The hoop’s great day in the saddle followed a Boxing Day double at Randwick courtesy of Serenissima and Referees, both for Darley Australia’s head trainer, Peter Snowden.

McEvoy landed the treble and a race-to-race double on the Adam Spitzer-trained Smart Punch after wins on Chiamaka for Paul Perry and Altavilla for Snowden.

And it was Snowden who was happiest to see McEvoy enjoying a winning run.

“He’s a very hard worker and it was always going to take a little while for him to adjust to Australian racing, but we’re starting to form a good combination,” he said.

“He’s had his critics but Kerrin is riding so well at the moment and nobody deserves the success more than he does.”

Multiple suspensions have interrupted McEvoy’s return to Australia from the UK in August to be the No. 1 rider for Darley Australia and he has not only come under fire from stewards but from punters and the media alike.

McEvoy, who won this year’s Caulfield Cup on All The Good for Godolphin, took the treble in his stride and said it was crucial for him to continue working hard.

“Everything’s going well but I’ll just be keeping my head down and putting in the hours,” he said.

“It was always going to take a bit of time to re-adjust but I’m feeling very good about my riding.”

Spitzer praised McEvoy for his patient ride on Smart Punch who was held up until the last 100m in the Golden Slipper On Sale Handicap (1300m) before bursting through to defeat Triple Down by a short head.

“Kerrin was brilliant, he never panicked at any stage and when the gap came he pounced, he’s a top rider,” Spitzer said.

Smart colt Chiamaka, who started at $4.40, benefited from a perfectly rated front-running ride by McEvoy to easily account for $2.60 favourite Tinjirarni in the Caravan And Camping Show April 18-25 Handicap (1100m).

McEvoy took advantage of barrier one, driving Chiamaka to the lead.

And on straightening, Tinjirarni was travelling fourth and was looming as a danger but Chiamaka kicked in the final 200m and quickly put paid to his rivals, going on to defeat the favourite by 1 1/4 lengths.

Stable representative Nathan Perry said he expected Chiamaka to run a bold race second-up this preparation following his fifth to Putheron at Gosford on December 11 over 1100m.

“His work at home has been very good leading into this and we were quietly confident and Kerrin gave him every chance with a perfect ride,” Perry said.

Herald Sun

The 30-metre maxi finished the 628-nautical mile race down the Australian eastern seaboard in one day 20 hours 34 minutes and 14 seconds.

Wild Oats XI holds the race record of one day 18 hours 40 minutes 10 seconds set in its 2005 win.

The record was under threat up until early Sunday when the prevailing winds subsided in the Derwent River.

Another maxi, 2003 winner Skandia, finished second, one hour and seven minutes behind Wild Oats XI, while Quest was leading the race on handicap.

Wild Oats XI last year equalled the record of the three successive Sydney-Hobart wins of Morna from 1946-48.

Sunday’s record-breaking triumph was not without incident.

The Mark Richards-skippered vessel was forced to stop temporarily late Saturday to free a two-metre (6.5 foot) shark from its rudder.

Richards said the collision with the shark proved a godsend.

He said his boat had underperformed after picking something up on its keel leaving Sydney Harbour on Friday.

Richards said having to stop and reverse to clear the shark also removed whatever was dragging on the yacht.

“The second we got him off, the boat was back to its old self,” Richards told reporters.

He said his crew knew upon leaving Sydney Harbour there was something impeding the yacht.

The skipper said he had contemplated sending a crew member over the side to inspect the keel.

“But we just never stopped. When you are doing 20-25 knots all the time it’s a hard thing to work out what to actually do,” he said.

“So we were waiting for the opportunity but in the end we didn’t have one — we had to do it anyway.”

Wild Oats XI crew member Peter Shipway said competitors Skandia had them worried throughout the blue water classic.

“She was very competitive against us and we just couldn’t nail her for a long, long while,” Shipway said.

“It was only yesterday (Saturday) when it (winds) got a bit light and flukey that we got in front of her.”

Skandia led Wild Oats XI for much of the race but its slight advantage was wiped out late Saturday.

“Once they sailed up to us when the wind shut down last night we knew that was going to be the end of the fun,” Skandia skipper Grant Wharington said.

This year Wild Oats XI did not have a major international maxi to compete against, with the ongoing Volvo Ocean Race depriving the Australian event of some powerful overseas entrants.

Ichi Ban was third across the line ahead of ASM Shockwave 5 and Limit with the remainder of the 2008 fleet expected to finish the race in the coming days.

AFP:

Those batsmen, of course, were their bowlers, whose tail-end exploits empowered them when their turn came with the ball, particularly Peter Siddle. It is nothing new for Australia’s tail to score quality runs, but the manner in which they did it in the morning session set the tone: first extremely aggressively (46 runs in the first six overs of the day) and then calmly, as the startlingly mature Michael Clarke repeatedly fed Siddle singles with the first ball of the over. It is a much-debated tactic, and has been since Steve Waugh patented it, but here it served to inform the South Africans that the game was being played on Australia’s terms – and, probably, that Australia were extremely happy with a score of just under 400 given the sluggish outfield.

Siddle, who faced 49 of 71 balls in that last-wicket stand with Clarke, was boosted further by a splendid piece of captaincy from Ricky Ponting. It takes huge courage to not give the new ball to a man who took 11 of your 14 wickets in the last Test, but Ponting preferred Siddle, on his home ground, to Mitchell Johnson. Siddle bounded in like he wanted to run to the ends of the earth for his captain. He found an extra yard of speed, peaking at around 93mph, and claimed Neil McKenzie in his first over with a sharply cutting delivery that might make McKenzie, a disciple of leaving the ball outside off stump, consider renouncing his faith for the rest of the tour at least.

The big wicket, inevitably, was that of McKenzie’s opening partner Smith, who once again was hugely impressive. He has the same hulking presence of old, but he is a lighter man these days, both in mind and body: at the crease he is limber and no longer grips his bottom hand like an insecure boyfriend. Being made South Africa’s youngest captain meant that, not unlike a child prodigy, he did his growing up in public, and so there were inevitable Drew Barrymore moments. But now he is a magnificent specimen of masculinity, sport’s take on Tyler Durden. And he’s still only 27.

Because Smith has such obvious bat-for-your-life qualities, there is sometimes an inclination to think of him as a grinder; he is anything but. He is an enforcer, who is loath to miss any scoring opportunities: among openers of the last 20 years, only Virender Sehwag and Sanath Jayasuriya have a higher strike-rate than Smith’s 61.05. He was down to 54.86 today, mainly because of an elbow injury that would have forced 99.94% of men out of the game, and partly because he was increasingly deprived of his off-side oxygen. When Siddle offered him some with a deliberately wider delivery, Smith gulped too hard and was caught behind.

Once the South African head went, the body twitched and began to collapse. Logically, it is hard to see how South Africa can avoid defeat now, with a deficit just shy of 200 runs and only three wickets, but logic has been at a premium during this magnificent last fortnight of Test cricket. Given the events of Perth, Australia will not be comfortable until their lead reaches 500. But if, as seems likely, we go to a decider at Sydney, this already sensational series will enter a whole new dimension.

Rob Smyth: 3-D bowlers put Australia back in the picture against South Africa | Sport | guardian.co.uk