| Deacon misses out for last-ditch Wigan • Scrum-half ruled out of match with Hull KR• Pat Richards and Sam Tomkins are key men for WiganWigan have two players in the running for Super League's most coveted individual award, but their hopes of winning the title itself could disappear if they suffer a second consecutive play-off defeat in tomorrow's sudden‑death match against Hull KR.The favourable draw they earned after finishing top of the table for the first time in a decade was squandered by the 27-26 home defeat by Leeds last Sunday – in which one of their Man of Steel nominations, Sam Tomkins, scored two tries, but the other, Pat Richards, missed three chances to kick a match-winning goal.They do have a second chance as a reward for their consistency through the season, and they will again enjoy home advantage. But they will be wary facing a Hull KR team who have far more momentum after grinding down Hull FC in a ferocious derby last weekend, and who have an excellent record at the DW Stadium."This is it for us, and we don't want to find ourselves talking about what might have been in a week's time," said the Wigan coach, Michael Maguire. "It's a big game but the players have been performing under pressure all year."Maguire will be forced into making at least one change, with the experienced scrum-half Paul Deacon ruled out by a groin injury. Amos Roberts, who was one of the outstanding players of the first half of the season but has struggled for form and confidence since returning from a serious ankle injury that he suffered on Easter Monday, is back in the squad.Rovers are expected to name an unchanged team with Jake Webster and Liam Watts still unavailable. Their coach Justin Morgan believes they are capable of lifting again despite the emotion involved in last weekend's derby win. "As soon as the guys came back into the dressing room, the talk was of who we'd be playing in the next round," said Morgan.Warrington, whose England prop Adrian Morley completes the Man of Steel shortlist, have recalled Vinnie Anderson to their 19-man squad for the weekend's other elimination semi-final against Huddersfield on Saturday evening. Richie Myler is omitted after suffering an injury in their defeat at St Helens last Friday.Wigan WarriorsHull KRSuper LeagueRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Minor league Phillies affiliate, stadium proposed for West Chester A group calling itself the Turks Head Stadium Alliance is talking with the Philadelphia Phillies about bringing a minor league team to a new stadium being proposed in West Chester, Pa. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Texans overcome injuries, benching to run past Raiders 31-24 The Houston Texans had every reason every excuse to lose to the Oakland Raiders Sunday. rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Empty net in Blues front office Scottrade Center will be buzzing Oct. 9 when the St. Louis Blues host the Philadelphia Flyers for their first game of the regular season. But as hockey fans anticipate how this year’s team will perform on the ice, others are keeping a close eye on how the organization will respond to changes in the front office and in the financial markets. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Goldikova in mood for Breeders hat-trick The feisty and brilliant five-year-old French mare has lost none of her sharpness ahead of her attempt at history in KentuckyAfter a 43-year career in racing, first as a jockey and now as a trainer, Freddy Head is confident of his ability to spot a horse with promise, but he cheerfully admits to an early loss of faith in the one now established as the best he has ever had. Goldikova was beaten in the first three races of her three-year-old season, at which point Head told himself: "Well, she's good, but maybe not that good."Now five, this exceptionally tough and durable mare has won 11 Group One races, more than any European-based horse in the 40 years since top-class races were so classified. A week on Saturday, she will line up at Churchill Downs, Kentucky, for the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile, a race she has won for the past two years. No horse has ever won three times at the Breeders' Cup but, at 5-4 with Betfair, Goldikova is widely expected to become the first."What's special is she's as good now as she was years ago," Head reflects as he watches Goldikova being led across the frozen lawn at his stable in Chantilly, north of Paris. "That's very rare and when you see her on the gallops today, she's exactly the same as when she was a three-year-old. Sometimes, with time, they get lazier but she's exactly the same. Put her on the gallop, all she wants is to go."Goldikova has been blessed with robust physical health but Head feels her natural aggression has been as important in sustaining her career. "You can't pat her. She's not that sort of a horse," he says, but forgets that advice moments later when posing for photographs and barely escapes with all his fingers intact. "Sometimes she would kick if she doesn't like you. She's got so much class and so much energy. With time, she got a bit naughty, I suppose."So bullish is Goldikova's behaviour on the gallops that Head, who was champion jockey in France on six occasions, has never dared to get on her. "I haven't got the condition any more and I couldn't ride her in a canter at the moment. She's a bit too strong, but I would love to. It's a thing I'm thinking about," though he says it with a broad grin.The mare's headstrong persona nearly brought defeat in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot this summer, when she pulled her way to the front two furlongs from home and barely resisted Paco Boy's late finish. But Head feels it makes her well suited to the style of racing in America, where the early pace is generally furious, allowing her to settle behind the leaders.As to the quality of the sport in America, Head is less convinced and he queries some of the achievements of Zenyatta, the unbeaten mare from California who will try for her own Breeders' Cup hat-trick in the Classic, about two hours after Goldikova's race. Though he acknowledges her as "a champion", Head refers to some of the races she has won as "Group One and a half", meaning they fall somewhere between Group One and Group Two."We race with three-year-olds and four-year-olds in England and in France and we meet together all the time, with the best. That's a bit more. Running against Paco Boy and all those horses, it's something different than running against four-year-old mares."Goldikova is reported "in great form", though the trainer reserves the right to run her on Lasix, the anti-bleeding drug which is permitted in Kentucky and which he used on her for the first time last year. On Thursday she will do her final piece of fast work before being flown to Kentucky on Saturday.By the time she returns to France, her retirement may have been announced. The expectation is that she will shortly embark on a new career as a broodmare but it seems that Head is not yet ready to say goodbye.Asked if her owners might be persuaded to keep her in training next year, Head's face fills with dismay and he bolts from the room. "We'll see, we'll see," he calls back, en route to the door. "We don't say anything for the moment."Breeders' CupHorse racingChris Cookguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |