RANDWICK SIMPLY HAD TO BE A GOOD 2 – MORE SHORTIES THAN A NUDIST COLONY IN ANTARCTICA GO OVER – AND A TOOWOOMBA FALL THIS MORNING ON THE INNER GRASS SEES JOCKEY TAKEN TO HOSPITAL

10/09/13

All three eastern seaboard venues raced on either good 3 or dead 4 going last Saturday but Blind Freddie accompanied by a Labrador and holding a white cane would have known early in the day that the track at Randwick should have been upgraded to a good 2 as horses in early races ran close to track record times – and to that end, one of four Queensland horses to hold a track record at a Sydney racetrack when the Randwick meeting commenced lost his crown when both the first and second horses across the line, That’s A Good Idea and Field Marshall, broke Better Than Ready’s 1200-metre track record as That’s A Good Idea scrambled in by a head. That’s A Good Idea stopped the clock at 1.08.15, which bettered Better Than Ready’s figure of 1.08.19. Recently deceased stallion Northern Meteor held that track record at 1.08.32 prior to Better Than Ready.

For the record, the other three horses that were Queensland trained when they broke a Sydney track record which still stands are Grey Affair, Spechenka and Al Mansour. Grey Affair jointly holds the Warwick Farm 2400-metre track record with Just Trish and Noble Heights, Spechenka holds the 2400-metre record by himself at Randwick and Al Mansour still holds the 1300-metre Canterbury track record.

In Brisbane we didn’t get time to get past the first race before we showed yet again just how bad the Brisbane Class 6 middle distance horses are, as Platinum Jack travelled up from Hawkesbury with the hardly inspiring form of 0-6-0-3-9-2 at his six runs back from a spell and yet he was just too good for the locals at 9/4.

Later in the day we were shown yet again just how stupid punters are and why it’s not big bookies fault that they are wealthy, when Bevico Girl was officially backed from $3.30 into $2.80 in Race 4 before throwing her toys out of the cot in the last 200. How could any punter with any respect for money believe that Bevico Girl was value and worth slipping into at 9/4 in any race is beyond comprehension? She’s just a slowcoach, which is why she’d won just one of her previous 12 starts. She jumped straight from a last start Class 3 win to an IMW, dropped one-kilogram for the massive class rise and yet punters were even trying to get on at 7/4 when they jumped. I just shake my head.

Down south, Decision Time won his first race since 3/9/11, meaning he hadn’t won a race for over two years, when he beat the $2.20 favourite Sessions. Then the stablemate of Sessions – Guelph – got rolled in the next race at $1.65 after the smarties found the $1.95 that bookies offered about the 2013 Golden Slipper fourth placegetter and Sires Produce and Champagne Stakes winner just far too irresistible.

Further down the line in Melbourne and a horse I thoroughly detest – Foreteller – got the money in the Makybe Diva by half a head over the $2.35 favourite Puissance De Lune.

Foreteller is just a terrible horse to punters. Back him and he’ll go like a crippled soldier crab. Don’t back him and he’ll beat whatever you back. He did run two races alike once in recent years and that’s when he unfortunately came to Brisbane to be part of the 2013 Winter Carnival. He got rolled at 4/1 in the Hollindale Stakes at the Gold Coast on 4/5/13, then 14 days later got rolled as the 3/1 favourite in the Doomben Cup behind his illustrious stablemate that has all the “experts” excited for some strange and inexplicable reason, Beaten Up, but whilst he did the wrong thing by punters on both occasions by getting beaten, at least he ran second. He’s just a bookies benefit the gelding and I’ve got an idea the Bookmakers Association pay his training bill each month, as he’s now won just four races in the last two years and he started officially at $10, $14, $31 and now $15 in those victories.

As advised here Friday night, Sea Moon hadn’t won a race for 14 months before the Makybe Diva, but that didn’t stop “the boys” crunching him into 3/1 late.

It was interesting to see the 4YO mare Let’s Make Adeal run fourth in the Makybe Diva on Saturday. She was 80/1 into 30/1 officially, yet she was eligible for a Class 2 at Kakadu. Isn’t it always the way in punting? Back them each way they’ll run fourth, back them win only and they’ll run second.

Odds-on chances got rolled hell, west and crooked again last Saturday and that’s only looking at the Queensland scene. There were thankfully no odds-on favourites in Brisbane or Melbourne thoroughbred racing last Saturday, but in Sydney the only one, Guelph, went over at $1.65 as advised earlier. At the Gold Coast thoroughbreds, More Leverage went over at $1.30 in the last. At the Caloundra twilight meeting, Mr Honor got rolled at $1.60. Then around the provincial thoroughbred tracks in Queensland the carnage continued, particularly in Race 1 on the card. At Bundaberg, Northern Shift got beaten in Race 1 at $1.65. In the opener at the big Birdsville meeting, Cardiff Arms ran sixth at $1.80. At Emerald, also in the opening race, Halle Mcollywill got beaten at $1.90. At Mount Isa in Race 2, Outback Elsa ran second last at $1.80. At Goondiwindi, Like A Bird got beaten in Race 4 at $1.50. At the greyhounds at Tweed Heads Oh Sea Bec got beaten four lengths at $1.60 and at the greyhounds at Capalaba, Petite Rebel went over at 4/7 and the interestingly named Big Brenda ran second at 4/5.

In exclusive news that has just come into Justracing around 7.30am this morning, Toowoomba jockey Nori Nishio is in Toowoomba Hospital after a fall this morning on the inside grass track. He is not badly hurt, but was complaining of back soreness. Justracing understands that there is a group of senior Toowoomba riders who will refuse to ride at the “inner grass” meeting that is scheduled for next Saturday at Clifford Park, as they believe the track is too tight, so there is an interesting few days ahead on any developments there.

Today on www.brisbaneracing.com.au there’s the first of two montages of photos from Eagle Farm last Saturday. On www.sydneyracing.com.au David Clarkson writes about how he fled Australia last Saturday to go to the Great Northern Steeplechase day in New Zealand and he has some great associated photography to prove it, whilst on www.melbourneracing.com.au Matt Nicholls pens a story about last Saturday’s short priced flop Cauthen and the thumps.

Greyhound Racing Offers and Promotions

Stay up to date with the latest racing news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest racing news!