Based on a series of plausible events in a regional Victorian town

Alright folks, here we are at the last weekend of the financial year, and time for the last Group 1 of the 2023/24 season before we set off for another 2 months of boredom, the Tatt’s Tiara at Eagle Farm for the fillies & mares, although it won’t feature James McDonald after he was stood down from riding due to gallstones at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.

I know how he feels… I’ve been sidelined due to illness since Wednesday as well.

It also presents a funny contrast, because Blake Shinn was booked to ride Coeur Volante, however Mike Moroney scratched the filly after she drew Barrier 16, and now he’s picked up the ride on the second favourite C’est Magique with McDonald going down.

Another bit of news is that Peter & Paul Snowden’s successful training partnership is coming to an end after a highly successful decade, with the decision brought about by Paul needing to spend time with his family, and what a great run it was for the father & son, with a Golden Slipper winner (Capitalist 2016), 1260 winners, 20 Group 1 winners , and getting Redzel to win the first two editions of The Everest.

Still, I find that excuse from Paul doesn’t hold up… couldn’t he just drop his kids off at their grandfather’s house?

Anyway, other events on the Saturday card include the Eagle Farm undercard of the Battle of the Bush, the Tatt’s Gold Crown, the Tatt’s Cup and the Tatt’s Mile, Rosehill has an 11-race card (Due to Randwick’s abandonment) headlined by the W.J. McKell Cup, there’s some boring crap at Caulfield, boring crap at Belmont, and there’s a listed 2-year-old race at Morphetville that I know nothing about.

So it’s on to Crazy Craig, and last week Crazy Craig’s Fleetwood Mac horse, the appropriately named Fleetwood, was predictably scratched when Randwick was rained out, which means he got a collect when his bet was refunded!

Well done Crazy Craig, YOU WIN AGAIN!

P(r)ick No.1: Knight’s Choice (No.7, Barrier 2) in Race 6 at Eagle Farm (BR6), 2:47pm AEST

2400m Group 3 Set Weights

Trainers: John Symons & Sheila Laxon, Jockey: Robbie Dolan, 56.5kg

Hello hello everybody it’s Craaaaaazy Craig TBFB, Scratchie King of Bairnsdale, back after I didn’t have much to watch last week following that big Fleetwood Mac singalong, so it’s fair to say last week was just a bunch of DREAMS!

Ha ha ha, ya geddit!

Anyway, we’re never going back again to that week, so we must never break the chain and don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, to the last Group 1 weekend of this season, and what will be the last Group 1 weekend until late August…

But am I going to bother with the Tatt’s Tiara?

No, because I looked at the race and thought, Tatt’s not a Tiara!

Anyway, I’ll look at another race sponsored by Tattersall’s, namely the Tatt’s Cup, where we find a horse by the name of Knight’s Choice, who ran a good 2nd to the dominant Fawkner Park in the Q22 last time out, after settling too far back and running a huge 400m, and I would note that one half of the partnership is Sheila Laxon, the only woman in HISTORY to train a Cups double winner (Ethereal 2001, LOOK IT UP!)

If he wants to be any serious hope of following in the footsteps of without a fight and going from the Queensland Winter to the Melbourne Spring, then he’s got to win on Saturday, but with a name like Knight’s Choice, I think he’d be better suited to…

CAMELOT!

On second thought, let’s not go to Eagle Farm.

‘Tis a silly place.

The Fleetwood Mac Pick: Fleetwood (No.1, Barrier 1) in Race 8 at Caulfield (MR8), 3:30pm AEST

1000m 3YO Handicap

Trainer: James Cummings, Jockey: Damian Lane, 60kg

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WAS NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN TO FLEETWOOD MAC, It appears I was telling some sweet LITTLE LIES!

What a great outcome – Fleetwood didn’t run last week at Randwick, which means James Cummings was able to slot him in for this race at Caulfield, which means…

I CAN PLAY ANOTHER FLEETWOOD MAC SONG!

Last week it was Never Going Back Again, and this week I’ve got something from the era when Stevie Nicks had hair the size of the moon, and all the band members were busy shagging each other and destroying each other’s personal lives…

SEVEN WONDERS.

Just remember, the only way to listen to Tusk is to listen to it in its entirety, with the pauses, as Lindsay Buckingham intended it to be heard.

The Trashmen Pick: Bird’s The Word (No.4, Barrier 6) E/W in Race 7 at Belmont (PR7), 3:20pm AWST (5:20)

1400m Westspeed Platinum Winter Series Final

Trainers: Daniel & Ben Pearce, Jockey: Chris Parnham, 58.5kg

Call it a Platinum Series Final and it’s full of 58+ rated horses… what an oxymoron!

That said, I have to ask youse a question.

Do you know about The Bird?

You don’t?

WELL, EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT THE BIRD IS THE WORD!

Alternatively…

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