Incoming Oz coach Rennie agrees to pay cut amid virus fears
Terebellum made an impressive return to action comfortably winning the G2 Dahlia Stakes, with Magic Lily running well under a penalty to take third in the 10-furlong contest
Terebellum made an impressive return to action comfortably winning the G2 Dahlia Stakes, with Magic Lily running well under a penalty to take third in the 10-furlong contest at Newmarket on Saturday.
Lightly-raced four-year-old Terebellum, who had previously scored at G2 level for trainer John Gosden in last year’s Prix de la Nonette at Deauville, raced in fourth of the seven-strong field early on, with Magic Lily settling in second.
Magic Lily, shouldered with a 3lb penalty following G2 victories at Meydan this season in the Cape Verdi and Balanchine, moved up to hit the front with just under three furlongs left and was joined by the well-travelling Terebellum with a quarter-mile to race.
Terebellum quickened well under Frankie Dettori and took up the running soon after before asserting over the staying-on Queen Power inside the final furlong to prevail by a length and a quarter.
Magic Lily, trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, kept on at the same pace to come home a further length and a half in arrears, with the first three pulling six lengths clear of Eva Maria in fourth.
John Gosden said: “Terebellum did that well. She got a little tired but she has only been on the Al Bahathri [gallop] and this was her first time on grass in a long time. I think the first three are nice fillies and that was not a weak Dahlia at all. I think
Terebellum just got tired at the end as she carries a lot of condition.
“That is her trip and she wouldn’t have wanted deep ground today. We’ll see what we do going forward, there are G1 races like the Pretty Polly at the Curragh and the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville for her.”
Frankie Dettori said: “Terebellum has been doing some decent work in the mornings and I had some big hopes for her. It turned into a ‘sit and sprint’ but I was in a good position and she quickened really well.”
Meanwhile, Champion juvenile Pinatubo produced a battling effort to finish third, beaten just over a length in total, on his three-year-old return in the G1 2,000 Guineas on Saturday.
The Shamardal colt, who notched up G1 victories in both the Vincent O’brien National Stakes and Darley Dewhurst Stakes during an outstanding unbeaten two-year-old season for Charlie Appleby, broke well and was soon covered up behind the leaders.
Earlier, Pinatubo was asked to improve by Buick with three furlongs left and quickened well to hold every chance a furlong and a half from home. He continued to stay on but could not go with Kameko and Wichita inside the final furlong, going down by a length and a quarter in total.
Appleby said: “It is obviously disappointing when you taste your first defeat with a horse like Pinatubo but, taking the positives out of the race, I think that he has shown that he has trained on. He was beaten by two good horses in a very quick time, so take nothing away from them.
“I think that we will see an improvement with Pinatubo mentally going forward, because he is a very relaxed horse at home. He improved with racing throughout his two-year-old season and it could be a similar situation this year.
“Hopefully, we can regroup and get him back on track for the G1 St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in a couple of weeks’ time.”
G3 winner Military March ( Hector Crouch) also went into the mile Classic on the back of an unbeaten juvenile campaign for Saeed Bin Suroor and the New Approach colt stayed on gamely to take fourth, two and a half lengths behind Pinatubo.
Saeed Bin Suroor said: “Military March ran well and I think that stepping up to a mile and a half will be better for him. It was a nice first run of the season and we can think about the G1 Derby for him now.”
SYDNEY: Incoming Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has agreed to a 30 percent pay cut to help the sport deal with the fallout from coronavirus, in line with other executives at beleaguered Rugby Australia, officials said on Saturday.
The New Zealander doesn’t officially start until mid-july and had been immune from the cutbacks imposed elsewhere in the organisation because his contract had not begun.
But the former Glasgow Warriors coach touched base with RA interim chief Rob Clarke this week to volunteer a pay cut until at least the end of September.
Director of rugby Scott Johnson said Rennie told him at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that he would drop back to whatever level other employees were on.
“Dave Rennie brought this up to me a couple of months ago,” Johnson told The Australian newspaper of the 56-year-old, whose contract is reportedly worth Aus$1 million ($650,000) annually.
“And anyone who knows Dave Rennie like I do... there is no way he would have come into Australia and coached without accepting what everyone else was accepting. There is no way he would have done it.” With Rugby Australia facing big financial losses from the sport’s coronavirusenforced shutdown, around a dozen executives in late March agreed to 30 percent pay cuts until September 30.
Players’ wages were also slashed by some 60 percent, while RA this week sacked a third of its staff.
RA posted a near Aus$10 million deficit last year, exacerbated by a hefty payment to former Wallaby Israel Folau after his sacking over homophobic social media posts.
It has since been bleeding money with Super Rugby postponed and July Tests against Ireland and Fiji cancelled.
Australia’s four top tier teams -- Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, ACT Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels -- along with Western Force, are set to kick off a domestic tournament on July 3, pending agreement on a broadcast deal.
Despite the turmoil Rennie, who guided New Zealand to three successive Under-20 world titles, insisted this week that “there are lots of good things happening in Australian rugby”.
“I’m a lot clearer on the players and where they’re at and what we need to do,” he added.
Meanwhile, Wallabies and Brumbies prop Allan Alaalatoa says he will stay and “fight it out” in Australian rugby despite the uncertainty and financial issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.