Horse Racing in OZ

[PDC]

Temujin - I didn't bother to look how Betfair dealt with that specific race as I had made my money (or so I thought) and moved on to the next. I don't really look at my P&L intra day so didn't pick up on the fact they voided the market. But it was none the less a good example of how this all is happening.

Charles - I would suggest re-reading both Temujin's post and mine that explain what is happening as your most recent reply would appear to suggest you have misunderstood what is happening. As Temujin has said they are betting into the "pre-race" exchange market, they aren't touching the SP. The SP being wildly different to what it should be had Betfair done their job correctly is a by product and just a useful reference point to show the impact these people (person) is having on the runners.

I personally don't subscribe to any of the theories that Betfair are doing something devious etc etc other than they just are being incompetent and worse of all don't even realise they are being so and hence peddle out the line that they suspend markets as the race starts. They clearly aren't but they just don't realise that as the left hand isn't talking to the right hand.

If either of you have access to an analogue radio feed have a listen to that and compare it to the TV feeds and also to Betfair going inplay. That is where the advantage lies. It has been said that the analogue radio feed is even at times ahead of the oncourse PA systems amazingly. I know some people are now even paying people who access to the analogue radio feed to relay that feed to them around the world!

Sky Racing Radio online was even ahead of Betfair for some time for us folks in the UK, unfortunately that feed is now geo-blocked but that used to be a couple of seconds ahead of Betfair and the feeds they were using.

As I said in my previous post, this isn't anything new and it isn't restricted to Oz racing, or even horse racing. The issue has been around since day one of Betfair, it is why we now have people flying drones at UK racecourses from public footpaths so that they aren't breaking the law. You will also often see at UK tracks several spotters located around the racecourse outside of the tracks land, sometimes perched up ladders or even trees. They then either use what they are seeing for their own or their teams use relaying the info or just take the easy option of selling the feeds to inplay punters for considerable amounts of money.

[Charles49]

Thanks PDC.
Have reread the posts and yes I did misunderstand the issue.
All good and thanks again guys for your input and observations.

[Charles49]

Another weekend of racing looms as Australia continues to struggle with the Covid-19 scenario. Very hard to keep pace with the constant shuffling of rules and regulations of what one can and can't do. Queensland now has open borders, however if you come from Victoria then you cant enter unless you are prepared to quarantine for 14 days at your cost and expense. South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania still have borders closed but the latter is about to open shortly to all other States and Territories, except its closest neighbour Victoria where cluster outbreaks have occurred because of mass gatherings, and the actions of some security guards that were paid to ensure those in quarantine remained in quarantine. Problem was some security guards like to party so an invitation to pick up some grog and join some quarantine parties was too much of a temptation. Sleeping with the those in quarantine could be seen as keeping a close watch on the detained, however the resultant cluster outbreak has now some 600,000 people in suburbs around the north of Melbourne locked down for a month. On top of that the security firm involved allegedly invoiced the Vic Government for extra "ghost"security guards. Needless to say there are some very pissed off Victorians now in lockdown. Don't think the Victorian Government, which has announced a judicial inquiry into the ballsup, will be using that particular security firm again, for a very long time.
COVID -19 INSANITY: Victoria has today announced that it will not tolerate refusals from individuals who don't want to be tested for Covid-19. So if you say no you don't want to be tested you will receive the sum of $1500 if you change your mind. Meanwhile the Victorian Police have announced that anyone that has'nt got a bullet proof excuse why they are not at home in the lockdown areas then they will receive an on the spot fine of $1100. Work that out because I can't, and yes that is a true story.
NEWSFLASH: There's a newsflash on my tv screen that says 10,000 Victorians refuse to take covid test! Wonder why!!

As you can see in the above posts there has been a lively and very interesting discussion regarding a loophole that appears to exist with Betfair. I am indebted to both Temujin and PDC for their respective inputs. Such discussions are always most welcome on this site.
Personal punting this week has been a bit on the quiet side. Just 14 bets resulting in 5 winners, 2 seconds and 7 unplaced. Still struggling to get the strike rate up to an acceptable level, however at 36% its getting closer.
Here are the early selections and these will be updated once the final scratchings and late mail are discovered.
Trust you and yours are staying safe during these troubling times.

Racing start times are as follows:
First Race starts 11.35am Saturday Australian Eastern Standard Time. (Randwick)
02.35am Saturday British Summer Time
Last Race starts 6.55pm Saturday Australian Eastern Standard Time.
9.55am Saturday British Summer Time. (Belmont)


FLEMINGTON:
R1 no 1 Jabali Bridge....no 6 Sense of Honour is the late mail Won $2.45
R2 no 4 Lord Belvedere Won $3.30
R3 no 1 Cherry Tortoni... Won $2.70....each way danger value here is No 2 Narvaez
R4 no 1 Persan Won $2
R5 no 3 Rich Charm
R7 no 2 Smoke Bomb
R8 no 2 Heptagon
R9 no 1 Splendoronthegrass


RANDWICK:
R4 no 4 Matowi 2nd
R5 no 3 Lashes
R6 no 3 Elaborate 3rd

EAGLE FARM:
R1 no 9 Garribaldi 2nd
R2 no 4 Galtero
R4 no 2 Amicita 2nd


BELMONT:
R1 no 9 Just Under 4th
R2 no 1 Surveillance
R4 no 1 Wrinkly.. 3rd .no 8 Showmanship Won is the late mail
R6 no 4 Boomtastic 3rd
R7 no 4 Indian Pacific 3rd
R8 no 8 Uncle Dick 3rd
R10 no 14 Serenity Bay 3rd

LAY BETS:
MR2 no 3 Chapada Started $3.30 second Fav. Ran unplaced. Lay bet Won
SR7 no 9 Threeood Ran 2nd. Lay Bet Won


Cheers 'n' Beers

[Charles49]

Well another weekend looms and from what I can see from here is that the world hasn't become a safer place since my last post. Here in Australia a major part of the State of Victoria has gone back into lock-down, this time for six weeks so there are some very pissed Victorians around at the moment.
Our Covid-19 death toll has gone up this week by two to 104, which in comparision to elsewhere on the planet, is good. Big fear is that the virus which has gained a foothold in Victoria will now spread to other States despite the borders with Victoria now in near total lock-downs.
UPDATE: The State of Victoria (which is the one where security guards were allegedly having sex with the quarantined guests!) has today reported a spike in Corona-19 cases. A few weeks ago the daily total was around the twenties but in the last seven days its spiked. And today was the worst result with 288 new cases recorded. All Australian States and Territories are now banning Victorians from crossing the border.....unless you are a racehorse in which case you can cross the border!! Think the state of Victoria has gone barking mad!!!
Our economy is heading down the toilet and even our relationship with China is now somewhat prickly.
The good news is that horse racing continues on here in Oz although the results continue to favour the un-favoured. The strike rate of favourites is lousy which is bad news for those of us including me who like to bet on a steed with excellent form credentials.
This week my personal punts continue to be small in numbers with even smaller returns. From 18 bets the results are 5 winners, 2 seconds, 3 thirds, and 8 unplaced.
The early selections will be posted shortly and after that the "still working" note will be removed once the scratchings and late mail are known.
Racing Start times are as follows:
First Race starts: 11.35am Saturday (Australian Eastern Standard Time) (Rosehill)
2.35am Saturday (British Summer time.)
Last Race starts: 6.55pm Saturday (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
9.55am Saturday (British Summer Time) (Belmont.)

Hope your day is a winning one.


CAULFIELD:
R1 no 7 Narvaez......No 1 The Felon is the late mail
R2 no 3 Our Campana Won $5
R3 no 12 Falls.......dogs are barking this each way @$14
R4 no 5 Morrissy 4th
R5 no 2 Mystery Shot Won $5.20
R6 no 1 Thought of That......No 3 Grand De Flora is the late mail
R7 no 2 Viridine 2nd
R8 no 1 Sizzlefly
R9 no 3 Curragh


ROSEHILL:
R1 no 1 Lady Banff.....no 2 North Pacific Won $3 is the late mail
R2 no 10 Fulmina 4th
R4 no 5 Darleb....no 2 Frosty Rocks 2nd is fancied here
R5 no 3 Switched 3rd
R6 no 1 Bandersnatch
R8 no 11 Kordia 4th


SUNSHINE COAST:
R1 no 1 Kisukano Won $2.60
R2 no 8 Socialising 3rd
R3 no 7 Wren's Day Scr,
R4 no 7 Potro Duro SCR.
R7 no 1 Star of Michelin 4th
R8 no 6 Soxagon 4th


BELMONT:
R2 no 3 Silkinize 3rd
R3 no 1 Aberdeen Queen 2nd
R4 no 1 Material Man...Won...value bet each way here is No 8 Petticoat Junction at around $20.
R5 no 10 Windstorm Won
R6 no 1 Flower of Scotland
R7 no 1 Sentimental Gift


LAY BETS:
SR5 no 5 Varda Started Fav.@ $2.70. Won. Lay bet Lost.
MR3 no 18 Tavidance Started $5.20 Fav. Won. Lay bet Lost
MR9 no 6 Heavenly Emporer Scr

Cheers n Beers

[Charles49]

Another weekend of racing is about to descend upon us amidst a rather cold and windy winter with a bit of rain around. Parts of Queensland does experience snow on occasions around the south eastern areas however it hasn't snowed so far this year. But I am wearing a pullover as I write this and the temperature is currently just 12 deg Celsius which is four degrees up from the overnight low. You may think think nothing of the this however Queensland has around 330 days of sunshine per year and we do like it warm so we can get around without the burden of jumpers, pullovers, coats and thick socks attached to our bodies.
Of course the news that saturates our screens here centers around Covid-19. And as the weather temperature drops then so it appears the number of covid cases here increases. Victoria,it seems, is the State where you could simply ignore all of the covid rules by having 10,000 folk marching around the streets with placards that were simply a reflection of what was occurring in the good ole USA, and then ignoring lockdown rules, and failing to monitor those in quarantine, and when all of that was questioned, then you hide behind a judicial inquiry which will no doubt endeavor to secure a result that will blame anyone else but those that were really responsible.
So now we have most of Victoria in total lock-down and the city of Melbourne is as barren as the central area of the Australian Desert. Our death toll has jumped to 111 of which 27 came from Victoria. Currently there are daily new cases of covid in Victoria around 230, compared to other States and Territories that have daily numbers less than the fingers on your hand.
UPDATE: Victoria's daily infection rate jumped to 317 cases for yesterday and 2 have died. Further update today and we now find that the clowns running Victoria have advised that the number of cases today has jumped to 428 with a further advice that 3 more Victorians have died. Whilst the rest of Australia is returning very small numbers of infection and in some cases Nil, Victoria has clearly lost the plot and all indications are that it will get worse before it gets better.
Sport in Victoria (apart from racing) has come to a standstill so if you want to watch Aussie Rules being played it will now be mostly in Queensland and the betting is that the AFL Grand Final will even be played at Brisbane's Gabba oval this year which will devastate Victorians, but not Queenslanders who will relish the opportunity to have the only AFL Grand Final ever played out side of Victoria in a century.
On a personal note my bets this week have totalled 14 so far with 7 winners, 3 seconds, and 4 unplaced. A 50% strike rate is hopefully a good indication that normality is returning...maybe!
The selection results have been below par of late so I have switched around sources to try something different. The new Lay source didnt work so back to the drawing board there but I do like to change things around from time to time just to see if we can find some improvements.
Here are Saturdays early selections which will be updated when the scratchings and late changes are known.
Take care and I hope you have a winning weekend.
UPDATE:
Sad story time. Old mate of mine part owns one of Australia's best sprinters in Scales of Justice trained by Lindsay Smith. Yesterday SOJ died of a heart attack during trackwork so old mate who owns or part owns around 100 racehorses is devastated as SOJ was by far the best he has ever had, and one of the very few he has owned that actually paid his way.!! Racing is all about dreams and disasters but in this instance he does have good memories about a very good sprinter who was top class. SOJ was a Group 1 winner and overall had 30 starts for 12 wins.

Racing Start Times are as follows:
FIRST race starts at Randwick-Kensington On Saturday at 11.40am Australian Eastern Standard Time
Time in UK BST is 2.40am Saturday.

LAST race starts at Belmont at 6.55pm AEST.
Time in UK is BST is 9.55am

FLEMINGTON:
R2 no 4 Proper Rogue
R3 no 1 Alcyone Won $2.10
R5 no 4 Alfarris
R6 no 1 Right You Are Won $4
R7 no 7 Damon Roman


RANDWICK-KENSINGTON
R1 no 6 Giovanna Run Won $5
R3 no 3 Tallieur 2nd
R4 no 2 Kiss The Bride 2nd
R6 no 4 Handspun 4th
R7 no 1 Witherspoon 3rd
R8 no 7 Strawb
R9 no 11 Le Gai Soleil 4th

IPSWICH:
R2 no 6 Mangione 4th
R3 no 2 Alward
R5 no 10 Wrens Day Won $4
R7 no 5 Pennino
R9 no 4 Jami Lady 2nd

BELMONT:
R2 no 3 Boomtastic Won $2.80
R3 no 5 Sentimental Gift Won $3.50
R4 no 12 Continuance
R5 no 6 Chantrea
R6 no 6 Truly Great 2nd
R7 no 5 Not To Be Mist 3rd
R10 no 9 Long Beach Won $2.60


LAY BETS:
Belmont R6 no 12 Puckapunyal Won $1.90 Fav. Lay bet Lost
Belmont R8 no 8 Massimo Started $2 Fav. Won Lay bet Lost
Flem R8 no 9 Bartholomeu Dias Ran unplaced. Lay bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers

[PDC]

Thanks for the updates, it doesn't surprise me to see what is happening in Victoria. I know a few people who live there and they as recently as last week were telling me it was all a mass over reaction and that of course there will be more cases as they are now testing more. I tried to explain what was likely to happen from our experiences in the UK but they were having non of it. As the week has gone on and the numbers have continued to rise they are slowly getting what I was saying and unfortunately for Victoria the numbers are going to continue to rise for at least the near term, most likely to the point where you over take the UK for new daily infections. Hopefully you get on top of it and the numbers turn better soon.

Winter isn't far off in the UK and we have today just been told by our PM that we are hoping to be back to pretty much normality before the winter really kicks in. Wishful thinking I think, there is a long winter ahead of us in the UK and I don't envisage it being pretty. I hope I am wrong!

Good luck with the bets this weekend!

[Charles49]

Thanks PDC. Yes winter seems to be a time where the virus thrives. Victoria has made some silly mistakes which they are now paying the price for in terms of a six week lockdown and having their borders closed. We all hope that the daily total will start to drop but some say it will get worse before it gets bettter and I think unfortunately that will be the case.
Good luck with your investments as well and take care.

[Charles49]

Yet another weekend of racing is on our doorstop and so for a change are the winter rains. Barely drizzling outside as I write this but this is the Sunshine State where we enjoy an ample supply of the warm stuff so when it does rain or drizzle we do find it somewhat unusual. I promised myself I wouldn't write a covid-19 rant this week about the Victorian Premier, and the State of Victoria which is in lockdown, and now everyone must wear a mask full time, and where they are getting some 400 plus new cases every day, plus there are ongoing deaths in retirement centers because staff seem to drift around some six or seven such centres in a single day, and the damage its doing to our national economy so in the interests of not saying anything I will now put the pen away and say nothing!.
Instead I will mention that the Australian economy is in trouble as the national debt has soared out from zilch to almost a trillion dollars and our unemployment rate which traditional sits around 5% to 5.5% has now run up to around 8.5% with the real figure thought to be close to 11.5%. On that basis it will take around 25 to 30 years for the current population to pay off the new debt level so expect our already overtaxed workforce to receive even more tax burdens particularly if interest rates start to climb.
On a personal punting note this week I have had 18 bets to date with 8 winners, 2 seconds, 3 thirds, and 5 that couldn't run a drum. Nice to see the strike rate back up to an acceptable level.
Enough of the rants...time to try and find some winners for this weekend.
Weather in Australia has turned into wintery conditions with plenty of rain forecast for Saturday. So expect that there will be numerous scratchings tomorrow and its likely that a few meetings will even be cancelled.
As usual the early selections will go up first and these will be altered, changed, removed or whatever as the scratchings and late mail arrive.
May your day be a winning one.
Racing start times are as follows:
First Race starts:
In Australia the first race starts at Rosehill at 11.45am Australia Eastern Standard Time
In England the first race starts at 2.45am
In Australia the last race starts at Belmont at 7.05pm Australian Eastern Standard Time
In England the last race starts at 10.05am

CAULFIELD:
R1 no 4 Tavidance
R3 no 1 Our Campana
R4 no 1 Persan 2nd
R5 no 3 Chassis Won $6
R6 no 5 Morrissy Won $4.50
R7 no 4 Viridine Won $2.80
R9 no 1 Mystery Shot Won

ROSEHILL:
R3 no 8 Vibrant Knight
R4 no 6 Roheryn 2nd
R6 no 3 Travest
R7 no 6 Noble Boy.....late mail is no 3 Mugatoo Won $5.50
R8 no 2 Prime Candidate 3rd
R9 no 5 Varda Won $3

DOOMBEN:
R2 no 1 Kisukano 3rd
R3 no 2 Right or Wrong Scr.
R4 no 2 Elixir 3rd
R8 no 10 Arthur In Charge Scr
R9 no 2 Wapiti Scr.

BELMONT:
R2 no 1 Sir Mambo
R3 no 5 Indian Pacific Won
R4 no 3 Bedouin Belle 3rd
R5 no 5 Truly Great Won $2
R6 no 1 Leivtate
R7 no 7 Red Can Man Won $2.20
R8 no 13 Serenity Bay...3rd....No 8 Inspirational Girl Won is the late mail


LAY BETS:
BR3 no1 Gresham Started 2nd Fav. Ran unplaced. Lay bet Won
BR8 no 1 Nothingforthepress Scr.
MR4 no 3 Grinzinger Alle Started 2nd Fav. Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won


Cheers n Beers

[PDC]

Thanks for posting the first and last race times, it is a nice addition to the posts. Also feel free to bring back the Covid-19 rants, we don't hear anything in the UK about what is happening in Australia so I look forward to your weekly updates. At the start of the pandemic we were getting reports from around the world in our news bulletins but that stopped when Covid-19 started to get serious in the UK and has not returned as the news cycle has to a large part moved on from Covid-19. I suspect it may dominate our news again come winter when I suspect we will see an upsurge like you are seeing in Oz, only we are starting from a much higher baseline of daily cases.

Good luck with the punting!

[Charles49]

Thanks PDC. I will include some Covid inspired rants again next week as the situation here worsens. A while ago we were sitting on around 102 deaths and there was little upward movement from that number. Now the death rate has jumped up to 128 and its Victoria that is causing the increase in numbers as their confirmed overall numbers of cases is now 7,125 and increasing by around 400 daily. Compare that to Queensland and the scoreboard is a total of 1074 cases and just one new case yesterday. The one factor that pisses us off completely is that the vast majority of Australians realize the danger of the virus and take their social distancing and lock-downs seriously. However State Governments are still allowing BLM and Extinction Rebellion protests and marches, with a BLM march set down in Sydney for next Tuesday with expectations of some 10,000 protesters. And that's despite clear evidence that previous protests have produced covid infections. Go figure! Apparently allowing a protest about a matter that is hardly relevant to Australia is more important than controlling a nasty virus that is deadly to those aged 80 years or older. Tune in next week for an updated covid rant from Down Under !!! Take care and stay safe.

[PDC]

I had read about the chance of a BLM protest happening. Seems utterly mad to allow it. I look forward to next weeks posting but hope the picture is looking better by then for you all though unfortunately I would expect it to get worse before it gets better. Take care!

[Charles49]

Another weekend of racing beckons and also Australia continues to struggle with the insipid virus that is creating havoc around the globe. Australia really did well in the initial stage however the State of Victoria has let the side down with escalating virus numbers and unfortunately the death toll there is 52% of the national total. In other words the bulk of our deaths have occurred in the State of Victoria and the majority of those have occurred in our retirement villages which is extremely sad. Until recently our death toll was static around the 100 mark but now it has zoomed up to 176 as I write and sadly the numbers will increase.
Biggest issue is currently with retirement villages where a Covid-19 infection means almost 100% certain death if you are 70 or older. The Army has now been sent in with some 1400 doctors and nurses attending both private and Government facilities and extracting the sickest retirees out of the villages and placing them into either a private or Government hospital in an effort to stem the numbers of deaths.
Funny story doing the rounds is that Victoria's Government has rounded up 2000 homeless persons and placed them in hotels where they are fed three meals a day, laundry is done and sheets changed regularly, all courtesy of the Government purse. Now they have announced that all of those that were rounded up can continue to stay in their hotel until at least April next year. Whilst I appreciate that the subject of homelessness is not an easy one to solve for a host of reasons I wonder however how many others will now camp out in the doorway of a Melbourne shop in the hope of being "rounded up".!!
If you have read some previous posts here you would be familiar with an event that occurred in Melbourne where a number of persons who were quarantined for 14 days in hotels ended up ,allegedly, having sex with some of the security guards, Yesterday we learnt that the Department that was given the responsibility here was in fact the National Parks Rangers. Well we are all aware that Park rangers are very good at spotting noxious weeds and doing controlled hazard burns but to extract them out of their beloved bush areas and put them in charge of hotel security is a bit of a stretch. Still strange things happen only in Victoria,such as the State being the only one in Australia that signed up for China's Belt and Road program, and then they even paid the Chinese rep who advised them about the program a nice commission too.
There have been the usual nutters emerge throughout the lock-downs and they are taking to quoting the Human Rights(1948) legislation as to why they shouldn't wear a mask (which is mandatory in Victoria) and why they are immune to being fined. Bit like using the 2nd (or any other numbered) Amendment in America.! To their despair the authorities ignored their pleas and issued them with heavy fines. And of course there also were the protesters who wanted a BLM march in Sydney and despite being told no by the Supreme Court, and then losing an Appeal, they still decided to go ahead anyway. But this time the Police were waiting and arrested their Leader and five others and gave them a $1000 fine each for thinking they had the right to risk the spread of the virus which seems to be lethal for anyone aged 70 or older.
Australia has six States and two Territories and all have different Covid-19 rules which makes life here somewhat confusing. I can go anywhere in Queensland. But I cant go to Victoria or Western Australia, but I can travel to Tasmania, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, however the Greater Sydney area is a no go area as from Saturday. And don't bother asking about numbers that can attend funerals, weddings and parties at your home because every State and Territory has widely varying rules.
The saddest part of all here is that Australia has blown its national surplus, destroyed countless jobs and businesses and all because of some virus that started in some previously unheard of place in China. To put it in perspective we have a population of 25.5 million and to date our death toll is just 176. And 90% of those were of retirement age. Grab a calculator and you will find that in percentages that represents just a fraction of one percent of our population.
The questions that Australia's population are asking is WTF? and were the introduction of extreme measures, such as prohibiting folk from playing golf, fishing on wharfs, sitting on the grass in public spaces, sun-baking on beaches, closing down venues and business's really necessary when the end result is a total death rate considerably less than than the annual road toll.
Go figure.
UPDATE: Victoria is losing the Covid battle as the latest daily figure has just come out and the number is 723 which is 50% higher than any past numbers. Daily death rate went up to 13 yesterday so again it looks like Victoria is out of control.

[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.

[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]

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.