A HUMBLE stable lad is on the brink of becoming a millionaire – if his bargain basement horse can land a ‘massive’ gamble at Ascot.
Trainer Dylan Cunha’s four-year-old colt Prague has been one of the stars of the season.
Previously trained by Aidan O’Brien and owned by the all-conquering Coolmore group, his incredible rags-to-riches run has seen him go from handicapper to Group 2 winner in just five runs.
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And his remarkable progress has come while under the ownership of unheralded Amedeo Dal Pos, who bought the son of Galileo for just £10,500.
Dal Pos is head lad to Newmarket-based Cunha.
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It’s fair to say he’s hardly living the millionaire lifestyle under the up-and-coming trainer – but he could soon be thanks to his star colt.
Dal Pos, who is listed as the sole owner of Prague, has paid a staggering £70,000 supplementary fee so he can run in Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot.
He used some of the £114,000 Prague has won so far in his career to cover the cost.
Bookies make Prague an 8-1 chance for the mile race currently headed by 5-4 market leader Charyn.
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Victory in the prestigous contest is worth a shade over £655,709.
But, as ever with top Flat horses, it’s the prospect of what they could achieve at stud that the money really starts racking up.
If Prague wins he’ll be in high demand as a stallion, given he would stand as a Group 1 winner proven over a mile at Ascot and Newmarket.
Cunha told The Mirror: “It’s a massive gamble for him, isn’t it?
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“If the horse wins he is worth a few million being a Galileo colt, but if he loses the whole £70,000 is gone and the whole horse’s value is gone.
“But Amedeo has confidence in the horse.
“He rides him every day and when he galloped him on Saturday he had the biggest smile on his face. It’s all in the stars now.
“The horse is on the up, he is going to get his ground.
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“You may never get the chance in your life again. I think you’ve got to go for it.
“I look at it like this. You pay £10,000 for the horse. You can now say you paid £80,000 for the horse and it’s running in a Group 1. That’s not a bad little purchase.”
Not bad – but it could be about to get so much better on Saturday.
Dal Pos wouldn’t be the first stable lad to strike it rich.
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Jenkins has enjoyed a meteoric rise after becoming the youngest captain in Gallagher Premiership history in 2022 when he led Exeter to victory against London Irish aged just 19 years 342 days.
He is hoping this reset will prove beneficial for his career.
“This is probably just getting my body right,” said Jenkins.
“It’s probably the first time I’ve actually felt fresh in four years.
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“Making my Exeter debut when I was 18, and then my Wales debut at 19, it’s the first time I’ve had a bit of time to recover.
“The jump from Under-20s level to seniors is huge and I probably underestimated that.
“It’s given me time to gym a lot more than I would have and I’m looking to put a few extra kgs of muscle on.
“I am not running yet, but when I get to that block, I’m going to push myself and be hitting personal bests.”
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In Jenkins’ absence, Exeter have lost their first four games of the season for the first time since being promoted to the Premiership in 2010.
It is also the first time the club has lost four successive league games for 10 years after Exeter blew a 20-point lead in the final 15 minutes to lose to Bristol Bears on Saturday.
Jenkins has been joined on the Exeter injury list by England centre Henry Slade and flanker Jacques Vermeulen who are also key players for the club.
“It is definitely not the start we wanted,” said Jenkins.
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“We’ve got a few players injured. Sladey and Jacques haven’t been too good. Having them back in a few games’ time will be huge for us.
“I think similar to the Wales results in the Six Nations and summer, just a few small changes and the results would have gone elsewhere.
“We’re disappointed with how we’re seeing out games. We’ve been in a few of them and that’s the most disappointing aspect.”
LAS VEGAS – Themba Gorimbo beat Niko Price with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 244 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Gorimbo, who was one of the card’s biggest favorites and won for the fourth straight time.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 12: (R-L) Themba Gorimbo of Zimbabwe punches Niko Price in a welterweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 12, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
“I think that was a tough fight. I thought Niko would go out sooner, but he’s a tough guy. I’m blessed to have won. Obviously, as a person you want a better performance, like knock the guy out and stuff. My mindset today was trying to finish the fight.”
Gorimbo on going the distance
“I feel good about (going 15 minutes). This is a tough sport. You need to be smart and win smartly and knock guys out and get out of there quicker, but sometimes guys are prepared for you at this level. It’s hard to get finishes. When you’re blessed to have one, celebrate it because sometimes it can go away very soon. Niko is tough. It was a good fight for me mentally because he took me to a place where a lot of people failed to, and it was a blessing.”
Gorimbo on what he wants next
Themba Gorimbo def. Niko Price, UFC Fight Night 244
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“I would like to come back and fight early January, latest. I have to earn my spot out of the Apex, but I don’t mind fighting at the Apex. The last card of the year, or 11th of January – I’d like to have one more fight before my 34th birthday. I’m no spring chicken. I know Black don’t crack. I look good, but I would like to fight on the 11th of January, start the year with a bang. I would love to fight in December if Nick Diaz and Vicente Luque – if one of them pulls out. I would love to fight one of them.”
To hear more from Gorimbo, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie is on scene reporting live from Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series 76 event, which begins at 8 p.m. ET.
Dana White’s Contender Series cards see prospects fighting for the opportunity to sign a UFC deal, with UFC president Dana White on hand to make the decisions.
The 10th and final week of the eighth season will see 10 fighters compete for their shot at a UFC contract. In the feature bout at middleweight, Nick Klein (5-1) will take on Heraldo Souza (9-1-1)
The UFC Apex hosts the card, which streams live on ESPN+.
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DWCS 76 full results
DWCS 76 round-by-round updates
Mohamed Ado vs. Jonathan Micallef
Round 1 –
Result: Recap: Photos: Dana White’s Contender Series 76: Best photos Records: Ado (6-0), Micallef (6-1) Division: Welterweight Broadcast: ESPN+ Referee:
Leslie Hernandez vs. Julieta Martinez
Round 1 –
Result: Recap: Photos: Dana White’s Contender Series 76: Best photos Records: Hernandez (4-1), Martinez (7-0) Division: Strawweight Broadcast: ESPN+ Referee:
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Yadier del Valle vs. Antonio Monteiro
Round 1 –
Result: Recap: Photos: Dana White’s Contender Series 76: Best photos Records: del Valle (7-0), Monteiro (17-4-1) Division: Featherweight Broadcast: ESPN+ Referee:
Luis Gurule vs. Nick Piccininni
Round 1 –
Result: Recap: Photos: Dana White’s Contender Series 76: Best photos Records: Gurule (9-0), Piccininni (7-0) Division: Flyweight Broadcast: ESPN+ Referee:
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Nick Klein vs. Heraldo Souza
Round 1 –
Result: Recap: Photos: Dana White’s Contender Series 76: Best photos Records: Klein (5-1), Souza (9-1-1) Division: Middleweight Broadcast: ESPN+ Referee:
DWCS 76 faceoffs
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 76.
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Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
With the 2024 NFL season under way, the 2025 NFL Draft Order is constantly on the move. Stay up to date with where each team sits after the week’s games:
Lions beat Cowboys, Can Dallas be fixed? | The Herd
When is the 2025 NFL Draft?
The NFL Draft will take place from Thursday, April 24, 2025, through Saturday, April 26, 2025. Here is a breakdown by round:
Round 1: Thursday, April 24
Rounds 2-3: Friday, April 25
Rounds 4-7: Saturday, April 26
Where is the 2025 NFL Draft?
The 2025 NFL Draft will take place in Green Bay, Wisconsin – home of the Packers. The draft will be held around Lambeau Field and Titletown campus.
How is the NFL Draft order determined?
The selection order is dictated by the reverse order of finish in the previous season. Each round starts with the team that finished with the worst record and ends with the Super Bowl champions, unless any trades have occurred. Teams that didn’t make the playoffs are given draft slots 1-20.
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In addition to this, up to a total of 32 compensatory picks are awarded to teams that lost significant free agents. These picks are made after the final 7th round selection.
Ferrari driver coach Jock Clear is adamant Charles Leclerc is ready to deliver a world championship as soon as the team gives him the car to do it.
Leclerc emerged as one of the fastest qualifiers on the grid since joining Ferrari in 2019, racking up 26 poles so far. His number of poles contrasts with winning ‘just’ seven grands prix, which has netted the Monegasque driver a reputation of being a much better qualifier than racer.
But given a large part of Leclerc’s Ferrari career overlaps with the team having been on the back foot in race trim, particularly in 2022 and 2023, his experienced Ferrari coach Clear feels that this reputation is not warranted, certainly not in 2024.
“His reputation in qualifying has certainly been cemented over those years and people tended to say to me two or three years ago he’s nowhere near as good in the race as he is in qualifying,” Clear told the F1 Nation podcast. “Well, that’s not really fair. It’s just that he’s very, very good at qualifying.
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“It’s probably true that we’ve shifted our focus slightly to making the car a better race car. Tyre management is, of course, always a hot topic. But we’ve seen Charles do some very good races. I remember back in ’22 in Austria, where Max [Verstappen] really struggled with tyre degradation, and Charles won that race with a really good drive.
“It’s not that Charles historically hasn’t been good on tyres. I think that as a combination we haven’t been focused that well on tyres.
“What we’ve seen this year is the result of us being more focused on getting the car working really well in the race and looking after those tyres, and Charles learning from previous years and honing those skills of tyre and race management. So, I think you’re just seeing a better representation of Charles as a driver and us as a race team.”
Pole man Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, in Parc Ferme after Qualifying
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
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Clear believes Leclerc “will deliver” once Ferrari has everything it takes to challenge for the world championship, which hasn’t happened yet in his six-year stay at the team. Leclerc and Ferrari came closest in 2022, but were outdeveloped by Red Bull as Verstappen romped home to his second straight title, while also throwing away points through various mistakes of their own.
“He’s got what it takes to be a world champion,” Clear said. “He’s got the qualifying pace. My god, I honestly think he’s the best qualifier we’ve seen. It’s difficult to go back as far as Michael [Schumacher] and Mika [Hakkinen] and people like that, but he is the best qualifier for sure. And his race management, if you look at Monza, it’s just exceptional. When everything’s lined up, he can deliver.
“Charles hasn’t been in that situation yet. Was 2022 genuinely a chance for Ferrari to win a world championship? You have to say it was, because at one point we were 40 points ahead. But we weren’t ready as a team and Red Bull outdeveloped us by the end of the year.
“Certainly, there were things that Charles would say were not at championship level during that year, but that is exactly the point. You’re not going to win a championship until all of you are at that level.
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“It’s unfair to say that Mercedes only won all those championships because they had the best car. They had the best everything. And it’s the same with Max [and Red Bull] in the last three years. When we deliver a car to consistently challenge for championship, which I think we’re on the brink of now, Charles will deliver.”
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