Free entry and free kisses. The club is really turning it on today. No wonder there are 20,427 people here, widely reported in the media as over 30,000. The only problem is that you have to smooch up to those whiskers to get a photo of the kissing booth! Prickly! They are five deep around the parade ring for the champ’s race. And there’s no way I’ll get a look in the mounting yard. But going back to the stall you can see what all the fuss is about and what all the other horses see. The champ’s backside. As the superlatives of the experts click into overdrive what can an ordinary punter say? Black Caviar is a very fast horse.

With so many people here and cheap beer on offer it’s hard to find a place of peace and quiet to think. I start off badly with Applegate who is slowly away and never recovers, redeem myself with a nice placing by Veewap in the Carlyon Cup and consolidate with Hot Spin’s third in the Rubiton. I noticed that Grand Duels looked like it copped a slash in a sword fight. By the time of the last race, the mares, the crowds have deserted the parade ring. Three horses look the goods. Hi Belle, Psychologist and Irish Dream. All are relaxed. Wait a minute. Psychologist relaxed? This horse is normally a head up, changing gait horse. In other words aroused, fractious. Maybe she’s seen a psychiatrist. The contrast between the horse’s normal behaviour and today is simply startling. Got her head sorted. And so it proves. She brains them at $4.00 for the place.

Three out of four. Not too bad a day. And I didn’t get too grumpy about the crowd getting in the way. After all, it’s good for racing, which is good for horse watching.

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