Macca

Horses are a breed of animal that were born to run (and jump) ... they've been on this earth in some form for over 50 million years. Humans for about 250,000 years. The human and the horse became ideal partners as a transportation device. Later on we started racing them. Natural progression/natural selection. What happened was always bound to happen. It comes under the 'Stands to Reason' banner. Before the car it was the horse. The pig is a slaughter animal. So is the sheep, chickens, beef cattle, goats, etc etc etc. We eat them as a matter of course. Some cultures eat dogs & cats. Some even eat Kangaroos and crocodiles (Aussies) The indigenous Australians ate Koala's. Maybe they still do. You live off the land, that's what you do. By comparison, the horse gets treated quite well. If we didn't ride or race horses we'd probably just eat them. So it's ride & race or eat. You wouldn't keep a horse as a household pet unless there was a equestrian aspect to the whole thing. It is estimated that about 250,000 cats & dogs are put down in Australia each year. Unwanted pets by everyday Australians. Yes, I broaden arguments. Because it's necessary. Context and all sides of an argument is my specialty. Anyway, I reckon I'd rather be a horse if I wasn't a human. The gambling aspect is a tricky one ... many punters are addicted and often punt badly as a consequence. But if gambling on the horses was banned it would go underground immediately. The key is to bet with expendable income only and then bet smart. Or not bet at all. On this thread I push the agenda of the best against the best. Group racing is at the forefront of my thinking - not the 7th at Moe. Overseas Group racing as well. The gambling aspect has a direct association obviously but it's not at all like the mindless poker machine industry. Not even close. You could ban poker machines but then the roads North would be filled with Pokies people heading for the border. Nationwide - maybe. But what are the chances? I overreacted as well and have deleted my reply also. Apologies.

Numerous people spend their entire lives devoted to a footy club ... lots of money invested (over time - tens of thousands of dollars), countless hours with an emotional investment that is endless. And if you're a demon fan you might spend up to 10 or 20 hours per week reading and contributing on this site. And for the last 54 years - no big wins (premierships) zilch. Now that is what I'd call a gamble. A very very big gamble. And if you're under 60 years old - no return. And I don't have a problem with that as I'm one of those Demon supporters. So it's a bad thing to have a flutter at the races with the chance of actually winning something? Half their luck I say.

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And a few more feature races to look out for tomorrow Blue Diamond Preview C & G (Caulfield) Blue Diamond Preview Fillies (Caulfield) John Dillon Stakes (Caulfield) Carrington Stakes (Randwick) Sunshine Coast Cup (Sunshine Coast)

Decent sort of field in the Australia Stakes tonight DZ Especially in comparison to the corresponding race last year where there were only 6 acceptors in a race won by 'Thronum' ... the 'All Star Mile' is definitely on the radar for any number of horses that can run a decent 1200m up to a mile whilst a few 2000m WFA performers can drop back to the mile as well. My preference in the gallops is watching the best of the best go at each other and it all starts tonight by the looks of it. Hope you back a winner!

Best Bet Randwick Race 7 No.1 Endless Drama $5.00

Good old Zippy lacked a bit of zip today ... never looked like it even with McEvoy on board. I'm on Cape Richards though - fingers crossed! Edit: Ugh.

If it runs a drum I'm adding it to the strike rate Wadda! Michael 'Dee' on board too. Zip a Dee Doo Dah is a big show today as well ... Canterbury Race 6 No.2 $4.50

Starting to sort out the NBA as the season goes on ... Home team - win only, H/F or Q/Q/Q/Q. We're nearly 50 games into the season now so with the playoffs on the horizon, the good teams will be wanting to shore up a decent seed for the post-season. It's also worth keeping an eye out for teams that play on back to back nights and are away from home. Home teams have an even bigger advantage in those situations. Last 10 games sees the Warriors, Bucks, Raptors, Utah & Nets all at 8 & 2 or better (GSW 9 & 1) whilst the Pacers, 76ers, Celtics, Wizards, Nuggets & Portland are all at 7 & 3 (last 10) GSW as a banker either home or away is a decent percentage play.

Well, you're probably right re the Pats deferring but from the KC point of view, they were virtually allowing the Pats to score first in a NFC Championship game. And the Pats score TD's and they do it early. And the KC defense is not well renowned. Regular season - 31st in yards allowed, 31st in passing yards allowed, 27th in rushing yards allowed and 24th in points allowed. That's ugly. And they give the ball to Brady first up. The Pats have also got chips on their shoulders and they have mastered the 'Us against Them' factor to the nth degree ... you give them the ball first up and they're insulted. KC were asking for trouble with that move. Ultimately, winning the toss in overtime won the game for New England but only because they are always capable of scoring a TD with relative ease. The Pats have mastered the art of controlling the game on their terms - even at the toss of the coin at the start of the game they can't lose. That's how good they are. Belichick is an absolute genius and is easily the best coach in any sport right now - probably all time.

I agree the face mask calls are often rather innocuous but they have been red-hot on calling that type of infringement all year especially when it comes to the QB's. So the call on Goff should have been made same as the later pass-interference call on the Saints WR. From a technical standpoint the face-mask call on Goff had to be called. A penalty is a penalty regardless of whether we believe it should be called or not. I have the same type of attitude towards the 'Around the Neck' call in footy - most of the those types of frees paid should never be paid as most of the contact is innocuous & incidental. But it is what it is and we have to put up with it. There was a roughing the passer against Brady that was totally innocuous but none-the-less, a 15 yard penalty was paid against KC for the softest of contact. Again, the rules are the rules. I don't like it as much as you do. The NFL needs to look at its own rules and make them as bullet-proof as possible. The over-zealous over-protection of the QB's would be a good place to start. And why would Andy Reid give the ball to Brady to start the match? Now there is some highly questionable play calling! Shouldn't one do the opposite to what the opposition wants? Or is that too old school?

Tipping & gambling are 2 completely different animals Gorg. When it comes to the hard-earned, I'm quite reasonable. As for tipping, you've made me and others look like complete novices in this post-season comp! Still, you're not quite over the line yet and your 2 rivals know that you'll almost certainly be picking the Rams to win the SB. Unless you decide not to! ?

Whilst I agree that the non-call to Lewis was so bad that it could only be described as ridiculous, there was another obvious non-call on a face-mask incident against Goff that would have given the Rams a fresh set of downs on the Saints 2 yard line. As it turned out, the Rams had to settle on a field goal instead. And given how hot the league has been on protecting the QB's, it's astonishing that they did miss that face-mask call as well. Rules are rules. It's my belief that both non-calls cancelled each-other out. Doesn't make it right because 2 wrongs don't make a right but the Saints got lucky as well.

Well I have cast my vote in the All Star Mile - 'Extra Brut'. And yes, it is the hip-pocket talking as I got a very nice collect in the Derby last Spring after including the horse late (what dreams are made of!) Here is the list of horses and all the profiles of all those 130 horses that have been nominated To vote, go here - All Star Mile Vote Application

Podium finishes only (possible) for the large majority of us but with 5 points (in total) up for grabs for the SB, 3 are still in the running to win the post season tipping comp. Points for the correct choice in the SB is worth 3 points with a bonus of 2 points if your choice to win does win and your nominated score for your winner is within 3 points of the actual winner's score. The losing score is irrelevant. Anyway, I'm wondering how much of the folding stuff Gorg might have won if he'd plonked $20 on his first choice and then let it ride? Actually, if the average price was 1.80 it amounts to around about $4k ? But we've seen 5 underdog winners in these playoffs so the average price was more like 2.10 the collect amounts to $16k. Hope you got on Gorg! ha ha Leaderboard - Post-Season Tipping Comp 12 - Gorgoroth 8 - Go the Biff 7 - DeeSpencer 6 - Clintosaurus, Dappa Dan 5 - Dee Zephyr, Macca 4 - JV7 3 - DemonDave 1 - titan_uranus 0 - TWSNBN

Here are a few interesting articles re the Autumn features in Melbourne including an article about the nominees for the Australia Stakes which is to be run this upcoming Friday night ... Five Group I winners in 2019 Australia Stakes Perth filly missing from 2019 Australian Guineas nominations Melbourne Cup winners entered for 2019 Australian Cup Golden Slipper winner nominated for 2019 Newmarket Handicap Kris Lees pair set to clash in Lightning Stakes

New England just way too good with far too many weapons. Brady and his offense just continue to get it done - as well as their offensive line which was supreme again. KC had their chances but came up short - with only 41 yards of rushing vs NE 524 yards of total offense. The Belichich coaching stamp was obvious again. There were numerous penalties but the offside call against Dee Ford was just unforgivable ... he was a metre offside - what the hell was Ford thinking? Holding, pass interference and other penalties are going to happen but lining up a metre offside at the line of scrimmage? What made it worse was the Brady throw was intercepted on that play which meant the game was probably going to be over (in KC's favour)

Correct call by the refs there ... the ball didn't touch Edelman. A game of millimetres And just like that the ball tips Edelman's fingers on the next play for an interception. Yin and Yang. Edit (I): So many close calls ... catch to Hogan call was the right call. The roughing the passer call to Brady was rubbish but the rules now state that even incidental contact to the head area is now going to get called. The KC defender's elbow just brushed Brady's helmet. Edit (II): Score Pats 24 KC 21 with 0:03.32 left for Mahomes to weave his magic

I cashed out @Dee Zephyr and then reloaded with KC (1-13) & 2 NBA games.

KC really needed that end zone interception ... their offense has been virtually non existent.

Paging @DeeSpencer @titan_uranus @WERRIDEE @layzie @Dr. Gonzo Each winner is worth 2 points and podium places and indeed the overall win are up for grabs. I'll be watching the games 'live' as tomorrow falls into that category of 'Must-Watch-Live' sport. I've tipped the Saints but would love to see a Rams/KC Super Bowl. The Pats have had their fair-share of success and the Saints are fairly recent winners of the SB. So 2 new teams in the SB has high appeal. Leaderboard - Post-Season Tipping Comp 8 - Gorgoroth 6 - Go the Biff 5 - DeeSpencer, Macca 4 - JV7, Dappa Dan 3 - DemonDave, Dee Zephyr 2 - Clintosaurus 1 - titan_uranus 0 - TWSNBN

Been looking for a tipster out of NSW racing to go with Gator in Victoria & JJ out of SA and after a fair bit of research I reckon Tony Brassel is the one. His tips can be found here(Sky Racing) (on the morning of the race meetings) What I normally do is pick the eyes out of the tips from Gator, JJ & now Tony Brassel looking for the best odds ... not really interested in anything too short for a straight-out bet. More so exacta's/trifecta's with the help of their tips. Gator's tips & JJ's tips can be found on Racing.com on Saturday mornings as well. Wednesday evening's for Gator's tips for the advanced knowledge. Nathan Exelby has a bit of a reputation (QLD racing) so I might start looking at his tips to see if he is any good. And then of course there is the Flemington Forecaster himself - @Dee Zephyr ... DZ is trumping all of them at the moment with 5 from 5 from his last 5! I'm just wondering when the Caulfield Correspondent ( @Wadda We Sing ) is going to grace us with his presence again (?) Our strike is improving but we need all the help that we can get!

Jamie is just a terrific horsewoman as well as an excellent jockey Wadda ... she doesn't have an overly aggressive style which is what some punters are looking for but just rides her mounts the way they're meant to be ridden. Jamie has made the right move coming to the big smoke and out of her comfort zone in Adelaide. Belwazi came in from 40-1 to 15's to win the Kensington Stakes so a number of punters were on to it. Kudos.

Interesting story on Andy Reid How Andy Reid grew the NFL's most prolific coaching tree

How must Neymar be feeling after only scoring a brace overnight against Guingamp? 2 of his teammates scored hat tricks (Mbappe & Cavani) in a 9 - 0 win over their opponents.