My last day for the season. I’m expecting cold and wet but it’s just cold and windy. More than fresh, but not quite chilled to the bone. Only one bet for the day on Sebring Warrior in the three-year-old fillies. The horse was tailed off last with no hope but flew home out wide to just snatch third at $4.30. I spent the rest of the day patting myself on the back. A couple of opportunities with Pilly’s Wish and Refulgent, but too short for me at $1.50 and $1.60 the place.

The portents were bad. Heaps of shaggy or clipped horses and my pen ran dry after the third. The lights were switched on for the seventh when the sky darkened ominously. Night racing! At 4 pm in the afternoon!

Home in the dark but happy to go out on a high. Hopefully I’ll post a few postcards from the spelling paddock.

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At last! The new book is here.

Lots of good stuff in it, including observations on over 50 new variables and behavioural handicaps calculated from a database of over 50,000 horses! And an exploration of the issues confronting an ageing and serious fun punter, including:

• Coping with the unlikely contingency of monetary loss
• Lessons learnt from laying losers on Betfair
• The ATO and the taxation of gambling winnings

I’ll post a full summary of the chapter contents soon but in the meantime you can order online now.

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Fine and warm but I can sense a chill in the air already. I saw a few horses starting to get their winter coat. May is my worst month of the year as we slide into winter. Only four more meetings before I pull the plug, and no mid-weekers, now that Sandown has been abandoned. It looks like a tricky day with restricted fields and the rail out a huge 14 metres and a decided advantage on the outside rail. And so it proved.

Only one bet for the day on a standout, the two-year-old Strindberg, who weakened badly and ran last. I spent the rest of the day sulking. The winner Black Vanquish is a good-looking horse and could be something.

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