Latest news with #trials
The Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Country diary 1950: The first classic sheepdog trial of the season
CUMBERLAND: It was the first of the classic trials of the season. Shafts of sunlight fell across rock, scree, timber, and fern over which companies of hounds were driving the scent of aniseed and paraffin. The light colours among the scores of strivers scudding the trods were like gulls hunting the bracken clock fly. Always ahead and alone was one so dark as to justify his name of Black Diamond. He was racing to register his 130th triumph. For all his elderliness – he is a five-year-old – he was showing his fellows how knowledge added to resolution, speed, and stamina can prevail. Could he finish successfully a task he had begun well? The crowning test was the traverse of two meadows of 500 yards with two stone walls to climb. The hay grass was high. Only head and tail of hound could be seen as his lobbing body waved apart the seeding crop. A challenger was near enough to quicken ambition and to make a further call on heart and lung, but the dark hound did not falter in his stride. Catlike he climbed the walls, topped them, achieved a quick take-off, and flashed to the tape. He was the greatest of all the conquerors of the day.
CBC
a day ago
- Sport
- CBC
Bell Canadian Swimming Trials: Day 4
Watch the preliminaries from day four of the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials at Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria, B.C.
CBC
3 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
Bell Canadian Swimming Trials: Day 1
Watch the opening day preliminaries from the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials at Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria, B.C.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
CALUM McCLURKIN: Dante delivered a welcome curve ball but O'Brien still holds the key to Classics
With Aidan O'Brien practically mopping up every single Epsom Derby and Oaks trial for fun, it felt like racing fans were swapping one form of Irish dominance with another. Jumps fans had been accustomed to the sheer volume of sustained success this season by Closutton maestro Willie Mullins. The master of Ballydoyle is threatening to do likewise. O'Brien won the Sandown Classic Trial, the Chester Trial, the Lingfield Trial, the Ballysax and the Leopardstown Derby Trial. Things looked ominous going into York's Dante, which has traditionally been the most significant of Derby trials ahead of the Epsom Classic in three weeks' time. The Lion In Winter was sent off a red-hot favourite in York. O'Brien had warned that his star two-year-old of last season would need the run badly. Punted into 8-11 anyway, the trainer's doubts were proved to be correct. He was far too fresh to do himself justice and finished off a messy race okay when beaten by around four lengths in sixth. The winner 20-1 chance Pride Of Arras who is trained by Ralph Beckett who has had brilliant horses such as Westover and Bluestocking make a splash at the top level in recent years. He probably isn't as fashionable as the other two but he looks a promising colt that can handle the undulations of Epsom and has the tactical speed to make the grade. He won an informative trial in good style and there was no fluke about it. He's the fly in the ointment the race desperately needed. It would be foolish, however, to entirely dismiss the chances of The Lion In Winter on the back of his effort in the Dante. He will come forward plenty from it physically and seems to be a little tricky to train. The genius of O'Brien means those concerns will probably be rendered irrelevant if he takes his chance. City Of Troy and Auguste Rodin left deplorable efforts in the Guineas behind to fulfil their potential and win the Derby. Could The Lion In Winter do likewise? Possibly. But whether he's mentally ready for the test of Epsom is open to question. He might be a bit too backward for a Derby in this stage his career. Team Ballydoyle might opt for the French alternative instead over a shorter distance on a more conventional track, particularly after jockey Ryan Moore said after his Dante effort that he isn't short on pace. It would also give O'Brien extra time to get him in 100-per-cent shape. O'Brien also has Delacroix, who is Derby favourite after winning the Ballysax and Leopardstown trial. The old Galileo and High Chapparal route has served O'Brien reasonably well throughout the years. His claims are obvious as he ticks all the boxes. This Derby seems like a case of Ballydoyle holding most of the cards but maybe not all of the aces. One thing O'Brien will be able to control is tactics depending on whether he runs other trial winners such as Lambourn, Mount Kilimanjaro and Puppet Master. Twain could also stake a claim depending on how the Irish Guineas goes. He could go mob handed in a bid to set a strong pace to enhance the chances of his strong-staying outsiders but it may ask a major stamina question of Godolphin's 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court. Trained by Charlie Appleby, Ruling Court showed a great turn of foot to win a strong Guineas. He looked like a Derby type beforehand and will take his chance at Epsom but an end-to-end gallop over a half mile further will present a completely different challenge. Other each-way players would include Dante second Damysus. Wimbledon Hawkeye was third at York and has consistent Group One form. Green Impact was sixth in the Guineas but looked a Derby type for Jessica Harrington, while Dermot Weld's Purview could be an outsider to not if taking his chance. The shuffling of O'Brien's Derby pack will shape the race significantly but that won't mean he'll necessarily win it. The depth is there to be seen but there are a few others in the mix that can upset the applecart. All the best to true trailblazer Racheal Blackmore after she announced her retirement in the saddle. Her victory on Minella Times in the Grand National in 2021 to become the first female jockey to win the world's most prestigious race was a truly historic moment. She didn't just break through the glass ceiling, she absolutely smashed it and raised the bar for all jumps jockeys no matter their gender. And that's the point. For all the remarkable racehorses she's been associated, no punter in the land would have seen the jockey booking of Blackmore anything other than a massive positive. Her association with A Plus Tard and Honeysuckle was an enduring source of success. Trainers such as Henry de Bromhead, Willie Mullins and Shark Hanlon always supported her and supplied her with the right horses to flourish. Blackmore was a name to transcend racing beyond its bubble and that's no mean feat in this day and age. She was brilliant right to the end, with two masterful waiting rides on Bob Olinger in the Stayers' Hurdle and Terms Of Endearment in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at this year's Cheltenham Festival a testament of her talent in the saddle. My personal favourite was when she snuck up the inside of Paul Townend on Benie Des Dieux to win the 2020 Mares' Hurdle on Honeysuckle. It was a clever, sharp move around the home turn that essentially won the race and sparked a terrific career for a horse and rider that did it all. PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK… See The Fire was wildly impressive at York when winning the Middleton Stakes at York but LEAD ARTIST was brave to win a red-hot Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. He battled back gamely to defeat favourite Dancing Gemini, with Rosallion and Notable Speech shaping well in third and fourth on their reappearance runs. The mile division has been a bit thin in terms of depth and quality but if all four reoppose again in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot then another race to savour is on the cards and this division will flip from being one of the weakest to the strongest at the top table. SELECTION OF THE DAY… The Blackbeard Fillies Stakes at Naas (4.03) has been won by some brilliant two-year-olds. The roll of honour includes Alpha Centauri, Meditate, Fairy Godmother and Porta Fortuna. This will be a huge pointer to the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot and probably next season's Guineas and Coronation Stakes. Simply Astounding has a bit of a wow factor about her for Aidan O'Brien as does Lady Iman for Ger Lyons. Both are sub 2-1 and there's little reason to see why Joseph O'Brien's GREEN SENSE (5-1, Paddy Power) is a much bigger price as she's made just as strong as an early impression as the other two fillies when winning impressively on debut at the Curragh by three lengths. She's worth backing at the current prices in what will be a very informative race for the future.
CNN
10-05-2025
- CNN
The summer of trials and true crime coverage is here – and it's not even Memorial Day yet
A constant influx of crime drama and trials often floods the national conversation. Some cases grip the public's attention and leave a lasting mark on society. And we are in for a particularly busy summer of headline-grabbing trials. And it's not even Memorial Day yet. Karen Read is being retried for her alleged involvement in the death of her police officer boyfriend, and disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is back in court for the refiled New York case after an upper court struck it down. This week, a jury was seated in the long-awaited trial of music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs. These trials have already started, but their complexity ensures they will extend over the next several months – and more cases are making their way through the courts. The legal proceedings make space for a national discussion of what is right and what is wrong at a time when we're assessing how we interact with the public figures representing our national morality. As information becomes more accessible, conversations in online communities like Reddit, TikTok and YouTube have changed how the public experiences law and order, experts say. 'The advent of social media and the 24/7 news cycle has made it very possible for all people to get more involved in current criminal trials, crime content, crime coverage, especially the coverage of ongoing, actual trials,' said Kelli Boling, an assistant professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Audiences can engage 'much more easily than they could even 20 years ago,' she added. No matter how these cases go, one thing is sure: People will be talking about them. Karen Read, who prosecutors say drunkenly hit her boyfriend with her car in Canton, Massachusetts, in January 2022, started off the season of trials on April 1. It's the second time she's gone on trial after a jury failed to reach a verdict last year and the judge declared a mistrial. Read, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. She is the only female defendant in the series of high-profile cases this year. The retrial of Harvey Weinstein on sex crime charges began in New York on April 15 after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his conviction last year, saying the testimony of 'prior bad acts' witnesses should not have been allowed. The disgraced former movie producer faces two counts of first-degree criminal sexual act and one count of third-degree rape involving allegations from three women, to which he has pleaded not guilty. He has also repeatedly denied allegations he ever raped or sexually assaulted anyone. This is his third trial in five years, after the one in New York in 2020 that resulted in his conviction, later overturned, and a trial in Los Angeles in 2022 that saw him convicted on three other charges. Weinstein's case, one of the first in a larger cultural reckoning with sexual violence, may be an indicator of the climate seven years after he was first charged and amid a new Trump presidency. The case against Sean 'Diddy' Combs is another cultural moment for the high-profile music mogul. Jury selection will resume Monday in his federal trial, where he faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, transportation to engage in prostitution and sex trafficking. Combs has pleaded not guilty and has denied the allegations, though he publicly apologized for assaulting former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a video made public by CNN. Opening statements are expected to start Monday and the trial is expected to last several weeks. Lastly, the case against Bryan Kohberger, accused of killing four University of Idaho students in their off-campus home in 2022, is scheduled to start August 11 after several years of complicated litigation. The death penalty case was also subject to intense online interest from early on and is expected to take at least three months. And while there is no new trial in store right now for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills, their resentencing hearings will take place next week, which could make them immediately eligible for parole. The complex case has been back in the public consciousness for several years after new documentaries and a recommendation last year from the previous Los Angeles County district attorney that the brothers be resentenced. They have a separate petition for a new trial, and the parole board has a hearing with the brothers in June in their bid for clemency from the governor. The facts in these cases vary, but one aspect sticks out: The public cares. Though some believe true crime obsession is a recent phenomenon, there is a long history of Americans being interested in and talking about crime, said Adam Golub, professor of American studies at California State University, Fullerton. 'Americans have been kind of obsessed with crime and violence for hundreds of years, going back to public executions,' he said. 'In colonial New England, you know, people would come from all around to gather and watch a criminal be executed, and to listen to a sermon by a minister explaining everything that was wrong with that criminal, what it said about society.' Some question whether the interest in crime content is ethical, but Golub said there are a lot of different reasons people are interested. 'A lot of it is social, and especially in this age of digital true crime and online fandom. A lot of this is (because) true crime is creating a community for people to get together and talk about crime in ways that they hadn't been able to before,' he said. These conversations can be particularly important to women, who often feel silenced in speaking about their experiences with violence, Boling said. This is especially relevant as research shows that one in four women across the globe have experienced violence from a male intimate partner at least once in their lifetime, she added. 'The women that I've spoken to who are victims of violence, that are in these crime content audiences, often say that they're listening because they don't see themselves represented in the media, and hearing other women going through what they went through is, you know, cathartic, in a way,' she said. 'I think maybe what we're seeing that feels like an increase in coverage is probably just an accurate representation of coverage of what's really happening in our society for the first time, and it feels like a lot of coverage.' Many of Golub's students have researched and are engaged in the story of the Menendez brothers and the murder of their parents, despite it happening before they were born. Their opinion of the case is 'dramatically different' from how people viewed the case at the time, and his students have a more 'sensitive, nuanced understanding of victims,' he said. 'How we view true crime, and how we tell the story of true crime is always informed by like conditions on the ground,' Golub said. 'Whatever the cultural climate is, shifting understandings of gender and politics in America is going to inform how we engage with these cases.' The same principle can apply in the Read case, where her defense team is arguing off-duty police framed her for the death of her boyfriend, who was also in the local police department. At a time when violence perpetrated by the police is part of the national conversation, people are going to be more skeptical of how they use power, Boling said. 'We see a lot of corruption in police departments, in crime content, in true crime coverage, in real trial coverage,' she said. 'I think maybe we're just at a time in our society where people are willing to entertain the idea that she could have been framed by police officers, because we've seen that in other trials.' This can also be seen in other controversial cases making their way through the court system. Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, has inspired outspoken condemnation by officials, while at the same time having a large contingent of supporters. 'I think a lot of the outrage that we've seen in that case is just sort of pent-up anger about our health care situation in this society,' Boling said. 'Obviously, we shouldn't condone murder for any reason, but there's a lot of rage out there over health care, and so that makes Luigi Mangione a very sympathetic story.' When cases like Mangione's go viral, the difficulty is there's 'a lot that can be oversimplified' or lost in the conversation, Golub said. 'There's a lot that can be kind of reimagined in ways that aren't quite accurate,' he said. 'We currently live in an environment where it's a little bit of a Wild West in terms of what the truth is … who the victim is and who the perpetrator is. This is all kind of subject to reevaluation.'
