Macca

2 from 2 here ... way too late for BM's Toryjoy tip. No worry anyway as the treble gets up if DZ's pick (Miss Iano) salutes. Got about 37-1 too so good odds. Good run from Fundamentalist Wadda and my default mode of the class preference came through with the mighty Mystic Journey. A real good horse.

Best Bet Saturday Caulfield Race 8 No.11 Mystic Journey $2.20 (Win)

Over to you @Wadda We Sing for the clincher!

A stay-away day at Flemington in hindsight Wadda. Can't remember the last time we had a heavy track there either. Rosehill raced better but only got the one winner there so an average day. Not much better with my exacta strategy as well! Gator's tips are now available on the Sky Racing app (but you have to wait until Saturday mornings) His tips now encompass Melb, Syd, Adel & Bris. He tipped 2 winners in both Syd & Melb despite having a lean day overall. Often gets 3 winners per meeting so definitely worth following. Gets a lot of placings as well (with his value picks) If I get time I'll post up his & JJ's tips (here) but I am very busy at work on Saturday's these days.

Weekend Special Monday 06.10am LA Dodgers vs Arizona LA Dodgers Win (-1.5) $1.95

Well that was a bit of an inauspicious start fellas! Ah well, there's always the sports multi's and my favourite type involves the lower league's in England (Championship, League 1 & League 2) Good odds too for the +2.5 match score with a nominated winner. Anyway, So Si Bon wins the Airie's Star Stakes ... that's what you call a turn up for the books! Not exactly the punters favourite either so the bookies would have cleaned up. Alizee won the Missile Stakes as expected and looks likely to have a big Spring. 4 Stakes races at Caulfield next week as we build into the new season. The Group 2 PB Lawrence Stakes over 1400m should attract a good field.

⁸ 2 best bets in so far. I've put Sopressa in a 2 leg double and included DZ's pick (Oxford Tycoon) as part of an exacta. And for others who might want to chime in, feel free to have a go. We don't keep individual tallies as it's all about the team! Our strike rate has been more than handy in the last 2 seasons (August through to the end of April) Last season 118: 46 - 15 -15 A lot of the good horses are starting to return and my rule of thumb this season might be to defer to the class factor.

A few feature races featuring a number of returning Spring horses highlights the meetings at Flemington & Rosehill on Saturday. The best betting race amongst the 3 listed below being the 'Aurie's Star Hcp' Only 5 acceptors in the Missile Stakes but it's an interesting race anyway ... picking the F4 in order in the 5 horse field might deliver an ok dividend. Rosehill - Missile Stakes Rosehill - The Rosebud Flemington - Aurie's Star Hcp

In other news SBS won't be showing any EPL matches after failing to secure a deal with Optus. Liverpool vs Norwich kick things off on Saturday (5.00am) Then the early game on Saturday evening (9.30pm) sees West Ham host Man City.

Off-Season Strike Rate 5: 4-0-0 And on to the new season we go! Best Bet (Saturday) Flemington Race 1 No.2 Sopressa (Win) $3.00 (odds boosted)

Here's a few downloadable magazines (free) released just in time for the opening of the EPL season. Just follow the 'Free/Slow' links to download. Takes a little while but worth it. Read on Adobe Acrobat, Google Chrome or equivalent. n.b. The downloads work best from a PC ... might have issues from a phone. Match of the Day (6th August 2019) Match (6th August 2019) FourFourTwo (UK Sept 2019)

Now that the dust has settled we can bask in the glory of winning - BBC Test Match Special Podcast style. Here are the wrap-ups of day's 4 & 5. Within the 2 podcasts there's heaps of Aussie stuff including interviews with the current players along with Mitch Johnson & Glenn McGrath. And the BBC are the best in the business when it comes to sporting podcasts. Magnanimous in defeat are Michael Vaughn, Joe Root, Geoffrey Boycott etc as well. Excellent listening Edgbaston Day 4 BBC Podcast Edgbaston Day 5 BBC Podcast Footnote: Surprised to find out that the Aussies have won 7 of their last 8 Test matches against England. That record must include the last 2 Tests played in England in 2015.

Now we go to Lords where we have a very good record. With fresh quicks at the ready. We get a good break (with a 3 day match against Worcester in between) The Lords Test begins on Wednesday 14th. England will be shell-shocked. I doubt they'll be able to recover. Their top order isn't good enough against our bowlers and their renowned late middle order has met their match in Lyon. And they have no idea how to dismiss Smith. If Warner can find his best form look out. It all points towards Australia retaining the Ashes. Win the next one and the urn is as good as ours (to retain)

No rain forecast so we should get the full 90 overs - although 20 overs need to be bowled from the commencement of the last hour of play For instance: If we've bowled 75 overs by 5pm (BST) then a total of 95 overs can be bowled in the day (with the mandatory 20 overs to be bowled in the last hour) Stand corrected with the above if the ruling has been changed.

2 out of 3 ain't bad if you or anyone else had taken the first 2 legs. And once again my first choice (Houston Rockets) wasn't listed by Laddies (or anywhere else for that matter) Houston duly saluted by 2 runs. The bookies know that multi punters use 'bankers' so what better way to foil the punters by simply not listing a banker. Happens too many times for it to be a coincidence Wadda. The bookies know what they're doing! For instance: just lately the England bookmakers have stopped multi punters in having multi runners with Dettori on board. And apparently that was all the bookies.

We can't really lose from here now Wadda but we still need to get the 10 wickets. Gut feeling says we knock them over on a deteriorating pitch. Amazing transformation really ... we looked down and out and now we hold the upper hand. Them not having Anderson helped but those are the breaks. That sort of thing works both ways and there was a question mark over his fitness prior to the test. A grand knock from Wade in the end ... ably supported by Paine, Pattinson & Cummins. With Smith as the architect. Playing 5 tests in 6.5 weeks means that rotating the bowlers becomes mandatory ... Starc & Hazlewood are fresh and ready for Lords if required. Selection has worked out well - kudos.

Went close but missed by 'that' much! Needed a 3 run homer but got a 2 run double instead. Still, I picked up a baseball multi last week on the back of the opposite occuring. You win some, you lose some. What happened in the F1's? I checked online with 20 laps to go with Bottas down in 11th. Thought we might have been out early. Get well soon too Wadda ... the flu going around is bad news.

Two Tasmanian wicketkeepers batting together in a Test match for Australia. Got to be a first.

Credit to Wade (and Head) ... both have played tough, gritty fighting innings. Great support for Smith.

Are the Poms still booing Smith? If so, keep it up. It's working (for us)

About 62 overs Wadda so 18 overs to the new ball. We're scoring at about 4 an over too. 8-112 in the first innings to this point. Been quite a turnaround.

Classical drive through extra cover to bring up his ton. Smith = Champion. Whilst we're all nervous he's not. The fidgeting is there to put the opposition off (?) What a unique character!

Think I'm right in saying that Michael Hussey went on 2 Ashes tours and didn't play a test. He had to wait an eternity to get into the team. Stand corrected on that one but he certainly was in a lot of squads prior to breaking into the team. No such luxury these days hey? Great player though as was another late starter - Adam Gilchrist. But Greg Chappell, Punter, AB, Steve Waugh & Smith are in a league of their own. Greg & Ponting had the elegance to boot! I saw a lot of Ian Chappell's career from about '68. A fabulous no.3 who often had to go in early. Really hard to dislodge once in. A dogged fighter.

Can't split the 5 actually ... all were great as is Smith. I'd put Ian Chappell somewhere in there as well. Michael Hussey? We've had some good one's!

Smith reminds me of Steve Waugh or Allan Border. Gritty fighters who played for keeps. Not classical players but they don't have to be. Most players edging towards a century would show some sort 'tell' that close to lunch. But not Smith ... didn't look remotely fazed. And then took a single off the last ball so as get the strike after lunch. Cool as a cucumber. He's way ahead of the game isn't he?