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2 Cubed rules for postingness 1....Never post after a couple of G and T''s 2...Never post on a Tuesday 'cause that's not when it's at 3....First start 4....Ruccartan against proven performers 5...Go Large or Go Home 6...Jockey ...? 7...Grandmother won a Group 1 8...Trainer not confident 9....Cubes had a great time @ the Punter's Cup Challenge last Shatterday @ Riccarton and came 9th out of 43 10...'Cafers should know by now that owners are the worst tipsters 11...Cubes and Out

Haven;t heard Sharpton pass comment on the 7 year old girl and her father being gunned down at a drive thru last weekend,never hear him comment on the black on black violence in places like Chicago and Baltimore,nothing in it for him. A leader he ain;t.

Brilliant work Gubellini.....most interesting......Please can you research his 12yo and 13yo seasons Mention is made that his final start was as a 13yo was on Anzac Day and although finishing last he was forgiven as he marched in the Dawn Parade ( who knows ? )

How many jumpers are in training in the SI? It would be a brave trainer and owner who puts time and expense into training a jumper these days with all the uncertainty. With the intention to hold virtually all of the SI winter meetings on the Riccarton All Weather going forward, I can't see any place for jumping at all. Riccarton only wants to host jumps for one week of the year, and is quite happy to import them all rather than encourage locals. The logical jumps tracks throughout the winter are Oamaru and Timaru, but they are both considered surplus to needs so the powers that be are hardly going to encourage them. I did find the announcement concerning Riverton to be a bit condescending: "in an attempt for this meeting to proceed with reasonable field sizes". There are plenty of horses in the south if they would just programme them properly.

Old Sleepy promoting divisive racists like Al Sharpton ...Trump knew better...Planks Second, President Donald Trump tweeted Monday morning that Al Sharpton is a “con man” who “Hates Whites & Cops.”

This Saturday Easter meeting at Ellerslie in 1952 my good friend rode the winner of the first division of the Great Northern Oaks on,CHICKADEE. To make things even better her stablemate Sobriane ridden by Grenville Hughes won the 2nd Division. Both trained by Jack McDonald. Chickadee was the Grand Dam of Dee Dee and Urupukapuka

Friday sees an interesting Flat card at Sandown for which the final declarations are through. Just four go in the Group 2 Sandown Mile and PALACE PIER has shortened to 1/2 which tells you a lot. The others aren't slouches - both KHUZAAM and HAPPY POWER are decent performers but if PALACE PIER is close to the form he showed at Ascot and Deauville he'll be too good. While there may not be much competition for Team Gosden at 1600m, the Group 3 Gordon Richards over 2000m for the older horses looks a fascinating little heat. Favourite is the Gosden trained WALDKONIG, the full brother to the Arc winner Waldgeist. Let's not forget on his 3-y-o debut he was 8/11 favourite at Newmarket but was well held in third behind his stable companion called MISHRIFF and that turned out to be much better than it seemed at the time. WALDKONIG was beaten by HIGHEST HONOUR at Haydock and was put away after that until returning to win a Pontefract handicap. He has it to prove at Group 3 level. HIGHEST HONOUR went from Haydock to a narrow defeat by THUNDEROUS in the delayed Dante at York and I think we can ignore his autumn flop on soft ground at Newmarket. Back on a decent surface, I think he has a serious chance. The trouble is, THUNDEROUS is in the field though you just wonder if he might want some juice in the ground. HUKUM won a warm 2400m handicap at Royal Ascot and followed up in the Geoffrey Freer before a decent fifth in the Leger - all the evidence suggests this will be too short for him. EXTRA ELUSIVE won the Winter Hill at Windsor before a fair sixth behind ADDEYBB in the Champion Stakes. He flopped on the Dirt in Saudi Arabia at the end of January which leaves the 9-y-o DESERT ENCOUNTER who was one place in front of EXTRA ELUSIVE at Ascot. His middle eastern flop was in Bahrain. The Classic Trial over 2000m is Sandown's pointer to the Derby. Now, Sandown isn't Epsom on a number of levels and this isn't much of a trial these days. The last horse to win this and go on to Epsom glory was Shahrastani back in 1986. BANGKOK won this in 2019 and MIDTERM, who now plies his trade in Australia, won it in 2016. It looks wide open with 10 runners due to go to post. Charlie Appleby has ante post favourite YIBIR and ADAYAR. The one I like at an each way price is ETONIAN who was thought highly enough to warrant a tilt at the Dewhurst - he finished twelfth - and at this level on better ground he looks an attractive each way proposition at 10s.

Bakharoff was the Harwood , Juddmonte , Starkey, Futurity winner a couple years later I confused myself with , he ended up in NZ at Stud not Alphabatim , winner year before him Lanfranco ended up here too . I remember going racing at little old course on West Coast in about 95 and seeing the names of these long expelled horses appearing in race book, Creag-An-Sgor was another that appeared .

Well done and generous PEG... Cheers and good luck with your future breeding. I am backing Turn M Loose at Windsor Park.

Hand on your heart....do you honestly believe the racing industry is better now ( as in cleaner or more reputable) than it was twenty years ago, or forty years ago ? Way, way , waay better these days Poundy,. Late last century most stables had access all the latest 'therapy' milkshakes, elephant juice ,etc until testing and penalties finally caught up. Many trainers out of the game after. The leading Sydney trainer the "Colgate Kid" Gleeson had Bookmakers as owners. That's just asking for trouble (and he got in it alright) These day RIU and Inca presence keeps everyone more 'honest'? Think of it as a Positive thing !! McGrath , Alford , Kerr ...still some blokes trying things. Actually McGrath penalty seems manifestly excessive. Hope he appeals? but might have been a warning to others by giving such a large penalty (8 years I think) I Love All the Horsemen/women and like you and some others am Totally Glad if Inca folds without any more damage. and NOT taking anyone down. I don't know the make-up (personnel) of the investigators as you do , but too me and most, they just people doing their job. Let them fail without evidence ! all good. you said there was No evidence. sounds good !. you said they fabricate and lie , sounds Bad ? That happens ALL THE TIME in court. Just go with the positive Note. You Cannot convict Without Evidence. and justice will prevail !!

There is always calls of "sameness" in racing - boring etc. This is something different which may or may not work. But there's only one way to find out - isn't there?

Of course it's a scandemic when you follow the MONEY

I think Guy Harwood thought ALPHABATIM was his best 3-y-o in 1984 but he was too slow for the Derby. He won the Lingfield Trial but at Epsom it all happened too quick and he was fifth to SECRETO and one place behind AT TALAQ who we mentioned the other day. It was a poor summer for the Harwood horses that year with a virus in the yard - ALPHABATIM was aimed at the Leger and ended up third to COMMANCHE RUN, on whom Piggott was at his brilliant assertive best and BAYNOUN. Could he have gone well in the Arc? I doubt it - I suspect he'd have hated the ground which was terrible that year in Paris. The Harwood stable jockey, Greville Starkey, ended up on STRAWBERRY ROAD who you lot will remember as the Cox Plate winner in 1983. John Nicholls brought him over and he won the Grosser Preis von Baden before running fifth in the Arc and went on to win big races in France and the US. You couldn't imagine a Cox Plate winner coming over to run in the following year's Arc nowadays -

Na CNN just got caught admitting propaganda.... you know they you lies and you believe it and go around quoting them. The CNN fake Gaetz story and the fake Russians paying bountys on US troops and the fake killing of officer Sidnick. And still you lap up the fake polls like before the election that Trump won in a landslide. Sick puppy

Well, I guess we started on a positive note.

Gary Knight. Recovered from the flour bombing in '81. I saw him go down. Makes me feel old to say that! I will follow Chase with interest!

crustyngrizzly Count Mannix won a Maiden race at Te Rapa on the 28/10/74 ridden by Ken Reggett for Kevin Old. Fair Man won twice in the SI in the 1974-5 season for West Melton trainer Mrs VH Harris. Maurice Thornley and Ron McCann won on him.

LJ I was looking for an early arvo bet before I headed to rugby....saw your comp pick and had an EW wager on Chase. Set me up for the day. Thanks!

Great memories reignited for me too there Crusty. I loved watching the Skelton brothers riding and the Riordans were the same. I remember going to watch Jocasta run in a juvenile race at Trentham (may have been the Wellesley or Wakefield maybe) with an American workmate of mine (Bill Oppenheim, now a world-renowned bloodstock analyst) after Bill had declared it a "certainty" (I had counselled him there were no certainties in racing). Bill had put a grand on it at $3. That was 10 weeks wages at the time. I think Noel Riordan may have ridden it that day. Anyway, Jocasta went clear at the furlong and looked home for all money. Bill was already heading for the tote when about 100m out a stupid bloke standing near the rail threw his tickets on the track and the wind blew them in front of the horses and Jocasta shied and crashed through the running rail. Noel was lucky he was not seriously hurt. When I turned around Bill was lying on the ground with his head in his hands having just seen $1000 disappear. Dee Dee and Urupukapuka were a couple of my favourites.

The TAB typically mirrors the fixed odds from the corps anyway.