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Racebooks (or racecards as they are called up here) are NZ$ 7.50 at most meetings and up to NZ$10 -12 at the big meetings.  "And for those watching in black and white, Davis is on the green" (or something like that...)

I have to be honest, I don't get the hostility to synthetic tracks. We have had them here for 35 years and they are an integral part of UK racing. They provide a lifeline for owners, trainers, jockeys and many others in winter when you can't race on grass and offer a viable alternative for the immature 2-y-o and 3-y-o to running on bottomless turf. Let's be honest - they are also supposedly a boon for bookmakers though I doubt the actual amounts bet justify that sentiment. I can't imagine there was much wagered on the evening synthetic meetings at Southwell and Newcastle this week compared to what was played at Cheltenham. They aren't just for lower grade horses - classic winners such as ENABLE and NOTABLE SPEECH have used them.  They should be easy to manage and maintain - you never hear of complaints up here about Polytrack or Tapeta in terms of kickback or injuries. We do get small field races occasionally on the synthetic - they could put on a card of Class 6 handicaps and get maximum fields for every race but you can't have cards made up of one type of race.

Personally, have no use for any hard copy form guides and although bets are long on before I get oncourse I do like a racebook in the back pocket. That's mainly so I have the colours in hand though and recently I have found that clubs sometimes print those books in b&w which is about as much use as tits on a bull.

At Cheltenham this week, there was a lot of angst about the ground - despite nearly 10 inches of rain (250 mm in new money) in January and February, the Clerk finished up having to water because a couple of warm and sunny days and wonderful drainage meant the ground was drying too fast. In the end, he didn't put enough water on to satisfy Willie Mullins and J P McManus and FACT TO FILE was taken out of the Ryanair. The irony was 12 mm fell overnight into Friday and the ground on Gold Cup day was almost perfect. The dilemma is this - trainers like Mullins argue jump racing championship races should take place on proper Soft ground, not necessarily Heavy but it should have Soft somewhere in the description so Good to Soft would be okay. The Clerk can water or overwater to ensure that's the ground available but there are two aspects - first, what about those horses who genuinely want Good ground and second, if you water and then you get more rain than forecast or expected, the ground is too heavy and everyone moans? On the Flat, the line up here is Clerks water to prevent any jar in the ground - some tracks, such as Bath, run on downland turf which has been well managed for decades. It can be Firm but there's no jar but other venues have overwatered and not managed the turf so well while others such as clay tracks do suffer if there's a prolonged dry spell. That, as we know, causes other problems. The bias on heavy ground is the same up here - at Brighton, when it's slow, they all come to the stands side but other tracks it's the other way round. Willie Carson, at Ascot, famously rode right under the trees where the rain hadn't reached and won on BAHRI and thereare other such examples of what are called "golden highways" where the ground is often better.

Over here, we have the Racing Post every day but it's expensive (NZ$ 12). However, it covers both horse and dog racing in a detail you won't find anywhere else. The Post keeps going because it supplies copy to the betting shops and as long as the shops want the form to be displayed for the walk-in punter, the Post will continue. You can download very good information from Timeform and other sites if you want but I still prefer to have the Post (the old Sporting Life was better but much harder to read) and to spread out with coffee and breakfast on the way to the track (or at the track in the winter). I don't get the Post every day any more - I only buy it on Saturdays and for the big meetings. I used to study form every day but I've better things to do with my life (so Mrs Stodge advises).

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Is that you Mrs Cole?

Whilst as a young fella I would spend my pocket money on  Best Bets rather than treats, in my view Raceform is far superior  so would not buy Best Bets.