Macca

Maybe the player reduction was just an idea put forward but never implemented? Memory is a bit vague on that one DJ. Golden goal was about in the 2000 Olympics but was scrapped not long after. Anyway, I remember liking the idea immediately (player reduction) and thought it made perfect sense to my way of thinking - 7 on 7 or even 5 on 5 should, in theory, create exciting finishes. I'd rather the games be decided by playing the actual sport. They have penalty shoot-outs in ice-hockey (NHL) except for the playoffs where they continue playing until a goal is scored. Sometimes 3 extra periods! Makes for high-drama. But people are so used to penalty shoot-outs and they don't like change. I understand all the drama attached but I don't like them and probably never will. It's akin to a bowl-off in cricket or 5 set shots each in footy (to decide a Grand Final?) Having said all that I have to accept the reality of what it is but deciding a World cup final on penalties seems quite ridiculous to me - and it has happened of course. I also like the idea of VAR but even if it was implemented correctly I'm not sure it is good for the game ... it's certainly worth persevering with to see where it all ends up.

Came across 3 podcasts lately, all of which hit upon different themes - The Mafia, Covert Operations & The World Game. Worth a look ... Mafia Covert Game of our Lives

It's a pity there aren't any games on tonight what with not having to work tomorrow but those are the breaks. 1 day off and I've already got withdrawal symptoms! And seeing we're on a new page here's the round of 16 schedule again - France vs Argentina kicks things off tomorrow night and it could be a beauty ..

If we get enough having a go we could have a mini comp 1pt for every round of 16 winner, 2 pts for every QF winner, 3 points for each SF winner & 5 points for predicting the winner of the final. One batch at a time. What do you reckon DZ?

So who's up for some tips? As previously stated, I thought I'd miss on 5 countries making it through to the knockout stages and that's how it panned out - missed on 5. ha ha. One miss was out of true patriotism and one of the others was Germany. Who would have thought? I reckon about 3 of these round of 16 games will go to penalties but I'd prefer it if they were to utilise the golden goal method in extra time whilst taking a player off every 5 minutes. For some reason, that short-lived way of deciding a game was abandoned not long after it was adopted. At least the players were playing the actual sport to decide the game under the golden goal method. I've always viewed the penalties shoot-out as a bad gimmick that caught on. Anyway, here goes - winners in dark italics ... France vs Argentina Uruguay vs Portugal Spain vs Russia Croatia vs Denmark Brazil vs Mexico Belgium vs Japan Sweden vs Switzerland Colombia vs England Here's how the brackets look ...

Best Bet ... Rosehill Race 6 No.2 Sayed ($3.40) ... all the Sky racing team like the horses chances as well. The horse has a very good strike rate on a wet track and the 2400m suits perfectly as well ... a small field and the horse is well drawn to get some good cover up front behind Harper's Choice and/or Plymouth Road.

And just imagine what it's going to be like with 48 teams at the 2026 World cup ... more poor teams like Saudi Arabia & Germany.

While we're having a break I'll continue to post up some links to some interesting betting races ... The Caloundra Cup sees 'Tradesman' meet up with his more recent rivals from the O'Shea Stakes, Ipswich Cup & the Tattersalls Cup whilst over in the west 'Material Man & Pounamu meet up again and should fight out the finish in the Strickland Stakes. And it's Irish Derby time with Aiden O'Brien dominating the race again with 6 runners including 3 of the top 5 fancies ... 'Saxon Warrior' & 'Dee Ex Bee' appear to be the obvious 2 standouts but 'Kew Gardens' looms as a bit of a danger. There's a bit of talk that a couple/few from this race (the Irish Derby) might head to Melbourne in the Spring for the cups ... something about a weights advantage under handicap conditions for well-performed Northern Hemisphere 3 year old's. Sunshine Coast Caloundra Cup 2400m Listed Hcp $175k Belmont Strickland Stakes 2000m Group 3 WFA $150k The Curragh Irish Derby 2400m Group 1 3yo SW $2.4Million (2.15am Sunday)

Not disappointed mainly because I thought we did very well just to make the World cup (this time around) So the expectations were low but even so, we played quite well in the tournanent anyway ... unless one was to measure things on points gained. We obviously need strikers but without them, it is hard to score and therefore hard to win against good teams. We battled well against the odds.

The following link will take you to a replay of the Group 1 Tatts Tiara from Saturday And the video below features Hugh Bowman riding in the big Group 1 over 2200m from Japan run on Sunday. They certainly like their fast tracks over there - bit tough on the horses though.

Do they have a mercy rule in soccer? England 5 Panama 0 ... not yet half time.

Been a good match ... 2nd ever penalty try in Origin history but it was definitely there.

State of Origin II on tonight ... I suppose NSW can wrap up the series but who knows? These encounters are hard to predict so I'll go for a Qld victory just to keep the series alive. An ideal lead into the World Cup straight after.

Here's a link that details all 73 Group 1 winners for the season ... A breakdown of Group 1 results in 2017-18 by distance/track conditions Some additional information with regards to the winners ... Horses Winx tops the pile of the 10 horses to win multiple Group 1s in Australia this season. 6 - Winx 3 - Trapeze Artist, Happy Clapper, Santa Ana Lane, Shoals 2 - Ace High, Tosen Stardom, Redkirk Warrior, Gailo Chop, Alizee Trainers Some 27 stables won Group 1s in Australia this season - 13 with multiples. 13 - Chris Waller 9 - Darren Weir 6 - Anthony Freedman 5 - David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig, James Cummings 4 - Mick Price 3 - Patrick Webster, Gerald Ryan, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott 2 - Aaron Purcell, David Payne, Peter and Paul Snowden, Ben Smith 1 - Peter Gelagotis, Kerry Parker, Graeme Begg, Liam Howley, Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes, Ron Quinton, Lloyd Kennewell, Alan Mathews, Rhys Radford, Joseph O'Brien, Tony McEvoy, Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, Robert Hickmott, Gary Portelli Jockeys Some 30 jockeys won Group 1s in Australia this season - 15 of them winning multiple times at the top level. 9 - Hugh Bowman 5 - Damian Lane, Mark Zahra, Kerrin McEvoy, Blake Shinn 4 - Craig Williams 3 - Glyn Schofield, Michael Dee, Michael Walker, Tim Clark 2 - Dean Yendall, Ben Melham, Regan Bayliss, Damien Oliver 1 - Luke Nolen, Luke Currie, Josh Parr, Corey Brown, Stephen Baster, Craig Staples, Patrick Carbery, Joe Bowditch, Andrew Adkins, Brenton Avdulla, Zac Purton, Harry Coffey, Damian Browne, Cory Parish, Jordan Childs

Pity it wasn't 100% or more but I never aim that way DZ considering the way I bet ... 33% - 50% will do though and I look upon the exercise as a percentage play. Gone back to boxing the 5 too. A tried & true method. Last night the Aussie punters were ignoring City Light & Bound for Nowhere in the Diamond Jubilee - at least on the win tote odds ... that transcends into the trifectas. When that loophole appears there's a chance to cash in. The punters in England were ignoring the French dasher 'City Light' as well - again, that transcends into the punters here ignoring the horse. It nearly won the race. It happens a lot in Australian racing too - especially in the big Group 1 races - really good horses get ignored (Shoals, Santa Ana Lane etc) BM made an excellent point about the horse ratings with regards to yesterdays Tiara ... and the ratings came through with the first 4 across the line. Form is one aspect but class is another. Anyway, here's some further news on the grand victory by the Aussie raider ... Merchant Navy prevails in dramatic Diamond Jubilee Stakes

And Merchant Navy wins it for Australia!~ ... and I got the trifecta! Win/win. You little beauty! Redkirk was a little disappointing but we got the win. The favourite 'Harry Angel' played up in the stalls something chronic, missed the start but was a beaten horse before they jumped. But the story is about Merchant Navy the new wonder horse. Fought hard to the line with enormous spirit to overcome the French dasher 'City Light'. Aiden O'Brien (the horse-whisperer) does it again. Here's the replay of the Diamond Jubilee Stakes ...

10 minutes before they jump and the tote odds are interesting for Redkirk Warrior - $2.40 ($1.04 place) yet you can get $5.50 ($1.80 place) on fixed odds. I suppose many still just bet on the tote out of habit. Pools are very low too although that might change when we get closer to jump time.

I still reckon these wide-open Group 1's are the best trifecta races ... huge pools and very rarely do you see non-group type horses getting into the finish. There is a definite science to sorting out the better chances and I'm positive our luck will change down the track. We've gone close nearly every time bar once and that strike rate in terms of getting so close is way better than when I do them on my own ... so the 4 sets of eyes and expertise is valuable. We just need a bit of luck.

Or Windy Hill, Geelong, Princes Park, Western Oval. Moorabbin etc etc. Home town decisions happen in every sport in any country. Nothing is ever going to change Earl. It's what it's. Footy teams should always plan on being a 5 goal better team than any opposition team - that cushion covers an interstate trip and allows for a percentage boost on home soil. By the way, every supporter group of every team complains about home town decisions - we're all the same when you break it all down.

It was some sort of run by Nature Strip ... one for the black book Wadda. The horse has won at the Valley, Sandown & Flemington in 8 starts after winning on debut at Mornington so it's not just a horse that runs well down the straight. Could be anything. The sprint races in the Spring are going to be chock-full of talent ... there are still 7 or 8 slots open for the Everest with any number of worthy candidates available - including Nature Strip who is soon to be a 4 year old.

Trifecta Strike Rate 2 from 11 < $168.90 > Best Bet Strike Rate 67: 28 - 14 - 4 Australian Group and Listed Races Just a reminder that the Final day of the Royal Ascot Carnival is on later tonight with the headlining race being the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes featuring Redkirk Warrior & Merchant Navy. The meeting is on the free-to-air channel with the feature event to be run at 1.20am.

Yeah DZ we had 1st, 3rd, 4th & 5th (Daysee Doom came 5th) My horse Champagne Cuddles just didn't want to know about it today ... it was only her 4th run this preparation but it was one run too many by the looks of it. Close again but they're hard to get with these good betting races ... good dividends are on offer so if you do get the right combo, you win well. 3.5k for the First4 is a more than healthy outcome for those who had it. The trifecta dividend as well, all things considered. Your pick (Prompt Response) was ideally drawn and the jockey rode it a treat. It looked the winner rounding the turn. Top effort. Ah well, it's onto Royal Ascot for me now.

James Jordan's best bet ... Morphettville Race 5 No.10 White Kaps $4.00 (boosted)

The connections possibly believe they've got an above average horse and wanted to test it against good company early? It's going to win some races but maybe not against the likes of Nature Strip - the winner was ultra-impressive. The 2nd horse was a fair way behind but careering away from 3rd. That often makes the winner stand out even more.