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• Frazsiers Whip to represent Jamaica in inaugural Concacaf Women's Champions Cup

  As expected, Frazsiers Whip will be Jamaica’s representative in the inaugural Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup, a new annual tournament that includes the best clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean and crowns the region’s women’s club champion.

  The tournament is also the sole path through which clubs in Concacaf can qualify for the new FIFA Women’s Club World Cup, which FIFA has committed to launching in the near future.

  By virtue of winning the 2022/23 Jamaica Women’s Premier League, Frazsiers Whip booked their spot for the first edition of the competition, which will feature 11 clubs from seven Member Associations.

  The other confirmed participants are Canada’s 2023 League One Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship winners Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Costa Rica’s LD Alajuelense, Mexico’s Tigres UANL Femenil, as well as the United States trio of Gotham FC, San Diego Wave FC and Portland Thorns FC.

  El Salvador and Panama are yet to confirm their representatives for their solitary spots, while Mexico’s two other representatives will be known at the conclusion of the Liga MX Clausura.

  

  Interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert, who guided Frazsiers Whip to league honours, welcomed the move by Concacaf, which he believes will offer some exposure for local players, despite the gulf in class between other leagues around the region and Jamaica's Women's League.

  "It's important for local football, however, I don't think any of our local teams will be able to match up with the teams from Mexico or United States. Those clubs are professional clubs playing in a fully professional leagues, while ours is nowhere close to their standard," Gilbert told SportsMax.TV in a recent interview.

  "But it is good, it is more football and more exposure for our local players. At the same time, I think it sends a signal of how important it is for us to look at what we are doing in terms of resources and surfaces for our local teams. So, it is good move by Concacaf, and I think it's for us now here in Jamaica to look at what we are doing and try to improve the quality of our league," he added.

  The official draw for the tournament is scheduled for June 6.

  Action in the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup is expected to get underway in August, with a Preliminary Round, followed by Group and Knockout Stage play. The Preliminary Round Play-in will be a single-leg match between two clubs, with the winner advancing to the Group Stage. 
  
  The Group Stage will feature 10 clubs divided into two groups of five clubs each. Each club will play every club in its group once, for a total of four matches per club (two at home and two away). At the conclusion of Group Stage play, the group winners and runners-up (four clubs) will progress to the competition’s final four. 
  
  The semifinals, third-place encounter, and final, where the first-ever Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup winners will be crowned, will be centralized in a venue to be announced.

• Bajan triathletes produce credible showing at World Development Regional Cup

  A six-member Barbados team were left basking in their credible performance at the recently competed 2024 World Triathlon Development Regional Cup in Puerto Rico.

  The squad comprised of Zahra Gaskin, Isis Gaskin, Luke McIntyre, Alexis Lashley, Ali Banfield and Laila McIntyre, won one event and also had several other podium finishes.

  Laila McIntyre placed first in the girls’ 12-13 super sprint, and also finished second overall in the girls’ 12-15 super sprint. Banfield was right behind her, finishing second in the girls’ 12-13 super sprint, while also placing fifth overall in the girls’ 12-15 super sprint.

  Meanwhile, Lashley finished third in the girls’ 14-15 super sprint and fourth overall in the girls’ 12-15 super sprint.

  Zahra Gaskin was also impressive, as she registered a third-place finish in the sprint elite females, and second in the female 20+ category, while Isis Gaskin was fourth overall in the sprint elite females, and second in the female 18 to 19 category.

  Luke McIntyre, the team's lone male representative, competed in his first Junior Men’s Elite Race where he placed a commendable 11th.

• Light seeking to shine again at Sandown

  Kitty’s Light is taking aim at his usual season finisher in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown.

  The gelding has been a star for trainer Christian Williams, winning big handicap events like the Eider Chase and the Scottish Grand National and going close in the Charlie Hall and the Coral Trophy.

  He has particularly good record in the bet365 Gold Cup on the final day of the season, missing out only due to interference when second in 2021 and coming home third in 2022.

  Last year he was completed the set of podium finishes when winning by two and a half lengths under usual jockey Jack Tudor.

  The two are well acquainted and teamed up for Kitty’s Light’s Grand National bid at Aintree earlier in the month, where he ran a valiant race to finish fifth behind four Grade-One winning Irish chasers.

  Williams was incredibly proud of his stable star and is now hoping the gelding can shine again in the Sandown contest he has found to be lucrative in the past.

  “It was wonderful, we trained him to win the race and we thought he could, but you couldn’t be disappointed with what he did,” Williams said of the National performance.

  “We were thrilled, the horse tried his best and we were very, very proud of horse and jockey.

  “He’s come out of it very well, if the race was run today even then he’d be running, he’s in good form.

  “He loves it at Sandown with the big fences, his jumping has come on now but even as a five-year-old he nearly won the race.

  “He was third the year after that, it really seems to suit him.

  “I think he likes going right-handed, he hangs a little bit right at home and he seems to really enjoy it there.

  “We’re taking our chance anyway, he seems well and we’ll hope for the best.”