Gayle, Edwards in T20 squad to face Sri Lanka (B3)
Striker’s club coach weighs in on potential Reggae Boyz switch
TOONA CILIATA’S narrow victory with sparingly used claiming rider, Romario Spencer, hasn’t been lost on champion trainer Anthony Nunes, handing TRICKY ONE’S reins in today’s overnight allowance to Youville Pinnock, who showed his worth aboard Philip Feanny’s BATTLE DANCER in a tight finish recently.
At seven furlongs, the odds appear stacked against TRICKY ONE, a five-year-old reputed to require distances in excess of mile, confirmed by pedigree and past performances. However, pace not only makes but can also break the race, especially on a good track, giving a sluggard such as TRICKY ONE every chance of nailing quicker horses at the right handicaps.
Reporting at 114lb after the weight allowance, TRICKY ONE’S running style leaves Pinnock with few decisions to make, unlike the riders aboard horses expected to be in the pace – SEBASTIAN, ROHAN KABIR, EXTRUDER, ENUFFISENUFF and WILSON – who will all have to be keeping tabs on each other.
Pinnock needs only to stalk from wherever TRICKY ONE gets into the race and rouse the closer in the stretch run where his rivals will be weakening after trying to get rid of each other for five furlongs.
Throw TRICKY ONE’S last four races out the window, especially his most recent, a 12-length finish behind all-the-rage stablemate, LEGALITY, at nine furlongs and 25 yards. Note how he improved into fifth place, under minimum urging, a furlong out in his previous race behind DOUBLE CROWN and ANOTHER AFFAIR in their match race at eight and a half furlongs.
TRICKY ONE’S ABILITY
A better indicator of TRICKY ONE’S ability was his fourth-place run behind SUPERLUMINAL, LEGALITY and BIG BANG, breaking from postposition one on December 5 at a mile, horses who have all returned as either winners or battling losers in good company since.
When last this light, TRICKY ONE won backto-back races, a disqualification included, ridden both times by a claiming rider, Oshane Nugent, who is out injured, leaving Pinnock to grab the spoils as long as he doesn’t let the field get too far ahead of him coming off the home turn.
TRICKY ONE couldn’t have been prepared any better, consecutive Sunday morning gallops, reporting off a well-deserved threeweek break.
WITH WEST Ham United’s Michail Antonio reportedly on the verge of switching his international allegiance to Jamaica, manager David Moyes says that he still hopes that the 30-year-old striker will get his chance to represent England. According to a report from the English newspaper The Telegraph on Thursday, the London-born Antonio, is set to accept the offer to play for the land of his parents’ birth, as he seeks to be a part of the Reggae Boyz’s 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.
He was previously approached by the Jamaica Football Federation in 2016 but he turned down the offer at the time because he said he still had the desire to one day represent England.
NOT CLOSED YET
While he has been called up to the England team by managers Sam Allardyce and Gareth Southgate, Antonio has not managed to make an appearance for the ‘Three Lions’. He was forced to pull out of his most recent call in 2017 as he had suffered an injury. However, i n a BBC report yesterday, Moyes said that he hopes that Antonio does not think that the door to the England senior team has closed yet.
“I only found out about it yesterday and I’ve not had a direct conversation with Michail,” Moyes said. “I am still holding out he has a chance to get picked for England.”
However, while Moyes said that he had not discussed the matter fully with Antonio, he believes that should the opportunity be viable, he should accept the invitation.
“I wouldn’t say no to Jamaica, but I haven’t spoken to him about it,” Moyes said.
National senior team manager Roy Simpson, when contacted, said that talks were still ongoing with Antonio about the switch, but did not divulge additional details. Should the process be approved for his international switch, he would join a collection of English-born players that now play for Jamaica, which include Bobby Reid and Michael Hector both of Fulham and free agent Ravel Morrison, who made his international debut last November in the two-game international series against Saudi Arabia.
While Jamaica’s potential international assignment for the next window is yet to be determined, they are scheduled to participate in the 2021 Gold Cup tournament in July and the final round of the World Cup qualifiers, which begin in September.
Antonio’s form since Moyes arrived at West Ham has improved, with the striker scoring 15 goals in 33 matches. Despite a hamstring injury hampering his start to the 2020-21 season, he has gone on to score six goals and register three assists in 16 Premier League games this season.
West Ham are currently in fourth place in the table with 45 points from 25 games played. They travel to the Etihad Stadium to face league leaders Manchester City today.
IN CE’CILE’S at-home studio, where she usually spends most of her time, the bookshelf is running out of space. During our interview, she could be heard walking from one end of her house to the next to share the names of the books one can read if they ever stop by for a visit.
These include books related to the discipline of music from which she has made a career, from All You Need To Know About Music: Fifth Edition by Donald Passman to motivationals like How To Enjoy Your Life and Your Job by Dale Carnegie, and Lance Armstrong’s Every Second Counts, an autobiography by Sally Jenkins, and novels like Lost in Translation by Nicole Mones and even coffee-table books like David N Wong Ken’s The Runnings.
“As a child, I was considered an avid reader. I travelled the world before I travelled the world because I was always reading, though I also spent a lot of time with my head in Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books back then. Fiction or non-fiction, I just love a good book,” Ce’cile told The Gleaner.
She takes a break from reading the titles, only to ask herself, “What book is this?”then she admits, “I have horrible memory, by the way, and I haven’t been here in months since dealing with my badly-torn ankle.”the recording artiste has been taking things easy, sticking to a strict physiotherapy regiment, but has had much to commemorate this week. Her first published book, My Hair Story, was made available in the Kingston Bookshop stores on Amazon and Barnes and Noble this week. She also celebrated her birthday last Wednesday, February 24.
Ce’cile’s venture i nto a new territory started last year with the announcement of her book Oceana:
Adventures of a Jamaican Mermaid, but after examining the market, the recording artiste and music business executive decided to pull in the reins. “I have other plans for that book. When I looked into everything, from doing research on how to move forward, I realised
I needed [a] bigger investment and better planning, especially as I wanted to tie it in with music,” she said. “I wanted my musician cohorts to create and sing kid-friendly songs to be released in collaboration with and for the book.
Limited copies were printed, and I never actually sold any. I gave my close circle of friends. So, that is how My Hair Story has become my first published book.”
INSPIRED BY HER DAUGHTER
The 24-page hardcover book which is relevant to the times, is inspired by her daughter Christiyana Martin, affectionately called ‘Nana’. It aims to encourage young girls to embrace their authentic self while subconsciously speaking to mothers and fathers to be mindful of the ways they share opinions about image — hair and skin colour being a major topic.
“There are different angles to the conversation; as someone who wore false hair quite often for work, my own daughter Nana asked me if she could get a weave and that she wanted longer, softer textured hair, and it encouraged me to embrace my hair in its natural state, and then, when I would put in hair, I would try to make sure it was a replica of or close to my own. The book is a personal journey with her that imparts values of selflove,” Ce’cile said.
The Changes singer recalls having casual discussions with friends around her daughter about hair and complexion, which again would spark an interest in image.
“My daughter enlightens me. When I was growing up, we never normally had these conversations. We never paid attention to the statements like, ‘Her skin brown an’ pretty eeh’ or ‘Her hair nice eeh’, and it’s good that our generation is [awoken], to make sure our children are poised [with an] understanding of who they are and what they represent,” she said. “However, still in society, we are dealing with children being denied entry into school because of the same things. Two of the characters in the books are her friends of mixed race and a Rastafarian girl, inspired by my friend Dale Virgo whose daughter had to face this. It is sad to see children being kicked out because of them having locs in my country, and we must make sure we are not rearing little children who are going to grow up having a prejudiced attitude.”
The recording artiste-turned-published-author says she is selling the book at a loss, as not only did she invest a lot in the creation of the book, it was very expensive to print. However, she thought it necessary as writing children’s books is a serious venture and there is not a lot of age-appropriate literature, made locally, that represent all children and topics of the times.
In her interview, she also hints that she has been working on a book that she refers to as Love Notes and Life Quotes for several years, including unused lyrics from songs, pictures, and poetry.
“I am changing the narrative first and foremost, and I have made mistakes in finding the right way to start, so I am doing research on the best way to publish it. I am happy to be where I am with this book. No one is ever too young to learn self-love and that everyone is a little different from each other — these differences being our strengths, and it teaches children in a way they can understand to be accepting of how others look, too. I used to buy books and read them to her to familiarise herself even if she could not understand. This book is for anyone with a child or knows a child that needs to learn about these simple yet very important values,” she said.