There was 22 mm of rain in my gauge at home so the prospects were not looking too good for a bet, especially since the Caulfield track has been closed since the spring and the surface relaid. I arrived to find the track rated as a Soft 5. What the hell is a Soft 5?! Greg Miles kept on calling it a Slow 5. But everyone was surprised when they ran a track record in the first and it was immediately upgraded to Good 4, and by the middle of the day a Good 3. What has happened to Dead? Gone the way of the dodo?

Three bets for a faultless winner, my old favourite, Smokin’ Joey, and two losers, Heatherly and Griante. Both my losers looked like winners at the 300, and I was counting my money, but they both faded dramatically to miss a place. I forgot that there is time enough for counting when the racing is done. A rare losing day.

I took a pic of the stampers, those blokes that stamp down the divots. In the new book I mentioned that they use a wooden block without ever really checking. And here they are with miniature rakes! Looks like a last minute edit. Nearly set to go to the printer.

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