It’s all Winx!

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It’s raining at my place. Steady, heavy, beautiful rain. There’s 10 millimetres in my gauge. Great for the parched garden, which has its tongue out lolling, but a disaster for the races. It delays my departure for the track for more than an hour! Watching rain is nearly as good as watching racehorses!

My intended bet The Cliffsofmoher looks fabulous out the back. Standing forward in the stall, relaxed, no strapper attention, half asleep. But look at Duretto for strapper attention. How cool is that? Compare it with Best Solution, who is very restless and has the fussing of two strappers constantly fiddling with him. The strapper of Kings Will Dream is terrific, positive, and stroking a nice calm and interested horse.

It starts raining on my racebook when the horses get into the parade ring. The page is too soggy to write on. My intended bet The Cliffsofmoher is crabbing sideways and tossing its head up. That’s a worry! It’s easy to fall out of love! And salivating and half-lolling its tongue. But that’s OK. It starts raining on my book. It’s too soggy to write! That’s a worry. It always means no bet, but it would be un-Australian not to have a go at the Caulfield Cup. So I jump off The Cliff and jump onto the favourite, Kings Will Dream. The horse stumbles at the start and loses all chance. The winner, Best Solution, was too good. Duretto ran on well. I know I shouldn’t bet with a soggy racebook!

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Do you do cryptic crosswords? Ever attempt DA? Here’s a clue. 13 Across. “Young white knight, with an interesting surname, I hear”.

First up for my season are the two-year-olds, and I’m much tempted by the omen bet, Utzon, the much publicised albino. There’s a heap of people around her stall with raised iPhones. The filly seems reasonably relaxed with the two strappers but by the time she gets into the yard she starts to get her head up and fidgety. Favourite, at $1.60 the place? Overbet, as many striking horses are, and probably a lay. But I’m much taken by the relaxed Biscara. In the running Biscara dived for a run that wasn’t really there, got bumped sideways, but managed to recover and run on strongly for second at $2.80. Should have won, said the watcher, but happy with $2.80 first up in the new season. The white knight, Utzon, was a victim of the interference too, but couldn’t recover.

And that’s it. I didn’t have another bet all day as I got my eye in. I saw two standouts, Sunlight and The Autumn Sun, and spent a lot of time out the back eyeing the Cup horses. I fell in love with two horses – Thecliffsofmoher (been there!) and Yucatan. Both horses were standing forward in their stall and not cringing in the back corner. Thecliffsofmoher was nuzzling the strapper and trying to eat his lunch! The horse ran on very well for fourth despite getting very hot in the yard. Yucatan just looked imperious, and that’s how he won! Bring on the Cups!

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