Horse Racing in OZ

[Charles49]

Highlight of racing here in Oz tomorrow is the running of the WFA Winx Stakes carrying prizemoney of AUD$500K. Winx of course has retired and is in foal at the moment. Prior to retirement Winx won an amazing 33 consecutive races including 25 Group One races which is an outstanding effort. Her prizemoney totalled some $26m which no doubt made her owners extremely happy.
On a personal note my bets this week totalled just 13 bets for 3 winners, 3 seconds, 2 thirds and the rest failed to trouble the judge.
The early selections will go up today however these will be added to, amended, and/or altered as the scratchings and late mail are received in the early hours tomorrow morning.
Racing this Saturday commences with the first race at Doomben at 11.33am AEST
In London time that's 2.33 am Saturday morning.
Last Race will be at Belmont Park and that's run at 7.10 AEST
In London the last race time will be at 10.10 am Saturday

Here are the selections and I do wish you all the best with your weekend punting investments.


DOOMBEN:
R3 no 8 Chico Milagro.. 2nd ..thought no 7 Chauffer Won $6.10 was the smokey here at around $8 or better
R5 no 4 Amicitia 4th
R6 no 9 Ingear 2nd
R7 no 13 Say Haya
R9 no 3 Run For Glory Won $3.50

RANDWICK:
R1 no 2 Desert Path 4th
R2 no 14 It's Me Won $4.10
R3 no 2 New King
R4 no 1 Dame Giselle..Won $2.45..late mail is no 3 See You Soon Late Scr
R5 no 1 Le Romain...gave no 2 Special Reward 3rd a strong chance here at each way odds.
R6 no 6 Adelong
R7 no 2 The Bostonian......each way value at around $8
R8 no 8 Poetic Charmer


MOONEE VALLEY:
R1 no 4 Coming Around 2nd
R2 no 4 Tailleur Won
R3 no 11 Jenni's Rainbow 4th
R4 no 11 Roland Garros....Won $50..you little beauty!!.....rough each way chance @50/1
R6 no 4 Flying Award....no 1 Hard Landing is the late mail Race Abandoned
R8 no 10 Brooklyn Hustle...thought no 5 Bons Away was worth an each way ticket. Race Abandoned

BELMONT:
R2 no 4 Comfort Me Won $3.50
R3 no 7 Montelena Won
R5 no 3 Leading Girl 2nd
R6 no 11 Sentimental Queen
R7 no 2 Wrinkly....tough as teak...never far away when the judge calls a halt.
R8 no 8 Money Matters Won $2
R9 no 5 Apollo...suited here...looks a good each way chance.


LAY BETS:
SR7 no 7 Master of Wine Ran unplaced. Lay bet
SR7 no 12 Verry Elleegant Won $7. Lay bet Lost
MR7 no 7 Windstorm Race Abandoned

Cheers n Beers

[Charles49]

Yes I know I said I would curb the covid-19 rants but there is so much happening here and world wide that I felt the need for another rant. The good news here is that the Australian Government have obviously read these posts (written with tongue in cheek!) and have now honed in on the Oxford University and have staked a claim for their anticipated vaccine which in turn will be distributed free to every Australian asap. That's around 25 million shots and the timing for this is anticipated to be around this Christmas or early 2021. They have also staked their claim for a couple of others as well including with the University of Queensland here in Brisbane which rant watchers would be aware has also been mentioned here in past posts.
The bad news circulating is that Covid-19 now has a second wave in progress and this continues to frustrate our authorities here, as they try and cope with serious lock-downs, and the financial and human losses that are now escalating. In past rants you would have noticed that our death rate here reached around 102 and then stabilized. Now its shot up to around 450 with the State of Victoria having the biggest number at around 360 or approximately 80% of the nations tally. Interestingly they had an Judicial Enquiry in Victoria into the handling of quarantine issues at the Marriott Hotel in Melbourne (and yes that was mentioned in past rants, where security guards were alleged to have had sex with those in quarantine,which has never been denied); anyway its been established by the Enquiry that 99% of the spread of the virus in Victoria can be sheeted back to a Security guard who caught the virus from a traveller from the US who was in the botched quarantine program. Apparently they can do that by breaking down the makeup of the virus under a microscope.
There seems to be little doubt that the second wave virus version seems to be a deadlier version than the first one, so the warning is don't be complacent, as the current wave is a killer, particularly if you are above 60 years old.
I was talking to a senior Minister this week who mentioned that he was aware of a nursing home in Australia that had just two staff on duty at any time and sadly they were unable to cope with the added burden and a number died. Cost cutting is not unusual in retirement villages as companies and Churches that run them tend to concentrate on the bottom line and sadly seem to forget the prime reason why they are heavily subsidised by the Australian Government.
And in another sad story six staff members at Epping Gardens retirement village in Victoria decided to hold an unauthorised baby shower for a staff member. They were found out when one of the residents who required assistance became sick of ringing the buzzer and got out of bed to find help but instead discovered the party. Four days later one of the staff that attended was found to be covid positive and in just six days later 60 residents and 22 staff, including the six that had the baby shower all tested positive to the virus. So far 20 deaths have been linked to this event. Expect Heritage Care who manage the centre will have the book thrown at them together with significant fines for their gross negligence.
Hope you enjoyed the Covid in Australia update, and yes I promise to get back to horse racing matters, but not before I head outdoors to enjoy the 28 degrees Celsius temperature that sunny Brisbane will be enjoying today. Queensland is just the best place to be when you have a nasty virus around that is causing so much unpleasantness in other parts of the country.

[Charles49]

Yes you are spot on Bog. Fraser Island is a very unique part of Australia with great wide beaches that you can drive on, plenty of fishing opportunities, and you can camp on the island too. No need to carry fresh water as the island constantly spills out fresh water onto the beaches everywhere. And yes we got to see a few dozen whales some were less than a meter or two away from us.....and yes I do have the photo's to prove it!!
We are very fortunate here in Oz that there are so many unique places to visit with a diversity of both bush and animals.
Well worth the effort as Fraser is just 3 hours drive time from Brisbane to the barge that takes you across to the island yet its a world away from civilization. Glad you enjoyed the geography lesson and the joke!! Take care and best wishes. Charles.

[Bog]

Another weekend is upon us. Thought I would take a short break so have only just got back from the largest sand island in the world and where the cleanest water in the world is found. Very pleasant and even got to see a few dozen whales having fun.



Cheers 'n'Beers

I had to do a google search for "largest sand island in the world and where the cleanest water in the world is found" -> Fraser Island

Very beautiful place, thanks for telling about it. You have amazing places to visit in Australia. I never saw a whale in person. Maybe some day.

Ps - good joke, and a good lesson hahaha

Cheers Charles!

[Charles49]

Another weekend is upon us. Thought I would take a short break so have only just got back from the largest sand island in the world and where the cleanest water in the world is found. Very pleasant and even got to see a few dozen whales having fun.
Here is this Saturday's racing. Selections and late mail will go up early tomorrow morning.
On the personal punting note only 12 bets for 5 winners, 1 second, 2 thirds and rest are non divvy returners.

Racing this Saturday commences with Eagle Farm at 11.28am Australian Eastern Standard time,
In London this equates to 2.28am London Time, and
Last Race commences at Belmont at 7.05pm which is 10.05am on Saturday morning in London.

EAGLE FARM:
R1 no 1 Dashing Special 2nd
R2 no 1 Kisukano Won $2.20
R3 no 6 Super Contender 2nd
R5 no 1 Mushaireb 2nd
R6 no 7 Super Effort 3rd
R8 no 1 Carzoff 2nd


CAULFIELD:
R1 no 1 Sovereign Award 2nd
R2 no 1 Mister Mogul
R5 no 6 Hydro Star...obvious danger is no 3 Rulership 3rd
R6 no 3 Parlophone
R7 no 2 Viridine Won $4.30
R8 no 8 Mystic Journey


RANDWICK:
R1 no 3 All Saint's Eve Won $3
R2 no 3 Niccirose
R3 no 7 Masked Crusader 2nd
R4 no 9 Torun 2nd
R6 no 3 Athiri 2nd
R7 no 2 North Pacific Won $2.30
R9 no 5 Off Shaw



BELMONT:
R2 no 2 Clairvoyance Won
R3 no 6 Serenity Bay 3rd
R5 no 4 Montelena Won
R7 no 1 Free Trade



LAY BETS:
MR9 no 4 Showmanship Won $2 Fav. Lay bet Lost.
BR8 no 8 Top Prospect Scr.

JOKE:
A lovely blonde lady failed the written driving test four times. At the fifth attempt, she was extremely determined to pass: The test had the same question. “You are driving at 100 km/ph. On your right is a cliff, on your left is a wall, On the road you see an old man and a young man. What will you hit?” The Woman walked up to the Examiner and said. “I’ve answered this question all four ways, Wall, Cliff, Old Man and Young Man, yet I failed all four times. How is this possible? What am I supposed to hit?”
The Examiner replied. “The Brakes!”


Cheers 'n'Beers

[Charles49]

G'day Dags. Nice to see you are still around and kicking. Hope you have managed a few more winners then I have of late. Punting hasn't been the same since that bloody virus entered the scene. Anyway all good here...how about your self....have you been kicking plenty of goals of late?

[dags]

Hey Charles,

Been a while, thought I would pop in and say hello... hello

dags

[PDC]

Hopefully you are right Charles. Never before probably has so many resources been focused on finding a vaccine and treatments around the world. So hopefully we get a solution in at least one form or another and that it is made freely available to all, not just those that can afford it.

Fingers crossed (and everything else)!

[Charles49]

Thanks PDC for your thoughts and comments.
I'm an optimist at heart so I do like to think in positive terms including the likelihood of finding an effective vaccine for Covid. I look back in history and it records the discovery of successful vaccines for viruses that have decimated populations. These include polio, small pox, chicken pox, diphtheria, influenza, tetanus, hep A & B, measles, hooping cough, mumps and there are plenty of others that I haven't mentioned. So why cant we find a suitable vaccine for this virus?
Well I think we are on the doorstep of delivering an acceptable and usable vaccine.
I look at whats happening at the moment and see (perhaps through rose coloured glasses!!) that there are currently 7 organisations including the University of Oxford, that have now vaccines in large scale trials, which is the final step before the vaccine is approved for release to the public.
There is so much work being done by at least 150 prominent bodies that I find it impossible to believe that they will all fail.
We may never eliminate this virus (polio is an example of one virus that still exists, despite the best endevours of the likes of Rotary International and Bill Gates), but we should be able to control it to the extent we can return to normal living in a short period of time.
I watched a tv program last night which showed an american fellow who has "invented" an effective blood test to see if you have the corona virus. The blood sample is taken off a finger prick, and the result was obtained in less than five minutes. That's a good example of how we are progressing and I'm quietly confident that if the University of Oxford isn't the first to prove a vaccine then one of the other six prime candidates will.
Time will tell if I'm correct or just an optimistic dreamer!!

[PDC]

Reading about Australia's Covid-19 story from your posts is like reliving the exact same things that happened in the UK some months ago though luckily for Australia on a much smaller scale than the UK experienced.

I think your wishes for a vaccine being found and available quickly and solving this is unfortunately just a pipe dream at least in 2020 and most likely most if not all of 2021 and possibly beyond. I think it is something ultimately we are going to have to learn to live with and accept just like was mentioned in some of your previous posts that as with all aspects of life there is a risk and ultimately a price on a life despite what a lot of people like to think.

We will be living with Covid-19 and its implications for a very very long time imo.

On that happy note - better luck with the punting, remember it is is darkest before the dawn!

[Charles49]

Racing this weekend is at the major venues and there are some interesting fields and hopefully we can find you some of those elusive winners.
On a personal note, this week has been the absolute worst week of punting that I have had for years.
From 21 bets so far this week the results are 2 winners, 2 seconds, 1 third and 16 that couldn't find the strength to greet the judge.That's a pitiful result and my betting account looks awfully sad.
Enough of the sad stories, lets see if we can reverse the trend and recover some of those losses.
As usual the early selections will go up shortly and these will be amended and updated as the scratchings and late mail are revealed.
Please be aware there is plenty of rain around and tracks will be soft to heavy.
Racing times are as follows:
First Race starts at 11.23 am Australian Eastern Standard Time at Doomben
In England the first race starts at 2.23 am, London time
Last Race starts at 18.50pm at Belmont.
In England the last starts at 9.50am, London time

FLEMINGTON:
R1 no 4 South Pacific
R2 no 2 Galactic Fury... 2nd.no 6 Yes Baby Yes 4th is the late mail
R3 no 1 Flinders River 3rd
R4 no 10 Tavidance Won $2.70
R6 no 4 Widgee Turf...is an old favorite and runs well fresh. Danger is No 1 So Si Bon 4th at around $10.
R7 no 5 Skyman Won $4


ROSEHILL:
R1 no 6 Papal Warrior 2nd
R2 no 4 Royal Banquet
R4 no 1 Wandabaa Won $4.20
R6 no 5 Anders Won $2.60
R7 no 5 Flit 2nd
R8 no 10 Tailleur Won


DOOMBEN:
R1 no 3 Fleet Dove 2nd
R2 no 4 Say Haya Won $3.20
R3 no 3 Potro Duro
R5 no 4 Cloak Won $3.30
R8 no 8 Tullio

BELMONT:
R2 no 5 Pletto 3rd is a late mail special.
R3 no 4 Queen Brown..Won $2.75..late mail is no 3 Billy Ain't Silly
R4 no 6 Massimo Won
R9 no 3 Queen Takes King


LAY BETS:
Bel R8 no 6 Dark Mission Started $4.40 second Fav. Ran unplaced. Lay bet Won
MR6 no 2 Home of the Brave Won $5.40. Lay bet Lost
MR8 no 6 Octane .Won $3.40 Lay bet Lost.


Cheers n Beers

[Charles49]

The Covid-19 scenario in Australia is getting worse and there is no better example of how bad things are then to examine the rules and regulations now facing those who reside in the State of Victoria.
Today they recorded their highest number of daily cases and these totalled 725 plus there were 15 deaths of which 12 were reported as coming from Aged Care facilities. Victoria is in serious lock-down. They have a curfew which goes from 8pm to 5am so if you are caught outside during these hours and you don't have a legitimate reason then you will cop a serious $5000 fine. Building sites, pubs, coffee shops, restaurants, abattoirs, and just about any business you can think of (except an essential service) has had their workforce drastically reduced or forced to close completely. Exceptions are Supermarket's and Pharmacies.
Queensland will now close its borders to all residents of New South Wales and that's despite the fact we barely have any covid cases. Western Australia is in a similar position with bugger all cases yet their border is closed. To most of us this seems a rather unnecessary knee jerk reaction to whats happening in Victoria, where we all agree its a cot case down there, however our nanny state Premiers want to cocoon us all away in isolation despite the very low numbers and despite the fact that Spring is approaching.
Thanks to Victoria our death rate has climbed sharply to 232 which is more than double the 104 figure it was several weeks ago.
One of the serious aspects that has failed to date is the ability to track those who have come into contact with an infected person. Other States and Territories have managed to track contacts quite successfully however Victoria has failed in this respect and one can pinpoint the infamous hotel quarantine saga as the starting point where Victoria lost the ability to track contacts. Yes it takes considerable efforts to achieve results when it comes to tracking contacts, and unless you are successful here then the result will always be a victory to the virus. And sadly that's the reason Victoria has lost the battle and now finds itself (almost) completely in a statewide shutdown.
Most of us see the steps taken by Governments to be an over reaction, however we do agree that Aged Care facilities are where the worst case scenarios are, and therefore its essential to provide this area with scenarios that can save lives. And talking about lives, another sad aspect of this is that suicide prevention call centers such as Beyond Blue and Lifeline are fielding an abnormally high rate of calls, and whilst the suicide rates are not published it is understood that the numbers are climbing quickly, which has caused the Federal Government to increase funding to this area.
Lets hope that a vaccine is found quickly and we can rid ourselves of this virus and get back to normality.
At least horse racing is still occurring in Australia so despite the restrictions one can still have a bet on the neddies, dogs and footy.
We do live in strange times as there are reports of snow falling today in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. It will be interesting to learn when the last time this happened as I'm sure it hasn't snowed for at least 80 years and probably much longer. So much for global warming!!

[Charles49]

Thanks PDC for your thoughtful comments.
These are difficult times for politicians as many of their decisions are done in good faith and on the advice of medical professionals. The problem is that no one has a foolproof plan and what has occurred is akin to throwing a dart at the board and hoping you hit the bullseye. In Victoria they didn't prioritize the care of the elderly in retirement villages so now the most vulnerable there are all at serious risk. In Queensland our retirement villages went into restricted mode very early on which meant that it wasn't easy to visit without having your temperature taken, your name, address and contact details recorded, including your vehicle's rego number. Its of course easy to sit back and point these matters out in hindsight but it was well known early on that the virus was deadly to those in their twilight years so to ignore the obvious area at most risk is something you do at your political peril and this may come back to haunt the Victorian premier at the next election.
When it comes to a vaccine I'm actually an optimist here that a vaccine is on the verge of being discovered and verified as effective. There are labs all over the globe that are close to achieving this including one in Oxford and one here in Brisbane. I hope I'm right.
Travel has been a nightmare. I'm actually supposed to be in Canada today doing some train travelling and salmon fishing. But the virus has put paid to that idea and trying to get a refund on your Rocky Mountain train travel, and from Air Canada, and their Australian representative in Flight Centre has been nothing short of impossible. We cannot fly anywhere outside of Australia at the moment and even internally is quite tricky.
Racing in Australia will continue on because the various States have handled the virus situation in respect of horse racing remarkably well. And yes the Spring Carnival, the Cox Plate,the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups,will also find a way to be run and won, without any crowds in attendance, unless Chairman Dan decrees otherwise.
Stay safe and thanks PDC for your input and comments.
UPDATE: Today's figures for Victoria are alarming. There are 623 more cases confirmed in the last 24 hours and a further 8 deaths. Some of those who are at home with the virus and undertaking a 14 day isolation program have been found to be not ad-hearing to the stay home rules, as 25% have been caught away from home and they will all receive a $1600 fine. The 623 figure is the second highest single day number to date and frankly if it gets any higher than that then Victoria has little chance of containment as clearly Victorians find forced lock-downs unacceptable. Yes we do live in unusual times.

[PDC]

Good to see the Covid-19 rant back! You made up for missing last week ;-)

The numbers were starting to look a little better until Thursdays came through. Though I do agree the question has to be asked at what cost have all these measures been taken and to what benefit ultimately, no politician will ever say it but every life has a value and policies are based on that all the time, it seems this time the calculators are coming out with different figures to normal, the world seems much better placed now to deal with it. It almost seems a lot of people and places have backed themselves into a corner with the policy decisions and now are to fearful to do anything but come down even harder with the measures.

In the UK at the weekend we with just hours warnings slapped a ban on all but essential travel to Spain and 14 day quarantine on people returning rather than a regional ban on the hot spot areas. The government seems worried that it got a lot of stick for allowing things to carry on for too long back in March so now are taking a much more hard line approach. I have friends in the travel industry who now say it isn't just the ban on Spain that is the issue but confidence is shot for consumers as they can see themselves booking a holiday and it being snatched from them with hours notice or being away and coming back to something like 14 day quarantine and not being allowed to go to work but with no support so people are cancelling holidays or not booking them abroad.

Issue I see though is that a vaccine is likely to be a very long time away both in terms of development but also the logistics of producing the billions needed and getting them to everyone. So how do we go on for the next few years, we can't put the world on hold, that will cause on told damage and I include health in that.

Who knows the best plan forward, it is above my pay grade thankfully!

Do you think there are any risks to racing in Victoria going ahead? The Spring Carnivals aren't that far off now.

Best of luck with the punting this weekend!

[Charles49]

Covid rant for this week is above so with that done and dusted lets concentrate on the important aspects of horse racing and that's trying to pick winners.
Racing this weekend looks like an interesting batch so hopefully we can find a few winners at reasonable prices.
On the personal punting front its been a quiet week with just 14 bets for 6 winners, 3 thirds and the rest were hopeless. A 43% strike rate is right on the mark of expectations so happy with that.
As is the norm the early selections will go up shortly and these will be added to, altered, amended etc etc when the scratchings and late mail are known and when thats done and dusted then the still working warning will be removed.
May you have a winning day and here's trusting that you and your friends and family are not impacted by the awful virus that's currently running loose in our communities.
Racing Times are as follows:
First Race starts at Eagle Farm at 11.18am Australian Time
In England the first race starts at 2.18am London time.
Last Race starts at Belmont at 7.10pm Australian Time.
In England the last race starts at 10.10am London time


EAGLE FARM:
R1 no 3 Igor 2nd
R2 no 7 Humbolt Current 2nd
R3 no 5 Stuttering 4th
R5 no 8 Arthur In Charge
R6 no 12 Starla 2nd
R7 no 5 Socialising Won $3.30
R8 no 3 Mr Bellago


MOONEE VALLEY:
R2 no 4 Thereisabearinthere 4th
R3 no 1 A Beautiful Night.........no 8 Peggy Selene is the late mail
R4 no 4 Brooklyn Hustle Won $2.30
R5 no 3 Sovereign Award Won $4.50
R7 no 7 Polly Grey 2nd
R9 no 19 Hypersonic


RANDWICK:
R1 no 3 Syncline
R2 no 15 Mr Magical
R3 no 7 Kordia 2nd
R4 no 10 Emanate
R5 no 8 Derbari 3rd
R6 No 2 Kiss The Bride Won $4.10
R8 no 4 Fulmina Won $3


BELMONT:
R2 no 4 Clairvoyance Won $5.10
R3 no 2 Burning Pride Won $3.10
R4 no 3 Not to be Mist
R8 no 5 Danny George...4th...is the knockout horse here...each way @$14 or better

LAY BETS:
MR6 no 4 Sir Kalahad Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won
MR9 no 9 Proper Rogue Ran 2nd. Lay Bet Won
BEL R7 no 3 Essential Spice Ran 3rd. Lay bet Won

Cheers n Beers.