The Crucible

Is this one of the biggest weight certainties you've ever seen? Even better than Hank Moody? She Will Reign in R3 at Warwick Farm tomorrow. Won the Slipper and then fresh up as a 3yo she beat Viddora and Sheidel in the Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley. Running around against a bunch of other 3yo fillies with benchmarks 40 points lower than her, but carrying the same weight under the set weight conditions.

Don't fancy your chances. It will be pleuting down there tomorrow - so much rain, it won't be a Herbie dyke they'll be needing.

Yeah was at the local TAB when that race was running and a few of us were wondering what was going on - he seemed to be struggling for breath throughout the call - several noticeable pauses. Didn't hear any subsequent races so not sure if it continued. I remember a thread a while back suggesting he was struggling. Hope everything is ok with him.

matchplay Hesi

R1 4/5 R2 2/7 R3 2/4 R4 1/11 R5 1/10 bb R6 1/3 R7 5/8 R8 5/8 R9 13/15 bb R10 4/12 All the best Tony. Cheers Peter

Yep good call. We pay $3k in a month without any races. Head to the races one or twice in a month and the cost is significantly higher. My current horse is my last one. My guess would be significantly less than 5% of horses pay their way (if you're racing them and not selling them)

haha Tui billboard

I'm not sure the sequence is entirely correct there. I suspect they need to spend some money to generate the revenue. Whether they're spending too much to generate that revenue is the relevant question (which Hesi asks in his subsequent post). Hesi, not sure how you tell if its a good result or not - comparison to plan or prior year results is kind of meaningless - perhaps benchmark against similar sized betting organisations around the world?

R1: 6/8 R2: 1/2 R3: 4/10 bb R4: 3/10 R5: 1/3 R6: 6/10 R7: 3/7 bb R8: 1/13 R9: 3/10 R10: 5/9 Cheers Peter and all the best Sarah.

Trentham Race 6: $500 win, Bring To The Block Ellerslie Race 2: $200 win, Sultan of Swing Race 3: $300 win, Von Tunzelman Cheers

Took about 30 seconds. Searched for Galloping Gerte on NZ Racing and looked through its formline. Calls like this tend to stick in your memory. Doesn't make me happy as such - just don't agree with your view - I guess we're all entitled to our opinions and we're all entitled to react in different ways when someone disagrees with our opinion. All the best to you!

Good luck to him - good for our jockey ranks. Interesting surname - its like some Swedish guy migrated to Australia and decided to switch his name around to make it sound more Australian.

Can't agree with you on that one. Check out the replay of this race. Didn't call the winner the entire length of the straight and called it 5th across the line. I know its a very close finish and a bit unfair highlighting one instance, but ....... http://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/45397/7/Race-Detail.aspx

Is that sign-off meant to be "mad hatter"?

Thanks Brian, appreciate the vote of confidence - hopefully won't let you down. Some people have suggested that #1 draft pick is a poison chalice - I prefer to think that those captains just picked the wrong people I like the look of our team. Jack & Jill round it out quite nicely.

Thanks Sam. Love the website - very clever! and yes as discussed, a bit of last player advantage always helps.

Hey Hesi check this out - you tell me I never back roughies. $460 win dividend rough enough for you?

But look at the field it beat in the Pegasus Rees - it And it was carrying 53kgs that day. Today it was carrying 55.5kgs against a field of top NI sprinters. I still can't fathom it, and it cost me a fortune, but as Hesi pointed out - horses like that have won this race in the past - good luck to them

One race short perhaps?

I think I owe you a chocolate fish Hesi. Looks like Sensei only beat about 4 horses home but I think Start Wondering might have been one of those.

R7 Kawi $350 win R9 Magic Chai $150 win Cheers

10 years ago maybe but right now she is clearly a better jockey. Over the past 2-3 seasons combined she has a better strike-rate than him and that is despite riding in a much higher proportion of proper races.

Kawi, Start W, Volpe V, Chambord & Heroic V

That's correct. Were any of them 3yos coming back from a 1600m race just seven days earlier? I know roughies can win these big sprint races and yes there's a chance Sensei can win it. But not a 1 in 23 chance. Chocolate fish says I can name five horses that finish ahead of Sensei tomorrow.

Hesi, you've got to stop drinking so much on a Friday night. 23s is way way under - should be closer to 50. A 3yo, and no champion, taking on a field of top sprinters. Coming back from 1600m on a one week back up and drawn relatively wide. Jockey upgrade from last week is a big plus but not for me.