Horse Racing

[fitz]

I've got safe money on:

1. Ridiculous Hats
2. Zany Outfit Drunk
3. Muddy Stilettos
4. Bart's Eyebrows
5. November Aficionados

... boxed

 

[gando2230]

I've got safe money on:

1. Ridiculous Hats
2. Zany Outfit Drunk
3. Muddy Stilettos
4. Bart's Eyebrows
5. November Aficionados

... boxed

In that order?

 

[IronShark]

My pick is "Illustrious Blue" (Black & White) - I added that last bit!:dougy:

 

[snowman]

snowmans bets

$50 each way on descarado

$10 on shoot out

$10 on mr medici

$1 on master o'reilly

and a couple of box tri fectas

 

[Mr Wright]

I had 3 place bets on Manighar, maluckyday and americain. Pity i didn't bloody go for the win with Americain. Still 2 out of 3 is golden.

 

[IronShark]

I went in with five blokes from work and had 6 horses for a box trifecta, $20 each. We got up but it only paid $267 Apparently, that is like, the worst trifecta result ever! We only won $44 bucks each.

What a sham! No wonder I never usually bet!:at-wits-end:

 

[slide rule]

I went in with five blokes from work and had 6 horses for a box trifecta, $20 each. We got up but it only paid $267 Apparently, that is like, the worst trifecta result ever! We only won $44 bucks each.

What a sham! No wonder I never usually bet!:at-wits-end:

:ridiculed

 

[IronShark]

We just went through all the trifecta dividends for every Melbourne Cup and have found it is officially the lowest ever paid! The next closest was 430-odd pounds back in 1860-something!

Oh well, at least we didn't lose, I guess!

 

[sharks4ever]

apparently Stapo won 20 Grand according to his facebook

 

[fitz]

apparently Stapo won 20 Grand according to his facebook

He's telling porkies.

 

[Gil]

I had a little on the winner.

 

[snowman]

i walked away with nothing..... the couch is looking good tonight

 

[El Coconuto]

Worst $10 I ever spent. I don't gamble, but sweeps (which isn't reaaaaaaaally gambling) get me everytime. I knew I was in trouble when my two horses blew out of the gates quickly. Oh well. Fun day.

 

[gando2230]

Any one having a bet on the golden slipper tomorrow
At rosehill the greatest 2 year old horse race in the world?

 

[Capital_Shark]

Any one having a bet on the golden slipper tomorrow
At rosehill the greatest 2 year old horse race in the world?

Little on the nose of Satin Shoes fixed at $12.50.

I'm not much on the horses, but my mate is pretty clued in so hopefully he'll get of work and get here with beer and tips before it runs and I can make some money to lose on the footy later. :cheers

 

[gando2230]

Any one getting on black caviar to win
12 in a row?

 

[Lumpy]

Just did mate

 

[gando2230]

Black caviar to good won his 14th win in a row today
In the schillaci stakes at caulfield.
Never looked like losing paying a $1.06 for the win.

 

[gando2230]

Any one having a bet in the cox plate?
I think helmet will be to strong. But I will have something on no.13 kings rose.

 

[Sharky Pete]

Melbourne Cup's about money, not glory: trainer Mark Johnston

Melbourne Cup's about money, not glory: trainer Mark Johnston

Andrew Webster
The Daily Telegraph
October 31, 2011 12:00am

WARNING: This Melbourne Cup eve story isn't one of those warm and fuzzy Melbourne Cup eve stories.

That's not how trainer Mark Johnston - the straight-talking Scotsman who prepares Jukebox Jury and Fox Hunt - rolls.

Because Mark Johnston will tell you in no uncertain terms the Melbourne Cup is not the most prestigious race in the world, he doesn't like the Australian racing style whatsoever and he's here for the prizemoney not the glory.

And he maintains his controversial claim that our great sprinter Takeover Target, the fabled and global superstar who cost Queanbeyan taxi driver Joe Janiak $1250, won his races fuelled by anabolic steroids.

"I said what I said and I was right," says Johnston, who made the claims three years ago at Royal Ascot. "I don't care what they say. I was just saying the simple facts. And anybody who says it's not the case here is completely burying his head in the sand. Your regulations allow it.

"The idea that a horse can have a preparation and then a spell and during that spell it can be given anabolic steroids. Joe Janiak said he gives them to him to help them travel. So there was no denying that horses in Australia regularly use anabolic steroids. In Britain there's almost none, and it's strictly against the rules. If I was to stand up and say I give Fox Hunt anabolic steroids to help him travel, well, I'm going to be banned for life."

When Johnston first made those scorching allegations, Melbourne trainer Peter Moody described him as "one of the most unpopular trainers in England".

Nick Godfrey, the international editor from England turf bible The Racing Post, says this of the man: "Mark could start an argument in an empty room. He's very outspoken but he's a very intelligent person and he's not often wrong. He does ruffle feathers but he has enormous respect in Europe for his horses and the fact he has built himself from the ground up. He is a self-made man."

He is also a man ready to win the Melbourne Cup, which is a race he admittedly only covets for the money - and quiet satisfaction in snatching Australia's prized race from under its nose.

"The Melbourne Cup is not seen in Europe as it is in Australia," he says bluntly. "That's not my fault. It's just a fact. I would be lying if I said the Melbourne Cup has any-where near the same kudos in Europe it has over here. It's a huge big prize and a huge challenge to take a horse from one side of the world to the other and win it. But it's not the biggest race in the world.

"It's not the most prestigious race. But it's certainly the most valuable. And this is my best chance to win it."

He said as much in 1995 when he brought Double Trigger to Melbourne and famously declared on 60 Minutes: "Australia's never seen a horse like this one before".

That's when paranoia about overseas stayers pillaging our Cup was running high. Then Double Trigger was sent out as favourite, struggled with the Australian style of racing and finished 17th from 20 starters.

Johnston holds similar concerns for Jukebox Jury, the $11 second favourite in tomorrow's race.The bold front-running grey is Europe's form stayer, having won the Group 1 Irish St Leger (2800m) at the Curragh in a dead-heat - and six lengths ahead of Cup favourite Americain.

But the mad dash for position at the start is already worrying Johnston."That is exactly the sort of thing I fear happening," he says. "Double Trigger was used to galloping them into the ground in Europe he set off here and was well to the back of the field going into the first bend. He was stuck back in the field down the back straight, they sprinted and he only beat a couple home."

To that end, he thinks Fox Hunt ($26) has wrongly flown under the radar: "Fox Hunt is absolutely the opposite to Jukebox Jury. Jukebox Jury has never run in a handicap race. Foxhunt has come up through the handicap ranks. He is a very tough horse. He tends to have a flat spot in the middle of the races. He will be switching off and coming again at the finish."

Having also failed in the past with Quick Ransom and Yavana's Pace, Johnston can see some kudos in becoming the first trainer from England to win the Melbourne Cup.

The temptation to call him a whingeing Pom, given his outspoken views, but the truth is he is neither.

"I'm not a Pom," he says. "I live in northern England but I come from Scotland. I'm not a proud Englishman. The owner of Double Trigger, who was also born in Scotland but lived all his life in England, was once seriously upset with me because I wouldn't have my picture taken with the horse and the Union Jack."

On the score of being perceived as a whinger, he says: "I think it would be dishonest to do anything else but say what you think. I'm saying what I believe is right. I thought it was fantastic when Bart Cummings said about So You Think that our racing's not worth two-bob. I've never met the guy. But he spoke his mind. There's nothing wrong with that."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...er-mark-johnston/story-fn67rc85-1226180889445

Ryan on edge of greatness in pursuit of double
Roy Masters
October 31, 2011

It's a dangerous gamble to knock on history's door but Melbourne businessman Gerry Ryan is entitled to tap gently at the gateway to a unique and rich double.

Tomorrow, he could witness his French stallion Americain become only the fifth horse in 151 years to win successive Melbourne Cups and could also hear from Paris that his GreenEDGE cycling bid has become the first Australian team to win entry to the Tour de France.

It's enough to make Ryan wear a beret to Flemington and hum La Marseillaise.

Should Americain cross the finish line first and Gerry cry ''Oh, Mon Dieu'' over his French champagne, don't expect anything other than a Marcel Marceau impersonation on the Tour de France licence.

''We can't announce it until two weeks later,'' he said. ''I get the phone call on Melbourne Cup day telling me whether we are one of the top 15 teams to be awarded a licence by the Union Cycliste Internationale but we can't say anything until they make the official announcement.''

It was during this year's Tour de France that Ryan visited Americain, which has had a mixed year racing in Europe, winning one listed race in four starts. ''At that stage, Americain had just come back in to training,'' Ryan said. ''They tipped him out again after they realised they hadn't given him enough of a break after his third place in Hong Kong in December.''

Since Americain arrived in Australia last month, Ryan has made several trips to watch the horse in trackwork. Speaking to the Herald the day before the French raider's run in the Moonee Valley Cup on October 22, Ryan said: ''He's a little bit behind compared to last year but each day he's got better. The Moonee Valley Cup is a preparation run but if the opportunity arises, he will go for a win.''

As it transpired, Americain swept all before him, a shimmer of speed, turning the race into his own tour de force. While he will meet his rivals tomorrow on weightier terms, the seven-year-old seems more concerned about having his French entourage surrounding him, than carrying 58 kilograms.
If Americain succeeds, Ryan and his business partner, Kevin Bamford, have a chance of a quinella with the Mark Johnston-trained Jukebox Jury, which they co-own with Alan Spence, vice-president of the Chelsea Football Club.

''Jukebox Jury has settled in well,'' Ryan said. ''He's come under the radar a bit, despite winning two group 1s in Europe.''
If Jukebox Jury flies under the radar, it may be Ryan who has mapped the flight plan, including a possible start in June's Ascot Gold Cup.

Ryan is the most under-stated man I have met in 30 years of covering sport. He introduced Jukebox Jury to his friends at a birthday party Melbourne Storm founder, John Ribot, threw for his partner, Renee, at Crown Casino in September.

''Come downstairs and have a look at this race in Europe,'' Ryan said to some of the guests at 1.30am. ''I've got a horse in it.''
Only when the group reached the TV screen did they realise the race was the Irish St Leger. Jukebox Jury dead-heated for first but Ryan typically found a positive in sharing the purse with another horse. ''He led all the way and although he dead-heated at the finish, he'd done the work,'' Ryan said.

To Ryan, hard work carries its own reward. He owns the Jayco caravan empire, several hotels and a Melbourne factory that is so successful making animated monsters, dragons and dinosaurs for movies that Hollywood now comes to Australia for filming. Not surprisingly for someone with diversified investments, Ryan has a third horse in Australia's richest race.

''I've got a little interest with [former Test cricketer] Simon O'Donnell in Drunken Sailor [OTI racing syndicate],'' he said.

Ryan has also hedged his bets if the UCI don't name GreenEDGE as one of the first 15 teams announced to compete in the 18-team Tour de France field.

''Based on the points system over the past two years, we're currently rated 13th,'' he said. ''We've done the bank guarantees and the next criteria is having an administrative team, which we have set up at the AIS facility in Italy. But if we don't get a [ProTour] licence, we'll ride as a continental team, via the World Tour events, such as the Giro d'Italia. Cadel Evans's first year in the Tour was riding with a continental team.''

The first road-race Evans won was in Tasmania, riding for the Limerick Arms, a hotel Ryan owns. ''Phil Liggett [famed cycling commentator] rang me straight afterwards and said Cadel would win the Tour. He wasn't far wrong.''

When it comes to forecasts, Ryan has been mulling over his three chances in the Melbourne Cup.

This year, Drunken Sailor has beaten Jukebox Jury, which has beaten Americain. Ryan describes Americain as ''most impressive'' and says ''Drunken Sailor is down in the weights''.

Of Jukebox Jury, he says: ''He is probably a project for next year.''

And his own long-range tip? ''Back Americain into GreenEDGE and put it all on Jukebox Jury in next year's Cup.''

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/horsera...ness-in-pursuit-of-double-20111030-1mqe6.html