I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many 15-year-old girls in the same place at the same time. They are posturing around in groups of three, four or five. It must be schoolies week! Haven’t they got any homework? Shouldn’t they be studying for their exams? It’s family day, but where are their parents?

I thought Loyalty Man looked the goods in the fifth, but the jock should be sent to the sin bin for the rest of the spring, and Vadamos looked a good thing in his ear muffs in the Mackinnon, but he pulled too hard in the run. And Spieth looked stunning in the yard, no faults, and was just nosed out in the Darley Classic, but still returned a respectable $3.00 for the place. A disappointing losing day after the highs of Oaks day.

And now that the carnival is over –  the best tatt prize goes to ……

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I started off slowly enjoying the perfect weather and the ambience down the back and let the first two pass by, and then brushed off the cobwebs with Onerous in the third at $2.40. Mihany was a standout in the fourth at $2.80, and I couldn’t resist Rockstar Rebel at $2.00 in the fifth. I’m starting to think I’m on a roll when Federal flops in at $1.70 (what happened to that $1.90?) in the sixth, and then with Redzel in the seventh at $1.80 suddenly I’ve equalled my PB. Five out of five! It’s all down to the Oaks! Can I score an all time PB! I couldn’t fault the fave at $1.60, but I didn’t like the price so I went for second best with Sebring Dream. All good things come to an end! Lasqueti Spirit. A 120/1 winner! You couldn’t have it after went beserk in the mounting yard! But what a day for horsewatchers. One out of the box!

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I spent most of the time down the back checking out Cup horses in the stalls. Almandin was asleep, Heartbreak City and Hartnell interested, Big Orange was British to the bootstraps, Almoonqith was yawning, and Wicklow Brave had the ear plugs. My final six for the trifecta were Big Orange, Hartnell, Wicklow Brave, Almoonqith, Heartbreak City and Oceanographer. When I got to the yard I noticed Heartbreak City with its head up so I crossed it out and put Almandin in instead. Oh well!

Wicklow Brave was slaughtered by Frankie, who probably has the wrong temperament for a Melbourne Cup, Oceanographer didn’t back up, and no excuses for the others.

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The greatest day of racing on earth! I am not a fan of three-year-old colts, but Sacred Elixir looked an absolute standout! I broke all the rules and took it (yes, a gelding no less!) at $1.50 for the place. The Cummings’ horse, Prized Icon, was simply too good. It’s nice to know that the family secrets have been passed down to James, but you would have to be a bit worried now that Reg Fleming has defected to the Godolphin camp. Could this be the year that they finally crack it in The Cup?

Derby Day is all black and white. And isn’t it amazing that the youth of today have embraced the tradition. All the young ones, on whom youth is wasted, rocked up in black and white. How good is that! I took a few snaps. There’s that probing journalist and master raconteur, Neil Kearney, hard at work out the back, and there’s the Members Stand. Oh no, it is about to be demolished! Where will I go when the Island Bar is no more? Life has so many uncertainties!

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Here’s the parade ring 25 minutes before the jump. Where are the horses? Maybe they’ve cancelled the Cox Plate? I’m not too fussed as it’s not much of a betting race with Winx at $1.20 the place. Winx looks perfect and Hartnell has the cross-over noseband and is salivating furiously. Both horses parade in ear muffs but rip them off for the race. The rest is history. I was nearly tempted to have a go at a place on Yankee Rose until she had a bit of a head spasm with the jockey up.

I left the track promptly at 5.05 pm in a quite agreeable frame of mind. In fact, I wasn’t cursing the club’s scheduling of the race or the lousy weather. I was pondering my good fortune with two placed horses in the three-year-old fillies races, Prompt Response and I Am A Star. Not too bad for a rotten day!

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A nasty day with a blustery and punishing north wind. Now here’s a question. Which of these three international horses would you back if you were just looking at the body language of the strapper? Scottish, Sir Isaac Newton or Articus?

The answer is of course Scottish! How relaxed is that strapper! Let alone the horse! But I missed on the trifecta. My final six were Preferment, Scottish, Sir Isaac Newton, Almoonqith, Sir John Hawkwood, Jameka and Pemberley. I liked Jameka in the stalls, then crossed her out in the parade ring, then crossed her back in in the yard. Can you cross a horse back in? I had Real Love as a good thing until my apprentice advised that I was looking at the wrong horse! And with the benefit of hindsight I think I included two knights too many! I couldn’t come at Exospheric because of the glue on shoes. But I’m not complaining about the $2.60 for second.

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Where do all these people come from? And what for? To see Winx? You can hardly get a look in! And it certainly can’t be to have a bet, can it, at $1.20? Maybe to have a go at the trifecta for $1.30.

The race itself is a joke. Just a jog-canter and a sprint home. I can remember listening to Bert Bryant’s call of that great match race between Rain Lover and Big Philou. Somewhere on my computer I have the whole recording, but I can only find the finish on Youtube. Bert’s best line was “that the order is not going to change for a while, so if you want to put the kettle on now would be good time to do so!”

How good was Bert Bryant!

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Sunday seems wrong. It used to be on Saturday before the AFL got greedy and moved the one day in September to one day in October. But I went along to the Grand Final to be a part of history. A game for the ages and a fairy tale finish! Did you cry? When Bevo gave the medal to Bobby?

How good was Hartnell? I can’t remember him being much chop last year. Today he had the cross-over noseband, ear muffs (not on the gear list!), two strappers and was salivating copiously. I don’t like the noseband but I love ear muffs on a windy day and it was an overall positive behavioural handicap of 37. But too short for me at $1.20 the place. The experts have already given him the Caulfield Cup.

I caught up with my old mate Zipping, probably in need of a run or two at 15 years old. I loved this horse! Third in the Turnbull in 2008 and the winner in 2010. Four Sandown Classics. What a horse! A Living Legend!

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It’s not exactly the Gold Coast but the weather today in Coburg is a balmy 23 degrees! I’m here at the John Fawkner Hospital for a bit of a poke around in my colon. It’s a quick procedure but I’m last on a long list and suffer an interminable wait. But it’s worth waiting to find out that there are no nasties lurking about in there. Home after five hours to three lawn mowers attacking the nature strips in our street. Oh! The smell of cut grass! Spring! It can’t be long now, can it?

And oh! I’ve just read about the common side effects following day surgery, including impaired ability to concentrate. And the guidelines following an anaesthetic. Do not consume alcohol! And do not sign legal documents or make important decisions! Is a blog a legal document? I am having a lot of trouble concentrating!

Hope to be back for the Turnbull Stakes.

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Did you see Professor Paul McGreevy on the ABC News the other day, getting stuck into the use of restrictive nosebands on equestrian horses at this year’s Rio Olympics? The crank noseband has a leveraged buckle design that can be tightly adjusted to clamp the jaws together. It is mainly used on dressage horses that refuse to keep their mouths shut. In a new study at Sydney University Paul and his team found that a tight noseband elicited an elevated heart rate and increased eye temperature, indicators of a physiological stress response. And the tight noseband also prevented the expression of various oral behaviours, such as chewing, licking and swallowing. The study has been published online in Plos One.

I have long been averse to gear on a horse’s head, including noserolls and nosebands. Crank nosebands aren’t used on racehorses, but the cross-over noseband is relatively common. There were nine cross-over nosebands at Sandown today and one Kineton noseband. None of the ten horses were placed!

The Kineton noseband on Stand To Gain is easily distinguished from a conventional noseband by the half rings on each side, their J-like shape, and the low position of the band on the nose. You can find more discussion about them in Watching More. They are petty rare and I haven’t seen enough to give them a behavioural handicap, although of course I think they are worth opposing in the betting. The cross-over noseband however has a definite negative effect on performance with a current behavioural handicap of 18. This simply means that horses win 18 per cent less than expected by chance.

If you look carefully at the six horses in the photographs you will notice a lot of variation in design (Tip: click on the photo then click again to enlarge it). Some bands seem more benign than other, such as the rolled leather on Mr Individual and Tan Tat Charger. Others seem more heavy duty such as the one on Temps Voleur and others attempt to mitigate the impact of the band on the bridge of the nose with a woollen or plastic pad such as on Caprese and Four Carat. I oppose horses with a cross-over noseband, with one notable exception. I backed the champion horse So You Think when he showed me that it was just an irrelevant piece of gear!

The change in weather at Sandown today, from Indian summer to winter, has reminded me that it is time for a break. Time to fly north to Queensland and warm up my body. Look out for a postcard from the spelling paddock. See you in the spring!

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