Sport news in brief
150-1 Parrado makes history at Royal Ascot
Nando Parrado at 150-1 left punters shell-shocked in the Coventry Stakes as he ran out the biggest-priced winner in modern times at Royal Ascot. The Clive Cox-trained youngster was only fifth on his racecourse debut at Newmarket earlier this month, but that did not stop connections from trying the son of Kodiac in the Group Two heat over six furlongs. Nando Parrado was always prominent before making his bid for honours under Adam Kirby. Qaader was the only horse to put in a real challenge, but Nando Parrado kept up the gallop to cross the line one length to the good. Saeiqa was a further length and a quarter away in third place.
Cox – who teamed up for Group One gold with Kirby in the Commonwealth Cup on Friday – said: “I was just saying it is not a shock. The price was a shock. He is a proper horse and we loved him from the start. It was always the plan to come here, it was just a sideways step on his first run. He came home and thrived from there. When the rain came earlier in the week I knew he would be better on good or slower ground than quicker ground. There was a little bit of wavering from the owner. We put him in, then took him out the other morning, as he was not sure we could go for the Coventry, but I persuaded him to get him back in there. I’m sure he won’t mind me telling you that.”
Chase hoping for better fortune against Archer
West Indies all-rounder Roston Chase is hoping for better luck against Jofra Archer next month, after the pair’s last meeting on English soil ended firmly in the paceman’s favour. The Bajan duo came face to face five years ago in the Sussex Premier League, with Chase on overseas duty for Middleton and a 20-year-old Archer turning out for Cuckfield en route to earning a professional deal at Hove. At the time Chase was an established first-class player back home in the Caribbean, while Archer was picking up the pieces after being dropped by the West Indies Under-19s. Archer had Chase lbw for a golden duck on his way to figures of five for 15 from just six overs, with only injury preventing him doing even more damage.
Chase recalled: “I remember the game we played Jofra, before he had even played for Sussex. He got five wickets and he got me out. He pulled up in the game after he got five wickets and when he did batting became so much easier for us that we got a big total and won the game. I had played against him in Barbados too but he was young, playing for the Barbados youth combined schools team. He always had a good talent but he wasn’t always that fast. He had pace but not as rapid as he is now.”
American sport’s hopes of returning suffers blow
Hopes that sport in the United States might soon return to business as usual suffered a blow on Friday as athletes from golf to hockey tested positive for the novel coronavirus, triggering a shutdown of some facilities. The PGA Tour, which only restarted last week after a three-month Covid-19-forced hiatus, confirmed its first positive test, removing Nick Watney from second-round play at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Over a 24-hour period, Major League Soccer (MLS), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) confirmed positive tests, and those sports pondered return-to-play scenarios. Leagues are doing extensive testing for coronavirus even among players not showing symptoms. This followed leading US health official Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday casting doubt on whether the NFL would get on the field this season.