So the votes are in for the March 16 All-Star Mile at Flemington, worth a lazy $5 million, and the people’s Top 10 went as follows, from a supposed 139,426 eligible votes.

• Balf’s Choice (Ryan Balfour, SA) – 9793 votes;
• Urban Ruler (Chris Munce), QLD) – 8428 votes;
• Grunt (Mick Price, VIC) – 7097 votes;
• Alizee (James Cummings, NSW) – 6744 votes;
• Amphitrite (David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig, VIC) – 5784 votes;
• Foundry (Terry Kelly, VIC)- 5558 votes;
• Material Man (Justin Warwick), WA – 5358 votes;
• Man Of His Word (Dean Krongold), VIC – 5135 votes;
• Moss ‘N’ Dale (Peter Gelagotis), VIC – 5072 votes; and
• Mr Money Bags (Robbie Griffiths), VIC – 5013 votes.

That top two makes me believe that some people just want to the watch the world burn. And I’m one of them.

Fortunately, Pat Webster’s Happy Clapper (NSW) also got the first of four wildcard spots to add a bit of respectability to an ‘All-Star’ event, and he should by default be around Alizee and Amphitrite at the head of the market.

To me, this race looks like the Three Star Mile (Happy Clapper, Alizee, Grunt), featuring the gooduns (Material Man, Amphitrite, Moss N Dale) and the sour tasting lemons (Man of His Word, Mr Money Bags, Balf’s Choice and Urban Ruler). Foundry is a Group 1 winner (The 2017 Metropolitan) who you wouldn’t even remember winning a Group 1.

Another biggie is that it’s weight-for-age, meaning Balf’s Choice and Urban Ruler would get skewered and put on an open fire at the weights- Dan O’Sullivan’s numbers are a rough guide.

The Clapper would be giving 20 kilos to Urban Ruler in a handicap race. At WFA they’re even. As I said before, I’d like to see the market on the course ambulance beating Urban Ruler home in the head to head battle, because the ambos might start in the red.

But enough with all the negativity for a moment, I will say that a ‘slightly’ redeeming feature is that all the mainland states are represented in the Top 10, and there remains a good chance that the Tasmanian filly Mystic Journey could get a wildcard spot, which would give every state representation in the race. At last, a State of Origin free-for-all on the racecourse!

TL:DR- Here’s Mr T’s prediction for Balf’s Choice and Urban Ruler