Posts Tagged ‘Epsom Handicap’
Picking over the past for Epsom Handicap betting clues
September 30th, 2009 by adminI fear Anthony Cummings has been in cahoots with the US military. Only by way of some pioneering technology have the horse trainer’s charges been slipping under the radar lately, and it must be costing some punters big time.
I’m carefully picking over the corpse of the George Main Stakes today, fingering the debris to try and figure out what went wrong.
If I could I’d don my wellies and trudge along the track at Randwick, peering at the scarred turf for clues, but I fear the stewards would throw me off. Not for behaving oddly, but for reeking of post-loss brandy which drowned my tears on Saturday night.
Anyway, the George Main was won by the Cummings-trained Road To Rock, who was hovering around 40.00 before the race and beat off the sub-2.00 favourite Racing To Win, plus my shout Black Piranha, who was second.
I know what you’re thinking – ancient history now, forget it and look to the Epsom on Saturday. Trouble is, I’ve just realised two things;
1.Road To Rock is in the Epsom on Saturday
2.This is not the first time an Anthony Cummings horse has pulled off an upset
Cummings also trains Turffontein, who gobbled up the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield last week as a 15.00 shot, so the warning signs are obvious.
The man is on a roll and must be a master of deception. Therefore at this early stage the bookies are all cautious for the 1600m Epsom and have Road To Rock on 6.00 joint second favourite alongside Drumbeats. The spelling nightmare of Rangirangdoo is the favourite on 3.80, with IASbet.
Thankfully Black Piranha, one of my soft spots, is up on 8.50 with the same bookmaker despite an impressive second to the upstart on Saturday.
Matters are somewhat clouded further by some amusing and insightful comments by trainer Gai Waterhouse, who wins the unofficial quote of the week award.
“The system at the moment is buggered”, she said via AAP of the Epsom handicapping set-up, demanding more of a “sliding scale”.
With that nugget in mind, I’ll be tracking the horse racing betting markets for the Epsom throughout the week and will also be swotting up on the NRL grand final to ensure my system isn’t buggered by the weekend.
Read more »Denman ends my losing streak in fine style
September 29th, 2009 by adminIt turns out pretty much nobody was right about the Manikato Stakes at a damp Moonee Valley on Friday night. Now no-one is happy. Last time in a while I get mixed up in a race like that.
Danleigh took the honours. Who? I know. A 17.00 outsider. The favourite, Nicconi, was third and my shout Mic Mac ended up in fifth. So I look daft but so do all the weirdos who shunned Mic Mac in favour of Nicconi. Let that be a lesson to both of us. Now let’s move on.
Saturday’s hotly-anticipated NFL grand final did go the way of the favourite – in this case Geelong Cats, who won 80 to 68 over St Kilda, although at least St Kilda were making a damn good show of it until a goal in the final seconds robbed the outsiders at the last. Well, I did warn you anything can happen in a final.
Thank god there was some good news from Randwick on Saturday where my tip Denman stormed to victory in the small but competitive field of the Stan Fox Stakes. He shrank down to around 1.35 on the day so anyone who took my advice and gobbled him up at 1.50 on Friday or 1.60 earlier in the week should be smiling today. I take it my brandy is in the post. Thanks.
Unfortunately there was no double for my predictions at Randwick – the group 1 George Main Stakes was won by outsider Road to Rock – a 41.00-odd shout before the race, although Black Piranha and Onemorenomore, who I advised over favourite Racing to Win, were at least second and third respectively.
After the sweat and mud of the AFL grand final on Saturday we have the NRL equivalent to worry about next weekend with Melbourne booking their place in the big one against Parramatta after rolling over the Broncos 40-10 on Saturday.
Add to that a packed horse racing card which includes the Epsom Handicap at Randwick on Saturday, then we’ve got another powder keg week. We’re also less than 12 days away from the Caulfield Guineas. It’s getting serious now.
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