1 winner every 3 months is better than no winners every 3 months

It feels like it was only yesterday that I was talking about the first weekend of March, well now after a couple of weekends of abject carnage on the track, we’ve arrived at the last weekend of March, and it should be a semi-decent weekend assuming we can halt this worrying spate of falls, starting with the Friday night William Reid Stakes meeting at Moonee Valley, then the Group 1 Saturday is headlined by the Tancred Stakes + the Vinery Stud Stakes at what will be a boggy Rosehill..

And moved back by 2 weeks is the Australian Cup at Flemington, giving everyone the utter headache of two Weight For Age Group 1s in different cities on the same day in this stupid pissing match between Sydney and Melbourne racing, meaning both fields are pretty much littered with dodgy turn takers, to the detriment of everyone.

Case in point, there is only one horse that ran in the Cox Plate that is running in the Australian Cup – Mo’unga.

Pretty much unheard of for a once revered WFA race that still has one of the best honour rolls going around.

Of course, the other news from this weekend is that the great Lonhro, himself Champion Racehorse and later Champion Sire, is being retired from stud duty at the age of 25 after 18 years of service, firstly for the Inghams and eventually Darley, in which time he helped pop out 95 individual Stakes winners, headlined by the best 2-year-old of the last 40 years Pierro (Himself a super sire), Impending, Exosphere, Denman, Encryption, and he sired last weekend’s Rosehill Guineas winner Lindermann.

And yet, just like Lonhro, none of those champions could win a Cox Plate… Obviously the 2000m Valley pedigree in the bloodline ran out at Octagonal.

Other semi-interesting races include the Roy Higgins at Flemington, a race that now stands as one of the six ballot exemption races for the Melbourne Cup, the Tulloch Stakes at Rosehill is the last lead-up before the ATC Derby next week, and over in Wait Awhile, it’s the day for the WA Oaks…

Riveting.

So it’s on to Crazy Craig, and I felt it was appropriate that nobody was on hand to witness Crazy Craig end his winless drought last week with Bel Air storming from the clouds to win Race 4 at Moonee Valley, so he’s more than earned his theme tune this week, and I think it’s appropriate that Elvis Presley would be describing Craig’s exact thoughts when the photo went up…

I GOT LUCKY!

P(r)ick No.1: The Bopper (No.2, Barrier 3) in Race 4 at Flemington (MR4), 2:20pm AEDT

1000m Listed Bob Hoysted Handicap

Trainer: Kris Lees, Jockey: Damien Oliver, 56.5kg

Hello hello everyone it’s Craaaaaazy Craig, TBFB, Scratchie King of Bairnsdale, and wouldn’t you know it, after weeks of nothingness, your lovable luckless lunatic picked a WINNER!

You know what the moral of the story is?

PERSISTANCE PAYS OFF… Even if it costs you several hundred bucks in scratchies!

Anyway, last week I was really into my musical selections, which did net me one winner and a second placing, and last week we had James Brown making an appearance…

Well, this week we’ve got one of the three victims from The Day The Music Died, the Big Bopper, to cheer on the horse named in his honour as The Bopper runs up the Straight at The Valley!

Hello, baby
Yeah, this is the Big Bopper speakin’
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Oh, you sweet thing
Do I what? Will I what?
Oh, baby, you know what I like!

No, it’s not Chantilly Lace, it’s getting a winner at Flemington, that’s what I like!

P(r)ick No.2: Pavitra (No.3, Barrier 9) in the Vinery Stud Stakes at Rosehill (SR7), 4pm AEDT

2000m Group 1 3YO Fillies

Trainers: Richard & Will Freedman, Jockey: Chad Schofield, 56kg

I seem to remember hearing the name Pavitra before….

That’s right, wasn’t he the captain of Fremantle?

Yes that’s right, Matthew Pavitra, he had the big oily nose!

P(r)ick No.3: Megami (No.2, Barrier 1) E/W in the WA Oaks at Ascot (PR8), 4:55pm AWST (7:55)

2400m Group 3 Set Weights

Trainer: Takahide Ikenushi, Jockey: Brad Parnham, 55.5kg

Obviously if you look at the market for the WA Oaks, the one thing that will immediately stick out to your eyeballs is the enormous two-horse race between Admiration Express and She’s Fit, who both sit around that $2.30 mark…

But, sitting right there is the beloved headcase Megami, who finished 2nd to Admiration Express in the Natasha after a slow start saw her get well back and produce the best final 400m of the entire race…

So, am I turning Japanese for Takahide Ikenushi’s horse?

I REALLY THINK SO!

Enjoy your Saturday folks, stay safe, stay negative, gamble within REASON, KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD, and remember, I’m Crazy Craig, and that’s why they call me Craaaaaazy Craig!