Irishman Willie McCarthy comes via Australia to partner Kiwi in bid for history
Willie McCarthy will partner West Coast when the magnificent steeplechaser attempts to win the Grand National for the fourth straight time at Riccarton on August 9.
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NZ Herald
19 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Wallabies v Lions third test live updates
Live updates of the third test between the Wallabies and the British and Irish Lions in Sydney. British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell warned Thursday there will be no let-up against the Wallabies in the third Test, with a rare series whitewash a big incentive to finish the job. The tourists sealed the series last weekend in Melbourne with a stunning comeback, overturning an 18-point deficit to claw home 29-26, courtesy of a controversial last-gasp Hugo Keenan try. They clinched the first Test in Brisbane 27-19 and have won all eight games on tour so far. But Farrell resisted resting any of his big guns for the showdown on Saturday in Sydney, making just two changes, with Ireland's James Ryan in at lock and Scotland's Blair Kinghorn on the left wing. 'We came here and wanted to win a series, we've achieved that, but we've a massive responsibility to make sure that we finish this off with something that we promised ourselves,' said Farrell, referring to going unbeaten in Australia. 'It's a big ask, but it's something that we're determined to do.' The last time the Lions went through a series unbeaten was in 1974, when they won the first three Tests against South Africa and drew the last. 'We are expecting another epic battle this weekend against a Wallaby side that showed their quality last week,' added Farrell. 'Last weekend's Test match in Melbourne was an incredible spectacle and illustrated how special Lions tours are and what it means to both the players and the supporters.' England's Maro Itoje again leads the side and is partnered in the second row this time by Ryan, with Ollie Chessum dropping to the bench. 'James thoroughly deserves his start. I think he's grown throughout this tour,' Farrell said. 'His physicality when he's come off the bench and certainly when he's put the jersey on over the last three or four weeks, has been there for all to see. 'So we think he's the right person to start this Test.' In the front row, the Irish trio of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong keep their places with Furlong set to start his ninth consecutive Lions Test. The back row are unchanged with England's Tom Curry at openside flanker, Jack Conan at No.8 and fellow Irishman Tadhg Beirne at blindside. The potent combination of Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park and Scotland's Finn Russell are again the half-back pairing with Ireland's Bundee Aki and Scotland's Huw Jones in midfield. Kinghorn replaces Ireland's James Lowe, with England's Tommy Freeman on the right wing and Ireland's second Test hero Keenan at full-back. 'Blair is obviously a great athlete, but the unpredictability of his game as well makes him very dangerous,' said Farrell of Kinghorn, who came off the bench in Melbourne. 'The (wet) conditions that we're expecting, as far as the aerial game, he will be at its premium, we would have thought.' British and Irish Lions (15-1): Hugo Keenan; Tommy Freeman, Huw Jones, Bundee Aki, Blair Kinghorn; Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jack Conan, Tom Curry, Tadhg Beirne; James Ryan, Maro Itoje (capt); Tadgh Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Resilient Hawke's Bay jockey's turbulent season ends on a high
She has been one of the busiest jockeys in the country, making regular trips to South Island meetings as well as travelling north whilst still preparing a team of 10 horses from her Ōtāne property. That dedication saw her drive from her home to Wellington Airport this morning to catch a flight to Christchurch, where she was booked for six rides on the first day of the Grand National meeting. She will then be on a flight back to Wellington this evening and will drive back home so she can work her horses early tomorrow before driving to Palmerston North, where she has five rides at the Awapuni Synthetic meeting. It is a workload that most people couldn't even contemplate, let alone undertake, but Hercock seems to take it all in her stride. 'You've just got to keep going and do the best you can,' she said when contacted this week. 'It has been a tough season for me, and it has been hard getting up in the morning sometimes, but you have to just keep going.' Hercock's success last season is even more remarkable given the fact that she lost her partner, Danny Champion, who died suddenly in November last year. Champion had made the move north from Canterbury to join Hercock and take over the training side of the operation, and the pair were in the throes of establishing a great partnership together before he suffered a fatal heart attack. Hercock said the loss of her soulmate left her devastated, and she even contemplated giving up race-riding. But, with the help of family, close friends and counselling, she has managed to get through it and continue what she does best. It was poignant that she chalked up her biggest success to date aboard Marotiri Molly in the Group 2 $150,000 Manawatū Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Trentham on December 21, just over a month after Champion's death. 'I wasn't in a good space and if it wasn't for Marotiri Molly I might have given up,' she said. 'I have been with her all the way through and have ridden her in all of her six wins. She is a really good mare and prepared by Matt Dixon, who is a good friend and a great trainer.' Hercock said Soldier Boy's wins in both the Listed Wanganui Guineas and Listed Marton Cup at Trentham and Pep Torque's Feilding Gold Cup victory at Awapuni are other memorable races she has won in recent years. Hercock has now kicked home 432 winners in a career that, although spanning 30 years, was punctuated by a 10-year break from race-riding between 2010 and 2021. The Hastings-born jockey was based in the Waikato for most of her initial riding career, chalking up 237 New Zealand wins in the eight years between 2002 and 2010. She then had a two-year stint in Macau, where she racked up a further 20 wins but also broke both arms in a nasty race fall there, resulting in her giving up race-riding for a decade. She made a comeback in 2020 and has kicked home a steady stream of winners since, finishing in the top 20 on the jockeys' premiership in each of the past three seasons. Still able to ride comfortably at 53kg, Hercock has set herself a goal of notching up at least 60 wins in the new racing season and will have the help of a new riding agent in former multiple Group 1 winning jockey Michael Coleman. 'My aunty Rose [Sellwood] has been doing my rides since I started, but it is getting too tough on her now and I'm lucky that Michael has agreed to take me on,' Hercock said. 'Not only will he be able to get me the rides but he's been a top jockey, so he can also help with my riding.' Coleman is already the agent for last season's leading jockey, Gary Grylls, and will also be taking on Opie Bosson when he resumes race-riding this season. Special success for Trow family Stella Success may have stunned punters when winning at odds of 28 to one in a maiden 2200m race at Waverley on Friday of last week, but for Napier thoroughbred owner Garry Trow it was a significant success. It was Trow's fourth individual race winner from four horses he has raced but, more importantly, he got to share the success with several members of his family, including his father, Doug Trow. 'My father turned 97 last Sunday and it is the first horse he has raced, so it was a great birthday present,' Garry Trow said when contacted this week. 'My brothers, Scott and Warren, and my sister Janice Beauchamp also have a share.' Stella Success is trained at Foxton by Joshua Levelle and Sacha Rennie, who also share in the ownership. The 4-year-old Staphanos mare was having only her fourth race start, with Trow saying the horse was troubled with shin soreness after her debut run last year and didn't have any luck in her first two starts this campaign, both over sprint distances. 'She is bred to be a stayer, with Zabeel blood in her pedigree,' Trow added. He said his family decided to buy into Stella Success because they wanted to race a horse in the Central Districts. Military Step (three wins), Merlotti (two wins) and Lightning Deam (one win) are the other horses Garry Trow has raced, and all of them were prepared from the Te Akau stables in Matamata. Successful HB weanling walk Weanlings by exciting new stallions Armory, Profondo and King Of Comedy and other youngsters by proven sires Per Incanto, Ribchester, Dundeel, Vanbrugh and Satono Aladdin were among more than 30 horses on show at last Sunday's annual Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay Thoroughbred Breeders weanling and yearling tour. More than 70 people attended the tour, which took in four properties. Included among the weanlings on display was a strongly built filly by Armory out of the four-race winner Maria Dior. Armory was joint champion 3-year-old in Europe in 2020 and finished second in that year's Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) in Australia. His oldest progeny have just turned 2. Little Avondale Stud resident sire Per Incanto, who has just had his most successful season at stud, was represented by a nice weanling filly out of the stakes-winning mare Mohaka, while Hastings breeder Chris Russell paraded a well-conformed yearling filly by Vanbrugh out of the Redoute's Choice mare Dorotea Dior. Mark Twain back on Cups path One-time Melbourne Cup fancy Mark Twain will make his first public appearance for more than 12 months when the Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained gelding has an exhibition gallop at Te Rapa this Saturday. The lightly-raced son of Shocking won last year's Listed Roy Higgins (2600m) at Flemington to secure a place in the 2024 Melbourne Cup, only for a tendon injury to quash the Cup dream. A year on and the rising 6-year-old has pleased in his recovery with the OTI-raced gelding on the Cup comeback trail. 'He's in great order. He didn't have a lot of idle time,' James said. 'The OTI team have used the services of Matthew Williams in Warrnambool, who has had a lot of success with similar injuries. 'We are mixing his work up with a combination of swimming, treadmill and some trackwork, so he's on a varied programme. 'We were very grateful to Terry Henderson and the OTI team to get the horse back. I actually sowed the seed as to whether Terry wanted to leave the horse there, given he had rehabilitated in Australia, but it was never in question.' The winner of four of his 12 starts with a further three placings, including a luckless third in last year's Group 2 Auckland Cup (3200m), Mark Twain will likely have just one start in New Zealand this spring before an Australian campaign. 'All going well, he will have a trial on August 12 and then head to the races at Te Aroha over a mile on August 31 before heading to Australia,' James said. OTI's Terry Henderson described Mark Twain as the most talented horse in their southern hemisphere arsenal. 'He needs to qualify for the Melbourne Cup again, so he will be aimed towards a race like the Bart Cummings (2500m) in October,' Henderson said. Irishman to ride West Coast Mark Oulaghan has called on one of Australia's leading jumps jockeys to partner West Coast, as the outstanding jumper heads south in pursuit of a historic fourth-consecutive Grand National crown. West Coast has been partnered in each of his 11 steeplechase victories by Shaun Fannin, who will race against the son of Mettre En Jeu in today's Racecourse Hotel and Motor Lodge Koral Steeplechase (4250m) aboard his own horse Jesko. With Fannin unavailable, Oulaghan has secured the services of Willie McCarthy, an Irish hoop based in Victoria. McCarthy is no stranger to high-pressure races and has a wealth of experience riding in America, England and Ireland, and Oulaghan is rapt to have him on board the rising 10-year-old.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
McCarthy to ride champion
Trainer Mark Oulaghan has called on one of Australia's leading jumps jockeys to partner West Coast as the outstanding jumper heads south in pursuit of a historic fourth consecutive Grand National crown. West Coast has been partnered in each of his 11 steeplechase victories by Shaun Fannin, who will race against the son of Mettre En Jeu in Saturday's Koral Steeplechase (4250m) aboard his own horse, Jesko. With Fannin unavailable, Oulaghan has secured the services of Willie McCarthy, an Irish hoop based in Victoria. McCarthy is no stranger to high-pressure races, and winning them, having guided the likes of Stern Idol, Duke Of Bedford and Wil John to feature victories across the Tasman. — News Desk
