Macca

I base my thinking on the make-up of the results of any pick 5, 6 or 7 that one might put on ... there's nearly always at least 1 or 2 results that would have been at good odds beforehand. Of course, predicting which ones is the tough bit. My Monaco pick is based on them finding their true form ... they are a team that will almost certainly finish in the top 3 in Ligue 1 at seasons end so they will start winning at some stage and they are a free-scoring team. Marseille have good scoring power from their midfield too. 2 - 1 or 3 - 1 is on the cards. Here are their historical results (head to head)

The complete draw for the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League group stage, made in Monaco on Thursday: Group A: Atletico Madrid (ESP), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Monaco (FRA), Club Brugge (BEL) Group B: Barcelona (ESP), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), Inter Milan (ITA), PSV Eindhoven Group C Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Napoli (ITA), Liverpool (ENG), Red Star Belgrade (SRB) Group D Locomotiv Moscow (RUS), FC Porto (POR), Schalke 04 (GER), Galatasaray (TUR) Group E: Bayern Munich (GER), Benfica (POR), Ajax (NED), AEK Athens (GRE) Group F: Manchester City (ENG), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), Lyon (FRA), Hoffenheim (GER) Group G: Real Madrid (ESP), Roma (ITA), CSKA Moscow (RUS), Viktoria Plzen (CZE) Group H: Juventus (ITA), Manchester United (ENG), Valencia (ESP), Young Boys (SUI) First round of matches on September 18 and 19 Bayern & Man City seemed to have fared best in their respective groups whilst there are 4 reasonably strong groups, 1 mediocre group whilst Real & Roma should be able to progress from group G.

With odds-boost I just got on for 400-1 Wadda ... took the Storm to win @ 2.15 as the Storm line drifted out to +1.5. Anyway, we're in with a show. One thing I recall from winning a few decent multi's is that you need a couple/few decent payers amongst the picks. i.e you've got to take a few chances. It's not as simple as just picking all the favoured teams to win. Our 2 value picks are West Brom & Monaco - mixed in with 4 other picks that ordinarily could or should get up.

Better standard of horse running around for us this week Wadda ... and as you have noted previously, decent odds for those good horses because of the quality of fields. The latest sees 6.50 available on Laddies for Seabrook, 4.50 for Unforgotten & 3.70 for Voodoo Lad. I just put on our 3 in an all-up and got 86-1. Will go again with all 4 with BM's choice. 200-1 for 4 high quality thorougbreds? We are going to land one sooner or later but the collects can happen if we use the horses individually.

Go again mate You dipped, you took a bite, ypu dipped again!

Punters lament without prior knowledge ... that is a first!! ??

When is the tennis match on Wadda?

There would be a stack of horses that have won decent races after being beaten by Winx. 'Someone' adding to the Winx storyline for the sake of it, me thinks. Happy Clapper, Le Romain, Hartnell, Humidor have all won Group 1's after being beaten by Winx. And there would be others.

Well it must be true then if 'someone' on SEN said so Wadda ? I wouldn't be counting out Kementari although it's up against some gun runners on Saturday - particularly Vega Magic & Happy Clapper. Gator is convinced that the 3 will run the trifecta and nothing else can win.

May be Wadda because all the money is flowing towards Vega Magic, Kementari & Happy Clapper ... I suppose that's what Group 1 racing often does 'odds-wise.' Showtime is another with real claims and even Dollar for Dollar is a chance. And then there's Grunt & Black Heart Bart who can't be counted out in terms of getting into the finish. The Memsie & The Tramway Stakes up at Randwick are the standout races on Saturday. Absolute top-notch fields in both races. I can find trifecta combo's but there's any number of winning chances in all of the feature events.

Best Bet Caulfield Race 6 No.6 Seabrook $6 There's an omen bet if I've ever seen one ... there's only 1 turn over the 1200m at Caulfield and this Mick Price Filly is sure to be flying home. Ran some eye catching runs in its first preparation including a win in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes. Both Gator & Hutchy have also picked it to win.

Gone for a bit of value this week with both my soccer picks being played in the early hours this upcoming Monday morning ... banking on Spurs continuing their good form and I reckon Monaco are over the odds. Watford vs Tottenham (Win) and More than 2.5 goals in the game $2.30 (EPL Monday 1.00am) Monaco (Win) and More than 2.5 goals in the game $3.70 vs Marseille (French Ligue 1 Monday 5.00am)

No surprise with Rodgers new contract and they're obviously happy with Kizer as the main back-up QB ... 2 good moves all round. I'm neither here nor there with Hundley - didn't show a great deal but he can get better (at Seattle)

Some very good fields assembled for Saturday ... just in time to start up our trifecta combo if we want to continue with it. I'll leave it up to others to decide although DZ has already given it the go-ahead. I'm up for it. If so, Wadda gets to have 2 picks in the rotation and that continues for 4 Weeks or the month of September. And we could just come in with our nominations whenever we want - just as a change up. Saves us waiting around for others. Anyway, here's a choice of 6 races and I've marked the Memsie Stakes on top. Click on any of the links below for the Racenet.com form for that particular race. I tend to click on the 'ratings' within the link to put the horses into ratings order. Or sometimes the odds order. Caulfield Race 7 Memsie Stakes 1400m $1Million Group 1 WFA Randwick Race 6 Tramway Stakes 1400m $200k Group 2 SW + P Caulfield Race 8 The Heath 1100m $150k Group 3 SW + P Randwick Race 7 Chelmsford Stakes 1600m $250k Group 2 WFA Randwick Race 5 Concorde Stakes 1000m $160k Group 3 SW + P Caulfield Race 6 McNeil Stakes 1200m $150k Group 3 3-Y-0 SW + P

Toumpas. Morton, Gysberts and others that we drafted all showed plenty of courage at junior level. If they lacked courage it would have been noted at the time. And it wasn't noted. Development aside, Jimmy's biggest issue was that he could never create time & space for himself - and he wasn't a quick player either. And for his size, that's a recipe for disaster (especially for an outside midfielder) At junior level, you'll get away with a lot, at AFL level, you won't. Jimmy is just another star junior who didn't cut it at AFL level ... and he joins the ranks of hundreds of others over a 30+ year time frame - that's including all the clubs, not just ours. I wish him all the best.

As it's turned out it's not quite over for Chautauqua at all .. another trial beckons and it seems that the connections are so determined to run the horse that my Hong Kong alternative may well be an option ... Chautauqua is back from retirement Latest odds for the Memsie Stakes ... a quality field with at least a handful of genuine winning chances. A good betting race

A sad ending but a fabulous career looks like coming to an end. I had thoughts that the owners of Chautauqua might entertain a stint in Hong Kong as there are 5 x Group 1 & 2 races and a few Group 3's in their Oct to May sprint-race calendar - but that's a real long shot. Excellent prizemoney up there though, all the same. Chautauqua banned from racing - a grand career surely over (owners to appeal)

Bad luck about the parking ticket Wadda - the grey ghosts have a field day on matchdays at the MCG. And the NRL is often all over the place ... some of the lowly teams are quite capable of beating the top teams - anytime. "They've come to play" is often the catch-cry up North. With other sports it's more predictable but nothing is ever locked in. No AFL next weekend but the NRL round is rather interesting and I will definitely be tuning in. None of the teams in the 8 can drop out of the 8 but all 8 teams need to make sure they win to maintain or improve their position in the 8. A lot to play for still. n.b the Broncos are at home to Manly on Sunday, not the Eels as listed below. And Channel 9/Gem are broadcasting the games involving Rabbitoh's/WestsTigers (Thurs evening) Storm/Panthers (Friday evening) Eels/Roosters (Saturday evening) & Broncos/Manly (Sunday arvo)

Winning is always a great tonic hey Wadda ... the only small negative is that we aren't playing in a final in week 1 that could put us straight through to a preliminary final. But it's all about winning and we could easily get on a roll. 14 & 8 is a very good outcome though, all things considered. In relation to the thread, the 3 standout European teams in action overnight all won with more than 2 goals in the games (Chelsea, Real Madrid & Borussia Dortmond) For some unknown reason the top European clubs seem to fare better on the Sunday into Monday overnight games so I might go down that track next weekend. The markets are available a few days beforehand so there's no time constraints.

I was originally opposed to the fortnight break but I now reckon it's a terrific concept. Gives all the clubs a chance to regroup, get over niggles and reload. And we've had a tough and grinding 3 weeks with a lot of mental pressure included as well - the fortnight break probably helps us more than a few others. For instance, Geelong won't have been tested since they played the Hawks on Aug 11. Not that you'd ever take anything for granted - their stars need to be quelled and we need to take today's intensity into the game against them - and then some!

Spot on LH ... if the Pies can eke out a win against West Coast we will play all our finals at the MCG. That's all 4 finals of course ? But it's one week at a time. Or one fortnight at a time for all the finalists - first time up.

Apart from the big Group racing returning next Saturday with the Group 1 Memsie Stakes along with 3 other Group 2 events, racing also returns to Sha Tin next Sunday after a 7 week break. I really like the truly run racing at HK which makes dissecting the form a lot easier. Plus, following the Aussie jockeys & trainers up there can pay-off too. There's usually at least 2 or 3 high quality feature events run at Sha Tin most Sunday's. Best Bet Strike Rate 13: 6 - 2 - 2 Australian Group & Listed Races And here's a couple of Group 1 events raced overnight at Saratoga (USA) over the classic Mile and a Quarter & Mile and a Half ...

3 groups of 6 would work better but the resistance to change is immense so the idea has an almost zero chance of even being talked about. With a 3 group system all the teams would still play each other once whilst the teams within each group would all play 2 games each against their group rivals. The winners & runners up from each group go through to the finals with the next 2 overall best performed teams (from any group) qualifying as well. And then seeded accordingly. The groups could change every year according to the strength of performance in the year prior. Or we leave it as it is now and put up with the flaws.

You're right HB ... any margin of defeat means the Eagles drop to 4th. Which in turn would put us on their side of the finals draw if they in turn then lost to the Tigers in a qualifying final (the winner of 5th vs 8th plays the loser of 1st vs 4th) And if the Eagles do lose today that means that they can't be drawn against Richmond in a preliminary final. Same deal for us although we could (in theory) meet Richmond in week 2 of the finals or the GF. However ... if our game is drawn today we'd finish 7th and then play GWS in the first week of the finals (7th @ 6th) and then be on the other side of the finals draw ?