Dunkeld… But what did he hold?

Alright friends and strangers, the peak of the Spring is done, and it seemed that racing mixed with the AFL offseason this week, as Brett Prebble wound up with blood on his shirt after a scuffle with a mate at Ross Lyon’s birthday party.

Surely if you wanted to get your face clubbed in at the birthday party of an AFL coach, you’d want it to be someone like Alastair Clarkson, although if it was Clarko, he’d probably be the one delivering the clubbing.

Then there was the other half of the on-track Incentivise partnership, the one and only Peter Moody, expressing his Queenslander thoughts on the WA Government, while talking about the news that Interstate horses wouldn’t be able to compete in the Perth racing carnival:

Hang on, was that my very opinionated mate Merv Roberts talking about “Mark McClown”, or was that Peter Moody?

Somebody should’ve told him he’d had Spanish Mission transferred to his stable, then he’d have cheered up.

So with the Flemington Carnival done, it’s on to the revamped November calendar of Victorian racing, because with the MRC/Sandown effectively trading Zipping Classic day for a Group 1 Underwood in September, the Cranbourne Cup is now the feature Saturday meeting, with the Zipping Classic now going to Caulfield at the end of November, and on the northern side of the Murray River, the feature event of the day in NSW is The Hunter in Newcastle, plus the time honoured Hair Of The Dog Cup at Gundagai, named as always after Nazareth’s successful 1975 album…

But if you ask me, they haven’t got a bloody thing on the view of Mt Abrupt that you get at the Dunkeld Cup.

The only thing missing is a couple of power lines, to remind us of man’s ability to generate electricity.

And finally, over here in the hermit kingdom of Wait Awhile, it’s the last Saturday before the Railway Stakes, with the Group 3 RJ Peters Stakes being a traditional guide to the race, then there’s the WA Champion Fillies, which will feature a few horses going into next week’s Guineas, and the Colonel Reeves, featuring several chances for the Winterbottom Stakes in a fortnight, including defending champion Elite Street.

So with that out of the way, it’s on to the picks, and Crazy Craig was adamant that he needs a break after going non-stop for the last 2 months, and if you ask me, he’s more than earned it after landing 4 Picks of the Day in the last 5 weeks, although he really should be getting the POTD every week, because that’s why I bloody well invite him on the website, and I should also note his Value picks ended the Spring very well, with Teewaters placing in the VRC Derby at $31, and Massimo winning at Ascot last week.

With Crazy Colin also out of action, it’s up to me to crash this Crazy ship into an iceberg, so here’s my Piss Poor Pathetic Picks of the Day, and you know what, this week marked 50 years since the untitled album known as Led Zeppelin IV was released, so instead of playing Stairway To Heaven like most simpletons, here’s ROCK AND ROLL:

Value Pick: Loch Eagle (No.8, Barrier 4) in the Spring Stakes at Newcastle (SR7), 4pm AEDT

1600m 3YO Group 3

Trainer: Kris Lees, Jockey: James McDonald, 56.5kg

Straight off the top, in case you’re wondering, I’m picking a 2-start maiden in a Group 3 so I can claim insanity in the unlikely event of me being charged of a crime.

What could go wrong?

With that out of the way, local hope Loch Eagle has started his career with a pair of 2nd placings at Hawkesbury and Randwick (On Melbourne Cup Day), and that start at Randwick is noteworthy as he raced just outside the leader the entire way, but still stuck on to fight out the finish with favourite I Am Lethal, only going down by a head, whereas the other leaders were going backwards faster than the Prime Minister’s approval rating.

Being a Lonhro colt he should be able to handle what will most likely be a Soft track, and the other important note is that Hugh Bowman rode the coalfields colt in both his starts, whereas the one and only James McDonald jumps aboard, fresh off the most successful Melbourne Cup Carnival anyone has ever seen, and from Barrier 4 you’d have to think he’ll be up on speed once again, and if all goes well, he’ll be running a good honest race.

Oh who am I kidding, he’ll be bloody useless.

Hugh Hefner Tribute: Our Playboy (No.11, Barrier 17) in Race 7 at Cranbourne (MR7), 4:20pm AEDT

1600m Listed Cranbourne Cup

Trainers: Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr, Jockey: Zac Spain, 55kg

Going straight to the feature Cranbourne Cup, and in a fairly even field, Our Playboy is the current market elect after scoring a huge win at Flemington this time last week, when he ran over the top of Silent Sovereign, which marked his first win on a Good track after 11 attempts, and it also kept his flawless record at the mile intact, although admittedly he has only had 2 goes at 1600m.

If that breakthrough wasn’t good enough for Hugh Hefner’s favourite horse, his record on Soft tracks is enough to make you wear a smoking jacket, because he’s had 4 starts for 3 wins, with 1 win from 1 run on a Heavy track, and he’ll probably get a chance to improve on that record, judging by the forecast for Southeast Victoria for Friday night and most of Saturday:

The shitty weather could render the glaring fact that Our Playboy is starting from the proverbial carpark (Barrier 17, which is now 16) absolutely useless, because chances are with the state of the track that deep in the afternoon, the field will be fanning to the outside fence anyway, but that said, if Our Playboy gets a bit of luck from that wide gate in the run, then chances are he’ll be right in the finish, which is all I can ask for.

The Random Lou Gramm Pick: Midnight Blue (No.8, Barrier 3) in Race 6 at Ascot (PR6), 3:50pm AWST (6:50 AEDT)

1800m Listed Ascot Gold Cup

Trainer: Grant & Alana Williams, Jockey: William Pike, 54kg

I remember what my father said

He said “Son, life is simple”

It’s either cherry red….

Or Midnight Blue!

Have a good Saturday everyone!