A soggy race book. Too wet to bet.

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It’s hot and windy with a flying hat warning. We all slink into the racecourse past a line of protesters, who make us feel guilty about having to whip the horses. There are some concessions to the heat – members don’t need to wear ties, there are sprinklers on top of the horse stalls, and the horses are allowed to arrive on course later. But a major irritation is that they barely do half a lap of the mounting yard with the jockey up before being whipped out onto the track. This makes it much harder for horsewatchers, with less time to see them out the back and in the yard. The Sydney horse Upbeat, who won the third, was the only mildly heat-stressed horse that I noticed. The vet was called and the horse was quickly cooled down.

But all the good horses are back, including some of my old favourites – Sepoy, Mourayan and Niwot. Sepoy has filled out and has a lovely glossy coat, but in retrospect was probably a bit burly. Mourayan was a touch excited in his stall, and Niwot, my Cup bet, ran on fairly. The standout of the day was Samaready who paraded around the mounting yard, as someone said, “like an eight-year-old”, but was too short at $1.40 the place. I didn’t have a bet all day, mainly because I was left with too many good horses in each race. But I was saving myself for the last, the mares. Hi Belle, was a standout, so I backed it and then went back and backed it again. She won like a good thing. Home, in good spirits, but in need of copious rehydration and refreshment.

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I spent most of the day trying to photograph bridles and bits. I missed getting a bubble cheeker but managed a half-decent picture of Liveandletdie’s cheeker. Cheekers are most likely positive and certainly didn’t impede Liveandletdie who won the last convincingly. I managed a good shot of Rockpecker’s tongue control bit, but if you don’t know whether the horse is wearing one it is virtually impossible to tell from the bridle. In contrast you can spot the Norton bit from the bridle quite easily and can distinguish the Norton from a bit lifter by the type of attachment. The bit lifter is buckled around the loose rings whereas the Norton bridle attaches directly to the bit. I don’t have enough data yet to decide if the Norton, the bit lifter and the tongue control bit are positive or negative.

I spent so much time looking at bridles that I nearly missed the champ’s race but managed a glimpse of that famous backside. Everyone poo-pooed me when I said I was disappointed that the final sectional wasn’t 10 seconds, but apparently she did run the 600 to 400 in 9.98, so I can’t really complain. And not much punting. I backed Liberty Rock for a strong second in the first at $1.80 and then didn’t butter up again till the last, when I did my dough on Testascana. A losing day. My first for a while. I feel like Hay List.

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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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I missed the Arabian mile race at the start of the day but caught up with my old mate Franshar Park K Shar in his stall. He won the race last year as a 14-year-old but this year only managed second as a 16-year-old, according to the race book. That’s what happens as you get older. You slow down and the years go twice as fast. And I learnt that his coat is not simply grey, but described as “flea-bitten grey”. A lovely horse!

Another of my old favourites was on show today, the American Cannonball. He first appeared in this blog back in January 2010 ridden by Pat Valenzuela, who had form himself with 11 suspensions for substance abuse. The horse simply exploded that day. Since then he’s had a sojourn with Gai in Sydney, but never settled, and is now with Pat Carey at Mornington. His racing style was to take off like a scalded cat and then explode on the turn to finish tailed off at the rear. I had a good look at the horse in his stall and you would have to say that he is a physically very impressive specimen. And very fit. His behaviour seems much improved too and he appears much less bullish, with just a few minor niggles in the mounting yard. They jump and he sits outside the leader, half a length back. This is not my mate, the old Cannonball! Pat has trained him to settle. And he fights on well to hold second at 80/1 with the books. I didn’t back him, but it just goes to show that there is hope for all miscreants.

I had a nice place bet on Twilighting, but was too busy backing it to lay the favourite, Le Societe, who was showing some terrific white eye. My standout for the day was Bolton, who looked totally stunning. No photograph because I was in too much awe. And too short at $1.30 for a place bet. But would you believe I had a small token bet on the horse for a win. Just to prove to myself that I was right. And a nice finish with Parthian. Not too bad a day. Two and a bit out of two.

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I’m paying more attention to the bridle now that I’m keeping track of Kineton nosebands and Norton bits. So I spent most of the day trying to get a decent photograph of a bit lifter and you’d have to say that I failed miserably.

Bit lifters seem to be mainly used on horses that get their tongue over the bit. They are simply a Y-shaped leather strap that attaches to the headpiece or brow band and runs down the horse’s face to the bit rings. They are probably a fairly benign piece of gear, although they may force the horse to lower its head a bit. I’ll keep trying to get a decent photo. The only other attention grabber was the fine braided tail on Meadows Mollie who ran seventh at 50/1. Whilst I admire the artistry my general view is that strappers should pay more attention to the other end and make sure the horse has its head in order.

Four bets for two losers, Eternal Sunshine and Godliness, and two even money winners, Giresun and That’s Not It. Didn’t go backwards, didn’t go forwards. Just marking time.

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The bride

A beautiful bride. But whoever gets married on a Saturday?

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I had a busy day with the camera today. I’m trying to put together a decent library of bad behaviour on Youtube and today there seemed to be kickers galore- horses kicking out in their stall – everywhere. I settled on Winged Charm who must have let fly with twenty or so kicks before I finally decided to try and record it. The usual deal is that as soon as you start recording the horse decides that it doesn’t feel like being in a movie and gives up. And so it proved. But I managed a small grab of restless behaviour and two minor taps. When Winged Charm appeared in the yard for the last race she was all sweetness and light and totally relaxed and ran an excellent race for fourth. Other kickers racing today included Canonized, Rabbuka (in resistance to being saddled), Oamaru Rose, Zedi Power and Our Serena. Canonized ran second, Oamaru Rose was fourth, Rabbuka eleventh of twelve, Zedi Power tenth of eleven, and Our Serena sixth of twelve. In the book kicking has a behavioural handicap of 26%, and this statistic has barely changed in recent times. In other words, kicking horses can be expected to win 26% less often than expected by chance. That is a serious disadvantage and is why I never back kickers.

I’m also trying to get together a decent photographic record of different bit types. I managed a shot of a Norton bit on By The Way, but as my school report used to say, I could do better. The Norton is quite a serious bit used on pullers and I’ll try to do it more justice in the future. There was also an interesting bandage on the pastern of Chartreux and Star of Jeune sported the rarely seen martingale – a single strap diving down between the front legs that is meant to stop the horse throwing its head up.  And the farrier inspected a loose off hind plate on Warringal Warrior but left it at the trainer’s request as the horse was a bit edgy in the mounting yard. The plate was lost in the running! Dennis the farrier later told me that you can sometimes see a flying plate on the race replay. I had a good lookout for a flying sliver of silver but couldn’t spot it.

And punting was busy with four bets, for two placed horses, Deductible and Ravenous Lass, and two hopeless losers, not worthy of a mention. But the worst of it was my best bet of the day, Platamone Castle. I went to line up for my bet with two minutes to go and there suddenly seemed to be people everywhere. This was a rent-a-crowd. Where did they all come from? There were seven tote operators and a queue of four hopefuls at each of them. With one minute to go I jumped queues, which is always a no-no. I was still third in line when they jumped. Twenty punters let out an audible cry of anguish. Mine was the loudest. Platamone Castle got third at $2.80. When I finally left the track I was still spitting chips.

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I’m trying to train my eye to look at the horse’s feet – but am finding it very difficult. The main problem is that it doesn’t leave much time to look at everything else, which is probably more important anyway. I’ve become very interested in bar plates since a recent talk with Dennis Kennedy, the MRC farrier. It’s generally recorded in the race book gear information when a horse has bar plates for the first time, but in subsequent runs it doesn’t crack a mention. I’ll probably have to start another list, like I’m doing for the Kineton nose band. Dance Man had the bar plates on today and finished tenth of thirteen in race six. The impressive bandages bedecking Below below the hocks were the only other gear of note. The horse finished ninth of nine.

I backed Eleve in the second and the apprentice jockey J Duffy went for a run that wasn’t there and copped an eight week suspension. The horse should have won by a street. And I had another loser in the last with Token Of Honour, but my honour had been previously saved with the win of Wealthy Lad. The lad left the course happy, but not overly wealthy.

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It’s looking ominous. The forecast is for 40 degrees, my official meltdown point. And worse. The stewards have rescheduled the first race to start at 11.50 am with the last at 3.20 pm. The chief steward Terry Bailey is quoted in the paper as saying that “it won’t be a pretty presentation of racing … as the horses will be brought into the mounting yard and the riders will immediately mount up, and once they arrive at the barrier stalls they will be placed in and dispatched as quickly as possible.” It throws me right out of whack. Whoever has their lunch at 10.30? Life wasn’t meant to be easy for horse watchers.

And so it proves. Not pretty. The horses are held back in the birdcage until the last minute and then rushed up to the mounting yard where the jock hops on and straight out onto the track. I only have half a second to look at each horse and some I miss altogether. No time for photography. And I even missed a mares race altogether. I was spitting chips as I was quite keen on Louisville Dancer after backing it last start at Sandown in a mid-weeker. But no see, no bet. It won in a breeze.

In the end three bets for two placed horses, Kasane and Chasse, and a loser, Crafty Cruiser. Not too bad a start.

Happy New Year.

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