Roar Rookie
Joined September 2019
1.5k
Views
7
Published
14
Comments
Popular racing and sports columnist with Sportsbet, whose ground breaking ruminations were thought to have recently been lost to the public beneath the rubble of the post BetEasy merger blog site overhaul.
Published
Comments
I’m in a good mood this week. There is no public holiday in Melbourne this week so form guides are on the news stands…
There are two big events on today. One is an AFL game between two teams I don't care much about. Before we get there,…
These days there is a day for just about everything you can think of and then some. There are such showstopping global issues as…
For many of us more seasoned race-goers, one of the joys of racing is remembering the champions of the past, whose memories are now…
We are now well into that time of the year when breeders, both hobby and professional, are deciding or have decided which stallions should…
I am a keen breeding enthusiast who loves nothing more than sitting down with a coffee or a glass of red and sifting through…
Usually I listen to, rather than watch, the races on a Saturday afternoon, discreetly using vital outdoor tasks like cleaning the gutters or pulling…
Messrs Bucket and Mordy – without my timely copy of the Punters Bible I felt unable to recommend anything when I submitted this. As it happens in the middle of a mediocre day on the punt the Cox Plate winner was in fact one of the few I did have an interest on today. But there’s a couple like Exosphere and Captain Corelli that I was much more enthusiastic about that ran like crabs!
Flemington next week with hopefully a day when we don’t have to guess what the weather is going to do to the track when tipping the day before. We can all get rich then!
Cox Plate: Some random trivia around the big race
She will have run by the time this gets up on the website, but I will be looking for a one on one interview for next week if she wins. Good luck with her.
The history of the Caulfield Guineas and Spring Champion day
Thanks for the insightful comments gents.
Mordi – I’ve played a few comp matches at the centre you refer to – it changed its name from time to time I think but was called Leggetts at the time I played there – they had a heap of both squash and tennis courts, but you can imagine the value of that amount of land in Prahran. Like many it went to developers. You may not have had the constitution to be an elite sportsman, but clearly you had elite taste in music. Seen a few of those guys myself.
David F – there might be a world squash(veggie) day – my research didn’t even touch the sides as to some of the options out there. I think anyone with a Facebook or Twitter account can start a WorldAnything day these days
Josh – yes I think we have always been a players sport more than a spectator sport. If you get a chance to see it at the top level live, you probably get a better feel for it than on TV. While you won’t find squash on Channel 7, there is a squashtv channel on Youtube for those that follow the game. But there are a million sports options out there for us to choose from so its hard for lower profile sports to get oxygen
All the best
Today is World Squash Day
On that basis Kanggas2, you might consider following the Bryce Stanaway stable?
You’re certainly a better man than me if you even considered Austin Raider.
I note in his 2 runs since he has swiftly returned to the mediocrity that we generally know and love him for. Beaten 20 lengths on Saturday at Morphettville.
The era of the flexi quaddie
Oh and good luck with your dogs – you don’t have to wait nearly as long with them to find out and you get half a dozen for the price one.
Choosing a stallion this spring
Hopefully you learn as you go along Nathan. Sometimes there is science, sometimes there is circumstance (our unplanned visit to Happy Giggle), often there is luck and for people like us always there is budget. A proven stallion that has shown it can get reliable hardy horses and is under 15k(often under 10) is always a good thing for someone who breeds to race. Probably do a bit more research into type and temperament than we did early on. e.g., tried Rakti his first season here, without realizing just how temperamental he was. It was no real secret if you did the research. Given our mare was no wallflower either, it was no shock the foal was a danger to all who came into contact with her. Every person I ever met who had a Rakti told me theirs were the same.
Choosing a stallion this spring
Thanks for asking Peter – I’ve been safely socially distancing in the Lantern Room doing the form for Spring and checking the breeding on the new 2yo’s. There’s a couple of new sires seem to have hit the ground running in the trials – now we’ll find out on race day
Choosing a stallion this spring
Three great domestic sire lines in the last 70 years – Star Kingdom, Sir Tristram and Danehill. Star Kingdom in the 50’s and 60’s did indeed almost singlehandedly turn us into a country that focused on breeding sprinters rather than stayers – and with even less progeny than Northern Dancer. His job is done now though – Toorak Toff was his only male line descendant in the top 100 last season.
Australia's most influential racing figure
Thanks for all the comments, everybody. Much appreciated.
Good to see a few of my followers from the Sportsbet column have found me here, plus some previously unfamiliar faces.
Hopefully I will be able to convince the editors on this site to put up a few more of my insights in the upcoming weeks.
The era of the flexi quaddie
Is this the same Lighthouse that used to be on the Sportsbet Blogsite? Was a sad day for turf journalism in this country when his columns stopped appearing there.
The era of the flexi quaddie
Hard to argue again. Think only Vow and Declare has the capacity to win this of the locals but is he a run short? Constantinople and Mer De Glaces the obvious of the tourists but Mirage Dancer and Mustajeer not far behind and more than twice the odds and there is a long history of the lesser fancied of the foreigners running extremely well – Vintage Crop, Taufan’s Melody, Cape Of Good Hope last week etc etc
Your guide to every runner in the Caulfield Cup
Can’t see how Pierata won’t be in the finish – maps to get a perfect run and the $7.50 each way this morning is better than its been for weeks. Not sure why Sunlight is at double figures either – but I guess something has to be in this field – again should get a good run from the gate and be very hard to get past
The Everest: Who will win Australia's best race?
Hope MJ can keep it going but you can’t get rich at evens. Humidor, Kings Will Dream both have the talent on their day. Rostropovich is high class as well – should go way better than the $34 I backed him at yesterday.
There’s a few others on the card that look to be way overs too. Fingers crossed.
Mouth-watering racing to treat punters this Saturday
Not looking like I know too much after the Derby and the Coolmore Mr Bucket, but I can tell you that while most of the other kids at school were playing marbles or having a sly ciggie behind the sheltersheds, I had my head in a form guide with my daily school issue milk trying to decipher the mysteries of the turf.
This week in racing