Here are my tips for Saturday’s racing:
Doomben:
Race 3: Number 1 River Lad
Race 5: Number 8 Iona Fast One
Race 6: Number 1 Secret Harmony
Race 8: Number 11 Mac’s Addiction (Each Way)
Flemington:
Race 1: Number 5 Nostradamus
Race 4: Number 10 Prince of Penzance
Race 7: Number 2 Inked Linked
Randwick:
Race 2: Number 8 Woodbine
Race 5: Number 2 Longshoreman (Each Way)
Race 7: Number 9 Longeron
As always: good luck and good punting and please gamble responsibly.
Here are my tips for today’s racing:
Doomben:
Race 2: Number 6 Plateau Gold
Race 3: Number 6 General Exhibit
Race 8: Number 5 Lucky Hussler
Rosehill:
Race 3: Number 3 Made to Order
Flemington:
Race 7: Number 1 Extra Zero
As always: good luck and good punting! Please gamble responsibly!
It is not a day where I am too keen to get involved: in Brisbane it is all about the 2 year olds in the lead up to the Millions and betting on 2 years is always fraught with angst and disappointment.
Here are today’s tips:
Doomben:
Race 2: Venture On (Number 1)
Race 6: Essington (Number 10) (each way)
Flemington:
Race 2: Kiss me Katut (Number 6)
Kensington:
Race 4: Secessio (Number 4)
Good luck and good punting!
Emirates Stakes day brings to an end another wonderful week of racing at Flemington. Polanski’s success in the Derby aside, it has been a barren period on the punt for this blog. That being the case I am limiting my exposure this week and focusing on the big race only with one exception being a tip that think is a moral in Brisbane. No multi today for multi fans: am still poleaxed from the Dallas Stars (NHL) costing me a pay day twice in three days.
Flemington:
Race 7:
Best bet: Toydini (Number 4) (each way)
Best roughie: Solzhenitsyn (Number 1)
My cousin “Dangerous” Dave aka “Fat Guts” swooped in the last on Derby Day and picked up Smokin’ Joe at $46. I am not ignoring the tip again and will have a little each way wager here too.
Eagle Farm:
Race 6:
Have been following Tail and All from the Heathcote yard for some time and can find no reasons for it not to win today.
As always: good luck and good punting!
Yesterday’s multi fell at the 3rd hurdle with the Bruins not getting over the line. Have had a look at the form in American sport again this morning and have a 5 leg multi that I am very keen on. It is as follows:
Leg 1: Indiana Pacers to cover the line (-2.5 points) against the Chicago Bulls in the NBA.
Leg 2: Toronto Raptors to cover the line (-2.5 points) against the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA.
Leg 3: Chicago Blackhawks to cover the line (-1.5 goals) against the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL.
Leg 4: Golden State Warriors to cover the line (-1 points) against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA.
Leg 5: Anaheim Ducks to cover the line (-1.5 goals) against the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL.
All up this multi will pay $45.78 for each dollar invested. Here’s hoping we can have some more luck than yesterday.
It is Ladies Day at Flemington today and the main race of the day is the Group 1 Crown Oaks over 2500 metres. Kirramosa is a worthy favourite after its slashing run on Saturday however I am going away from her and am tipping Solicit on an each way basis to perform very strongly.
As always: good luck and good punting.
As the sun sets on yet another Melbourne Cup Day, I have had pause to reflect on yet another losing day on the punt and consider what makes this day of racing so special. For me it has nothing to do with the racing and frankly, unless you are going to Flemington on the day it not all that special at all rather it is just an excuse for low productivity and skiving off work (unless you are in Victoria and get the public holiday). What makes “Cup Day” special for me is seeing the race live.
If you have not experienced a Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington you simply must: whether you are a sporting fan or not. There are few events in my lifetime of attending events both sporting and cultural that match it. Right from the time you get in public transport to the track to the time you leave, no matter whether you are in a tent or standing with the masses, the day is just shear bedlam as 110,000 people from all walks of life cram themselves into the race track. It would be fair to say that Melbourne Cup day at Flemington is a microsm of life in Australia with just about every socio-economic and ethnic group represented from those in the most glamorous of marquees through to the staff behind the bar.
That fact, of itself, makes is day a special one and stands it apart from most other events, in my opinion, in this country. Simply: anyone can buy a ticket and attend. If that was all that makes is event one for the bucket list then I am sure people attending would be happy to tick said list. All of this though forgets the actual race.
I have never heard a crowd hush, as I did the day I attended the Cup, before the start of an event. 110,000 people all of a sudden quietened and listened to the final instructions of the starter to the jockeys before he released them. And then the roar started and did not end until, in my case, Americian hit the finishing line. It was nothing short of breathtaking and, frankly, Channel 7’s coverage does not do it justice. I can only remember one other experience like it in a sports ground, the hush and then the roar, and that was at the Gabba before and after the infamous “Harmison ball”.
If you are a fan of sport, indeed if you are Australian, then attending the Melbourne Cup at Flemington is a must for your bucket list. It is right up there with attending a World Cup final, an Ashes test and a Grand Final of a winter code.
A word of warning to finish with: if you think the day at the races that is Melbourne Cup Day is as Channel 7 portrays then you are going to be left disappointed. No one looks as good as they did when they walked into the course at the end of the day, not all of us can afford to be in the Birdcage and there are actually horses that loose. All of that said: this is a day worth taking a chance on … You will regret it if you do not.
PostScript: My thoughts go out to all of the connections of Verema which was euthanised on the course after suffering an injury in the Cup.
Shumpty Speaks 