Horse Racing in OZ

[Charles49]

Have you ever had issues with a major News agency and more to the point did you find them frustrating? Apparently News Corp who control the local paper here have moved in and taken away the delivery business of their Contractor. So for four days I have left messages for them to contact me as I have a not insignificant credit sitting there and would like to what they intend doing. For some reasons these organisations have the equivalent of massive firewalls with their phone systems and you are placed on hold for some 30 minutes or more before someone answers. You cant even locate their email addresses without the aid of Sherlock Holmes so its frustrating to the point where your inner Mt Vesuvius just wants to erupt.
Frustrating week on the punt also with 20 bets to date with just 6 winners, 2 seconds, 4 thirds and 8 unplaced.
There are some good races at Flemington tomorrow with the Group 1 Newmarket being run over the straight 6 furlongs and then we have The Australian Cup, also a Group 1 race and that's over 2000m.
Races mentioned below start with Flemington at 12.20pm AEST and they conclude with the final race at Bunbury in Western Australia at 20.15 AEST which is 10.15am on Saturday morning London time.
As usual the early selections will go up shortly, followed by the late mail and scratchings on Saturday morning around 7.30am AEST.
Good luck with your investments and please stay safe.

FLEMINGTON:
R1 no 3 La Rouque Won $2
R2 no 8 Miss Inbetween. 4th..no 7 Annavisto 2nd is the late mail
R3 no 2 Pretty Brazen 3rd
R4 no 3 Lightsaber Won $5.50
R5 no 2 Marboosha.. Won $4..no 2 Oxley Road 4th is the late mail
R6 no 14 September Run....thought no 12 Indian Pacific 2nd was worth a tote ticket @33/1
R7 no 6 Quantum Mechanic 2nd
R8 no 17 Paradee 4th
R9 no 1 Personal 3rd

RANDWICK:
R1 no 1 Wild Ruler Won $2
R2 no 5 Stay Inside. 4th...danger is no 1 Profiteer 2nd
R3 no 1 Swift Witness 2nd
R4 no 2 Sacramento 2nd
R5 no 1 Nature Strip...2nd..no 8 Written Beauty is a chance if the fav plays up.
R6 no 6 Emanate 3rd
R7 no 1 Aegon
R8 no 1 Bivouvac 4th


EAGLE FARM:
R2 no 4 Advance Warning 4th
R4 no 6 She Za Boss Won
R7 no5 Joymaker 2nd
R8 no 6 Wren's Day Won $2.50

BUNBURY:
R2 no 1 Ladies of London Won $3
R4 no1 Gemma's Son Won $3.50
R5 no 5 Charlton Eddie Won $4.80
R6 no 1 Kissonallforcheeks Won $2.70
R8 no 4 Last of the Line


LAY BETS:
MR2 no 5 Cumberbatch Won $5.30 Lay Bet Lost
MR 4 no 9 Kooled Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers

[Charles49]

There have been some interesting developments here in OZ this week with the biggest being the announcement that Brisbane is the preferred venue for the 2032 Olympic Games. Recently we have seen rapid upsurges in domestic housing prices and this announcement will only help to raise the value of homes. Recent figures suggest a 16% rise has already occurred with interest from Victoria being very strong so news of the Olympics is likely to send house prices even higher.
Australians are beginning to receive their vaccine doses. From last Sunday the first jabs were televised and most seemed very keen to get theirs. Its not been without some teething troubles as one doctor gave two two patients 2 full vial doses instead of one fifth of a vial and would have been more if an alert nurse hadn't stopped him. And at least one nursing home missed out because the medical staff managed to "double book" a retirement home.
Overall the reaction has been positive and despite the efforts of some noisy anti vax-ers the take up rate is expected to be north of 80%.
On a personal note my punting has gone from the penthouse to the shitehouse in just one week with results to date being 28 bets for 6 winners, 5 seconds, 2 thirds, and 15 unplaced. That's probably my worst result for zonks.
Racing this Saturday is at Flemington and Randwick with the former hosting the Australian Guineas as the main race of the day with a field of 17 contestants. Its a lottery as to which horse will win however at this stage I'm angling towards no 2 Tagaloa as my best pick.
Local racing here will be held at the Sunshine Coast course where races are run at least once a week, and sometimes more, which says heaps about the structure of the track itself. Our major track in Brisbane at Eagle Farm hosts about half of the Sunshine Coasts figure, and is now a laughing stock in respect of its condition, despite the many millions spent on upgrading and turf replacements.
Racing this Saturday commences at Flemington at 12.20pm AEST, which converts to 2.20am London time on Saturday morning and the last race will be held at Ascot racecourse in Perth Western Australia at 20.12 (AEST) which is 10.12am London time.
I hope you are all well and coping with the goddam awful restrictions that are currently exist in your neck of the woods. Its not easy but the vaccines now being distributed globally, provide us with some hope, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Here are the early selections and these will be amended as the late mail and scratchings are discovered.
Good luck with your punting investments.

FLEMINGTON:
R1 no 5 Tycoom Humma Won $2.70
R3 no 5 Bams On Fire Scr
R4 no 4 Defiant Dancer
R5 no 2 Fabergino Won $3.70
R6 no 11 Buffalo River 3rd
R7 no 3 Aysar.. value bet @8.50.....no 2 Tagaloa 3rd is a definite danger
R8 no 3 Rocketing By Scr

RANDWICK:
R1 no 6 Water Dove 2nd
R2 no 1 Shaquero
R3 no 5 Four Moves Ahead Won $2.90
R6 no 6 Verry Elleegant.. Won $2.45..no 7 Colette 2nd is the late mail
R7 no 3 Dame Giselle
R8 no 10 Great House 3rd
R9 no 5 Zakat 4th

SUNSHINE COAST:
R1 no 8 Wolf Moon Won $5.20
R3 no 2 Sweet Dolly Won $2.20
R4 no 2 Cochrane
R6 no 13 Chivargo Won $3.25
R7 no 7 Gem of Scotland 3rd
R8 no 2 Ligulate 4th

ASCOT:
R3 no 3 Queen takes King
R4 no 2 Fangio 3rd
R5 no 3 Western Empire Won $2
R6 no 6 Tambora
R7 no 1 Solaia 2nd

LAY BETS:
MR1 no 5 Tycoon Humma Won.$2.70 Lay bet Lost.
MR5 no 8 All Banter Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers

JOKE:

Two bananas were lying on the riverbank. A turd floats by and yells, “Hey guys! Come on in!
The water feels great!”

One banana turns to the other and says, ”You believe that shit?”

[Charles49]

There is an aptly named horse in the Futurity Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday by the name of Behemoth. Its a monster of a horse that looks like he's around 18 hands! Story was he so big nobody wanted him at the 2yo sales so he was sold for just $6,000. He has now had 19 starts for 8 wins and 4 seconds and has amassed $2,132,610 in prizemoney.!! He will be hard to beat on Saturday.
Feature race this Saturday is the Group One Blue Diamond Stakes which has attracted a quality field of 16. Favourite is Enthaar and it certainly comes into the race with a good chance of collecting the chocolates. Other major races on the Caulfield card include the Group One Futurity Stakes followed by the Group One Oakleigh Plate. Not sure at this point if Victorians will be permitted to enter the racecourse as they have just come out of a 5 day statewide lockdown which has pissed off the majority no end. Victoria accepts a small number of returning Aussies that have been strandard overseas but somehow manages to stuff up and allow the virus (this time its the UK strain) to ebb out and infect security staff. So our intrepid Premier decided to shut down the whole of the State for an infection that was contained within the Melbourne city area. Of course no time is a good time to shut down a whole State but its several degrees worse when the shutdown includes Valentine's Day and major sporting events like the Australian Open. And to add salt to the wound he has now announced that no returning Australians will be permitted to land in Melbourne. Just confirms that he is incapable of handling the situation in an acceptable manner and doesn't care about the several thousand Aussies stranded worldwide.
I do my personal betting with vicbet.com which are domiciled in Victoria and my conversations with them have been such that they are clearly not impressed with what's occurred and that is consistent with other calls I have made to family and friends that reside within Victoria. Its interesting to note that predictions here in Queensland are for a 16% increase this year in residential house prices due in part to the influx of Victorians (sometimes labelled Mexicans by us locals!) who are escaping life in Victoria and fleeing to the Sunshine State.
My bets this week total 17 with 9 winners, 3 seconds, 3 thirds and 2 unplaced. A profitable week thanks to an above average strike rate, so fingers crossed it continues on.
Racing this Saturday for the below mentioned fields commences at Caulfield at 12.40 AEST which is 2.40am Saturday London time and the last race will be run at Ascot at 8.30pm AEST which converts to 10.30am London time.
Interested to learn how you are coping with life alongside Covid in the UK, so please feel free to pen a few words about your personal experiences.
I did receive an interesting article from the UK during the week about a jumps race where all but one jumped a hurdle that had been opened up because of an earlier fall. Someone made a motza on Betfair in-play as the confusion caused chaos in the marketplace.

Here are the early fields and the selections will go up shortly and they in turn will be added to, altered etc etc once the final fields are to hand.

Good luck with your punting and please stay safe.

CAULFIELD:
R1 no 4 Defibrillate Won $2.55
R2 no 5 It'sourtime 2nd
R3 no 5 Impecunious
R4 no 1 Perfect Jewel 2nd 2nd
R5 no 3 Young Werther...no 1 Khoekhoe 3rd is the late mail
R6 no 1 Behemoth.....danger is no 7 Probabeel Won $4.60
R7 no 13 Enthaar
R9 no 3 Homesman 3rd

ROSEHILL:
R1 no 11 Vowmaster
R2 no 2 Pure Feugo Scr
R3 no 6 Yeo Dash 2nd
R6 no 11 Sacramento Won $2.50
R7 no 1 Aegon.. Won $5.40..no 4 Peltzer is the confident late mail

EAGLE FARM: (exercise care here today as track has deteriated and is expected to be quirky with some odd results predicted.)
R1 no 7 Mishani Enchanted Won $4.20
R2 no 2 Quality Approach 3rd
R3 no 5 Devine Grey
R4 no 8 Pull Anchor Late Scr
R5 no 1 Spurcraft
R6 no 6 Patches Won $2.50
R9 no 10 Maddi Rocks

ASCOT:
R5 no 4 Pletto 3rd
R6 no 4 Resortman 2nd

LAY BETS:
MR5 no 1 Khoekloe Ran 3rd. Lay Bet Won
BR8 no 6 Magic Delta Ran unplaced. Lay bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers

JOKE: (This one came from Vicbet.com's newsletter...and its a good one!!!)

A successful station owner died and left everything to his devoted wife Louise. She was a very good-looking woman and determined to keep the cattle station, but knew very little about running it. She decided to place an ad in the newspaper for a station hand. Two jackaroos applied for the job. One was Gay and the other a Drunk. She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk. The gay guy proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about raising cattle. For weeks, the two of them worked, and the station was doing very well. Then one day, the widow said to the hired hand, “You have done a really good job, and the property looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels.” The hired hand readily agreed and went into town one Saturday night. One o’clock came, however, and he didn’t return. Two o’clock and no hired hand. Finally he returned around two-thirty, and upon entering the room, he found the rancher’s widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him. She quietly called him over to her. “Unbutton my blouse and take it off,” she said. Trembling, he did as she directed. “Now take off my boots.” He did as she asked, ever so slowly. “Now take off my socks.” He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her boots. “Now take off my skirt.” He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes in the fire light. “Now take off my bra..” Again, with trembling hands, he did as he was told and dropped it to the floor. Then she looked at him and said, “If you ever wear my clothes into Town again, you’re fired.”

[Charles49]

Good racing at Flemington this Saturday with the highlight being the Group 1 Lightning Stakes. Bivovac is the favourite but I like the jockey change on Nature Strip with Jamie Kah on board. She is the leading jock in Victoria and was ranked the world's top ranked female jockey in 2020. She has a soft set of hands and may be just the right jock for Nature Strip who has huge potential but tends to show his best on the training track and his worst on raceday.
There's a link to a photo of Jamie Kah below.
News from here continues to be dominated by Covid-19 however it is pleasing to see that the vaccines have been distributed around the globe. I'm expecting my local GP to ring me any day for a shot or two which I will gladly accept. I like to travel a lot, however apart from a trip to the Northern Territory and South Australia, travel of late has been restricted to mainly around Queensland because the bloody State Premiers here have a habit of shutting borders on any whiff of an infection. South Australia just closed their border as there was just one infection reported in Melbourne at the time. Next trip will be to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. I hope!
On a personal note I have had 28 bets so far this week resulting in 9 winners,8 seconds, 4 thirds, and 7 unplaced. Not the best week but certainly not the worst.
Racing this Saturday for the fields below commences at 12.20 AEST which converts to 2.20am Saturday morning London time, and the final race will be run at Ascot at 8.15pm AEST, which converts to 10.15 am London time.
The early selections will go up shortly and these will be updated, altered, etc etc once the late mail and scratchings are known.
Hope your day is a good one and you continue to stay safe.

FLEMINGTON:
R1 no 1 Silent Sovereign
R2 no 1 Ingratiating Won $3.40
R3 no 9 Regards Maree Won $2.40
R4 no 4 Zou Dancer Won $4
R4 no 1 Personal....2nd
R7 no 1 Tagaloa.. Won $14..no 9 Aysar 2nd is the late mail
R8 no 2 Bivouac.....think no 1 Nature Strip Won $5.20 is the knockout horse.
R9 no 2 Laverrod 3rd

RANDWICK:
R1 no 1 Kiss the Bride
R2 no 1 Stay Inside Won $2
R3 no 4 If You Think So 2nd
R4 no 6 Tallieur Won
R7 no 1 Kolding 2nd
R8 no 1 Away Game 3rd
R9 no 8 Subedar Late Scr.

DOOMBEN:
R1 no 6 Leadership Spill Won $2.60
R2 no 6 Miami Fleiss Won
R3 no 2 Azzareach 2nd
R4 no 5 Glorious Ruby Won $3.60
R5 no 3 Good Chat 2nd
R6 no 4 Take Tea 4th
R7 no 6 Socialising Won $3.50
R9 no 7 Garibaldi Won

ASCOT:
R5 no 2 No Surrender Late Scr.
R6 no 12 Amelia's Contraire
R9 no 7 Charlton Eddie. Late Scr...no 6 Time to Sizzle 3rd is the late mail

LAY BETS:
SR3 no 7 Birdonawinningpost Won $5. Lay Bet Lost
SR8 no 3 Hungry Heart Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers

JOKE:

A man met a beautiful blonde lady and after a short courtship asked her to marry him.
She said, 'But we don't know anything about each other.'
He said, 'That's all right, we'll learn about each other as we go along.'
So, she consented, they were married, and off they went on a honeymoon at a resort.
One morning they were lying by the pool, when he got up off of his towel, climbed up to the 10 meter board and did a two and a half tuck, followed by three rotations in the pike position, at which point he straightened out and cut the water like a knife. After a few more demonstrations, he came back and lay down on the towel.
She said, 'That was incredible!'
He said, 'I used to be an Olympic diving champion. You see, I told you we'd learn more about each other as we went along.'
So, she got up, jumped in the pool and started doing laps. After seventy-five laps she climbed out of the pool, lay down on her towel and was hardly out of breath.
He said, 'That was incredible! Were you an Olympic endurance swimmer?'
'No,' she said, 'I was a prostitute in Mildura, but I worked both sides of the Murray River!!

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsapi.com.au%2Fimage%2Fv1%2Ffac10f8f0a2617b8d3cfa31e9acc9ed1%3Fwidth%3D1024&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ntnews.com.au%2Fsport%2Fracing%2Fmelbourne-cup-jockey-jamie-kahs-meteoric-rise-to-the-top-prince-of-arran%2Fnews-story%2Fa904197c8140548118d6ab532373ec98&tbnid=f8Q8nmqz8i7axM&vet=12ahUKEwiA5cLCheHuAhXxXnwKHUOtACwQMygQegUIARDIAQ..i&docid=ka94aK89NjtxwM&w=1024&h=576&q=jamie%20kah&ved=2ahUKEwiA5cLCheHuAhXxXnwKHUOtACwQMygQegUIARDIAQ

[Charles49]

I made a personal decision recently to back off the covid commentaries on here as there was more than enough of the bad news surrounding this subject on our television screens and in our daily newspapers and to add to it was not in my view creating positivity. However there has been an event that has lifted all our spirits and I think its appropriate to mention the efforts of a centurion who has given hope to a situation that many find desperate.
I speak of Sir Tom Moore and the incredible strength of this man to walk some 100 laps of his backyard to raise some AUD $55m for the British health authorities to find a solution to Covid-19. On his birthday he received some 250,000 birthday cards which is around 249,980 more than most people who turn 100 receive. He was a World War 2 veteran and he did his 100 laps dressed in formal attire with his war medals proudly attached. The Queen made him a Sir for his work and he has been granted honorary status as a Colonel. Unfortunately as you would be aware Sir Tom succumbed to a strain of covid earlier this week and Great Britain lost one of its finest.
He truly was an inspirational man. And tomorrow will be a better day!
Covid in Australia is almost non existent as we have just 9 in hospital as I write and no one in intensive care. Yet despite just one case in Western Australia the area around Perth, with about 2 million population, was locked down for 5 days. The same is on the cards for Victoria where one case also has been detected in Melbourne quarantine. Covid-19 has spooked our State premiers to the extent they panic when just one case appears. And in most cases these infections are attributed to returning Australians, who have been stranded overseas, and to the poor arrangements made by States in respect of quarantining these returnees.
Enough of the rant, lets get down to the subject matter re horse racing in Australia.
This week so far I have had 16 bets to date. The results are ok with 8 winners, 2 seconds, 3 thirds, and 3 unplaced.
This Saturday in Australia the below mentioned races commence at Caulfield at 12.40 AEST which converts to 2.40 am London time, and the last race will be at Pinjarra Park in Western Australia at 8.27pm AEST, which is 10.27 am London time.
The early fields and selections will shortly go up below, and these will be amended as the late mail and scratchings are discovered about 5 hours prior to start times.
Hope your day is a good one and please stay safe.

CAULFIELD:
R1 no 7 Regardsmaree Won $2.10
R2 no 5 Arcaded Won $3.20
R3 no 1 General Beau Won $3.50
R4 no 3 Young Werther.....no 2 Amish Boy 2nd is the late mail
R5 no 1 La Mexicana. Won $3.10...no 10 Pinkham 3rd is fancied.
R8 no 6 Imaging 2nd
R9 no 1 Viridine


RANDWICK:
R2 no 1 Another One
R3 no 6 Written Beauty Won
R4 no 8 April Rain Won $2.20
R5 no 1 Profiteer Won $2
R6 no 3 North Pacific 4th
R8 no 8 All Time Legend 3rd


EAGLE FARM:
R2 no 4 Watch the Cat 2nd
R5 no 5 Wolff Boss
R7 no 4 Ingear 2nd
R9 no 4 Fisticuffs

PINJARRA PARK;
R2 no 2 Cousin Ivan 3rd
R3 no 6 Uncle Dick
R5 no 3 Ginger Flyer.....no 4 Double Spice 2nd is the late mail
R9 no 1 Gemma's Son Won $2.40
R10 no 12 Last of the Line 2nd


LAY BETS:
MR5 no 10 Pinkham Ran 3rd. Lay Bet Won
SR7 no 1 Ole Kirk Ran 3rd. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n Beers

JOKE:
Nurse at a mental hospital says: "Doctor, What do you want us to do with the new patient in room 20? Problem is he thinks he's a wolf!"
Doctor ponders for a moment or two and then says, "First rule is, don't let his grandmother in for a visit!!

[Charles49]

Thanks Temujin for your kind remarks. These days I'm happy to be a small punter and sit back and watch the sport I love. You have been on here for 12 years so you have done more than your fair share of the heavy lifting for us Aussies over the years. Hope life continues to treat you well and the punting Gods continue to be kind to you. Regards.

[Temujin]

Absolute trooper. Great to see you still posting strong. Hope you are raking it in.

[PDC]

Good luck this weekend and thanks for the info in the posts. I will have a listen of the podcast you have linked to in your previous post.

Glad the wife's horse is running well for you both!

[Charles49]

Australian horse racing is almost back to normal with crowds being allowed back on course. Its incredible really how horse racing here has managed to continue on almost without interruption despite the presence of a very dangerous virus. Perhaps the thinking here was swayed by the understanding that the Covid virus seems to be not interested in animals, in particular the subspecies of Equus Ferus Caballus, and therefore the risk of a horse passing on the virus was considered very very low. From a punting point of view betting agencies have enjoyed an increase in their client base and turnover as a result of so many bored executives being confined to their homes.
The wife was pleased with her little filly that ran third at Armidale on Monday. That's now four starts for one second, two thirds and one unplaced. It was beaten by half a length after leading into the straight and was run down right on the line. An examination afterwards discovered that a corn had grown inside the bottom of one of her rear legs and had to be removed, which means she will spend the next two weeks in the paddock. That made the run even better as she must have been foot sore during the race.
On a personal note its been a better week on the punt with 18 bets so far for 9 winners, 2 seconds, 4 thirds, and 3 unplaced.
This Saturdays racing commences for the below mentioned fields with Caulfield kicking off at 12.55pm AEDT which is 1.55am London time, with the final race being run at Ascot at 20.15 AEDT which converts to 9.15am London time.
Here are the early fields and the selections and late mail will follow in due course.
Adverse weather conditions in Southern Australia have led to heavy number of scratchings today so fields in some cases are heavily reduced number wise.

CAULFIELD:
R1 no 1 Miss Divine Em 2nd
R3 no 3 Hasseltoff 2nd
R4 no 2 Enthaar Won
R5 no 1 Tagola 3rd
R9 no 3 Defibrillate Won Dead Heat

ROSEHILL:
R1 no 1 Al Mah Haha... 3rd..gave no 4 Loafing a place chance at odds (currently $20)
R2 no 1 Mallory Won $4.60


SUNSHINE COAST:
R1 no 6 Lyrical Girl 2nd
R3 no 6 Glorious Ruby Won $3.50


ASCOT:
R2 no 8 Amelia's Chant
R4 no 6 Last of the Line Won $2
R6 no 7 Prince Devoutly
R7 no 1 Flirtini 2nd
R8 no 7 Amelia's Contraire...no 2 Time to Sizzle Won $5.50 is the late mail


LAY BETS:
MR8 no 8 Brazen Song Ran 3rd. Lay bet Won
MR9 no 9 Heavenly Emperor Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers


JOKE:
A man and a woman started to have sex in the middle of a dark forest. After about 15 minutes, the man finally gets up and says "Damn. I wish I had a torch! The woman says "Me too, you've been eating grass for the past ten minutes!!"

[Charles49]

Thanks PDC. I don't have any specific details about the proposed increase however here is the current state of play within Australia. The expected increase will be on the Victorian gallops currently shown here on the tables as 6%. which is well below the 10% paid by Betfair to Racing NSW.

CURRENT BETFAIR MARKET BASE RATES:
SA - 5%
VIC - 6%
QLD- 6%
TAS - 6%
NT - 6%
ACT - 7%
WA - 8%
NSW - 10%


As you can see there is quite a difference between 5% payable by South Australian racing compared to twice that amount paid by New South Wales. South Australia successfully argued that it needed the lower rate as racing in that state was at the crossroads with several large trainers crossing into Victoria to chase the better prizemoney on offer. The argument is that Victoria needs to lift its rate so that more money is extracted from punters and made available to Racing Administrators to spend on improvements.
Interestingly the current Betfair market rate for Australian Rules Football games is 2.5% whilst the Australian Rugby League bettors are slugged a commission rate of 10%. Don't ask me why because that makes no sense to me!
Hope you are staying safe and well through these most difficult times and I'm pleased that you enjoy the jokes!!

UPDATE: I received this podcast a few minutes ago entitled "The Other side" How increased taxes cost punters" and it relates to the proposed increase in the Victorian rate from 8% to 10%.

https://soundcloud.com/champion-bets/the-other-side-how-increased

There is a long preamble here so go to the 6min 30 sec mark and listen on from there.
Just to confuse us there are two types of taxes imposed. One is the POC (Point of consumption) tax and the other is the Race fields legislation. The POC goes to the relevant State Government and the Race Fields tax goes to the relevant Racing Body.

[PDC]

Interesting to hear about the sales and even more so about the fees and likely increased commission rates. With the Premium Charge it becomes less of an issues as it just means we pay more in commission and less in Premium Charge each week, though it doesn't work out exactly like that due to the way they calculate the Premium Charge.

Gawler in SA seems to be the first race of the day at 00:05 GMT, though I won't be trading them. You are right though with Ascot being the last race at 09:20 GMT.

I liked the joke!

Happy punting!

[Charles49]

No luck at the Magic Millions sale with the procurement of a filly for the wife's all female team of owners, trainers, jockeys etc etc as the prices this year seemed to be double that of last year. Queensland buyers spent $40.9m purchasing 254 yearlings. That's an 80% increase on last year so there must be some confident local owners around. Whilst they may not have topped previous records they certainly managed to clear the decks so there will be some happy owners with nice future Magic Million bonuses awaiting. Its an acknowledgement that shows support for the racing industry is high in Oz and the prizemoney is now at a level where its possible to at least break even if you are lucky. Of course there is always a dampener around and that occurred yesterday when the race fields legislation have now sought to increase costs to Victorian racing by increasing fees. Its the poor punter who will bear the cost so expect Betfairs comm fees on Vic racing to increase shortly which means less money back in the punters pocket. We really do have a need for a Punters Union in Australia as its all too easy to hit the punter rather than say breeders who would kick up a revolt if the same was done to them.
Racing in Australia is now 24/7 or so it seems if you watch Sky Channel where the races including trots and greyhounds seem to be continuous. This expansion of the racing programs will cause safety issues with jockeys who are required for night meetings, then early morning trackwork, and then off to the races for the days events. I hope some sanity prevails here before someone is seriously injured or worse.
Personal punts have been a bit less this week with just 15 bets for 5 winners,1 second, 2 thirds and 7 unplaced.
Racing below for this Saturday commences with the first race at Rosehill at 12.40 AEDT which is 1.40am Thursday and concludes with the last at Ascot at 20.20 AEDT which converts to 9.20am London time.
Here are the early selections which will be updated on Saturday morning once scratchings and the late mail are to hand. I'm off to a birthday party this afternoon so once I leave updates of results wont happen until tomorrow.
Hopefully the results here will be something to smile about as the news re Covid-19 worldwide is very sad. Best wishes to you all and please stay safe.

SANDOWN:
R1 no 1 Picarones 3rd
R3 no 9 Second Slip Won $3.50
R4 no 3 Double You Tee 2nd
R5 no 1 Quantum Mechanic 3rd
R6 no 1 Milton Park Won $3.15
R7 no 5 Grinzinger Allee Won $2.60
R8 no 2 Heart of Puissance Scr.

RANDWICK:
R1 no 3 Arthur Francis...no 8 Ashema 3rd is the late email
R2 no 9 Water Dove 2nd
R3 no 1 Melik
R4 no 9 The Face Won $2.50
R6 no 4 Sacramento Won $3.85
R7 no 4 Sausedge
R10 no 5 All Time Legend 3RD

DOOMBEN:
R1 no 11 Mystic Gem Won $6.50
R2 no 2 Ligulate Won $2.20
R4 no 1 Garibaldi Won $2.40
R6 no 2 Bleu Zebra Won $3.30
R7 no 2 North Africa 2nd
R8 no 3 You Make Me Smile 2nd
R9 no 1 Desert Lord 2nd


ASCOT:
R1 no 11 Trisuem
R2 no 10 Michelada Won $4.50
R3 no 3 Madam Torio
R5 no 1 Cousin Ivan 2nd
R6 no 3 Queen Takes King Scr
R7 no 5 Son of a God 2nd
R9 no 8 Pearls and Prawns......thought no 5 Night Voyage was a chance at 30/1.

LAY BETS:
MR2 no 6 Jimenez Scr
MR9 no 5 Not Enough Effort Ran 3rd. Lay bet Won.


Cheers 'n' Beers

JOKE:
A penguin takes his car to the shop and the mechanic says it'll take about an hour for him to check it. While he waits, the penguin goes to an ice cream shop and orders a big sundae to pass the time. The penguin isn't the neatest eater, and he ends up covered in melted ice cream. When he returns to the shop, the mechanic takes one look at him and says, "Looks like you blew a seal." "No," the penguin insists, "it's just ice cream."

[Charles49]

Well yet another Saturday of racing approaches so lets see if we can find a few winners this time around. I will certainly do my best to discover those pesky elusive gems, but it wont be easy as its a tough card this weekend, and on top of that I'm going to try and make a second attempt to play farmer, and that will happen providing the nervous nellies who run our State Governments don't continue to make silly knee jerk reactions. A good example of State Government stupidity is the Western Australian Government who have now made it mandatory to wear face masks at airports. That's great, except the fine for not wearing a face mask is AUD $50,000. That's right fifty big ones, and if you want that in British Pounds its the equivalant of 28,595.30.!
Imagine bringing in legislation in the UK that a fine applies for anyone not wearing a face mask at an airport is 28,595 British Pound Stirling.
We live in interesting, but crazy times.
Back to the business at hand and I will try and get the late mail and final selections done before I leave on Saturday morning. If not the update may be a few hours later, which wont affect anyone because you will all be, or should be, in the land of nod at that time.
On a personal note have had 20 bets to date this week with just 5 winners, 3 seconds ,3 thirds and 9 unplaced. Not exactly my finest hour but the good news was that two of the winners paid $6 each so that ensured that no harm came to the Bank.
The Covid-19 impact continues to take its toll and its distressing to see the UK figures as 3.2million cases resulting in 84,767 deaths to date. I just hope and pray that the vaccines that are now available are able to curtail this monster once and for all.
Racing on Saturday commences here with the first race at Rosehill which starts at 12.55 AEDT, which converts to 1.55am Saturday, London time. The last race will be at Ascot at 8.50pm on Saturday AEST, which should be around 9.50am London time.
Feature races here will be the Magic Millions Classic race for two year olds, and the Gold Coast Magic Millions for three year olds, which are both worth two million dollars each in prizemoney. There are a five other $1m races on the card, so its a huge day for the Gold Coast, and there will be some happy owners when the judge hoists the winners numbers. In conjunction with the races there are a number of auctions in progress where some well bred youngsters will sell for up to $2m.The wife is looking for a cheapie that she can take a share in and one that will be all female in terms of ownership, training, and jockey (including track work). Told her good luck with that but it would be good for me because the more time she spends with her co-owners the less time I get nagged about the time I spend on writing stuff like this! She does have a very cheap horse running around the country circuit at the moment which has collected a second and a third placing in its last three starts. Its gets a run on Sunday (currently third fav) so no doubt she will be at the altar early to pray for a good result.!!
Enough of the ramble; here are the races for Saturday and the early selections which will be amended as we get close to the time of final acceptances.

GOLD COAST:
R2 no 3 Paradee Won $4
R3 no 1 Ballistic Boy
R5 no 2 Athiri 2nd
R6 no 11 She's All Class 3rd
R7 no 3 Away Game 3rd
R9 no 9 Beaufort Park ...no 5 Jammi Lady is a rough hope at $26

FLEMINGTON:
R1 no 2 Parlophone
R4 no 1 Narvaez
R5 no 3 Over Exposure Won $3
R8 no 5 Re Edit
R9 no 4 Terbium....throw no 5 Enigman into the exotics @$40

ROSEHILL:
R1 no 7 Remarque Won
R2 no 3 Taileur Won $2.70
R3 no 11 Vellaro....is a chance at $13
R4 no 2 Criminal Code
R7 no 7 Blaze A Trail
R9 no 8 Private Eye Won $3.20


ASCOT:
R3 no 8 Last Of The Line Won $2
R4 no 5 Giant Leap 2nd
R8 no 3 Indian Pacific


LAY BETS:
GCR7 no 12 Forbidden Love Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won
GCR6 no 1 Alpine Edge Ran 2nd. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers

[Charles49]

We need something to lift our spirits as lockdowns have become the go to solution for any outbreak of the virus including single cases.
The following video is an oldie but its well worth the watch.

https://twitter.com/davecama/status/1348190322044534791?s=27

[Charles49]

Hot weather and unpredictable storms are the order of the day as we welcome in the New Year. Very sorry to learn of the effect of the current batch of Covid-19 that is causing so many deaths in the UK. Lockdowns are unwelcome at this time of the year however its one of the few effective measures against this insidious disease.
I hope you all get through this quickly and life can return to normality.
I'm off to do some clean up work down on the farm tomorrow so the tips may be posted late on Saturday morning. With a bit of luck they will be up before the first race which is at Randwick at 2.15am London time, and the last one will be run at Ascot at 10.55am Saturday, London time.
Punting this week has again improved with just 14 bets to date. Results are 7 winners, 1 second, 2 thirds and 4 unplaced.
Here are the early picks and these will be updated when I'm finished playing farmer.

FLEMINGTON:
R1 no 12 Telluride 2nd
R2 no 1 Zac De Boss 3rd
R3 no 4 White Hibiscus
R4 no 1 Saccharo Won $5
R5 no 2 Zoushine
R6 no 5 Pancho....no 3 Mosh Music is the late mail
R7 no 7 Riding The Wave
R9 no 5 Ididitforlove Won $7

RANDWICK:
R1 no 3 Triple Ace. 2nd..no 2 Malkovich Won $6.50 is the late mail
R2 no 4 Pinnacle Prince Won
R3 no 4 Zing Won $3.25
R4 no 4 Subedar. 2nd.No 5 All time Legend Won is a danger here
R6 no 2 Big Parade 4th
R7 no 2 Spirit Ridge Won $3.50
R8 no 4 Word for Word

GOLD COAST:
R3 no 1 Finance Tycoon Won $4
R4 no 1 Animate Won $5
R5 no 10 Tullio
R6 no 2 Stolen Jade. Won $3.75..Redoutes Image 3rd No 15 is a definite danger
R7 no 1 The Astrologist

ASCOT:
R2 no 1 Heavenly Waters
R3 no 6 Tambora 2nd
R4 no 13 Wilchino Won $2.60
R5 no 6 Son of a God 3rd
R6 no 9 Sassy Trader


LAY BETS:
GC R8 no 2 Frosty Rocks Ran 2nd. Lay Bet Won
GC R9 no 3 Prometheus Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers

FUNNY STORY no 1: On Thursday morning the wife and I were out in the front yard when I closed the roller door to the garage just as the neighbours who had been away on a camping trip came over to invite us to their place to recount their camping stories. On the way over to their place I asked the wife did she have keys to the front door. No, I thought you had a set. No mine are inside too I replied. No worries I'll ring the daughter who lives a a couple of kilometers away and we can use her spare set. Opps left the mobile inside so can I use yours? Nope hers was inside too. Do you know her number? Dunno! Do you know any of the kids numbers? Nope.
Eventually neighbours offered to drive me around to daughter and collect the spare set.
Moral of the story is that we are lost without our mobiles as telephone books no longer exist and that makes us all the more vulnerable when silly and somewhat embarrassing incidents (like the above) occur!!

(NOT SO) FUNNY STORY NO 2. This morning (Friday) I arose around 5am and was on the road for a ninety minute trip to the farm. No problem. My son and I were hard at work mending fences and cleaning up after recent storms when the wife rings and says there has been a covid lockdown announced for 6pm this evening for 3 days. Haha says I. No its no joke its true she says. So it was a case of hop back into the 4wd and head back home. So much for a pleasant weekend in the country air.!! Still I know there are a lot worse off than we are in Brisbane town so no complaints, just a little disappointed!!
The panic has been caused by just one case of the highly infectious (their words not mine!) UK variant of the virus.