SEX AND THE CITY
BoxSets 150, 10am
It’s time to take a trip down memory lane and howl at the racy antics of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker, pictured), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), not to mention many of their questionable fashion choices. Today you can binge the first two seasons of this groundbreaking series, based on the novel by Candace Bushnell. In the series premiere, Carrie meets Mr Big (Chris Noth), Miranda starts dating nice-guy Skipper (Ben Weber) and Charlotte goes on a date who winds up going home with Samantha. Let the good times roll, knowing that a revival has been greenlit, albeit without Cattrall’s involvement.
ACROSS 1 Lops off youngster’s initial stratagems
4 In the right, both members vibrate
7 Guarantee as a precaution
8 Relative Sea Level Rise initially runs heartlessly left and right
9 I seem to get she hid her name 11 Leaders in forum state conditions 13 Yanks originally lock up heartless guys 15 Scorch one employed to do cleaning work
19 First cucumber done with mint to make a flavouring substance
20 Cringe at the thought of trepidation
21 Edward 2nd irritates Scottish stabbing
weapons DOWN 1 Friend left when curtain of smoke descended
2 Is found deserted but welcoming 3 Is back around a distant jungle trip perhaps
4 Swimsuits to outside games
5 How one harvests pears
6 A fragrance problem passes away with carcasses
10 Set in the first three
12 Selected player takes credit for writing
14 My strange niece conceals such spirit
16 Up and about a prison
17 Deer last seen as stayed in secret place
18 Rust is unusual in small ditches
FEARS the Rip Curl Pro surfing tournament would be forever wiped off the Victorian major events calendar have been allayed, after the state government stitched up a watertight deal for it to return to Bells Beach next year and beyond.
It comes as it was revealed the World Surf League (WSL) sought a guarantee from the government that surfers and officials would be able to freely enter Victoria from NSW this year, regardless of the COVID situation. The government would not make the promise, and was also unable to guarantee quarantine places for Rip Curl Pro competitors and officials, ahead of the traditional Easter event on Victoria’s Surf Coast.
But it will today announce the famous surfing event will return to its traditional Bells Beach home next year under a new three-year agreement.
The contract between the WSL and Victorian government means the key leg of the surfing world tour will return to Bells from 2022 and is secure until at least 2024, but dashes hopes some winter events could be held on the Surf Coast this year.
The Rip Curl Pro has been held at Bells Beach, near Torquay,
since 1961 and is a major driver of the local economy.
Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula said the surfing competition was known around the world and loved at home.
“No one is happy that we can’t host the event this year,
but the public health advice was clear,” he said.
WSL Asia-Pacific general manager Andrew Stark said it was disappointing the competition could not be held in Victoria this year, “but we are excited that this new threeyear agreement will ensure the continuation of one of
surfing’s most historical events … (and) look forward to the Bell being rung for a long time to come”.
The WSL said it was working closely with other state governments regarding possible locations for the upcoming Australian leg of the championship tour.
CLASSY Tasmanian mare Deroche that was a shock failure in last Sunday’s Group 3 Bow Mistress over 1200m at Elwick has been cleared of any structural or muscular injuries.
Trainer Leanne Gaffney and Deroche’s owners were at a loss to why the mare punctured from the home turn in a race in which she was sent around the $1.35 favourite.
A thorough vet’s examination revealed no abnormalities, so she will have a track gallop at Mowbray on Wednesday and if she comes through that without a hitch, the mare will head to the Group 3 Vamos Stakes (1400m) on Launceston Cup Day.
Deroche was a beaten favourite at her previous encounter on the Elwick track, so the mare may have suddenly developed an aversion to racing on the Elwick surface.
If she does go to the Vamos, she will clash with her nemesis from last season Still A Star that will go first-up into the race that will be her in a year.
Still A Star won the Tasmanian Oaks in late February last year to end a spectacular season that comprised wins on four consecutive $100,000 Listed events that secured her the title of Tasmanian threeyear-old of the year.
Deroche also was brilliant last season winning the Tasmanian Magic Millions 3YO & 4YO Classic three days before winning the Group 3 Vamos Stakes and prior to that she was the best of good things beaten in the Group 3 Bow Mistress in Hobart.
AND BEYOND looks set to start a short-priced favourite in next week’s Magic Millions 3YO and 4YO Classic following his brilliant win in a benchmark 66 handicap over 1200m at Elwick on Hobart Cup Day, to keep his unbeaten record from three starts intact.
The Ken and Tanya Hanson-trained gelding had led at his two previous outings but when he missed the start by two lengths last Friday rider Kyle Maskiell opted to settle in first appearance
behind the field and wait to make his run.
When the gelded son of Wordsmith tacked on to the field and was taken to the outside to make his charge, he sprinted so quickly the leggy gelding had the field covered halfway up the home straight.
Maskiell was amazed at And Beyond’s brilliant turn of foot.
“He had won his past two by leading or being up with the leader, but we were in new territory when he missed the start, but now we know he definitely doesn’t have to lead to
win his races,” Maskiell said. “Now that we know for sure he isn’t one-dimensional, we now know there are even more options for him going forward.” THOMAS LYONS winner Newhart looks set to have his next start in the Mowbray Stakes over 1600m on Launceston
Cup Day. The Leanne Gaffney-trained five-year-old toyed with rivals including Mystic Journey to win by almost four lengths.
His jockey Craig Newitt said Newhart had “gone to another level” in the Thomas Lyons.
# * *
TASMANIAN teenager Hallie Meaburn says she will play aggressive golf in Friday’s final round of the Australian Amateur Championship after slipping down the leaderboard on day three.
Meaburn, 17, fired a course record 67 at Kooyonga Golf Club in Adelaide on Wednesday to take the lead, but carded a six-over round of 78 on Thursday and ended the day in a tie for third, four shots behind leader Kirsten Rudgeley.
Meaburn, who won the Tasmanian junior amateur
title at Tasmania Golf Club last month, started her round on Thursday with seven straight pars, and continued to jostle for the lead until a triple bogey on the par three 15th hole.
The talented Tasmanian said the pressure was off and she would relish being the underdog in the final round.
“I think I would rather, going into the last round, be behind — maybe not four shots, but I’d still rather be coming from behind,” Meaburn said. “I’ll just go out there and play aggressive and have a bit of a crack.”
She is not, however, setting her expectations too high.
“I think I just want to have a good score,” she said.
“Anything under par I’ll be happy with, and a top five, hopefully.”
Meaburn is competing in her first Australian amateur championship, and has performed strongly despite a less-than-ideal preparation.
“I did a ligament in my wrist about a month ago, and I only practised the week before I went, so I wasn’t expecting too much,” she said.
She said the tournament had been a good learning experience.
“It’s definitely good to see where you kind of match up against all these girls — some of the best girls in Australia,” she said.
“It’s probably the biggest amateur event in Australia, everyone comes out to play it, so I’ve just been really happy that I’ve been able to play some good golf.”
Meaburn is the granddaughter of Lindy Goggin, a Hall of Famer who at 27 years was the lowest-handicapped female golfer in the world, was state champion 19 times, and picked for Australia every year from 1970 to 1988.
Meaburn (+3) trails West Australian Rudgeley (-1), NSW gun Grace Kim (+1), and is level with Queenslander Hyejun Park heading into Friday’s final round.
In the men’s amateur championships also at Kooyonga Golf Club, Meaburn’s fellow Royal Hobart Golf Club member Joey Bower endured a tough day.
Bower started the tournament in great fashion with a three-under par 69 but after a one-over 73 followed by a five-over 77 on Thursday, has slipped to three over to be tied in 26th with a round to play.
DEFENDING champion Midnight Rambler faces some stiff challengers as one of the highlights of the Tasmanian sailing program, the Crown Series Bellerive Regatta, starts tonight.
The event which runs from Friday night to Sunday features racing keelboats, performance cruiser/racers (spinnaker and nonspinnaker), one-design class sailing and an off-the-beach program. Light conditions are forecast.
Last year’s winner, Midnight Rambler, skippered by Ed Psaltis from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, will defend its title but crew member Jory Linscott was expecting tough competition from Madness, skippered by Gavin Adamson and Janene Frawley.
“Gavin and his team on Madness have been super strong in the last couple of pennant races, while Whistler, skippered by Drew Latham, is impressive every time they race,” Linscott said.