Sport is made for betting

Boohoo, the track was too hard so we tried so set up the race for the stable's main chance. Doesn't Aidan O'Brien get it? Team tactics in racing are banned just about everywhere, and most certainly in Australia. Punters bet on individual horses and have the right for those horses to run on their own merits. Team riding or cheating, is there a difference? Once again, a high-profile topweight, Septimus, has flopped miserably, joining the list of Drum Taps, Oscar Schindler, Double Trigger and Yeats. The VRC stewards grilled the jockeys and trainer but it would make little difference anyway - with the flat season effectively over in the Northern Hemisphere, a suspension would mean diddly squat. Article from The Age Here's the deal Aidan - Australia is a dry continent, and it doesn't rain every day. Horses there run on dry tracks. If that's too hard for you, then stay at home where team tactics robbing punters blind are allowed. The likes of Luca Cumani, Dermot Weld ...

It doesn't get any better than this. Well, actually Derby Day (last Saturday) is the best day of racing in the world IMO due to the quality in every race, but the Cup is the race everyone talks about. And in the best city in the world, Melbourne, they even get a holiday for it. Brilliant. Who will win it? It's a tough race this year, with eight raiders from Europe, some very handy Kiwis and an Australian contingent markedly weaker than any year I can recall. The Europeans want to make it a genuine staying test, with the Ballydoyle support staff (can't say pacemakers!) ensuring the race will be run at a steady clip. I can see a lot of runners going hard early and trying to sit up close. Some will have to be parked wide for the trip... Septimus is the class horse, but over the years, the class horses such as Drum Taps, Oscar Schindler, Double Trigger and Yeats have been sent home with their tails between their legs. Big weights in handicaps bring class horses undone. I think ...