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O’Brien Eyeing Early Season Success On Irish Soil

If you look up the word ‘prolific’ in the dictionary, you might just see a picture of Aidan O’Brien. The Ballydoyle trainer has won pretty much everything there is to win in flat racing on both sides of the Irish Sea, and his record in the ‘classics’ of Ireland is simply unrivalled.

He will head into the revised 2020 campaign with ambitions of further glory, and he will have numerous chances to achieve just that as the curtain is raised on the new season on Monday, June 8.

It won’t be long until the first majors come round, with Curragh hosting the Guineas weekender on June 12-13, and two weeks after that the same venue will welcome the Irish Derby. O’Brien is well placed for success too, with his raider Armory priced at 7/2 in the Irish 1,000 Guineas betting odds with Betway. The Futurity Stakes winner enjoyed a fine two-year-old campaign, and he can strike a blow for the Coolmore Stud with victory in the June 12 classic.

Of course, it is the Irish Derby that really tends to capture the imagination of O’Brien. He is a 13-time winner of the race – nobody has trained more Derby champions than the 50-year-old – and he heads to Curragh on the back of an astonishing triumph in the 1m 4f renewal 12 months ago.

Most pundits expected Anthony van Dyck, another O’Brien charge, to romp home at around the even money mark, but the offspring of Galileo was humbled by Sovereign, a 33/1 outsider who was the trainer’s third or fourth string in the race.

Aided by a fine ride from Padraig Beggy, the Coolmore colt blasted into the lead early on and never looked like relinquishing his stranglehold, leaving Anthony van Dyck trailing in his wake in a six-length victory.

Whilst wholly unexpected, it was confirmation once more that Aidan O’Brien is the ultimate Irish Derby trainer, and in 2020 he has a cavalcade of contenders for a magnificent fourteenth triumph in the race.

Mogul Has the Power

Despite the halving of the Irish Derby prize money as per the Irish Mirror, O’Brien’s connections will be playing a strong hand at Curragh. Of the entries, it is perhaps Mogul who catches the eye most prominently. A winner at the course last season in the EBF Maiden, the Coolmore two-year-old romped home in the KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown in September as if to prove his burgeoning reputation.

Of course, O’Brien’s whole entourage will be well-fancied given his history in the race, and Innisfree will be another contender at around the 5/1 mark that will be supported. The bay colt finished around four lengths clear of Mogul at Newcastle in November, and he too is a Class 1 champion at Curragh having landed the Beresford Stakes in September. The suspicion is that he will prefer softer ground, however, so keep an eye on the forecast to see if he can thrive.

Royal Dornoch won a quality renewal at Newmarket from Kameko in September, while Vatican City showed a real turn of pace in victory at Dundalk in October.

Whichever of his horses you fancy, it is clear that Aidan O’Brien is well placed to strike gold once more at the Irish Derby.

Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa’s trial law innovations

Golden point tie breakers, the ability for teams to replace players following a red card, and a renewed focus from referees on ensuring a fair contest at the breakdown are among the innovations fans will notice when Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa kicks off this weekend.

The new-look competition begins on Saturday, 13 June when the Highlanders play the Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, with the Blues playing the Hurricanes at Eden Park on Sunday, 14 June.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) Head of Professional Rugby Chris Lendrum said Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa provided an opportunity to trial innovations designed to make the game more exciting for fans and players alike.

“We want this competition to look and feel different. We’ve had great support from our coaches, players and referees to make Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa faster, safer and more exciting than ever before.”

Golden point

If a match is tied after 80 minutes of regular time, the result will be decided by golden point. The first team to score – by drop goal, penalty kick, or try – during a 10-minute period of extra time will take the win and earn four competition points.

“Draws can often leave everyone feeling a little empty and after feedback from our coaches and players we have added the golden point rule,” Lendrum said. “We’ve seen the excitement it can generate in other codes and we think adds a real edge.”

If a team loses via golden point, they can still earn bonus points for scoring three or more tries than the opposition in either regular time or extra time.

Points allocation:

4 competition points to the winning team

1 competition point to the losing team

2 competition points to each team if neither team scores during extra time

1 competition point to any team scoring three tries or more than the opposition

Red card change

Players who receive a red card can be replaced with another player 20 minutes after they are sent from the field. The sent-off player cannot return to the field and will face Sanzaar’s existing judicial process. There is no change to the yellow card sanction.

“While players should, and still will be, punished for foul play, red cards can sometimes have too much of an effect on a match,” Lendrum said. “There are no winners when a player is red carded, but paying rugby fans, players and coaches want to see a fair contest. Replacing a player after 20 minutes strikes the right balance.”

The breakdown

NZR National Referee Manager Bryce Lawrence said the existing laws at the breakdown would be applied more strictly to create faster attacking ball and a fairer contest.

“Fans enjoy Investec Super Rugby because it’s a fantastic spectacle and our referees like to allow the game to flow. We’re confident we’ll see a contest that is faster, fairer, safer and easier to understand. We’re not changing the laws of the game, we’re being stricter about how we referee them.”

The key focal points for the referees at the breakdown are summarised as follows:

Ball carriers will be allowed only one dynamic movement after being tackled.

Crawling, or any secondary movement other than placing or passing, will be penalised.

Tacklers will be expected to roll away immediately in the direction of the side-line. This will be a referee’s “number one priority” at the tackle.

There will be “extra focus” on the offside line with defenders expected to be “clearly” onside to provide attacking teams more space.

Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa games will be live on Sky Sports.

Vodafone Super Rugby Australia to begin on Friday, 3rd July

Vodafone Super Rugby Australia is planned to kick-off on Friday, 3rd July when the Queensland Reds host the NSW Waratahs in Brisbane.

Super Rugby Australia will comprise the four Super Rugby clubs: Brumbies, Reds, Rebels and Waratahs, plus the Western Force, who were part of Super Rugby until 2017 and will return for 2020 as part of Australia’s reformatted competition.

The five-team competition will be contested over 12 consecutive weeks, with 10 weeks of round-robin action, with teams to face each other twice and have two byes each, before a two-week finals series featuring a Qualifying Final on 12th September and a Final on 19th September.

All teams will start on zero competition points under the revised domestic format, with the 15-team three-conference Vodafone Super Rugby competition abandoned for 2020 after seven rounds.

The new season gets underway with the longest-running rivalry in Australian rugby when the Queensland Reds host the NSW Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Friday, 3rd July. The following night in Canberra, the Brumbies will host the Melbourne Rebels.

The SANZAAR tournaments will be the first professional rugby competitions to launch since the global Covid-19 shutdown in March. Western Force will begin its campaign in Round 2 after an opening round bye.

All matches to kick off the Vodafone Super Rugby Australia season will be played behind closed doors.

Club Rugby to Return in September

The IRFU has announced that Club rugby will return in September. The matches will be in line with the Return to Play protocol.

Moreover, the sports governing body said it has added a competition stage to the club guidelines. This will now allow the season to return in September. RTE Sport report that the five week contact training was also factored in to the plans. It was also revealed the IRFU will be modifying the 2020/2021 season. In a statement on Thursday the IRFU said, “The IRFU are now in a position to add a ‘Competition Stage’ to their Return To Rugby Guidelines For Clubs,”.

The statement continued, This is to allow clubs to plan and work towards the start of the 2020/21 season and the playing of rugby matches”. September has been given as the month in which rugby matches will be permitted to return for clubs. A specific date for the restart of games will not be announced until further clarity. It said also, “The given date will also factor in a minimum window of five weeks permitted for contact training ahead of a return to rugby matches”.

They said that all clubs are currently in the Covid 18 Safety Planning Stage. “All clubs are currently in the Covid-19 Safety Planning Stage, which they must complete before moving to the resumption of training at any level”. The IRFU said they also recognise travel, safety and expense and they therefore have tailored the season to suit this. “The governing body recognises concerns over travel, safety and expense and this will be reflected in the season’s structure. Clubs should expect that games at the start of the season will be kept local where practicable.”

Coolmore’s Cezanne impressive on Santa Anita debut

The Coolmore-owned, Cezanne, a son of Curlin who cost $3.65 million as a 2 year-old, made a winning debut under jockey Flavien Prat, in a maiden sprint for 3-year-olds and upwards, at Santa Anita, last weekend.

The Bob Baffert-trained colt’s pedigree is top class. His dam, Achieving, is a sibling to the Baffert-trained Grade 1 winner Streaming. The third dam of Cezanne is Better Than Honour, who produced 2007 champion 3-year-old filly Rags to Riches, Belmont winner Jazil, and Grade 2 winner Casino Drive.

Cezanne won the 6½-furlong, $51,000 maiden by 2¼ lengths, though he broke slowly on the rail. He soon settled in midfield under Prat, moving between rivals Brazen and Mystery Man to go second at the half-mile pole.

Cezanne soon pulled away under mild urging from his rider Prat for a comfortable win for the colt bred in Kentucky by Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings and Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stables.

The Curling colt’s auction price was the highest for a 2-year-old since The Green Monkey went for $16 million in 2006. Cezanne was purchased at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream selected 2-year-olds in training.

 

“People are craving live sport, so getting golf back on TV will be good” says Shane Lowry

The PGA Tour begins again today with the Charles Schwab Challenge in the USA, a tournament won last year by Kevin Na who had a four-stroke victory over Tony Finau.

Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry will be among the star-studded field at the Fort Worth, Texas tournament which runs until Sunday.

Prior to the event, Shane Lowry, the 2019 British Open Champion, spoke to Paddy Power for whom he is a brand ambassador.

The Clara, Co. Offaly, native expressed his delighted with the return to golf following the enforced abandonment of the early part of the season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the US Masters at Augusta among the casualties.

“I’m so happy to be back playing competitive golf again.” admitted Lowry, “It’s great that the Tour starts back on Thursday with the Charles Schwab Challenge. I can only speak for myself, but I’m just very happy to be going back to playing some competitive golf again. And it’s going to be some start to the season.”

The former Irish Open Champion continued:

“It seems like everybody is playing the first three tournaments so there’ll be big fields and all the top players will be there. Obviously, everyone is coming back after a long layoff from the Tour so we’ll just see how it goes. But there will be great line-ups and hopefully it’ll all go smoothly and comes across well on TV.”

With many believing horse racing has had an advantage over other sports in returning to action early, the Irishman feels golf needs to profit from the public’s desire for live sport on TV:

“It’s an opportunity for golf to get out there and showcase itself a little bit more. People are craving live sport, so getting golf back on TV will be good, especially as it was looking pretty gloomy for a while after the season got postponed on day one of the Players Championship in March.”

“Nobody expected that” he added, “but suddenly everything snowballed and the US Masters at Augusta got postponed as did all the other Major Championships. It looked like the whole season would be lost. Now at least we’re just days away from getting back into the swing of things.”

Lowry was full of praise for the efforts made by the PGA Tour to get golfing action back as soon as possible:

“The PGA Tour have obviously done a huge amount of work and a great job at getting us back in action. But it’s going to be very different than before though, there’s no doubt about it. There’s a lot of procedures to observe. I’ve a load of documentation about the protocols in place and what we have to do.”

The Clara golfer spoke of the protocols golfers must now follow prior to competing:

“The biggest thing is that everybody involved in the upcoming tournaments will have to take a Covid-19 test first. I’ve a home-test kit to use three days before I’m due to leave for the tournaments and it has to come back negative before I’m even allowed to travel. The results come back within 48 hours of that test and once it’s negative, I’m good to go.”

He further explained the procedure for the foreseeable future while away at a tournament:

“When we’re at the venue, which this week is the Charles Schwab Challenge, we’ll all be cocooned in the same hotels and will have to follow all the different protocols that go with that. I’ll be getting my temperature taken and getting tested quite a lot pre and post tournament, so it is going to take a bit of getting used to. There’ll be constant testing. The PGA Tour has charter planes flying everyone involved from event to event, so players, caddies and support staff will be on them.”

The Charles Schwab Challenge begins on Thursday with live coverage on Sky Sports Golf, Sky Sports Main Event and The Golf Channel.

Shane Lowry was speaking Paddy Power

Fury to fight Joshua in 2021

Heavyweight World Champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will fight each other in 2021. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that they both have agreed to a two fight deal.

In truth the fight was always going to happen once Fury beat Deontay Wilder to become the WBC heavyweight World Champion. Anthony Joshua regained his three belts, WBA, IBF and WBA after beating Andy Ruiz in a rematch in December 2019. Eddie Hearn has said a number of obstacles still have to be met but he said both boxers are in agreement in terms of financial returns from the fight. Hearn revealed that the first fight will take place next year.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Mr Hearn said, “We’re making great progress,”. “There is still a lot to overcome. We are looking at venues and dates. It’s fair to say (Joshua and Fury) are in agreement regarding the financial terms of the fight”. He stated that contracts haven’t been signed, due to “things having to be worked out”. However, he revealed that a deal has been forward and “agreed by both parties”.

In addition, Hearn said that its the biggest fight in British boxing history. He went on to say, “It doesn’t get bigger, and there will never be a bigger fight in our generation”. Asked about a venue and where the fight will take place, Hearn remained tight lipped. He said, “From a common-sense point of view and without knowing how a deal works, everyone will say Britain is the place to hold the fight” . “But it is the world heavyweight championship – there will be all sorts of offers from across the world, and there have been already”.

Moreover, Tyson Fury confirmed the news on his twitter page.

GAA could speed announcement of 2020 Championship

RTE Sport report that the GAA could speed up the announcement of the 2020 hurling and football championship. They state a reveal could happen later this month.

The government last week announced that the country would push ahead in phases. The next Phase is set begin on June 29th and this is where the GAA may make public the new championship formats. It was originally stated by the GAA last week that championship schedules won’t be announced until August.

RTE Sport state that earlier this week county board officials across the country were told drafting and a compacted inter-county championship would be progressed in the next two weeks. However, this has to be decided on by GAA hierarchy at the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC). It is also understood that the final rounds of the leagues remain a priority to be finished, especially in high stake game such as promotion. A decision has to be made on this however.

As we know inter-county games can resume from the 17th/18th of October. RTE state that there has been suggestions from Croke Park that the remainder of league games could be played from here. After that then it would be straight into championship with the likelihood of a knockout championship. However, the backdoor qualifiers could remain in place. If these measure were to take place the the 2020 championship will almost go into 2021.

The U20 Hurling championship will be a straight knockout. The U20 football championship is already at the business end of the season. Minor Hurling and Minor football championships will also likely be played on a knockout basis. A plan for all of these will be drafted in the coming weeks. GPA CEO Paul Flynn said, “We must also consider protecting player welfare and balancing personal commitments,”.

Flynn said that players at inter-county will have the option to contribute to a GPA survey next week. Squad representatives and captains call will be on Tuesday of next week. Flynn said, “The planning phase was not straight forward given the complex task of fitting a whole calendar year, which is already at capacity, into a condensed 20-week period.

Federer to miss rest of 2020 season

Tennis player Roger Federer will miss the rest of the 2020 season after he underwent a procedure on his right knee the Swiss tennis player announced.

Federer has been struggling with a knee injury since the Melbourne Open in Australia. He lost in the semi-finals to Serbian Novak Djokovic and he then underwent surgery on his knee in February. The 20 times Grand Slam Champion revealed that he will the rest of the reason in a Twitter post on Wednesday. He said, “A few weeks ago, having experienced a setback during my initial rehabilitation, I had to have an additional quick arthroscopic procedure on my right knee,”.

Federer has suffered with several injuries over the past number of season. In 2016 he also had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. That meant he missed the entire second half of that season. He made a return in 2017 and won the Australian Open and he also added a Wimbledon title in a superb year for the Swiss tennis star. Federer has not won a Grand Slam tournament since 2018 when he won the Australian Open. He said, “Now, much like I did leading up to the 2017 season, I plan to take the necessary time to be 100% ready to play at my highest level,”. He continued, “I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but, I will look forward to see everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season.”

Tips for improvement in homework assignment completing

It’s not impossible to get good grades, even if you’re getting Bs and Cs right now. It’s not about studying too hard or too long – it’s not just about managing your time, using the information you have in class, and being careful about your schedules. Teachers will provide you with all the information you will need for class tests and homework assignments – and those you do not give will be in your reading assignments. Take good notes and focus on what your teachers give you. Then return them to them, letting them know that you are worried about your work and have thoroughly absorbed the reading material. If you want to complete your homework and assignments quickly so homework assignment help is presented here to you.

Effective time management

Managing your study time effectively is an important part of achieving good grades. By setting aside time each night to study, you will start to develop this habit, and your homework will be easier. You will also avoid the delay. Make it your habit to do the same thing every night and soon you won’t even have to remind yourself.

Using what the teachers have given you

When combining two strategies, it’s amazing what you can learn as you dive into more topics. For example, if you see a documentary on TV about ancient Egypt, you can take notes while watching, and later find this information online. This is also a good idea for someone who is homeschooled, or for teachers who show documentary films in the classroom. Instead of testing what children have learned, it is best to ask those questions about what they did not learn. Then they can go home and find these questions, and find answers as part of their homework. One of the best things to do is that each child has five questions that are unique, and then approve those questions as part of their homework assignment.

Then an essay is needed on one of these five questions 

The only drawback to this is that there are not so many good documentary films, and as my acquaintance mentioned. “Good documentary rates should be very high, because it’s a good way to get information.” – Of course they are fine. This is a great way to teach, because through the visual processing the human brain and human memory work so well. In fact, it is said that you can remember 80 of what you see or see, as 20 to 30% of what you read.

Utilizing ideas for homework completing

Another challenge is that many of these documentaries, especially on TV, are repetitive, and so you need to subscribe to many different cable channel packages to ensure that you More and more documentaries found. Yes, it is a good idea to revisit these programs from time to time, as this will help you remember the situation as you watch the movie over and over again, and soon you will start memorizing the lines. In fact, if you have a 12-teacher teacher, I hope you will consider and consider all of them. If you have any really good ways you would like to share, please shoot me an email and let me know your concerns, comments, and / or your questions.

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