Horse Racing in OZ

[Bog]

JOKE:
Four great friends from Frankston, on the edge of the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Geoff, Joey, Longy and Robbie spent weeks planning the perfect boys trip away, camping, drinking, golf and all the fun stuff that goes with it. Two days before the group is to leave, Robbie’s wife puts her foot down and tells him he is not going. Robbie’s friends were very upset that he can’t go, but what could they do? Two days later, the three get to the camping site, only to find Robbie sitting there with a beer in his hand, tent set up, firewood gathered, and supper cooking on the fire. “Damn man, how long you been here and how did you talk your wife into letting you go?” Well, I’ve been here since last night. Yesterday evening I was sitting in my chair and my wife came up behind me and put her hands over my eyes and said, ‘Guess who’? I pulled her hands off and saw that she was wearing a brand new hot nightie. She took my hand and took me to our bedroom. The room had two dozen candles and rose petals all over. She had on the bed, handcuffs and ropes! She told me to cuff her and tie her to the bed which I did. And then she said, ‘Now you can do whatever you want.’ So here I am…!”

Good one Charles : ))) Cheers!

[Charles49]

The news from Oz is that all of our borders are, or are about to be open. That's good news not only for those who have been subjected to lockdown laws, but also for the economy as it means normal domestic flights will return and pubs and clubs, cafes and shops in general will be almost back to normal, except for some social distancing restrictions. Wife is having a milestone birthday in two weeks time and has had to restrict the guest list to 50 as there are still limits on home parties, weddings and funerals, which frankly is a blessing as many of her friends don't mind a wine or three, so the reduced numbers will lessen the toilet queues, and the afterparty cleanup will be quicker with a fewer number of broken glasses.
My punting efforts this week have been very poor with just 13 bets so far resulting in 2 winners, 3 seconds, 2 thirds and 6 unplaced. I do follow a little system that I have had for some time which has in the past produced annual win averages of between 42 to 45%. This year its well down as the stats show from my last 1066 bets only 349 have won, 323 have placed and paid a place divvy, and the other 394 have returned zilch. In terms of percentages that's a 32.7% win ratio, 30.3% place with divvy, and 37% unplaced. The win divvy's total $1032.45, so even with a very poor year I haven't done any damage to the Bank betting with a 1 win and 2 the place ratio. When you add in the place results the Bank remains intact despite the very ordinary results. I blame the covid disruption for the poor results in comparision to previous years, but that may or may not be the real reason.
I'm confident that the world will soon rid itself of the Covid-19 invasion once the vaccines are distributed; so confident in fact that yesterday I paid a deposit for the wife and I to go to the next Rugby World Cup in France. That's despite Australia currently playing so ordinary that they can't even beat Argentina. Then again New Zealand were beaten by Argentina recently for the first time in their rugby history so the world really has gone crazy.
Enough of the preamble, lets get on to the business of racing where this week some normality returns to racing venues. Last week not a single favourite saluted at Ballarat, which is typical of the poor result history that happens when our Administrators send racing off to the bush.
This Saturday racing commences at Moonee Valley at 12.55pm AEST which is 2.55am in London.
The last race will be at Ascot at 9.10pm AEST which I think is 11.10am in London.
Here are the early fields and selections for Saturday which of course will be manipulated once the scratchings and late mail are to hand.
I hope you are all keeping safe and saying a few Hail Mary's that those life changing vaccines are distributed asap.
Hope your day is a good one.

MOONEE VALLEY:
R1 no 5 Seb Song Won $3.50
R2 no 3 Brazen Boy
R3 no 1 Ocean's Thirteen Won $4
R5 no 4 Deep Speed 2nd
R6 no 3 Mariamia...currently $18...worth a tote ticket each way.
R7 no 8 One More Try Won $5
R9 no 2 Bandersnatch Won $7.50

ROSEHILL:
R1 no 6 Sliders 2nd
R2 no 7 Relucent 4th
R3 no 2 Art Cadeau 2nd
R5 no 7 Plaquette
R9 no 12 On the White Turf...hail mary bet on the last here at $17 or better


DOOMBEN:
R1 no 3 Ligulate Won $2.70
R3 no 9 Gin 'n' Bitters Won $2.10
R5 no 15 Miss Penfold..rough chance at 25/1 or better
R6 no 7 Grand Zou
R7 no 11 Baller... 3rd...danger is no 8 Boomtown Lass 2nd
R9 no 2 Jadentom 3rd

ASCOT:
R3 no 5 Island Missile
R5 no 6 Resortman Won $2.70
R7 no 7 Megadon. 3rd..worth an eachway ticket at $7 or better. Throw No 1 Manhattan Money ($8) into the quinella.
R9 no 1 Trekking

LAY BETS:
SR6 no 10 Bonvicini Started 2nd Fav. Ran unplaced. Lay bet Won
SR8 no 4 Snitz Started $3.50 Fav. Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won


Cheers 'n' Beers


JOKE:
1st TEXT MESSAGE: Hi George, this is Richard your next door neighbour. I’ve got a confession to make. I’ve been completely riddled with guilt for a number of months and have been trying to get up the courage to tell you this face-to-face. At least I’m telling you in this text. I can’t live with myself a minute longer without your knowing about this. The truth is that when you’re not around I’ve been sharing your wife, day and night. In fact, probably much more than you. I haven’t been getting it at home recently and I know that’s no excuse, however the temptation was just too great and I can’t live with the guilt anymore. I am very, very sorry. I hope you’ll accept my sincere apology and forgive me. Please suggest a fee for usage and I’ll pay you straight away………Regards……Richard
George, feeling enraged and betrayed grabbed his gun, went next door and shot Richard dead. He returned home and shot his wife dead, then poured himself a stiff drink and sat down on the sofa. George then looked at his phone and discovered a 2nd text message from Richard.
2nd TEXT MESSAGE: Hi George, Richard here again. Sorry about the typo on my last text. I assume you figured it out and noticed that the darned spell-check had changed “wi-fi” to “wife.” Technology, huh it does it all the time? It’ll be the death of us all.

[PDC]

Another good joke! Glad to hear things are getting back to normal in Oz. No such luck in the UK but they have announced some crowds can return to sports events in some parts of the country depending on what Tier of restrictions they are in. But it will be few and far between for the time being but at least it is a start! It is great to hear the crowds roar at the Oz race meetings though I think it was Doomben the other week the commentator was bemoaning the fact some had had a few to many Tooheys New and you could barely hear him!

The covid issues seem to have changed a lot of markets so I think you are right about your results. Hopefully next year with things getting back to normal, your results will as well!

Good luck this weekend!

[Charles49]

It seems we have some better Covid news around for those of you living in the UK with the advise that the UK Government have decided to dispense with the usual new vaccine proving period and have opted to get the first batch of vaccines out there asap. That's a big positive as it gives not only a chance to protect oneself from this rotten virus but it also gives hope right across the board as its a vaccine that can be used by the young thru to the elderly. I understand that the elderly and those in care will be given priority along with a few pollies and VIP's so unless you are in that sacred lot then you'll need to be patient. Vaccinations start on Monday which is interesting because much has been written about the difficulties with this vaccine in respect of maintaining quality at very low temperatures. Of course Australia will no doubt be watching closely here as to how low temps can be achieved and the quality of the vaccine maintained without loss of effectiveness.
Our Government has taken the safe route and will be distributing vaccines in March after the normal testing time has been satisfactorily completed. Lets hope these vaccines are 100% effective and we can all return asap to what we knew as normality.
Weather here has been hotter than normal as evidenced by the temperature in my pool which is currently 30deg. Nice in but hardly the way to cool down. Think I will throw in some ice cubes to try and get the temp down.!! TV just told me to expect a 40deg day shortly.
On a personal note have had 17 bets this week for 4 winners and 9 seconds (very frustrating!) no thirds and 4 that were unplaced. For the record I use Betfair and a family run business Vicbet for my investments.
This Saturday racing commences at Pakenham...yes the city racing has gone bush again which means bet carefully as results will not be easy to predict. Start time is 12.50pm AEST which I think is the equivalent to 1.50am on Saturday morning in London.
Last Race will be at Ascot and that will be run at 8.30pm which again I think is 9.30am London time.
I hope you are all safe and now out of any chance of a lockdown scenario.
Stay safe and back plenty of winners which will help to keep your mind off the virus requirements. If that fails then drink plenty of alcohol as that seems to do the trick...in my case at least!!
The early selections will go up early tomorrow AEST and then once the scratchings are received along with the late mail the "still working" sign will be taken down and then the results will follow once each race is completed.
Have fun and enjoy.

PAKENHAM:
R1 no 3 Nantucket...danger is no 6 Written Miss Won $2.30
R2 no 8 Meteorite
R5 no 2 All Too Huiying
R8 no 5 The Astrologist Won $2.60
R9 no 11 Score

ROSEHILL:
R1 no 6 Kiku 3rd
R3 no 10 Post Free ....has a rough chance of filling a place at 15/1
R4 no 8 The Elanora Won $3.60
R5 no 5 Edison Won $3.10
R8 no 2 Ivinciano

DOOMBEN:
R1 no 5 Subterranean Won $4.50
R3 no 2 Tokoriki Lad
R4 no 3 Paniagua.. Won $2.30 .thought no 6 Ritchford had a rough chance at 33/1
R6 no 3 So You WinWon $2.50
R8 no 8 Jonker 2nd
R9 no 1 Gotta Kiss 2nd

ASCOT:
R3 no 5 Long Beach 2nd
R2 no 11 Bragwell 2nd
R5 no 1 Chantrea.. 3rd...no 10 Tycoon Storm is the late mail
R7 no 10 Celebrity Queen 2nd
R8 no 4 Too Close The Sun...late mail is No 12 Inspirational Girl 2nd

LAY BETS:
BR4 no 2 Eshiele Started $4. Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won
SR3 no 6 Eva's Deel Won $7. Lay Bet Lost
MR3 no 9 Starcaster Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers

JOKE:
Three tough Aussie guys, Shane, Ricky and Billy were working on a high-rise building project in Surfers Paradise. Unfortunately, Shane falls off the scaffolding and is killed instantly, everyone is shattered. As the Ambulance takes the body away, Ricky says, ‘Someone should go and tell his wife.’ Billy says, ‘OK, I’m pretty good at that sensitive stuff, I’ll do it.’ Two hours later, he comes back carrying a slab of Crown Lagers on his shoulder. Ricky says, ‘Where did you get that Billy?’ ‘Shane’s wife gave it to me.’ Billy continues, ‘That’s unbelievable, you told the poor lady her husband has just passed away and she gave you a slab of beer?’ ‘Well not exactly,’ Billy said. ‘When she answered the door, I said to her, “You must be Shane’s widow”.’ She said, ‘No, I’m not a widow.’ And I said, ‘I’ll bet you a slab of Crown Lagers that you are.

[Charles49]

Well yet another Saturday looms and with it some fairly ordinary racing which is typical of racing here during the December/January holiday and festive season. The missus upstaged me (yet again!) during the week when her cheap 5% purchase of a 3yo filly had its first start at a New South Wales country track and after leading all the way succumbed to the odds on favourite in the last 50 metres to run a creditable second. She backed it at 70/1 each way so she is a happy little vegemite with the prizemoney and her increased betting account balance.
Its amazing in racing how castoffs given time care and patience can be a rewarding and cost effective way to join the owners circle.
I'm delighted of course to read the news of a British woman nearing her 91st birthday being the first recipient of the covid vaccine. As predicted some while ago in these rants I was hopeful that the vaccine would be available prior to Christmas so its nice to see this has happened and hopefully there will be a responding decline not only in the number of cases but also of course in the daily death rate. News just to hand is that Australia has suspended trials of the University of Queensland's promising vaccine after some false HIV readings were recorded.
Australians wont be able to leave the country before March 17th 2021 but that's a date subject to the world virtually eliminating the virus which really is a big ask considering the virus is spread so well across the globe. As from this Saturday, New Zealanders can now escape to Australia, which is a good start back on the road to normality.
This Saturday the missus is having a birthday bash so updates will probably be very sparse if at all. There is a huge thunderstorm expected here on Saturday which will make for either an interesting spectacle or/and it will dampen the enthusiasm to party on.
This Saturday racing commences here at Randwick at 12.40pm AEST which converts to a 1.40am Saturday London time.
The final race will be at Ascot at 20.17pm AEST which converts to 8.17am Saturday London time.
On a personal note its been a difficult week on the grisly grunt with 19 bets returning just 4 winners, 6 seconds, no thirds, and 9 unplaced. Pretty poor week overall.
Here are the early selections which of course get updated when all the goodies surface on Saturday morning.

FLEMINGTON:
R1 no 7 Ranveer 2nd
R4 no 5 Tralee Rose 2nd
R5 no 1 Prezado 2nd
R7 no 1 Bandersnatch 3rd
R9 no 5 Macroura 3rd

EAGLE FARM:
R1 no 5 Palladas. Won $3..no 2 Good Chat is the late mail
R5 no 4 Rambeau
R6 no 1 Fake Love 2nd
R7 no 7 Sugar Boom 3rd
R8 no 2 Profit 3rd
R9 no 1 Exhilarates

RANDWICK:
R5 no 4 Acrobat. Won $5.30..no 3 Overmann is the late mail
R6 no 1 Tailleur 2nd
R9 no 12 Spirit Ridge 2nd

ASCOT:
R1 no 4 Express Time
R3 no 1 Don't Fuss 2nd
R5 no 5 Cambist 4th
R6 no 2 Resortman
R7 no 1 Come Right Back
R8 no 9 Midnight Blue...Scr.....No 3 Royal Command is a definite danger.

LAY BETS:
SR5 no 11 Ashema Ran 2nd Lay Bet Won
SR8 no 15 Criaderas Ran 3rd. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers


JOKE:
Quilly who is an absolute genius, a Rhode Scholar and brilliant sportsman went camping with his mate Big Brenny, nice bloke who thought he could be a Pro Surfer but never quite made the grade and instead he directed his energies towards becoming a highly regarded and beloved member of the LGBT Community. They pitched their tent under the stars and went to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night Quilly woke Big Brenny up and said “Big Brenny, look up at the sky and tell me what you see” Big Brenny replied “I see millions and millions of stars”. Quilly said ” and what do you deduce from that?” Big Brenny replied ” well, if there are millions of stars, and if even a few of those have planets, it’s quite likely there are some planets like Earth out there. And if there are a few Planets like Earth out there, there might also be life.” And Quilly said “Big Brenny you idiot, it means that somebody stole our tent!”

[Charles49]

Came across some interesting statistics when I was doing some research into the viability of owning racehorses in Australia.
In Australia the average Group 1 prizemoney per race was $1,140,000 which compares to the UK where its AUD$537,000. So I then looked up the figures for the average race prizemoney and in Oz its $46,245 compared to $20,181 in the UK. So what about average dollars that punters wager on horses you ask? Well I did find that too, expressed in US Dollars. In Australia the average punter spends US$820 a year on horse racing whilst in the UK the average is US$295. Its interesting to note that the average in the United States is just US$43 per person per year.
I did dig a little deeper re horse ownership and I discovered that one in every 253 persons here are an owner in a horse compared to one in every 6,489 in the UK. (You could take a 1% interest here until recently when it seems 2.5% is now the acceptable minimum!)
Why the interest? Well I was looking at the fields for next Mondays Bathurst races where the wife has a runner and I saw a filly there that had had 18 starts and hadn't won a single race...yet it had won AUD$70K in prizemoney, which I thought was excessive for a maiden. Yes it had run a handful of races in the Sydney Metropolitan area however the majority had been in the bush, but it did go to show that with careful targeting of races with above normal prizemoney at stake, then its possible to turn an interest in horse ownership in Australia into a profitable hobby.
Well that's the theory of course...not so easy in reality as Lady Luck plays a major role right from the moment you sign up for the unraced 2yo to the time to retire to the grazing paddock.

[Charles49]

Another Saturday of racing is about to arrive together with some rather nasty weather as heavy rain hits Australia from coast to coast. Even the normally parched inland of Australia has received its fair share, so racing will be subject to heavy track conditions and periods of rain. Still one cant complain really as the Australian continent needs a good sprinkling. Its just a pity that most of the runoff will head out into the ocean because our various Governments have not had the foresight to capture water within strategic dams that would have insured us against the inevitable droughts that will follow.
My punting this week has been fraught with too many seconds and thirds and several close fourths. Of the 24 bets I have had to date there have been just 5 winners, 9 seconds, 5 thirds, 5 that haven't run a drum.
First race this Saturday will commence at Randwick at 12.40pm AEDT, which is 1.40am Saturday London time, and the last race will be at Ascot, which will commence at 8.15pm, which is 9.15am London time.
Enjoy the day and do stay safe even if it means you have to forgo a visit to the pub and stay home and watch Still Game, a Scottish sitcom, which I confess to doing when it pizzles down outside.!
Here are the early selections, which will be updated once the scratchings and late mail are known.


FLEMINGTON:
R2 no 3 Written Miss Won $2.80
R3 no 3 Sensationalisation 2nd
R5 no 8 King Magnus 2nd
R7 no 8 Defiant Dancer Won $2.90
R9 no 4 Overkill...no 2 Tony Nicconi is the get out bet in the last at 50/1.

RANDWICK:
R1 no 2 Paulele Won $2.20
R2 no 13 Nuremburg Castle 3rd
R3 no 5 Kattegat 2nd
R4 no 8 Accountability
R5 no 4 Fulmina
R6 no 5 Vitesse
R7 no 3 Lashes 3rd
R8 no 7 Edison.. Won $3.50..thought no8 Romani Girl was worth a tote ticket at 20/1


DOOMBEN:
R3 no 13 Smart 'n' Sexy....no 8 Mishani Bloosom is a chance at 20/1.
R4 no 4 Phaistos 2nd
R5 no 9 Magic Commander
R8 no 9 Away Game.. 2nd...no 11 Isotope is the late mail Won


ASCOT:
R3 no 1 Madam Torio Won
R4 no 3 Dark Mission
R5 no 2 Truly Great Won
R6 no 1 Midnight Blue 3rd
R7 no 3 Chantrea
R9 no 1 Dig Deep. Won $8..no 8 Resortman is the late mail

LAY BETS:
BR6 no 9 Kateru Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won
BR1 no 3 Tracy May Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won

Cheers 'n' Beers

JOKE:
A couple were Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve and the shops were packed full of shoppers buying their loved ones gifts. Walking through the shopping centre the surprised wife looked up and noticed her husband was no where around and she was very upset because it was meant to be a special time shopping together. She took her phone out of her handbag and called her husband, “where are you, honey? She enquired. The husband, in a calm voice said, “baby girl remember the Jewellery store we went in to five years ago? Where you fell in love with that diamond necklace that we couldn’t afford, and I told you that I would get it for you one day ?” His wife started to cry with joy and said, “Yes, I remember that necklace and the store. “He said, “Well, I’m in the Bar right next door to it……”

[Charles49]

Its that time of the year when the jolly fat fellow rings his bell and we gather round with friends, family and neighbours to celebrate the year that was, and to look forward with positivity for the New Year that we shall shortly welcome in.
Well that's what normally happens but this year for the vast majority has been a troubling one, as a deadly virus circulates, and mutates, to cause us much unhappiness, disruptions and sadly in many instances loss of life.
Lets hope that 2021 brings with it a successful vaccine that restores our lifestyle to something akin to normality and we can once again travel the globe without the draconian lifestyle restrictions that are currently in place.
And of course may your racing investments return positive results throughout the year!!
So from the land that has been described as the Sunburnt Country may I wish you and yours the very best for Christmas and may you all have a pleasant, successful, and happy New Year.
Personal punts are still not great. From the 18 bets this week the return was 6 winners,4 seconds ,1 third and 7 that failed to place.
Here are the early selections for Saturdays racing.

EAGLE FARM:
R1 no 8 Warp Speed 2nd
R2 no 4 Hard Labour 3rd
R3 no 4 Dzsenifer 2nd
R4 no 1 Shaquero
R5 no 2 Shooting For Gold Won $2
R6 no 1 The Elanora Won $2.60
R7 no 4 The Harrovian Won $2


RANDWICK:
R2 no 17 Pinnacle Prince Won $2.50
R3 no 5 Zing 2nd
R5 no 3 Frosty Rocks 2nd
R6 no 9 Spirit Ridge Won $4
R7 no 5 Quantico
R8 no 14 Ellsberg 3rd

CAULFIELD:
R2 no 6 Zoushine Won $3.50 is the late mail
R3 no 3 Ayrton Won
R5 no 7 Score Won $5.50
R6 no 4 Ididitforlove 3rd
R7 no 9 Pandemic Won $2.70
R8 no 7 Tavidance 4th
R9 no 4 Astraeus

ASCOT:
R4 no 5 Ziebell 2nd

LAY BETS:
MR8 no 8 Paradee Ran 2nd. Lay Bet Won
MR9 no 1 Star Missile Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won


Cheers n Beers.

JOKE:
How did Mary and Joseph know that Jesus was 8lb 2oz when he was born?
Because they had a weigh in a manger.!!
Why is everyone thirsty at the North Pole?
No well.!!

[Bog]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2021

[PDC]

Just had a quick catch up of the thread having had a break for Christmas.

The stats you provided Charles were interesting though I have to say not overly surprising. One very important stat was missing though and that was the cost of training a horse in each country. Again I would expect it to favour Oz and the US where it is much easier and cheaper for someone to set up a training establishment. In the UK it can be very hard and expensive to do. For example in the US you can rent just a few boxes quite easily and get going which I know a few people who have done so and then grown from that.

The funding of the sport through betting is the over riding issue though between the USA, OZ and UK. The UK let the genie out the bottle a long time ago and it won't ever go back in despite people wishing it would. They really need to change how racing is funded in the UK and should look at syndicates and the success it has in Oz much more. There are more younger trainers who seem to be embracing it and I think it is an excellent thing but places like courses need to learn to embrace it as well.

Anyway, I hope you all had a good Christmas and I would like to wish you a Happy New Year on the day we got the excellent news that the UK has approved the Oxford vaccine and will be delaying the second dose to 3 months so more people can get the first dose quicker.

We may not have got a lot of things right in the UK in this pandemic but one thing we have led the way with in a good way is the vaccine development, buying up stocks in advance, getting it approved and getting it administered.

Now lets hope lots of people take up getting a little prick as we sure as heck need it given our current daily record breaking levels of cases and NHS bursting at the seams.

Hopefully in another 2 - 3 months we will be in a much improved position with the worse behind us and with the then improved weather things go from strength to strength in terms of a recovery and return to life as we once knew it!

Happy New Year!

[Charles49]

Thanks PDC for your thoughts and I'm glad to see you have survived the current strain of covid virus that is flooding across the UK. Good news re the vaccine as thats the game changer imho. Very sorry to see the latest elevation in covid casualties in the UK.....that's a major concern but hopefully the quick implementation of the vaccine will bring the spread back to a manageable level.
Re your question about the cost of training it varies here depending on where your horse is trained. For example, she who must be obeyed, has a horse that is currently racing in New South Wales regional/county area. The cost of training including everything works out to around $2000 pcm. Its a much lesser amount of course if the horse is spelling. I have several mates who have horses in Brisbane and they are chasing the bigger prizemoney so whilst I will ask them I would expect that their costs would be in the region of $4000/$5000 pcm when the horse is in work.
UPDATE: The advise I received back was the reasonably good trainers seem to be around the $3,500pcm whilst average trainers generally are around $2,800pcm. Some do however charge $4,000pcm.
There is another interesting aspect emerging within the industry and that relates to training times. Trainers here start their work from 2.00am and the industry wants to change normal start times to say 4am on the basis that its a more civilized time to start work and the reality is that temperatures at 4.00am are not that different to 2.00am so the welfare of the horse is not a prominent issue.
Australia's prizemoney changes have come about principally because of the efforts of Peter V'Landy. He is the Chief Executive of Racing NSW and his claim to fame is that he managed to impose a levy on every betting transaction that fed back into increased prizemoney. Its a case of reverse Robin Hood in that he took from the poor punters and gave to the rich owners.!! Biggest winners here are the breeders and of course the losers are the poor punters who suffer from rounded down dividends and increased betting percentages imposed by TAB's and bookmakers.
The upshot however is that racing is flourishing, horse prices are high (breeders are delighted!) and prizemoney is now at a level where with an ounce of luck the average horse owner has a reasonable chance of covering expenses.
Hope you (and Bog if he reads this!) have a Happy New Year and thank you both for your input and commentary throughout the year.

[Charles49]

No shortage of races around for the start of the New Year with two races today at city venues and the usual five or so for Saturday.
The wife's little filly goes around in the first at Inverell today so she will be glued to the set watching her favourite slog it out with eleven other runners. It has a chance as its drawn well and has a good jock on top and the distance should suit. Downside is that the track is a Soft 6 and if it gets worse than so do her chances. Someone must think it has a good chance as its been backed in from 15/1 to 5/1 overnight.
My punting has been a tad better of late with just 21 bets for 10 winners, 3 seconds, 3 thirds, and 5 unplaced. I use two betting outlets for my regular bets ..one of course is Betfair and the other is a family owned enterprise with a long and successful history in Victoria namely www.vicbet.com.
Here are the early selections for Saturday's races.
Last race starts at Ascot at 9.26am Saturday, London time.
These will be updated when the scratchings and late mail are revealed.
Please stay safe and may the punting gods be kind to you in 2021.

EAGLE FARM:
R2 no 2 Racecourse Road
R4 no 1 Ranch Hand 3rd
R8 no 11 Emerald Kingdom 3rd


RANDWICK KENSINGTON:
R1 no 10 Laurelin
R2 no 3 Mother's Mercy
R3 no 1 Skymax
R4 no 2 Private Eye Won $6
R5 no 2 Edison
R6 no 4 Smart Image
R7 no 7 De Grawin Won $3.60
R8 no 3 Snowfire Won $2.35
R9 no 12 Tiny 3rd

CAULFIELD:
R1 no 1 Impecunious Late Scr.
R4 no 9 Housay 3rd
R6 no 6 Dickin Medal Won $4.20


ASCOT:
R2 no 3 Keep Your Feet 2nd
R3 no 3 Ration Aly Won $2.60
R5 no 2 Tycoon Storm
R6 no 2 Chantrea 3rd
R7 no 6 Indian Pacific
R8 no 1 Truly Great 2nd
R9 no 3 Treasured Crown

LAY BETS:
BR7 no 2 Portland Sky Ran unplaced. Lay Bet Won
BR8 no 15 Stampe Ran Unplaced. Lay Bet Won

Cheers n Beers

JOKE:
A man is walking through his local mall and notices a Mexican book store. He decides to go in because he has never seen a Mexican book store before. He browses through the store and finally asks the clerk, “Do you have the book on Donald Trump’s foreign policies with Mexico?” The clerk replies, “F*ck you, get out, stay out!” The man replies, “Yeah, that’s the one!”

[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.

[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/...044534791?s=27

[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