July 7th, 2010 by admin
The Dutch Celebrate the Win
The World Cup is nearly over and last night we seen the 1st semi-final played and ended in delight for the ‘Oranje’ fans as Holland beat Uruguay 3 – 2. Goals from Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben ensured the Dutch booked their place in Sunday’s showpiece Final.
van Bronckhorst put his side ahead with a spectacular opener which will be a candidate for goal of the tournament. Uruguay’s goal machine Diego Forlan equalised as the Dutch goalkeeper failed to deal with a long range shot but Sneijder and Robben again made the difference with two goals in three second half minutes that killed of the South American World Cup challenge until Maxi Pereira’s injury-time reply left Dutch side with a frantic finale to hold on. However, the Dutch held firm to make sure of their progress.
Holland manager Bert van Marwijk has described securing a place in the World Cup final as “unbelievable”
Van Marwijk said: “It’s amazing that we have managed to do this. It’s been 32 years. It is unbelievable. We can be very proud for such a small country.”
And goalscorer Sneijder scored his fifth goal of the tournament to draw level with Spain’s David Villa in the race for the Golden Boot.
Sneijder said:”It was a hard match, but all that is forgotten now and we are in the final,” said the world class midfielder.
“The most important thing now is to win. We are so close. There is nothing bigger than the World Cup. This is tremendous, fantastic.”
Holland are awaiting the result of the 2nd semi – final between Germany and Spain, hoping it be third time lucky in the game’s biggest stage following defeats in 1974 and 1978.
July 7th, 2010 by admin
The aptly named Shoot Out was recently awarded the Group 1 David Jones AJC Australian Derby held in Randwick. The three year old gelding took the first place from Descarado, Monaco Consul, and Zabrasive who finished second, third, and fourth, respectively in the AJC Australian Derby held mid-April this year. Incidentally, Shoot Out also won the Group One Randwick Guineas last March. It is believed that the three-year old gelding will be ridden by jockey Stathi Katsidis this spring. On a related note, Katsidis says that Shoot Out is a champion in the making. With the positive media attention about Shoot Out’s stellar performance, the horse is one of the blessings that owners, Linda and Graham Huddy, have received.
It can be noted that Shoot Out was bought for only $15,000. Shoot Out was then just a yearling when the Huddy’s acquired bought the horse. Stats now show that Shoot Out has reaped $1.36 million worth of cash prize.
Another thing, Shoot Out is a fine addition to John Wallace’s training experience. The 3-year old was trained by Wallace in New Zealand. In addition, it is said that Wallace has never saddled a runner for the Cox Plate — that is until Shoot Out came along. On the other hand, however, John Wallace has trained Oompala who placed third in the Melbourne Cup held in 1994.
The stable (and John Wallace) has already laid out their (training) plans for Shoot Out. The three year old is scheduled to participate in the following: Liston Stakes, Yalumba Stakes, Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes before he zooms into the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup. John Wallace also shares that Shoot Out is being trained the Victorian Way. This is in preparation for the Bletchingly Stakes to be held in Caulfield on the 31st of July. The race will also signal Shoot Out’s last race as a three-year old.
