Macca

The trainer of Trapeze Artist (Gerald Ryan) was quoted as saying that the horse is ideally suited to the 1400m and could run even further up to a mile and maybe even 2000m. Could be some sort of horse if that's true but at the same time the horse has been touted as being worth up to $40Million at stud. There are a few horses in the All Aged Stakes that can run great races and on their day, they'd be hard to catch. Trapeze is currently $2.40 for the win and the next best is around $9.50 and more. That seems to be too big a gap.

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That is an excellent find nb ... I've listened to 4 of the 8 episodes so far and it is first rate and very enlightening.

I believe @Wadda We Sing has already picked Trapeze Artist to win so you & I need to come up with a winner each binman. As you mentioned, there are a number of possible winners and the 1400m can be tricky at Randwick.

And the weight difference put people off the 2 class horses in the race ... but as David Hayes has often said, over the sprint distances, the topweight class horses can carry the weight and still run blistering times and beat the lightweights. The big pools too make a big difference ... I like to have a go at the overseas Group 1's occasionally but the dividends for Trifectas aren't great. Barrier draw tomorrow for the All Aged. All important too as there's a quick 300 metre dash to the first turn over the 1400m at Randwick.

Ha! And boxing the top 3 has just become an option ... punters lament therefore eliminated! I'm reminded of the Newmarket trifecta which I got ... my 3 on top finished 1, 2 & 3 and it paid well over $200. 3 top horses too - Redkirk Warrior, Brave Smash & Merchant Navy. I'm still surprised that it paid so well.

They are running around for a bit of money at Caulfield on Saturday ... 2 x 300k, 3 x 250k & 2 x 150k what with the Inglis/Vobis qualified horses. Some good fields and 'Nature Strip' is back running along with 'Cliff's Edge'. In other news RSN had former jockey Wayne Treloar on this morning for a fascinating interview ... for those who are interested you can listen here

Ok then D77... and I'm happy for you to have the 5th pick seeing you've missed out on picking a winner. That seems fair to me. I might just wait a bit though ... there's rain forecast for Friday & Saturday up there. I won't be too late though as I don't want to hold up the works. Wadda's choice Trapeze Artist can win from anywhere in it's current form and it won the Expressway Stakes on a soft5 back in early February. I suggested 3 - 6 - 6 because of the potential size of the field and therefore the possibility of a decent dividend. But the field might drop down to 13 or 14. 3 - 5 - 5 works as well and we're sorted after 5 picks aren't we? Your good self, binman & myself pick a winner whilst D77 has 2 goes at the placegetters. If we as individuals choose to include another horse we can do so on our own volition. So 3 - 5 - 5 it is yeah? Full dividend cost $36 which is more palatable and workable.

3 - 6 - 6 would mean 6 picks in total. It will probably make more sense in the morning for all of us - my brain is hurting with all these numbers flying around. A trifecta 'nightmare' is on the cards. And you guessed it - Tom salutes!

I reckon the person who picks 4th should get the 5th pick ... we need all contributing D77. Your expertise is needed. Think of it this way, the first 3 come up with 3 possible winners and then the onus goes onto the 4th contributor. A bit like the 'Skip' in foursomes. Except that person then has the 5th pick as well. And then the 6th pick is up for grabs - maybe a consensus vote?

In Group 1 races a horse like Trapeze Artist just has to be included but come race time we might be barracking against it such is the nature of the punt. It's all about the money but if Trapeze salutes we'd be hoping for some value for the 2nd & 3rd placegetters. I've seen many trifectas pay very well with the clear favourite winning. As for Tom, he'll almost certainly be running on especially if the jockey can find a good run for the horse. It gets into the finish a lot of times (against good company too)

As previously stated, I'm happy to go 4th first up and then I have to identify a possible placegetter (which is arguably more difficult anyway) And keep watching as I might get in quick with the 5th pick as the sequence would be starting over again. As you said, lets just have a go and see how it pans out.

That is another way to do it Wadda but I do like the idea of sticking one's neck out ... makes it a bit more fun and when it's your turn, you're batting for the team. You've played competitive bowls, so it's a bit like how foursomes is played.

Well, as we post up our picks, that horse is locked in and it's on to the next pick with a different horse. We'll just have to scroll back if there is some lag time. As an example ... D77 gets in first on say Thursday night with Trapeze Artist - that horse is then locked in as one of our 3 winners. Then binman gets in an hour later with Tom Melbourne (god forbid) ... good old Tom is then locked in as our 2nd win pick And so on and so forth until we get all 6 horses nominated. By the way, the full dividend for a 3 - 6 - 6 combo costs $60 but you can lay any amount for any percentage you like. Again, the choice rests with each individual. For fields of 14 - 16 or more I often will go 3 - 6 - 6 but for lesser field numbers I would go 3 - 5 - 5 all the way down to 2 - 4 - 4. And if it's not a good betting race it's often best to pass. That's why it's best to discuss the race type and strategy beforehand. Identify a race and then go for it.

If you're 4th then you miss out on having a win pick ... but that wouldn't bother me as I reckon you 3 blokes know what you're doing. Maybe we could have an honour system where whoever misses out on a win pick gets first go the next time we do it. The 4th pick could also have the 5th pick if they're quick enough. Or maybe whoever has the 4th gets the 5th pick as well? (2nd & 3rd only) And then the 6th pick is up for grabs. To save time, I'm quite happy to volunteer to go 4th pick first up.

Good points @binman ... the best bets stay. I suppose I'm always conscious of not burdening anyone with something that might turn into a chore but lets keep it going. I still reckon we'll get 'em 'all up' soon enough! That'd be nice! I normally will have a bet most weeks largely because I follow the Group racing both here and overseas. It's not for everyone though and most people need a decent spell or 2. I've had a look ahead and there are a total of 11 Group 1's & 12 Group 2 races run in the 2 months after the Sydney Auttumn Carnival finishes. Mostly at Doomben & Morphettville. That's quite a lot really and more than most would imagine. After that it goes quiet until mid August but there's a stack of European & USA Group 1's in the gap. For those with cable we now get to see a lot of these races live but I believe the Racing channel & Racing.com now cover a lot of the big races from overseas (including the week long Royal Ascot event) I figured we go one horse at a time - first in best dressed but in an order where once you've had a go, you have to wait for the others to all have their pick. If we worked on a 3 - 6 - 6 combo we'd obviously stop once we got to the 6th horse. The first 3 horses picked would be for the win and next 3 would be for the place. The All Aged Stakes would be my choice to kick things off. It's a good betting race outside of the favourite Trapeze Artist. If Trapeze doesn't win or even run a place, the dividend could be quite healthy (depending on the final result) Here's the all-up betting (the highlighted link above takes you to the Racenet.com form ...

Yeah lets do both Wadda .... as always we're each free to do with the picks as we wish So how do you feel about 'The All Aged Stakes' as a starter? 3 - 5 - 5 or 3- 6 - 6 or another configuration? One more point on 'Alizee' .. it is not a stop-start horse?

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I wonder if Pounamu will be racing anytime soon? Last winter it ran in four Group 3 races in WA from May through to July. All 4 races were worth 150k but the connections might chase a few of the big feature races at Doomben instead.

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Yep ... same thoughts D77. The other Group1 race is a 2yo race and they are notoriously difficult to sort out at the best of times. Trapeze Artist is very short in the All Aged Stakes but as you mentioned, it's a top-notch field with Brave Smash out there to make amends and 'It's Somewhat' is an early acceptor. Good old Tom Melbourne will probably be running along with a number of other chances. Good betting races often return good exotic dividends so it looks the one. As always, all feedback is welcomed.

@binman made mention that he might be having a spell for a while but if not, his and @Wadda We Sing thoughts on this new idea would be invaluable. We could just take it turns with picks after we agree on a race and system and away we go. I reckon we could end up mapping out a race with our combined knowledge.

Yep, much simpler and a lot easier too. My favoured Trifecta multiple is 3 - 5 - 5 or 3 - 6 - 6 depending on the amount of runners in the field. If I stick to the big feature races I usually get the winner with 3 choices but the placegetters can be tricky. But it's not meant to be easy otherwise we'd be swimming in it. As an example, in the four Group 1 races on Saturday I reckon we would have come up with Unforgotten and probably Who Shot TheBarmen. Alizee maybe? ... and we'd have probably passed on the Winx race. The Alizee race was really tough and the 2 mile race is often a bit of a lottery. So we might have had a go at the Oaks where the Trifecta paid nearly 1k with the 2 most fancied runners finishing 1st & 2nd. But would we have had Miss Admiration for 3rd? May-be if we'd used the VRC Oaks Result as a guide.

Yep, and the Hiyaam race and the Who Shot TheBarman race! I should have stuck to my 3 - 5 - 5 Trifecta system. Win bets and multi's are not for me but at least I'm sure of that now! You live and learn D77. Speaking of which, why don't we change things up a bit and try and put together a Trifecta or a First4 in an upcoming feature race? We could put the best bet idea on hold for a while and see if we have some luck in another area. Just a thought.

Here are the replays of the 3 other Group 1 races from Saturday (Australian Oaks, Sydney Cup & The Coolmore Legacy) ... there are 2 more Group 1 races coming up this Saturday at Randwick to finish the Autumn Carnival (before we venture off to Morphettville & Doomben for their big feature races!) ...