In the olden days I would take up a position on the mounting yard rail at least an hour before the race and then pick my best six to box up in a trifecta. I had occasional success. These days I’m struggling to walk too far and eight to ten thousand steps is the most I can manage. So now I confine myself to the horse stalls and parade ring with occasional forays up to the yard. And I’m taking seven in the trifecta. The best is of course Gold Trip who I find I have previously backed five times for the place at odds ranging from $2.10 to $6.00. That horse owes me nothing! The fittest horse is Without A Fight without a doubt, with magnificent poverty lines and once again asleep in the stall with a positive strapper. The Irish horses look good with the favourite Vauban looking interested with ears pricked and Absurde with a loving French strapper showering it with kisses. Soulcombe rounds out the top five, so I’m on the lookout for two roughies. I take Ashrun and Future History. An hour or so later I check the Maher/Eustace horses again and Future History is nodding. I put the pen through him straight away since I dislike stereotyped behaviour in the tie-ups. So there is room for one more roughie. I can’t have Sheraz as I have a negative attitude towards the horse after backing him when he let me down in the Bart Cummings a month or so ago. So I settle on Kalapour.

Without A Fight streets them with Soulcombe and Sheraz running on for the trifecta and Ashrun in fourth place. The trifecta paid $10,688 and the first four $332,291. I’m thinking next year I might take eight.

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