You know we’re in scary times when the Waterford TAB gets a bigger crowd than a Feature Saturday meeting at Caulfield.

Ladies and gents, I’ll start off this evening by leaving this here:

Not only did Crazy Craig stray away from his traditional Lay Of The Day, he went the seldom seem Each Way bet on Regal Power…. And it’s resulted in his finest moment on this website, even better than him declaring Castelvecchio before last year’s Champagne Stakes.

I don’t know the exact amount the Boy From Bairnsdale loaded up on him (It definitely wasn’t $5000), but fair to say, he’s sleeping pretty.

Anyway, it was another very solid day for favourite backing (In a sea of disappointments around Australia) – 2 winners, and the lowest placed tip ran 3rd by a half length.

Aside from the All Star Mile, the rain turned Rosehill into a Heavy 10, and the quagmire threw up a fair old shock when the American bred Con Te Patiro (For Tulloch Lodge) led all the way in the Coolmore Classic at $21.

Miss Fabulass ran 2nd at $51, Noire 3rd at $12, and Benitoite 4th at $9 – The First 4 payed a lazy $203,420 on the NSW TAB.

Just before I go through the runners, here’s a feelgood story of the day:

I know a guy called Bob Peters who could sell you a car, Tegan.

Rainbow Thief in Race 1 at Caulfield – 3rd

He jumped well, then Dunn decided he wanted cover from the headwind, which forced him to drop back to last after everyone kicked up from underneath.

I don’t think trying to get cover was a bad move, especially when you see how Skiddaw dropped out after getting an easy time outside the leader, but the bigger problem was dropping that far back on a slow speed.

He produced the best final 400 of the race (Another 50m and he’s the winner), but deadset, you can’t get that far back… Especially at Caulfield.

Secret Blaze in the Morning Cup Prelude at Caulfield – 2nd

Not too much to say about Secret Blaze – Travelled well enough, Zahra wound him up at the 400m, but he just wasn’t good enough to run down the leader Inverloch.

Master Of Wine in the Sky High Stakes at Rosehill – WINNER

As my Latin t-shirt says:

IN WINE WE TRUST.

Despite racing in conditions he’s rarely experienced, the Master gave everyone a taste of why he’s viewed as an up-and-coming stayer, parking in behind the leaders and motoring away in the straight to win by 3L to Mustajeer.

Aside from another superb performance since the blinkers went on, we also found out that he can definitely handle the wet ground, despite Tommy Berry commenting that he wasn’t comfortable on it.

Apparently backing up in a race like the G1 Ranvet (2000m WFA) next week isn’t impossible, although I’m more looking forward to a potential staying race between Master Of Wine, Mustajeer and Mugatoo.

Talladega in the JC Roberts at Ascot – WINNER

Things got a crapload easier when Cryptic Wonder was scratched this morning, and with basically nobody to challenge the new $1.75 favourite, Talladega got a gem of a run in behind Kelvin on the rail, peeled out on the turn, and absolutely laughed to victory.

5/5 for his career now, and he’s got serious Derby prospects if he can handle a staying trip, and based on this win, he probably can.

That was also Chris Parnham’s 3rd winner for the day, guaranteeing that he gets to sleep in the top bunk over Brad at the Parnham home tonight.

Talladega – A place known for speed.

Talladega – A horse with plenty of speed.

Crazy Craig’s Tip Of The Day

Regal Power EACH WAY in the All Star Mile – WINNER ($11 win/$3 place)

Craig, I’m going to suggest you go into retirement after this, because bloody oath, you’ll be hard pressed to ever top this performance.

That whole winning ride was classic Wizard – He settled further forward after last week’s defeat, stalked Alligator Blood the whole way (Flit going insane in the lead helped big time), peeled off him at the 300m, and just kept on going.

Watching the race, after Regal Power motored past the Gator, I figured Crazy Craig at least had a shot at a place, then then it got to the 200 and he was further in front with Fierce Impact and Melody Belle charging, then at the 100m, it was time for the “Holy crap, he’s gonna pull this off!”

In a moment that had all of us Sandgropers at half mast, the other Williams/Peters runner Superstorm powered home (From 2nd last) over a genuinely unlucky Melody Belle, who tried doing the same thing that Regal Power did, expecting that Alligator Blood would pick up, but the Gator had nothing left after a big prep, and MB lost about a length getting off heels – Which ended up being the final margin from 1st to 3rd.

I suppose the only downside to this is that Craig backed Regal Power at $9/$3 on fixed… He wound up jumping at $10 on the WA TAB ($11 for others).

Regardless, Craig, you may be an odd fellow, but you know how to pick ’em.