Latest news with #WonderBoy
News.com.au
02-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Adrian Bott doubts whether Gai Waterhouse will be up in the early hours of the morning in the US to watch Shangri La Spring in the Queensland Guineas
Adrian Bott doubts whether his high-profile training partner Gai Waterhouse will be up in the early hours of the morning in the United States to watch classy colt Shangri La Spring run around in the Group 2 Queensland Guineas at Eagle Farm on Saturday. But Waterhouse, who is in the US to attend the famous Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville on Sunday morning (AEST), will be there in spirit at least as favourite Shangri La Spring looks to strike an early blow for the powerful stable in the $350,000 race over 1600m. Bookmakers have listed the last-start Frank Packer Plate winner as the $4.80 favourite ahead of the Nathan Doyle-trained filly Churchill's Choice ($5), Victorian gelding Wonder Boy ($5) and Depth Of Character ($5.50) from the Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald stable. Judging by her social media posts, Australian racing's queen of the turf Waterhouse looks to be having a ball in Kentucky. But whether she will still be awake at around 1.40am on Saturday (Kentucky time) to watch the winning horse cross the post in the Queensland Guineas remains to be seen. 'If it's that time of morning, I doubt it,' Bott said. 'She is awake at odd hours so never say never but it does make it difficult. 'The coverage of Australian racing over there is pretty good so there's plenty of exposure. 'I think she's really enjoying her time there so far. We don't have any horses over there but there are plenty of clients who race in Australia that we train for and I think it's important to spend some time over there and appreciate the industry.' Tim Clark will again ride Shangri La Spring on Saturday after he led all the way for a convincing victory as a $16 chance in the Group 3 Frank Packer Plate (2000m) at Randwick on April 19. 'It opened up a few more options for him, going out to the 2000m,' Bott said. • 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! 'He's the type of horse who seems to have plenty of tactical and natural speed. 'I'm hoping that can offset him dropping back to the mile off that run. 'I think he can be effective in doing that but we'll plan on stretching him out again after the run on Saturday.' Bott said the plan after Saturday was to run Shangri La Spring in the Group 3 Rough Habit Plate (2000m) at Doomben in two weeks' time before his winter grand final, the $1m Group 1 Queensland Derby (2400m) at Eagle Farm on May 31. Meanwhile, Wonder Boy's trainer Jerome Hunter said his gelding looked 'great' after also winning his last start, the $200,000 Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m) on April 12 in an aggressive ride from Jamie Mott, who will stay on for Saturday's Queensland Guineas. Wonder Boy spent a week in Sydney with stablemate Magarten before travelling to Brisbane. 'He just takes a bit to wind up so he's certainly crying out for 1600m,' Hunter said. 'I'm actually glad Shangri La Spring is there because he'll add some speed which will help us.' Hunter said he loved coming to Brisbane where he had enjoyed success with mare Barb Raider, who won the Group 2 The Roses (2100m) at Eagle Farm in 2022 before backing up to finish second in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) behind Gypsy Goddess. 'It's been a long preparation,' he said about Wonder Boy's campaign. 'I've had a lot of success at Eagle Farm so I can't wait to get back there. 'Barb Raider won The Roses last time I came up here, and then was second in the Oaks so it's a good hunting ground, Eagle Farm.'
The Guardian
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The LeftBehinds review – dystopian thriller finds the National Theatre firing on all cylinders
This is a textbook example of how to approach theatre for schools. Its new touring production, reaching 10,000 secondary students, finds the National Theatre firing on all cylinders with a gripping, often side-splitting adventure that is sensitive to serious themes yet never cringey. Ross Willis has written a post-apocalyptic quest stuffed with quotable lines, a cult in the making that crackles with the split-second retorts and abundant soul of his 2022 play Wonder Boy. Ned Bennett directs with customary audacity, jolting the story forwards for the school-hall audience. Jessica Hung Han Yun (lighting) and Giles Thomas (sound) meld a lurid atmosphere for Georgia Lowe's set and costumes, an extravagant fusion of wild west, sci-fi, ancient Rome and chivalric romance. Yet, cleverly, the props are mostly modified gadgets and cuddly toys recognisable to the audience (it's recommended for over-12s). In a blasted landscape, teenager Kit leads a ragtag group on the hunt for the scattered parts of an android she hopes, once reassembled, will reconnect her with her mother, played in intermittent voiceovers by Sharon D Clarke. Ryn Alleyne is excellent as the fiery Kit, grounding the story in emotion that offsets the production's plentiful pulp stylings. There are quips here that would make John Carpenter proud. This is the first professional theatre that many audience members will have seen, and Bennett's in-the-round production references forms they may know better, including video games, blockbuster movies and graphic novels. Willis has always written next-level stage directions (from Wonder Boy: '100 eyeballs come out from the floorboards') and one challenge for Bennett is that a character in Kit's gang is a detached android arm. Francis Nunnery, dressed in skin-tight green with that limb in hot pink, has a wild time essentially operating his own hand as a puppet. There's a real puppet, too, a plushy and super-cute blue critter designed, built and directed by Matt Hutchinson. Its outrageous flatulence proves essential to the plot. Did I mention the trash-talking, gun-toting baby in an outsized nappy? Or the audience interaction demanding we bellow lies? Along the way Willis engages with issues of fear, friendship and the younger generation's scorched inheritance, targeting an age range (Years 7-9) where the youngest and oldest can seem worlds apart. Perhaps it has a tad too much toilet humour in the mix, and the storytelling veers a little off course before the final showdown, but there's a real sense of fun coming off everyone involved. Among the recent Lamda graduates in the cast, Tanaka Mpofu is hilarious. The National's recent 100% cut to its Primary Schools Touring theatre programme has been rightly criticised. Younger children, too, deserve this kind of rush in their school hall rather than being introduced to theatre through digital learning or a trip to a playhouse. Certainly, more people should get a chance to see The LeftBehinds: fingers crossed that, once the tour is over, this dystopian thriller has a glorious afterlife. Touring secondary schools in Peterborough, 17-21 March, and London, 24-28 March
