I guess that's the business though..............if I had a mare and hoped to breed a racehorse I'd rather she 'visited' Frankel than an All Weather handicapper............that's living the dream !

As long as money is no object

I'm just not clear how scientific it all is................the best horses each generation are the ones that go to stud and breed the next generation, so obviously the best horses of the next generation are by the best horses of the previous generations...........but how causal is that ?.............or is it just that they're the only ones that are bred from and entered up in the Derby and the Guineas so obviously they produce the big race winners

Black Caviar races in the Group 1 1200m William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday at 9.55 pm local time (10.55 am Friday UK time). There are six other runners in the race, all of which look like cannon fodder for the mare on current ratings.

the best flat horses tend to be bred from expensive bloodstock. matching the bloodlines is part of the art, is it not.

but occasionally you get a total surprise like Park Top - a £500 mare from the 60s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Top

According to Fridays schedule on ATR there's live Aussie racing from 2AM to 9AM from Wyong, Sandown, Doomben, Murray Bridge, Pinjarra, Launceston, Nowra, Warrnambool & Townsville

No mention of Moonee Valley..............

By the way, Triton..........do you have dedicated racing channels on TV ?

The Flat season has crept up on us..............it's the Lincoln this saturday, weather permitting..............

What a shame that they can't just move the Doncaster meeting back a couple of weeks and have it the weekend before the Craven and Greenham meetings to make a proper start to the Flat

Scommettitrice, 6.15 Kempton for me today. Young jockey in top form. Strange name for a horse though?

Google being a trusty friend, SCOMMETTITRICE is Italian for punter,backer or bettor. Fingers crossed, its maybe a good omen then.

It's common for Moonee Valley to have races on Friday nights. It's a Melbourne city course, so it's strange that you would get all those little country meetings with hack horses, but not MV. It must be that the times are unsuitable. It's certainly very unusual for Black Caviar to race at nearly 10 pm in the last race on the program (it's timed to coincide with half-time at the opening game of the national Aussie rules football league). I hope you find coverage somewhere.

BTW, I heard Peter Moody talking about Royal Ascot on the radio yesterday. Previously he'd pretty much ruled out Black Caviar returning, but now he's saying things like you never know and it's up to the owners. Still no suggestion that she's going, but I suspect that the owners are considering it. (One thing is obvious: Moody himself does not want to go.)


Yes, on pay TV there are four 24 hr racing channels.

I think Nine Realms might have a fair bit in hand for the Lincoln. Fairly unexposed type.

Going to back Great Expectations if he lands in the Spring Mile, would be well treated for that race certainly.

If the weather forecasts are to be believed the chances of Doncaster racing on Saturday would appear to be approximately zero................

They might get away with it on Friday..........but heavy snow forecast for Friday night into Saturday

The Black Caviar race is live on ATR tomorrow morning...........

Shortly before race time, Neil Wherrett, senior owner of Black Caviar says in interview: "Personally I'd love to go back to England."

That was a bit of a procession...............

British bookies heard that and offered 5/1 for Black Caviar to win any race at Royal Ascot...............

Back down to 7/2 already................

Yes, she really cruised to that win. Great to watch, but the other horses really weren't up to it. Hay List is back racing and has at least pushed her in past races, but I don't know if they'll meet.

Luke Nolen seems to dislike everything about the Black Caviar show except actually riding her. I don't know if you got his post-race interview, but I thought he was a bit of a sourpuss.

Everything off except Sothwell

Channel 4 are going to show 4 races on the fibresand, weather permitting !

I do like Southwell because it's a unique track with the surface. You can often rule out a lot of horses straight away if they'd tried before but ran poorly there.

Plus you get a lot of small field races that have only a couple of likely winners

Good track for finding short price bankers.................

JT's condition continues to improve. Some good news

http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse...=last7DaysNews

Peter O'Sullevan has sufferered a minor stroke and is in Charing Cross Hospital

O'Sullevan, 95, is to undergo further tests in the next couple of days.

"Sir Peter had a mild stroke on Sunday night, which he detected himself.

"He called the doctor and was admitted to hospital and is currently in the stroke unit.



http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/n...rs-mild-stroke

Sir Peter has made good progress and may be allowed home on Thursday..............

I haven't backed anything since my last one posted in here but now I've got 10 quids worth of free bets as a prize from a Cheltenham comp..............so I'll look for something over the next few days

Shame it's not 11 quid, I could have done a Yankee..........

Breaking news on the SSN ticker is that JT McNamara is paralysed after his fall at Cheltenham.

The wording of the statement is a bit ambiguous. He suffered paralysis but is making good progress. I don't really understand what that means. Are they saying this was a temporary paralysis or are they staying he is paralysed permanently?

Bit of a damp squib the return of the flat thought, not helped by the fact I had no luck at all on the punting front at Doncaster with not one of my fancies making the frame. Not unusual in these big highly competitive wide open handicaps, of course. Global Village was the one that got away in the Lincoln as I nearly backed it but switched allegiance late on to the other Brian Ellison runner instead which finished nowhere. I thought Martin had got there at first, only for the judge to rule otherwise. Surprised at how well beaten the two Gosden horses were, although I confess to fancying neither pre-race. Eshtibaak in particular came there with every chance, apparently travelling quite powerfully through the early to mid part of the race, only to find absolutely zilch off the bridle.

Really though there was too much going on today and Doncaster was playing second fiddle to the big meeting in Dubai which meant a lot of our top jockeys were absent. I prefer it when there's a little less racing meaning less study time required and more time to digest each race. For all the hype I wasn't too fussed about the World Cup. The magic of Meydan is a bit lost on me in truth and it wasn't an appealing betting proposition. Of more interest was all the razzamatazz around it. They do know how to put on a show, that is for sure, and of course the prize money on offer was fantastic. I was quite impressed with the winner Animal Kingdom, who I had heard of previously for his exploits back home. Hopefully we will see him over here at some stage, connections
seem keen.

Some British success in behind as well with very generous place money to be had and jockeys working harder than ever to bring home the bacon. Jamie Spencer in particular did incredibly well I thought to finish as close as he did on Side Glance. And Ed Dunlop's reaction to Red Cadeaux finishing a clear 2nd was priceless, trainers don't normally get that animated in defeat.

Not to be for the boys in blue, although they did have success earlier in the card. And not to be for William Buick, who was seemingly glued to the replay when they cut to the jockeys post-race. I like that about him. He's a bit of a studier, which is no bad thing. And his blog on the ATR website is well worth a read, especially his 10 horses to follow.

Back to jumps tomorrow with an excellent card at Plumpton. Musselburgh also hosts a fairly decent Class 3 event in amongst some low-grade racing. That's my Easter Sunday sorted!

I can't get interested in Meydan either, it pretty much passes me by

I did watch the big 4 or 5 races today but I'd never even think of studying the form or betting on it

Blimey there's 5 times too much racing in GB and Ireland to keep up with without thinking about anywhere else...........

Should be worth taking a peek at the 2.35 Fairyhouse tomorrow if you have ATR

a mare called 'Annie Power' in a Novice hurdle

I can't remember having seen her run but I read a column by 'respected' racing columnist Nick Mordin in which he claimed that she was not only the best mare around but probably the best hurdler and should be favourite for next years Champion Hurdle...................

Animal Kingdom paid Wise Dan a compliment as he came second to him in the Breeder's Cup mile with Excelebration back in 4th.