Latest news with #NathanBennett
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Warnie chasing consolation prize in Eye Liner Stakes after missing out on Stradbroke Handicap
Australia's cricketers couldn't get it done in the recent World Test Championship final, but keen cricket fan Nathan Bennett is hoping his horse Warnie can pay tribute to legendary former spin king Shane Warne. Syndicator Bennett, currently on holiday with his family travelling around WA in a motorhome, is convinced Warnie would have given the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap a mighty shake if he had scraped into the field. The four-year-old gelding was stranded as a Stradbroke emergency, ending up two outside the starting field, and will instead race for the consolation prize of the Listed Eye Liner Stakes (1350m) at Ipswich on Saturday. Ciaron Maher-trained Warnie is the $2.50 favourite and looks the one to beat. He flew home in the Group 2 Moreton Cup, finishing third behind Front Page, when a win would have given him a golden ticket into the Stradbroke. He has drawn favourably in barrier three at Ipswich and Sydney jockey Regan Bayliss will ride. 'He was surging home in the Moreton Cup and another 20m, he would have won and won his way into the Straddy,' Bennett said. 'This horse is flying and we were hopeful he would get in the Stradbroke, as with a light weight we were pretty confident he could have gone close. 'He has sometimes been cruelled by barriers this horse. 'But this time we have drawn well and out to the 1350(m) will really suit. 'He can race a bit closer to the speed than he has been and so with the barrier draw we can always find a spot, rather than be chasing them from right back in the field. 'I don't think Ipswich is the place you want to be trying to come from too far back.' Bennett purchased the galloper from a sale in Ireland and he had his first start in a two-year-old race at Royal Ascot in 2023 when James McDonald rode him. The horse got his name because when it came time to name him, there was an Ashes cricket series on and Bennett always loved watching the late, great Warne take wickets. • 'We had to come up with a name really quickly and I just thought, the Ashes are on and that's where Warnie used to do his best stuff,' Bennett said. 'We thought we would name him in honour of the great man. 'I have always loved cricket and now I love watching this horse named after Warnie go around. 'I was a bit surprised the name Warnie hadn't already been taken, it was a lot easier than what I thought.' The Warnie camp believes the gelding has a promising future and would love to deploy him in a Group 1 race in the Melbourne spring carnival. 'We want to try to get him to the (Group 1) Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield in September,' Bennett said. 'But we really need to win another race to get his rating up a touch more before we can really try to lock something like that in. 'We are chasing our tail a bit with him, we want to get the rating up now, and then we can back off him a bit and set him for a race like that.' Bennett also races Phillip Stokes -trained three-year-old gelding Stay Focused who is the $3.10 favourite in the TL Cooney (1350m) at Ipswich, despite drawing barrier 17. 'He can't draw a barrier that horse, but he will be hard to beat if he can get even luck,' Bennett said. 'It looks a very winnable race for him, it's just the barrier that is going to hurt him.'
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mars Hill to meet with 3 developers for new restaurant mixed-use space downtown
MARS HILL - A new restaurant is coming to downtown Mars Hill, as the town will take applications for the mixed-use project this month. Town Manager Nathan Bennett said the town will meet this month with three potential developers for the mixed-use project at 9 and 15 S. Main St., the former Robinson Building, located at the corner of Mountain View Road and South Main Street, next to the down gazebo. Town Manager Nathan Bennett reported to the Mars Hill Town Board in its May 5 meeting. Bennett said in September the overall concept plan of the site is a mixed-use development, with plans for a restaurant on the first floor, with multiple residential or professional offices on the upper or lower floors. According to the town manager, at least five developers had inquired about the South Main Street mixed-use development project. According to Bennett, construction has begun on the new bathrooms at Bailey Mountain Preserve and Park. In November 2023, the town board voted unanimously to enter into a contract agreement with T.P. Howard's Plumbing for the project. The scope of work for the project was to provide ADA-accessible hard sidewalks near the Smith Farm part of the property, as well as picnic areas, parking and driveway improvements, and also providing walkways to be used for an amphitheater. Funding sources for the project include an N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant award for $268,536 for park renovations at Bailey Mountain Preserve and Park, which the town received in fall 2021. In November 2023, Bennett recommended the town use local funds, including $321,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, supplemented by the more than $286,000 in state grant funding. "Put that together with $268,536 from the state, and that would be $590,000," Bennett said. "That would be enough to do the permitted contract and the funds that were set aside are estimated to do the house renovations and the restroom renovations. That would be a complete project." In his report to the board, Bennett said the town submitted a $500,000 Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant, a portion of the funds needed to purchase the 75-acre West Farm. The town is working with local groups, including the Richard L. Hoffman Foundation, to purchase the 75-acre tract to be included in the Bailey Mountain Preserve property. Bennett applauded the work of Lee Hoffman, the Richard L. Hoffman Foundation executive director, as well as Ryan Bell, chair of the Friends of the Bailey Mountain advocacy group. According to the town manager, the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund recipients will be announced in August. In January, the town put up $120,000 to secure the two-year option to purchase the tract — named after the West family who owns the land — which sits adjacent to the Bailey Mountain Preserve's Smith Farm property off Forest Street. More: Mars Hill renames main trail at Bailey Mountain Preserve in honor of Richard L. Hoffman More: New restaurant coming to downtown Mars Hill? Town approves requests for proposals process More: Mars Hill approves Bailey Mountain improvements, Main Street gazebo walkway replacement More: Mars Hill raising funds to protect Bailey Mountain Preserve against development Additionally, the town was approved for $85,000 in reimbursement for FEMA public assistance program. Bennett said the town's reimbursement will be transferred to the North Carolina Emergency Management division, which will then contact the town for the grant paperwork to be disbursed. Johnny Casey is the Madison County communities reporter for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel. He can be reached at 828-210-6074 or jcasey@ This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Mars Hill to meet with 3 developers for new restaurant mixed-use space
