Star colt CHARLES DICKENS took out the Hollywoodbets Matchem Stakes, 34 seconds shaved off Eliud Kipchoge’s marathon world record, RWC quarter-final ties locked in and more form a spectacular sporting weekend!
92/100 THE PAIR IN BOTH KEY RUGBY WORLD CUP QFs
The Springboks and All Blacks are both on terms in the betting with their Northern Hemisphere opposition as the Rugby World Cup explodes into life with the quarter-finals this coming weekend.
The Boks will take on hosts France and the All Blacks come up against No1-ranked Ireland, who will also have the bulk of the crowd’s support.
Ireland were staggeringly good for large chunks of their 36-14 win over Scotland to emerge as pool winners, but they have it all to do against the Kiwis.
The Boks have been relaxing and Rassie Erasmus’ mind games this week will ensure the pressure ratchets up on France. The only time the two giants have met at a World Cup was in 1995 when the Boks prevailed in a game which was fortunate to have been played due to torrential rain over a waterlogged Kings Park. Had the game not been played, France would have gone through.
Elsewhere, England (4/10) meet Fiji (21/10) and Argentina (14/10) take on Wales (6/10).
The quarter-finals are set 👏
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 8, 2023
If the Springboks defeat France in the next round, they face the winner of England vs. Fiji 🔥#RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/tOO4PYSLMs
PROTEAS COMFORTABLE IN UNDERDOG ROLE
South Africa seem to be revelling in their status as one of the sideshows at the Cricket World Cup when they hammered the highest score in the tournament’s history in beating Sri Lanka by 102 runs.
We know what happens when the Proteas have gone into a World Cup as favourites, but this time India and England have that pressure. Aiden Markram hit the fastest century in World Cup history (106 off 54 balls) and the Proteas reached 424-5 with the bat.
When in the mood, the Proteas have nothing to fear from anyone. There’s still a long way to go, but the overall expectation isn’t there. So the “chokers” tag can’t be applied and South Africa will relish being under the radar.
Aiden Markram broke a 12-year old record to become the fastest-ever century maker in ICC Cricket World Cup history 🎉#CWC23 | #SAvSL pic.twitter.com/EdoIsDyCNL
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 7, 2023
‘TALKING HORSE’ WINS THRILLER
Charles Dickens came, saw and conquered at Hollywoodbets Durbanville, when the most talked-about colt in decades won for the ninth time in 11 starts.
He was sent out a prohibitive 1/5 favourite but was made to fight all the way to the line in the 1400m Hollywoodbets Matchem Stakes to hold off fellow Equus awards winner Gimme A Prince.
Both have bigger fish to fry this Cape summer season. Both horses came out with their reputations intact and the Bass Racing stable actually feel that Charles Dickens needed his run quite badly and they are predicting that won’t get beaten at all in the coming months.
Race 8 #hollywoodbetsdurbanville || CHARLES DICKENS (Trippi - Demanding Lady) has won the HOLLYWOODBETS MATCHEM STAKES 🥂🏇for winning Trainer @bassracingstble under a stunning ride by A Domeyer, congratulations to winning owner and winning breeder @DrakensteinStud. pic.twitter.com/MZnsjlu3RD
— 4Racing (@4RacingZA) October 7, 2023
KIPTUM RUNS INTO HISTORY
Any further proof of how quickly sport is evolving in terms of increased performances has come in the world of marathon running of late.
Last month Tigist Assefa lowered the women’s world marathon mark down to 2hr 11min 53sec – basically faster than South Africa’s Josia Thugwane won the 1996 Olympic men’s gold medal in – and on Sunday Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum slashed an incredible 34 seconds off the previous world record set by Eliud Kipchoge.
The latter was considered the finest marathon runner in history and one of the great all-time athletes. Now, his time has been obliterated by a 23-year-old running the 42.2km distance for only the third time. He covered the 5km between 30 and 35km in 13:51 and his second half 21.1km was faster than his first half, an almost unheard of “negative split”.
Surely, he will become the first sub-2hr marathoner in history under “normal” race conditions.
Kelvin Kiptum just ran a record marathon time of 2:00:35 in Chicago.
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) October 8, 2023
He beat Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:01:09 time by 34 secs! And was only 35 secs from sub- 2 hours.
The Kenyan star is only 23-years old and trains by himself with no coach.
Unbelievable.
pic.twitter.com/HpPs943VSz
VERSTAPPEN NOW IN GOAT DISCUSSIONS
The Red Bull of Max Verstappen didn’t quite disappear into the distance, but he still won the Qatar GP by nearly five seconds from the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, on a weekend he was officially crowned World Champion.
He had started from the front and this was the 14th successive occasion in which Dutchman had started on pole and gone on to win the race. They’re starting to talk about Verstappen as one of the greats, and he certainly is dominant: 14 wins in 17 races this season and having wrapped up his third successive Drivers’ Championship, effectively with six races to go considering he secured the title in the Qatar Sprint before the main race.
One can’t really pronounce him the F1 GOAT, surely, considering the different cars they win titles in. But, Verstappen has dominated his Red Bull partner Sergio Perez to the degree that he could probably win in a shopping trolley.
Max Verstappen takes the chequered flag for the 14th time this season 💪#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/5nCRK5Rjyf
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 8, 2023
