some bills to pay,' he says, with a smile that hides the years of burden. 'It just feels like this fight is all about rebuilding my foundations and this is the perfect fight to put me on a rocket ship. Everything will accelerate and I'll have to work harder. Most people think the hard work is already done when they get to the UFC, but really, it only begins when you reach this point.' Jones knows that being the main card opener against a storied hometown veteran like Stephens is a great spot to be in. Despite the size difference that will become obvious once the two face off, he knows all too well not to sleep on the hands of 'Lil Heathen.' Hearing that the returning legend has done little or no research on him has added impetus for Jones, who makes no secret of his obsession with studying tape. Advertisement You won't hear a bad remark passed about Jones receiving a second chance on the world's biggest stage. People have gotten in the habit of telling him how happy he must be with the situation. 'Not yet,' Jones replies each time, knowing from his first tenure how important a win on Saturday night is. He's allowed himself to fantasize about the gargantuan stack of pancakes that await him in Texas, where he'll enjoy a short vacation in the aftermath of the contest, but his real hunger is to be declared a winning UFC fighter again. 'Jeremy is going to expect me to stand there flat-footed and we know that he's going to come out here swinging," Jones said. "All he wants is a big knockout to impress Conor McGregor with, but when I'm still in there after those first two minutes, he's going to know he's in trouble — I'm going to school him.'
