Kerr makes space for latest trophy
AS SEVERAL rivals duck for cover with the big wet this week, Darryl Hansen has been happy to watch the rain fall and rivals fall by the wayside as Monsieur Gustave lines up a fourth consecutive black type win in tomorrow’s George Moore Stakes.
Egyptian Symbol was scratched on Wednesday to run in Sydney and Palazzo Pubblico is expected to do the same.
Wet track duffers Perfect Dare and Big Money are also down to run in Sydney.
Doomben was rated a Heavy ( 9) yesterday afternoon with threatening rain still hovering around the course. Track manager Jim Roberts said Doomben had been lucky to avoid any further heavy rain to 5pm yesterday, but it was still a possibility.
Hansen is happy to see the field thin out for Monsieur Gustave, which he concedes faces his toughest test to date.
“I’ve got him as good as he can be and I couldn’t be happier with the week he’s had,” Hansen said.
“But he’s up in the weights now and the draw made it just that bit tougher for him. Hopefully he can get a cart across with Upstart Pride.
“The wet ground is no problem for him and it definitely helps us.” THE awards keep coming for Matildas’ star Sam Kerr, who has added the crown of Asia’s player of the year to her overflowing trophy cabinet.
Kerr, 24, was presented with the prize for best women’s player at the AFC Awards Night in Bangkok on Wednesday.
She hailed her “crazy year” on receiving the award.
The West Australian began the year by driving Perth Glory into the W- League grand final, captaining her home- town club and scoring 10 goals through the season.
She picked up the Julie Dolan Medal for best WLeague player, the media’s MVP and goal of the year awards.
Kerr returned to the US for another season with club side Sky Blue FC, where she continued her scoring streak.
With 17 goals, she claimed the league MVP award and the leading goalscorer for the competition.
And Kerr finally found her scoring boots for the national team. After taking more than 50 matches to tally eight international goals, in 2017 she let loose wearing a gold shirt.
Kerr has netted 11 times in her past six appearances for Alen Stajcic’s side as the Matildas won the Tournament of Nations. In doing so, they stretched their winning streak to seven matches, included victory over world champions USA and Asian champions Japan.
Kerr said she was honoured to be in the fine company of past winners. “It’s been a bit of a crazy year,” she said.
“A lot of Australians have previously won the award, so I’m very humbled to win not only because the Australians have done well but also because it’s a great award and I’m very excited.” She follows in the footsteps of previous Australian winners Caitlin Foord ( 2016), Katrina Gorry ( 2014) and Kate Gill ( 2010).
Showing her commitment to the cause, Kerr spent Thursday travelling from Bangkok to Sydney to ensure she would be ready for Friday’s W- League match for Perth against Western Sydney.
Kerr was the sole Australian winner in Bangkok, with Ange Postecoglou and Aaron Mooy missing out.
Ex- Socceroos boss Postecoglou was overlooked in the coach’s category, losing to Japan’s Takafumi Hori. Socceroos midfielder Mooy was nominated for the International Asian Player of the Year Award, which went to Tottenham midfielder Son Heung- min.
The 25- year- old Son helped Spurs finish second in the Premier League last season, scoring 14 goals. He also helped South Korea qualify for a ninth successive World Cup.
Omar Khrbin, part of the Syria side who faced the Socceroos in September, became the first player from his nation to be crowned Asia’s Player of the Year.