Alright folks, the best time of the year for racing continues for those with four wheels and four legs as we get the Bathurst 1000 this weekend, and the Melbourne Spring Carnival rolls on to Caulfield Guineas Day, always one of the great days of October with the 3 Group 1 races (The Might and Power, the Guineas and the Toorak Handicap) and the Herbert Power to start the Caulfield Cup Carnival, which used to be four Group 1 races until the Thousand Guineas was moved back to its old Wednesday slot, then was pushed all the way back to mid-November, and is now next weekend on Caulfield Cup day…

Would’ve been nice if they’d done it the old-fashioned way in what is the 150th anniversary year since the foundation of the Victorian Amateur Turf Club at Caulfield, which is now the Melbourne Racing Club (The Caulfield Cup itself began in 1879), especially given their entire marketing campaign for this week was built around that historical milestone.

North of the Murray River, Rosehill hosts the Roman Consul Stakes and the Hill Stakes with just a week to go until The Everest, and word from Rome is Pope Leo will be having a warm-up for his 2028 visit to Sydney and the Papal visit to Randwick by attempting to pick the Rosehill quaddie this Saturday, which will be the Pontiff’s first step towards Sainthood when he completes the miracle of landing a quaddie.

If Leo really wanted to perform a miracle at a racecourse, he’d have a go at picking the quaddie at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day.

Other feature events include Opening Day at Ascot, which is in Belmont, the Queensland Cup at Eagle Farm, and the country cups this weekend include Manangatang in Victoria, and I once thought Manangatang sang This Is Australia, Hamilton in Victoria, and the Leonora Cup, run in the Goldfields of WA, and a fun fact about Leonora is that every year over the first weekend of June, Leonora hosts the fabled Golden Gift, which is the richest mile running race in Australia.

People think there’s deadset nothing in Central WA, but there’s a shitload of cash buried in the ground, as Lang Hancock can confirm.

So it’s on to Crazy Craig, and would you believe it, for the second weekend running he went for the last race of the day in WA to find a winner, AND WILD THINGS DULY SALUTED with his Lucky Lips!

Fun note for Crazy Craig – Sir Cliff Richard’s 86th birthday is this Wednesday!

The Mike Rutherford Pick: Genesis Runner (No.5, Barrier 3) in Race 4 at Rosehill (SR4), 2:20pm AEDT

1800m Group 3 3YO Schweppes Gloaming Stakes

Trainers: Richard & Will Freedman, Jockey: Chad Schofield, 56.5kg

Hello hello everybody, it’s Crazy Craig, TBFB, Scratchie King of Bairnsdale, and what bloody scenes in the Goldfields as yours truly performed another miracle and picked a WINNER, and just remember, as good old Cliff Richard said in our title song…

When they spin that wheel of fortune,
All I do is kiss my chips,
And I know I’m ’bout to win, yeah,
‘Cause I’ve got LUCKY LIPS!

So this week we start off at Rosehill, and after firing the darts at the board we’ve gone with the Gloaming in Race 4, and in a fairly open field we’ve gone for a horse that was a runner-up to Wonka in the Dulcify last week, but I would contend this week that Wonka won’t have a golden ticket to victory, as GENESIS RUNNER goes up to the 1800m…

And with a name like GENESIS RUNNER, you’ve got many choices for songs because Genesis were an all-time band, but I will contend that it best fits Mike Rutherford, especially after he formed Mike + The Mechanics, who I believe never actually repaired any cars, and of course one of their great hits was SILENT RUNNING!

And by sheer coincidence, Mike Rutherford’s birthday was last Friday!

The Shane Keith Warne Pick: Warnie (No.3, Barrier 1) E/W in the Toorak Handicap at Caulfield, 5:10pm AEDT

1600m Group 1 Handicap

Trainer: Ciaron Maher, Jockey: Craig Williams, 57kg

They say a picture is worth a thousand words… well, here you go.

The last race in WA Pick: Fine Star (No.4, Barrier 3) in Race 10 at Ascot (PR10), 5:36pm AWST (8:36 AEDT)

1200m Graduation 60+ Handicap

Trainer: Simon Miller, Jockey: Chris Parnham, 58kg

Well bugger it, it worked the last two weeks!

Other Crazy Group 1 Picks

Might And Power: Sheza Alibi (No.6, Barrier 6), still going to start too short

Caulfield Guineas: Blind Raise (No.5, Barrier 2) on Bledisloe Cup day

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!