The decision to geld Watson at the end of last year has already been vindicated, and jockey Tim Clark sees no reason the Tulloch Lodge galloper can’t continue on his winning way at Randwick.

Placed just once from three starts as a juvenile colt, the four-year-old was cut prior to resuming in January and immediately put two wins on the board at Kembla Grange and Canterbury.

Stepped straight to Group company, the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained charge wasn’t disgraced, finishing fourth to Tempted in the Eskimo Prince Stakes (1200m).

He heads to Saturday’s Chandon Handicap (1200m) at Randwick off the back of a midweek win over Clear Proof, who franked the form with a victory at Canterbury on Wednesday, and Clark expects Watson to acquit himself well despite a tricky draw in 12.

“His record as a gelding is really good,” Clark said.

“It was a good win first-up with improvement to come. He’s taking that improvement into the weekend and he’s worked very well during the week.

“He’ll make his presence felt.

“I also feel the drier the track gets, the better for him.”

While Saturday’s assignment is at benchmark level, Clark believes Watson has the potential to work his way through to another shot at better grade.

He finished four lengths from Tempted in the Eskimo Prince Stakes, and less than three from runner-up Napoleonic, who has since placed in a Doomben 10,000 and will start one of the fancied runners in the Group 2 Missile Stakes (1200m) on Saturday.

“He ran really well in that race, and a hot race it was,” Clark said. “With where his rating is at, he can go through the ratings system, get good prizemoney, and if and when the time is right, Gai and Adrian can step him back into a harder race.”

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When the Green Bay Packers hired Matt LaFleur to replace Mike McCarthy — who was fired during the 2018 regular season — in 2019, it was to squeeze out another Super Bowl run with Aaron Rodgers.

Well, to date, Green Bay hasn’t advanced past the NFC Championship Game under LaFleur with both Rodgers (2019-22) and Jordan Love (2023-present) under center and has been eliminated in the NFC wild-card round in back-to-back years (2024-25).

And while LaFleur signed a new contract in January, could he actually be coaching for his job this season?

“Matt LaFleur has been in the league a while, and he’s probably on the coolest hot seat any coach has ever been on,” Colin Cowherd said on Friday’s edition of “The Herd.” “It’s not your usual hot seat, but two things are working against the Green Bay coach. No. 1, his division has Ben Johnson [Chicago Cubs] and Kevin O’Connell [Minnesota Vikings], brilliant offensive head coaches, top of the league, and then, the ultimate alpha-dog coach, Dan Campbell [Detroit Lions]. Over the last two years, the NFC North has won seven more games than the next division. It is probably or arguably the best coach division in football …

“Here’s the other thing: Matt LaFleur has now developed a reputation, and the Packers’ front office knows it, and they’re watching the last couple of playoff losses, where they get that big lead, very smart, sophisticated game plan, and then they’re not tough enough to finish the game off.”

The Packers, who began last season 9-3-1, lost their last four regular-season games before blowing a 21-3 halftime lead to the archival Chicago Bears in the wild-card round, marking five combined losses to end the year.

Under LaFleur (2019-25), the Packers are a combined 76-40-1 in the regular season, 3-6 in the postseason and have won three division titles (2019-21). His 76 regular-season wins and 65.4% winning percentage each rank fourth in team history.

Regarding this season, Green Bay has a new defensive coordinator in former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, who replaces Jeff Hafley, who left to become the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Gannon’s defense will begin the 2026 campaign without superstar defensive end Micah Parsons, who tore his ACL in Week 15 of last season.

As for their competition, one could argue the Packers’ division, the NFC North, is the best in the sport. The Bears are coming off their first division title since 2018 and are entering their second season with Johnson as head coach; the Lions missed the playoffs last season, but they won 15 games in 2024 and have posted a winning record in four consecutive seasons (2022-25); the Vikings, who won 14 games in 2024, still went 9-8 last season in a campaign that saw them start three different quarterbacks (J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer).

“Smart gets you a lead in pro football. Toughness gets you the win,” Cowherd said about LaFleur’s Packers. “At the end of games, eight, 12-play drives; no passes; head down; you’re bloodied; you pick up a third-and-1 three separate times, and I think that’s the question about Matt LaFleur and Green Bay. And I don’t think it’s a cheap shot. I think we got some data that it’s probably true.” 

The Scottish FA has identified a preferred candidate to be Scotland’s new head coach and hopes to make an appointment within two weeks.

It would mean the new boss is in place for Scotland’s opening Nations League triple-header, which begins away to Slovenia on 26 September.

Steve Clarke, who had signed a new four-year deal in May, resigned following Scotland’s group-stage exit at the World Cup this summer, ending his seven-year tenure.

The search for his replacement is being led by Craig Mulholland, who was appointed as the SFA’s chief football officer in May.

It is understood Mulholland has spoken to a wide range of candidates from the UK and beyond.

Interviews have been conducted and the SFA are closing in on an appointment.

It is unclear whether the incoming head coach will be a Scot or foreigner.

Steven Naismith, who served as Clarke’s assistant, said last month he expects to continue in the national team set-up under a new boss.

As the rain continues to pour down in Colombo, the first session is ended and lunch break has been taken. So far, India’s score read 67/1, with Devdutt Padikkal (44*) and KL Rahul (23*) unbeaten at the crease. Hoepfully, we will get the resumption soon but for now, there’s no confirmation. 

Oleksandr Usyk has maintained his interest in facing a former world champion, effectively placing the ball in his court as he equally considers another potential option.

The Ukrainian vacated his WBC, IBF and WBA heavyweight titles in June while, perhaps more importantly, revealing that he has just one fight left.

This followed his subpar performance against former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven, who gave a tremendous effort but ultimately suffered an 11th-round stoppage defeat in May.

Crucially, though, this was not supposed to be Usyk’s penultimate contest, as his original exit strategy – which he outlined earlier this year – involved two further fights.

Perhaps the Verhoeven clash was a little close for comfort but, either way, the two-division undisputed champion has already crafted a Hall of Fame-worthy career.

Not only that, but Usyk is firmly considered the greatest heavyweight of this era, having scored two respective victories over Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.

He would therefore be forgiven for taking an ‘easier’ fight against Deontay Wilder who, while a former WBC champion, is arguably further removed from his prime than Usyk.

But with the 40-year-old coming off a split decision victory over fellow veteran Derek Chisora, Usyk, 39, has told The Athletic that the American remains an ideal candidate for a stateside showdown.

“Why not? If Deontay’s team wants it, I do it. Money, business… Now we have two options, but what for me is good, we will take. The team is working on it.”

While stopping short of revealing his second option, it would seem that Wilder is, indeed, the frontrunner to face Usyk in his last dance.

Back in the 2020 season, the Vikings opted to keep things modest for Justin Jefferson to begin his NFL career. The Vikings rookie at WR was tasked with filling Stefon Diggs’ cleats. Best to bring the young lad along slowly.

But then reality hit.

Bisi Johnson had been working as the WR2 behind Adam Thielen until injury ruined the chance at being able to do so. Jefferson got tossed into that Week 3 Tennessee Titans game. Fireworks went off and Jefferson has never looked back.

Right now, the Vikings don’t have a young star in the building who is likely to get to that Jefferson level. By definition, being a historic talent is exceedingly rare. But what of the enthusiasm for corner Charles Demmings? Can the young corner continue with his early momentum? Johnson couldn’t slow down Jefferson for long; maybe Demmings can do something similar.

Vikings Rookie Charles Demmings Keeps Hype Going

Mr. Demmings stands at 6’1″ and weighs roughly 195 pounds. He thrives in press and offers 4.4 wheels. Getting him in the 5th Round was possible due to playing at a small school.

Check out what Jeff Diamond had to say in the former GM’s analysis for Vikings Territory: “This fifth-round pick is making an impact with his physical coverage skills at training camp, He comes out of small school Stephen F. Austin but I’m impressed that he’s not intimidated in his first NFL camp which we saw when he put a big hit on vet WR Jauan Jennings in practice this week.”

Diamond’s sense of the depth chart: “Demmings could push vet free agent signee James Pierre for the third corner or at least become the fourth corner who gets play time in certain defensive schemes and in the event of injury to the other corners.”

A final insight from the former GM: “He’s a 4.4 guy with good size at 6-1, 193 pounds who can run with wide receivers and should be able to play the run. Demmings will get good battle testing trying to cover the Vikings talented WR corps in camp and he’ll be worth watching when he plays a lot in preseason games. He should be another special teams standout. There have been a lot of late-round corners who wound up being great players. Perhaps Demmings can be such a player.”

Perhaps, indeed.

An NFL corner cannot have thin skin. Making a mistake is exceedingly obvious, so much so that even casual fans can see the gaffe in real time. Whoever is out at corner therefore needs to be a high-compete player who doesn’t lose confidence after losing a rep.

Demmings still has a long way to go before arriving at that spot, but he’s been raising eyebrows. The clip directly above features Thor Nystrom offering his early assessment of Demmings, noting that the rookie is getting some run with the first-team defense. That’s not a small detail, folks.

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Getting worked in among the starters isn’t reason to throw a celebratory parade. Nevertheless, that’s a good update since it suggests that he’s not buried on the depth chart. The CB4 gets work with the 1s, not the CB10.

The Vikings haven’t had a true CB1 since Xavier Rhodes. Back in 2017, Rhodes could get tasked with lining up across from the other side’s WR1 and win the day. That’s of immense value since it helps to tilt the numbers advantage back towards the defense.

Charles Demmings is a long way off from proving to be that player. In fact, he’s very unlikely to get there. Most 1st-Round corners don’t get to a similar level of Rhodes, who was an All Pro and Defensive Player of the Year candidate. What’s not uncertain, though, is that getting that guy — a true island corner — is of immense value.

Adding somebody such as James Pierre means inserting a hurdle into the competition. The plan involves the young fella developing slowly while the elder statesman gets the job done in the immediate. Pierre is basically a roadblock in front of the rookie’s playing time. Does Demmings slow down at all as he speeds toward Week 1? Or, perhaps, does Demmings keep gathering speed as he bursts through the corners ahead of him?

Demmings, 23, gets back to work later today at Vikings training camp.

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Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

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Trainer Jason Warren believes Palm Angel has been a victim of her early two-year-old form.

Palm Angel is slated to make her twelfth start in the Drummond Golf Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield Heath on Saturday.

In her eleven prior starts, Palm Angel has recorded two wins, which are the only times the now four-year-old mare has finished in the placings.

On debut, Palm Angel won the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield, and two starts later, she captured the Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m), also at Caulfield.

Warren is not disappointed that the then filly secured crucial Black Type for her future stud career, but Palm Angel has faced the consequences since.

In eight runs since her Blue Diamond Prelude victory, Palm Angel’s closest performance to a placing was fourth in a three-year-old fillies benchmark 78 grade race when she was assigned 60.5kg before Jackson Radley’s 3kg claim.

For Saturday’s race, Palm Angel is back in a benchmark 74 race with 61.5kg, which will be offset by Jackson Radley’s 2kg claim.

“She’s carried a lot of weight ever since her early days, but I’m happy with how she’s going and her work has been good,” Warren said.

“I’m hopeful that she can bounce back on Saturday.”

“She probably gets into the race OK at the weights after the claim for what she has been getting.”

At her most recent race on July 18, Palm Angel finished sixth over 1400m at Flemington.

“I thought her run last start from a difficult barrier was a good run,” Warren commented.

“Jackson had to go too far back from a wide gate, and she was good to the line.”

“I think she’s been looking for a little bit further now and it has been a little bit of time between drinks for her.”

“What we don’t want is any more rain for her.”

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