Maragh wins Joe Hirsch shoot-out but breaks arm in spill

ELMONT, New York (CMC) — Jamaican jockey Rajiv Maragh snatched a thrilling win aboard Main Sequence in the US$600,000 Grade I Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes here Saturday, but his outing at Belmont Park turned sour when he suffered a broken arm in the next race after taking a heavy spill.

Going off at odds of 2-1 in the trip over one and a half miles, Maragh and Main Sequence recovered from a slow start before getting the better of a stretch duel with Twilight Eclipse to win by a neck in a time of two minutes, 26.32 seconds.

The victory was the third consecutive Grade I win for the five-year-old chestnut gelding in the United States since shipping from England, following victories in the United Nations Stakes in July at Monmouth Park and the Sword Dancer in August at Saratoga.

With the race a Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” race in the Turf division, it means Main Sequence will now head to the prestigious series at Santa Anita in the first week of November.

All this was marred, however, in the very next race – race 11 – when Maragh took a tumble while aboard Wicked Strong in the US$1 million Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes.

The three-year-old colt clipped heels with 7-2 bet Moreno and went down on the far turn during the trip over a mile-and-a-quarter. Maragh lay motionless on the track for several moments after the fall before being stretchered off and rushed to North Shore Hospital on Long Island complaining of pain in his right arm.

Moreno, ridden by Junior Alvarado, finished fourth but was disqualified and placed last, after a stewards’ enquiry found the pair had drifted over to the inside and into the path of Wicked Strong, causing the spill.

Favourite Tonalist, the Belmont Stakes winner, went on to win the race.

Things were a lot brighter for Maragh in the preceding hour when he produced a superb drive to get Main Sequence up late.

He was then forced to undergo an anxious wait as a result of a stewards’ enquiry into an incident in the stretch when Main Sequence and Twilight Eclipse bumped.

“When he made the lead, it was a little sooner than we wanted,” Maragh said.

“He started loafing a little bit. I tried to make him see the other horse, and a little contact happened. I felt like I was going to be okay on the inquiry, but it was nerve-wracking.”

Imagining set sluggish fractions through the opening stages, posting 26.53 seconds for the quarter and 50.89 for the half-mile, with Real Solution stalking from second, and Medal Count and Twilight Agenda keeping in touch.

Main Sequence, who broke slowly, raced from fifth before being roused on the far turn as the pace quickened. In the stretch, Imagining faded slowly as Main Sequence and Twilight Eclipse battled to the wire.

In the last eighth, Twilight Eclipse drifted out and Main Sequence also drifted in, resulting in a bump, which was questioned by the connections of Twilight Eclipse afterward, but the result was allowed to stand.

Twilight Eclipse earned US$360,000 from the win to take his lifetime earnings to US$1.6 million.

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Maragh wins Joe Hirsch shoot-out but breaks arm in spill

Three injured One dead after police shootout

Bjorn Burke, Staff Reporter

Detectives from the Spanish Town Police Station are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting of four persons, one of whom has died, in Westmore Gardens, Spanish Town, St Catherine on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as 24-year-old Jeffrey James of a Job Lane, Spanish Town address in the parish.

The police’s Corporate Communications Unit, the information arm of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), reports that sometime after 7 p.m., James and three other men were allegedly listening to music on a thoroughfare in the community when a motorcar approached them. One man alighted form the vehicle, opening fire on the group before escaping. The police were summoned and the injured men were taken to hospital where James was pronounced dead. Two of the were admitted in stable condition while one is admitted in serious condition

No motive has yet been established for the attack.

Persons with information are being urged to call 119, or the Spanish Town Police Station at (876) 984-3163.

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Three injured One dead after police shootout

Honduras shootout kills at least 10

6 August 2013 Last updated at 04:56 ET At least 10 people have been killed in a clash between rival drug gangs in Honduras, the country’s deputy defence minister says.

The shootout happened in La Mosquitia, a remote region on Honduras’ Atlantic coast.

The area is the main transit route for cocaine being transported from South America to the United States.

Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world, much of it blamed on gang violence and drug traffickers.

Deputy Defence Minister Carlos Funez said one of those killed was a gang leader from neighbouring Nicaragua.

He said the body of drug lord Victor Centeno had been taken across the border by members of his gang.

Nicaraguan and Honduran gangs have been fighting for control of the sparsely populated Gracias a Dios province, from where they launch speedboats smuggling cocaine to the United States.

Mr Funez said navy and army personnel had been despatched to the area to investigate the incident and to establish the exact number of casualties and their identity.

Local authorities said the number of dead could be as high as 16, with women and children among the victims.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in Honduras in the fist six months of 2013, according to government figures.

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Honduras shootout kills at least 10

Gunman among seven dead after Florida apartment shoot-out

News

Sunday, July 28, 2013

HIALEAH, Florida (AP) — A gunman holding hostages inside a South Florida apartment complex killed six people before being shot dead by a SWAT team that stormed the building early yesterday morning following an stand-off, police said.Sgt Eddie Rodriguez told The Associated Press that police got a call around 6:30 pm EDT Friday that shots had been fired in a building with dozens of apartments in Hialeah, just a few miles north of Miami.Although a crisis team was able to briefly establish communication with the man, Rodriguez said talks eventually “just fell apart” with the gunman, who was holding two hostages on the fifth floor. Both of them survived when officers stormed the building, fatally shooting the gunman during an exchange of gunfire.The dead bodies of three women and two men were found at two different apartment units inside the building, which Rodriguez said was in a “very quiet neighbourhood”. Another man who was walking his children into an apartment across the street was also killed.

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Gunman among seven dead after Florida apartment shoot-out

Spain edge Italy in nail-biting penalty shoot-out

FORTALEZA, Brazil (AFP) — Jesus Navas settled a nail-biting penalty shoot-out 7-6 for Spain as the world and European champions edged Italy on a sultry evening in Fortaleza yesterday to set up a Confederations Cup final meeting with Brazil.

After the semi-final finished goalless following extra time, Leonardo Bonucci proved the fall guy for the Italians, blazing the 13th kick of the shoot-out over the bar before Manchester City new boy Navas calmly tucked his penalty home.Spain will now seek to complete the set of senior international titles, having also won Olympic gold in Barcelona in 1992, but hosts Brazil were spared a 120-minute semi-final and will have had 24 extra hours to recover.Italy were left to curse their luck after initially shackling Spain in the first half, and coach Cesare Prandelli must now galvanise minds and bodies for Sunday’s meeting with Uruguay in the third-place play-off.He will nonetheless draw solace from the way his side matched Spain, having seen Italy crushed 4-0 when the sides last met in last year’s one-sided Euro 2012 final in Kiev.Chastened by the memory of that game, Prandelli reverted to the formula he had successfully used in the 1-1 draw between the sides earlier in that tournament.Italy lined up with a three-man defence and no fewer than six midfielders at Estadio Castelao, Claudio Marchisio and Antonio Candreva providing support for lone striker Alberto Gilardino.As a result, Spain’s intricate passing exchanges foundered far from the Italian goal, and Prandelli’s men were bold in their exploitation of the space behind the Spanish defence.Right wing-back Christian Maggio was particularly prominent, heading over from a corner and then drawing a fine save from Iker Casillas with a header after Andrea Pirlo picked him out with a raking 60-yard pass.The Napoli man seemed destined to break the deadlock in the 36th minute when Emanuele Giaccherini’s inviting cross found him steaming in on Casillas’ goal, but his header was straight at the goalkeeper.Within seconds, Fernando Torres almost punished Italy, but after neatly outfoxing Andrea Barzagli, he drilled his left-foot shot across goal and wide.Amid cloying humidity, the intensity dropped in the second half, and Spain occasionally found themselves in the unfamiliar position of hearing their opponents’ passing combinations celebrated with chants of ‘Ole!’Spain centre-back Gerard Pique, watched by celebrity girlfriend Shakira, could have settled the tie in the 85th minute, but he blazed over from Navas’ low pass and the game went to extra time.Italy almost broke through in the third minute of the extra period when Emanuele Giaccherini rattled the post with a rising left-foot drive.Del Bosque elected to swap Torres for holding midfielder Javi Martinez, but it gave Spain momentum, with Pique and Jordi Alba both going close.Substitute Juan Mata also curled wide, before Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon unconvincingly palmed a shot from Xavi onto the post and Martinez’s follow-up effort evaded Mata’s toes by inches.Buffon also had to touch away a low effort from Navas as Spain threatened to snatch victory at the death, but thanks to Bonucci’s misfortune, the Spain substitute would still have the final say.Spain edge Italy in nail-biting penalty shoot-outFORTALEZA, Brazil — Spain’s midfielder Jesus Navas (left) scores his penalty past Italy’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon during the penalty shoot-out at the end of the extra time to defeat Italy in their FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 semi-final match at the Castelao Stadium here, yesterday. (PHOTOS: AFPFORTALEZA, Brazil — Spain’s defender Sergio Ramos (left) and midfielder Santi Cazorla celebrate after defeating Italy in the penalty shoot-out at the end of the extra time of their FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 semi-final match, at the Castelao Stadium here, yesterday.

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Spain edge Italy in nail-biting penalty shoot-out