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Northern Ireland Open added to European Challenge Tour Schedule

The Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A will be added to the European Challenge Tour’s 2020 Road to Mallorca schedule from September 3-6.

The event at Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort, which is an established venue on the Challenge Tour, having hosted events every season since 2013, most recently the ISPS Handa World Invitational Men | Women presented by Modest! Golf Management in 2019, will have a €200,000 prize fund and will be the first of two back to back events on the island of Ireland, with the Irish Challenge following on September 10-13 at a venue to be confirmed. This follows the overall Challenge Tour strategy for the reshaped 2020 season of playing events in regional clusters where possible.

The tournament will be supported by The R&A Covid-19 Support Fund, a £7million package to help golf deal with the impact of the global pandemic. The R&A’s Fund is providing an additional £300,000 in support of the Challenge Tour in 2020 on top of its existing annual grant.

Five-time European Tour and three-time Challenge Tour winner Michael Hoey competing in the Northern Ireland Open at Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort. Credit: PressEye.

Jamie Hodges, Head of the Challenge Tour, said: “We are delighted to be able to add the Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A to the 2020 schedule as we continue to reshape the season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The R&A is dedicated to supporting golf and its additional support this year has been crucial in helping us to stage this event.

Following the suspension of the season in February, the Challenge Tour re-started with the first of two dual ranking events in Austria last week – the Austrian Open, won by Scotland’s Marc Warren, followed by the Euram Bank Open.

The Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A is the next scheduled event from September 3-6, with details of further events from September through to the end of the season to be confirmed in due course.

Co-Op Superstores to sponsor Cork County Hurling Championships

Cork GAA has announced Dairygold Co-Op Superstores as the title sponsor of the Cork County Hurling Championships 2020.

The Co-Op Superstores Cork County Hurling Championships will commence this Friday, 31st July with a busy weekend of games. The Championships will include three weekends of group games, with close to thirty games each weekend, followed by the knock-out stages which will culminate in the county finals in Páirc Uí Chaoimh later this autumn.

Tracey Kennedy, Chairperson Cork County Board and Liam O’Flaherty, Dairygold, at the launch of the Co-Op Superstores Cork County Hurling Championships. Credit: Jim Coughlan.

Speaking at the launch in Midleton, Tracey Kennedy, Chairperson of Cork GAA, said:

“This is a very exciting partnership, and particularly welcome this year as we launch our new county championship structure. The Co-Op Superstores brand has roots in almost every community across our county and is a particularly fitting sponsor for our County Hurling Championships. I look forward to a hugely exciting and attractive programme of games ahead and it is fantastic to have Co-op Superstores on board with us. My thanks to everyone involved in making this happen.”

This weekend’s fixtures details for the Co-Op Superstores Cork County Senior A Hurling Championship can be found here.

 

Women’s National League kicks off on Saturday, 8th August

The 10th season of the Women’s National League will kick off on Saturday, 8th August with three games scheduled on the day, with a further game set for Sunday, 9th August.

The first series of games that weekend will begin Phase 1 of the competition, where each team will face each other. In Phase 2, there will be a split, with clubs divided into two sections and playing each other again.

Early October will see the FAI Women’s Cup begin at the quarter-final stage with each of the clubs attempting to make it to the Final on Sunday, 13th December.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has waived affiliation fees and will provide a participation grant in order to help clubs at this difficult time. Prizemoney will be spread equally among clubs with funds available to ensure all clubs will be able to upgrade their grounds to follow Covid-19 safety protocols.

The FAI will also provide a special Covid-19 Assistance Grant to all clubs that have suffered financial losses due to the pandemic.

Top quality entries for Day 1 of Irish Champions Weekend

Classic winners from Newmarket and The Curragh, along with horses that played a starring role at Royal Ascot, feature among the entries for the six Group 1 races at Longines Irish Champions Weekend, which will take place behind closed doors, at Leopardstown and The Curragh on Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13 respectively.

Last weekend’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Enable heads a strong representation of fillies in an entry of 61 horses for the Irish Champion Stakes. Last year’s heroine Magical, the first Irish-trained winner since 2011 and winner of the Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh last Sunday, looks set to represent Aidan O’Brien in the Leopardstown showpiece.

The five-year-old mare could be joined by some of the younger Ballydoyle brigade, including the recent Newmarket and Irish 1,000 Guineas winners Love and Peaceful. Jessica Harrington’s Coronation Stakes winner, Alpine Star is there along with Deirdre, the first Japanese-trained runner in Ireland when taking fourth place in the race last year.

Andrew Balding’s Kameko and Siskin, trained by Ger Lyons, winners of the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket and The Curragh respectively are other early entries. Circus Maximus and Russian Emperor were among Aidan O’Brien’s Royal Ascot winners and they both hold entries as do the John Gosden-trained Prince Of Wales’s Stakes winner Lord North and Palace Pier, successful in the St James’s Palace Stakes. Newmarket’s Coronation Cup winner Ghaiyyath, trained by Charlie Appleby, and the globetrotters Benbatl, trained by Saeed Bin Suroor, William Haggas’ Addeybb and Appleby’s Barney Roy, a winner in Munich on Sunday, also feature among the 20 British-trained entries.

The overseas contingent is completed by two entries from France: last year’s Prix du Jockey Club winner Sottsass, a winner again at Chantilly in the Group 1 Prix Ganay for Jean-Claude Rouget last month. Rouget will be bidding to win his second Irish Champion Stakes having trained Almanzor to win in 2016. Andre Fabre’s Persian King, last season’s French 2,000 Guineas winner, completes the list of overseas entries for the Group 1 contest.

New York Girl heads a quartet of entries for Joseph O’Brien, successful last year with subsequent Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Iridessa, for Leopardstown’s Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes. O’Brien’s younger brother Donnacha has entered his Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up Fancy Blue, while their father’s Ballydoyle operation can count on the likes of this season’s English and Irish Guineas winners Love and Peaceful. Magical is included for O’Brien while Jessica Harrington’s Royal Ascot winner Alpine Star also features among a strong home team.

John Gosden’s Nazeef and the David O’Meara-trained Agincourt were first and second in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot and along with Group 1 winners Billesdon Brook and Quadrilateral, head the cross-channel entry of 15 fillies and mares. Last season’s Moyglare Stud Stakes runner-up Daahyeh, trained by Roger Varian, Hugo Palmer’s Powerful Breeze, Mark Johnston’s Raffle Prize and the Queen Anne Stakes runner-up Terebellum, another trained by Gosden, would all be worthy contenders.

Tim Husbands, CEO of Leopardstown Racecourse, said of the entries for both the Irish Champion Stakes and the Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes:

“Once again, the quality of the entries for the Irish Champion Stakes and the Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes are testament to the class of these races and Longines Irish Champions Weekend. We are delighted to welcome entries from Britain, France and Japan in addition to our own leading Irish contenders which highlights the importance of these races on the International calendar. We are looking forward to another excellent renewal of Longines Irish Champions Weekend.”

Impact of Covid-19 on the racing and breeding industry

Six-month statistics for horse racing and breeding in Ireland, recently released by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), illustrate the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the industry.

A total of 87 fixtures were lost in Ireland from March to June during the Covid-19 lockdown. Racing resumed behind closed doors on June 8 with strict protocols designed to ensure race fixtures could be run in a safe and controlled manner. Only key personnel who have completed medical screening and thermal checks are permitted on track.

Those lost race meetings – allied with the current scenario of no public attendance at all fixtures held behind closed doors – have decimated attendance figures for the first six months of the year, down almost 80%.

The bloodstock sales in the first half of 2020 experienced severe interruption, with sales either deferred or moved out of Ireland. Sales of thoroughbreds at auction in Ireland for the first six months is down 87.3% year-on-year.

The number of active owners during the first six months (i.e. those making an entry) was down by 13.9%. Since the resumption of racing, there has been an upturn in the number of horses returned in training.

The number returned at any point during the first six months was down 1.6% compared with 2019, having been up by 9.1% on March 24 when racing ceased, while the number of horses-in-training at the end of June was up 6.8%  year-on-year, reflecting the resumption of a full race programme under both codes.

With no racing attendances since early March, betting with on-course bookmakers and the Tote was down 73.9%.

Horse Racing Ireland Chief Executive Brian Kavanagh. Credit: HRI.

Commenting on the six-month statistics, HRI Chief Executive, Brian Kavanagh, said:

“2020 has been a devastating year for the country and like many other sectors, the horse racing and breeding industry has suffered greatly having effectively come to a standstill on March 24. Against that background, any comparison with previous years is futile. Nevertheless, a few key points are worth highlighting.

“The absence of attendances is having a devastating impact on racecourses and the businesses that depend on them such as on-course bookmakers, Tote, caterers and so on. Horse Racing Ireland and the racecourses are working to develop methods by which attendance can return once deemed appropriate by the Government. This is challenging and the contribution to the industry by the racecourses in continuing to race behind closed doors since June 8 is commendable.

“While traditionally the quieter part of the year, bloodstock sales figures for the first half of 2020 were decimated. The sales companies have shown flexibility with regard to their dates and HRI is working with them and Government to ensure that sales can safely resume in Ireland in August. The equivalent sales of those scheduled to be held between now and the end of the year generated €150m in turnover for Irish breeders in 2019, much of it to overseas buyers.”

With the recent announcements that both the Longines Irish Champions Weekend and the Listowel Harvest Festival will be held behind closed doors, there may be more difficult days ahead for the racing industry in the second half of 2020.

MLB postpones games due to Covid 19

Major League Baseball (MLB) has postponed games due to an outbreak of Covid 19. The season was launched less than a week ago but it has now led to the postponement of numerous games.

In a statement, Major League Baseball confirmed that games between Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles in Florida and Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees in Pennsylvania has been postponed. The decision to postpone the game came on the back of reports that 10 members of the Marlins team and backroom team had tested positive for the virus. This came after Sunday’s game against the Phillies. It follows news from last that players Jose Urena, Garrett Cooper, Harold Ramirez and Jorge Alfaro had already tested positive for Covid 19. Additional testing will now take place according to a MLB statement. “The members of the Marlins’ travelling party are self-quarantining in place while awaiting the outcome of those results”.

Derek Jeter, chief executive of the Miami Marlins said it was “the correct decision” to suspend the games. He said, “Postponing tonight’s home opener was the correct decision to ensure we take a collective pause and try to properly grasp the totality of this situation.” Jeter also outlined that the Marlins have remained in Philadelphia to undergo further testing. Meanwhile Baseball chief Rob Manfred has said the Marlins could return to play as soon as Wednesday, depending on testing outcomes.

He said to the MLB Network,”Our first concern is the health of the players, and their families and making sure that we do everything possible to minimise the spread of the virus amongst our employees,”.  The Miami Marlins will not play tonight and tomorrow. We’re doing additional testing. If the test results are acceptable, the Marlins will resume play in Baltimore on Wednesday.”

 

Klopp named LMA manager of the year

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been named LMA manager of the year. The news comes after the German coach guided Liverpool to their first Premier League title in 30 years.

The announcement came at an awards ceremony which was shown on Sky Sports television. Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson announced Klopp as the winner and said, “It was thoroughly deserved. “The performance level of your team was outstanding. Your personality runs right through the whole club”. Mr Ferguson continued, “I’ll forgive you for ringing me at half past three in the morning to tell me you had won the league – thank you!”.

Liverpool coasted to the Premier League and topped the table with 99 points, 18 points ahead of their nearest rivals Manchester City on 81 points. Furthermore, on receiving the award, Klopp said, “I’m absolutely delighted to be named the winner of the League Managers Association manager of the year award, for this wonderful Sir Alex Ferguson trophy, named after a man that I admire so much,”. He continued, “It’s an honour to be in the company of so many managers who have been named as LMA manager of the year before, including of course Liverpool managers like Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Sir Kenny Dalglish and, in recent years, Brendan Rodgers.”.  Klopp said he accepts the award on behalf of all of his coaches. He said, ” I’m OK as a manager but they make us a real special bunch of football brains.”

Meanwhile, Leeds United manager, Marco Bielsa scooped the Championship manager of the year award. He helped his side to promotion to the Premier League as well as winning the title. League One manager of the year went to Coventry City boss Mark Robbins after he steered them to the Championship. Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell won the League two manager of the year award.

 

Former Liverpool player signs deal with Brighton

Former Liverpool player Adam Lallana has put pen to paper with Brighton. Lallana, who is now 32 years old fell out of contract with Liverpool after joining in 2014 from Southampton. He has now agreed to a three year deal with Brighton.

Brighton and Hove Albion boss Graham Potter was thrilled with the signing. He told the clubs official website “Adam is a really exciting signing for us, someone I’m sure the supporters will be really looking forward to seeing play as and when things are able to begin to return to normal”. Potter went to state that “he knows Lallana will be an excellent role model for our younger players in the squad”.

Lallana is a very experienced player both at club and international level. He has made 34 appearance for the Three Lions overall, while he made 22 appearances for Liverpool this season. He helped Liverpool win the Champions League title last season and obviously played a part in helping Liverpool to the title this season. Furthermore, He has made nearly 200 league appearances, scoring 30 goals in total. He represented England at the 2014 World Cup as well at Euro 2016.

In an interview with the clubs website Lallana said, “I can’t wait,”.”It’s a breath of fresh air coming down here. Everything is new and it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to. I can’t wait to get started” .”It was a pretty easy choice for me in the end. I think it’s a perfect match.”

I expect Lallana to get regular first team action for Brighton when the new season resumes on September 12th. Yes September 12th, it really isn’t that far away !

Ireland to play in eight team tournament

Ireland are set to play in an eight team tournament towards the end of this year which is also set to feature Fiji and Japan and the remaining five teams in the Six Nations.

This follows news that we reported last week that World Rugby have put a temporary calendar in place. This meaning the remaining games of the 2020 Six Nations will be played in the final two weeks of October, with the Northern hemisphere teams then beginning an international window from November 14th to December. This is obviously where this tournament will be played.

The eight team tournament is still to be confirmed in August will face the spaces that are normally reserved for the Autumn international series. The competition will be split into two groups of four teams. RTE Sport state that Ireland will be in a group containing England, Wales and Fiji, while the second group will compromise of France, Scotland, Italy and Japan. The games will be played over a period of four weekends, while games will be shown on RTE. These games will be announced in due course.

Teams are likely to play a play-off against the corresponding ranked side in the opposite pool. Each group winner will play in the final at Twickenham. Peter O’Reilly of the Sunday Times confirmed the news in a tweet, he said, “Hearing pools for proposed 8 Nations tournament (Nov 14-Dec 5) are as follows: Eng, Wal, Ire & Fiji in one group; Fra, Sco, Italy and Japan in the other. Three pool games each, then a play-off round 1st v 1st, 2nd v 2nd etc. Ireland home v Wal, Fij, away to Eng. Dates, times TBA”.

A look ahead to Day 1 of the Galway Races

The Galway Races gets underway on Monday. Of course due to the current restrictions no crowds will in the stands but that doesn’t mean that some top class action will happen at Ballybrit. Let’s take a look a Day 1 and what to expect.

The 8 race card will see a mixture of races. First up at 4.10 is Claregalway hotel maiden. Aidan O’Brien’s charge Wembley would be my selection here at odds of 11/8. The horse finished 2nd in a 2yo maiden race last week at The Curragh and will surely come on for that here. Trusted Alley for Mick O Callaghan and Leigh Roche is another to keep an eye on for sure with plenty of experience.

In the 4.40 race my selection is Kokura for the in form Johnny Murtagh yard. The yard has a 24% strike rate in the last 14 days. Finished 4th in latest race at Naas, has a good draw here and is my selection at 10/3.  Royal Canford at odds of 6/1 can win the 5.15 race for WJ Lee and Willie McCreery. Has the experience having finished second in this race last year so could go one better. Lightning Amber for Dermot Weld, Aced It for Joseph O’Brien are also in with each way chances.

The 5.45 is an open race but an each wya shout for Colin Keane and Kieran Cotter with Fridtjof Nansen at 5/1. Finished 9 of 18 at the  Curragh on latest start but has each way claims here in an open affair. Globe Theatre for me is the selection in the 6.15 at odds of 14/1. Again probably go with each way. Shane Crosse and Joseph O’Brien have a 14% strike rate in the last two weeks. Other horses that can go close are Centroid and Share the Honour.

It’s hard to look last Sharjah in the 6.45 race for Patrick and Willie Mullins. Trainer has raced much in the last 14 days but has a strike rate of 33%. Won’t be far away here. De Name Escapes Me also runs here for Noel Meare and Derek O’Connor for the JP McManus yard, as does Dalton Highway for Dermot Weld and JJ Codd.

Yulong Pearlisland is the selection for the 7.15 race for Shane Foley and Jessica Harrington. Horse has won over this trip so that has to be noted. At 4/1 is a good selection. The final race at 7.45pm can go the way of Mt Leinster for Willie and Patrick Mullins. Hasn’t run since February but is rated 142 over hurdle. Clearly stables first string will be thereabouts for sure.

 

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