Local handler Pat Carey has rid himself of the longstanding Hareeba Stakes curse as Recon produced a spectacular finishing kick to prevail at Mornington.

For years, the Listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m) had eluded Carey despite persistent attempts, such as the 2006 second place with Kelthorpe and third by Dan Zephyr a decade later.

Another 10 years elapse, granting the stable of Pat Carey and Harris Walker the signature sprint on Mornington Cup Day via Recon.

Ridden by Patrick Moloney, the $4.80 shot Recon stormed to a 1-½ length success ahead of $4.40 top pick La Fracas, followed half a length back by $10 Pop Award in third.

“This race has been a bit of a thorn in my side,” Carey said.

“We’ve had plenty of goes at this race, so it’s nice to win this race today.

“I’ve run a number of placings in it but Recon has always shown good ability.

“Steve Watkins, who owns him and bred him, always felt he was one of his better horses he has had and he’s had a number of good horses including Abaridy who won a Caulfield Guineas.

“He got shuffled back to nearly last at one point just before the corner, but Pat didn’t panic and brought him out wide and gave him a clear run.

“He’s done nothing wrong since coming down to Melbourne, and he’s got a bit bigger and bit stronger. He’s still a lightly raced horse and he’s still learning his trade and open to good improvement.”

Upon transferring to Mornington after the Epsom Training Centre’s closure last century, Carey acquired the stalls previously occupied by Ken Newman, trainer of Hareeba.

“When Kenny wound down his training operation, I took over his stalls and I daresay the stall Recon sits in everyday is Hareeba’s old stall,” Carey said.

Carey plans to digest the Saturday result before eyeing Recon’s future targets, with six victories in 11 starts to his name.

“I haven’t thought about anything other than today,” Carey said.

“He’s a lightly raced horse and there’s lots of races for a horse like him this year, next year and hopefully the year after.”

Visit premier betting sites to access racing odds for Hareeba Stakes events.

Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off a brilliant win over Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling IPL 2026 encounter in Hyderabad on Saturday. CSK looked well on course for victory during their 195-run chase but Nitish Kumar Reddy and Eshan Malinga took five wickets among themselves to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat. The magnitude and importance of the victory was quite clear from SRH owner Kavya Maran’s reaction after the victory. In a video going viral on social media, Kavya Maran looked extremely excited as her team emerged victorious and she celebrated by punching the air and clapping for the players.

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan couldn’t have been more pleased with a group of young pacers, who are executing the bowling plans to the ‘T.

SRH ENTERS TOP 4 OF IPL POINTS TABLE.

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– An animated celebration by Kavya Maran.pic.twitter.com/kPm109cPtU

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 18, 2026

Chasing 195, Chennai Super Kings were kept down to 184 for 8 as pacers Eshan Malinga (3/29 in 4 overs), Sakib Hussain (1/32 in 4 overs), Nitish Reddy (2/31 in 4 overs) and spinner Shivang Kumar (1/18 in 3 overs) were bang on target.

“It is lovely when you have a bunch of young bowlers who are coming up with their own plans and executing the team plans as well. As a captain, it makes my job easier to set fields,” Kishan said after the end of the match.

With Pat Cummins not available during first half, Kishan was happy to trust the young bunch.

“Looking at them at practice, seeing them get better day by day, they are keen on doing well, so you give them ball and let them do what they want to,” he said.

While he was happy with bowling, Kishan conceded that on this batting track, SRH were at least 20 runs short but bowlers covered for the batters.

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said that not having big overs at the start of the back-10 dented their chances.

“It was just about 80 runs needed in 10 overs (with the bat). From there it was just about building a couple of partnerships. We scored just 4 runs in the next 2 overs after the 10-over mark. Chasing 12-13 at the death is going to be difficult,” said Gaikwad.

He lauded the bowlers for keeping SRH below 200.

“Looking at how their powerplay went, I was looking at a score around 220-230. To pull it back by 30 runs, I would have taken it any day under 200. It’s been three successive games that the bowling unit has been doing really well.

“Even the powerplay today I thought Abhishek played brilliantly. I think everyone did a good job (with the ball),” he added. 

(With PTI inputs)

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IPL 2026 News | Shami’s Sensation Leads Lucknow to First Win of Season

A bizarre incident took place during the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 season. Quetta Gladiators announced Sri Lanka batter Dinesh Chandimal as a direct replacement for New Zealand all-rounder Bevon Jacobs in the middle of the tournament, with the latter set to join his national side. Incredibly, however, both Chandimal and Jacobs played together in Quetta Gladiators’ game against Lahore Qalandars on Friday. The franchise later attempted to clarify how the confusing incident took place, despite an official announcement having already been made.

After the match, Nabeel Hashmi, the General Manager of Quetta Gladiators, tried to reason why Chandimal and Jacobs played together.

Hashmi responded to a fan’s question on social media, stating that English pacer Tom Curran suffered an untimely illness, forcing Chandimal and Jacobs to both play.

“Tom Curran was unwell and had to stay back in hotel. Chandimal came in for Tom in this particular match,” Hashmi wrote on X.

Tom Curran was unwell and had to stay back in hotel.

Chandimal came in for Tom in this particular match. https://t.co/PbvmQZBuI4

— Nabeel Hashmi (@iNabeelHashmi) April 17, 2026

The explanation was met by criticism from several other fans on social media, with some questioning the legality of such a manoeuvre and others trolling the move.

In PSL it is allowed to mark a player ill and make activate a replacements. I think this is not a good way to run a league. There are time when teams carry injured players. In 2023 cricket world cup kane Williamson hand got injured still replacement wasn’t made.

— Syed Hassnain Shah (@Hassnain246) April 17, 2026

So it means you can have 8 or more OS players in your squad and make one player “injure” and play another, ridiculous rule tbh

— odin (@odin_is_here) April 17, 2026

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Unwell does not qualify u to play with PSL rules. U already have other players to choose from

— YASIR NISAR SYED (@YasirNisarSyed) April 17, 2026

Hahahaha what a joke.

— BurgerBacha 2.0 (@CRICKETBACHA) April 17, 2026

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What makes the replacement announcement even more intriguing is that Jacobs’ international duties with New Zealand are still more than a week away, beginning from April 27.

Quetta Gladiators went on to win their game against Lahore Qalandars quite comfortably, in what was a rematch of the PSL 2025 final. Lahore Qalandars won the toss and opted to bat, but were skittled out for just 134 in 19.5 overs. Spinner Usman Tariq, who was in the headlines during the T20 World Cup 2026 for his controversial bowling action, picked up three wickets.

In response, South African batter Rilee Rossouw slammed an unbeaten 60, anchoring Quetta Gladiators to victory with 3.4 overs to spare. Chandimal and Bevon Jacobs both batted, with the latter at the crease as his side won the game.

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Delhi vs Mumbai IPL 2026: Fans Flood Arun Jaitley Stadium for High-Voltage Clash

In talking about the Masters Champions Dinner menu, there are two groups of folks. There are the Masters champions who eat its contents with fork, knife and spoon. 

And there are those who poke and prod it. 

With that, we bring you an exchange this week on “The Steam Room” show, hosted by announcer Ernie Johnson and basketball hall of famer-golf junkie Charles Barkley. They’d been asked what they would put on their menu — and what Barkley thought of this year’s, which was developed by Rory McIlroy. Video of the answers is below, and below that are some thoughts. 

“>

Before we get to that, here is McIlroy’s complete menu: 

–There were four appetizers: peach and ricotta flatbread with balsamic, hot honey and basil; rock shrimp tempura with creamy spicy sauce; bacon-wrapped dates with goat cheese and almonds; and grilled elk sliders with caramelized onion jam and roasted garlic aioli. 

–There was a first course: yellowfin tuna carpaccio with foie gras, toasted baguette and chives. 

–There was a choice for the main course: Wagyu filet mignon or seared salmon. With either came traditional Irish champ, sauteed brussels sprouts, glazed carrots with brown butter and crispy vidalia onion rings. 

–There was a dessert: sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream and warm toffee sauce. 

Barkley’s thoughts? He took issue with three items: 

–The peach and ricotta flatbread. “It’s a little too foo-foo for me,” he said. “… You got to have meat on your flatbread.”

–The bacon-wrapped dates. “Oh, come on. Stop it. That’s the only way you can up f**k up bacon.”

–The yellowfin tuna carpaccio. “That’s like really thinly like — yeah, no, no, no, no.” 

What about the main course? Barkley said this: “You know, I only eat tilapia. And there’s a couple other fish I eat, but not salmon. Branzino, I love branzino. And there’s one more I eat because fish is too fishy for me. I know that sounds stupid.”

And McIlroy’s dessert?  

“I don’t think you can go wrong with that,” Barkley said.

Here’s what Barkley would have:

–The main course? “I’ll take the fried chicken they got at the Masters. It’s some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had in my life when I was there.” 

–Appetizers? Shrimp cocktail and crab cocktail. 

–What else? A Caesar salad, no anchovies. And “some type of vegetarian bulls**t.”

–Any seafood? A dover sole. 

–Dessert? Key lime pie and apple pie and vanilla ice cream.

Additional thoughts?

Said Johnson: “I don’t even know what to say.”

Said Barkley: “Yummy.”

“>

Earlier tonight at WrestleMania 42, Paige (fka Saraya) made her long-awaited return to WWE for the first time in almost four years. Could Tony Khan counter this move by bringing in a beloved name to AEW?

The former WWE Divas Champion came out tonight as Nikki Bella’s replacement, as she was unable to fight through her ankle injury. This was an incredible return, as in the end, she and Brie Bella would end up winning the women’s tag team titles.

AEW has a stacked women’s division, and there is no shortage of stars who could steal the show. But one name who they were once interested in has been making waves after making her in-ring return following her release from WWE last year. This would be Charlie (fka Dakota Kai).

Her match with Kris Statlander last month was highly talked about within the wrestling world. She also faced off with Shotzi Blackheart earlier this week on HOG. Seeing as she is more active in the ring, Tony Khan could end up offering her an AEW deal. The promotion was reportedly interested in her a few years ago, but she chose to return to WWE. Now they could finally bring her in.

The former WWE Superstar is open to going to either AEW or any other major promotion

A few months ago, Dakota Kai finally broke her silence on her wrestling future, as she remains a free agent.

While appearing on Busted Open Radio, she mentioned how she was open to joining either AEW or TNA, seeing as there are a lot of names on their rosters she would love to face. She revealed that she hadn’t given it much thought, but hopefully her return to the ring pushes her to go all the way and get back into wrestling fully.

“I think once I get back into it, both [AEW and TNA] and so many more have people that I would love to face in the ring. I haven’t really like pinpointed it down to any particular thing. I just think once I do this match [against Kris Statlander] and get the wheels turning again and doing all that, wherever my path may lead, I’m open to it completely,” she said. [H/T – WrestlePurist on X]

It has been a while since then, and seeing as she has been making appearances in the independent circuit, it may not be long before she signs with a major promotion. She continues to be well-liked among the fans, and it will be interesting to see how things go for her if she goes back to wrestling full-time.