Dee Zephyr

20 hours ago, Macca said:

It's Somewhat' has won some very big races too ... it could be a blanket-finish D77.  My pick (Pounamu) in the Railway Stakes came flashing home to come 5th and if the horse is freshened up, the extra 200 might suit.  Very good odds too. 

I just love these WFA races ... more so 1400 metres and above although I have occasionally done ok with the 1200 metre races.  The racing calendar is chock-full of big races but I have been known to follow the big races in Europe! (May through to October) 

Here's the full list of those European Group Races  (for those who might be interested)

And once again, here's the full list of all the Australian Group Races

Should have gone with you Macca....what a run!

3 minutes ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Yeah easy from the grandstand i guess, and split second decisions.....but hey we know that, we follow the Dees!  A jockey also said after the last race, it was impossible to make up ground. The Quaddie paid 123k. Definitely a roughies day.

So true mate!

2 minutes ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Jockey went the wrong way after a good start i thought. reckon he should have cut back inside, but ended up in a stash on the outside. Also wasnt suited in the ground, but he wasnt that far off in the end all things considered....

Wadda, that's exactly how I saw the race.

Jockey seemed a bit confused around the bend and ended up on the backside of 3 runners, there was clearly a run as you said on the inside provided by the winner.

21 minutes ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Just had a look again at the field. Dan is holding at 7.50 and 2.50. They still rate it a soft 7 on the internet.

A friend of mine has a rule of the thumb he goes by and ive watched him win a lot over the years on strange picks. He reckons a horse should have 3 runs in and placed at their last start (so must have placed on its 3rd run).....i must admit ive used that formula myself and have often found it works. Some fields of course have multiple runners on their 3rd run with a place at the last start and some fields only have one.

Today Dan Zeph goes around the only horse in the field to have had 3 runs and was placed at his last start.....

I like the formula Wadda, he was $10 all day yesterday. Connections think he's a chance, track condition being the big worry. 

In saying that, he is 2 wins and two placings from 4 at the track. Both starts at this track over this distance he has run 3rd.

Due to the emotional connection for the horse I'll always have a little something on him each time he races, his best is probably past him but he could surprise today from the rear. I won't be going crazy on him.

Gosh, I've harped on about him lately, we must get him as the Demonland mascot when he retires.

Probably a good thing he's been running during this off season, its made me forget about the end of season debacle a tad.

8 hours ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Yeah hes a nice looking beast, needs to go round in Dees colors tho.....see what you can do and maybe we can get him on the Banner!!

You didnt tell me how he goes in the soft ground tho??

Received a text about the Zephyr a short time ago and it goes a little something like this.

Pat Carey has decided to run the horse tomorrow. They view the wide barrier as an opportunity to alter his racing pattern for the race.

They will ride the horse cold and see if he can run on, only once has he raced at the back of the field and although not by choice that day the horse rattled home for a close third.

The track is a concern but apparently Pakenham has a really good drainage system in place and the track should dry up a bit.

2 hours ago, Macca said:

The Kingston Town Classic G1 WFA (1,800m) Ascot

Saturday 9th December  7.50pm (AEDT) Prizemoney $1,000,000

A number of the horses that ran in the Railway Stakes are running in this Group 1 classic - including the winner of that event,  'Great Shot' 

Any number of horses can win it but I'm happy to have a trifecta & first 4 and include a few roughies for some value.  Great Shot is excellent value again whilst Black Heart Bart,  Tom Melbourne,  Perfect Jewel & It's Somewhat could all feature.  I'll be giving Pounamu another chance as well (it's also at very good odds)

It's a wide-open affair though ... Money Maher & Royal Star both have claims.  So it's the exotics for me with fingers crossed for the right combo!

Here's the field

 

 

 

 

Looks a tough race to pick Macca, I like Tom Melbourne again and will stick with him. 

Looking at the link I noticed 6 out of the last 10 Classics have been won by favourites and only 2 in double figure odds.

I don't base my selections on past runnings but I do find the history of past races interesting.

1 minute ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Yeah hes a nice looking beast, needs to go round in Dees colors tho.....see what you can do and maybe we can get him on the Banner!!

You didnt tell me how he goes in the soft ground tho??

Sorry mate, forgot to get back to you on that as I was between watching the boys train this morning and fighting a losing battle with a 3 and 9 year old at Goschs.

They have avoided soft to heavy  tracks in the past but he's ran a second out of two starts on the soft. No heavy runs to date.

The decision on whether they scratch him will be based on the condition of the track,  barrier also an issue.

2 hours ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Its a good point Diamond Jim, i also feel i know him. Perhaps one day they could run him in Demon colors!

I like it Wadda, I will suggest it to the syndicate manager.

4 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Have been reading with great interest the story of the Zephyr and feel that I vicariously know each leg of this horse.

Any chance of a photo and good luck Zephyr !!

Dan Zephyr in his old winning colours. I asked my friend to send me one and he sends me this, I could've gone on google myself.

I left prior to the completion of the session and wanted to add some notes to the earlier report.

I focused on the individuals as I wanted to have a look at the new arrivals. I realise it's only a training session and the constant yellow bib swapping made it a tad difficult to follow everyone but the following stood out during the three quarter field match sim.

Lever has an uncanny ability to get himself out of tight situations with quick feet and thinking. Can certainly fool opponents with the selling of candy so to speak.

Fritch is a smooth mover and has a great left foot whether having a shot or general field passing. He can certainly find space.

Hogan was impressive, if he didn't mark the ball in a contest he would quickly apply pressure to his opponents by tackling or slapping the ball free, he earned praise numerous times by the coaches for this. 

He outmuscled Oscar in a one on one and took the mark, which raised a bit of a roar from the group.

This is by no means Oscar bashing as we should expect Jesse to do that to anyone he comes up against.

In another passage of play the ball was kicked forward to the non bib team and Oscar found himself sandwiched between 3 of them in the marking contest and almost marked the ball, when the ball hit the ground he killed the contest and the defence cleared. Great work Oscar but not sure why 3 from the same team would all go up for the mark unless it was an instruction.

Oliver is a great kick of the footy, he hit targets over distance all session.

They all trained with intent but something about Harmes stood out, can't pinpoint exactly, maybe it's the new number. He just seemed faster over the ground.

I don't know much about King but golly he's a big unit. 

Hannan and Johnstone ran laps early on and joined in later on with some of the drills. As mentioned before Johnstone has put some muscle on.

I heard someone tell his kids that Tyson and Hunt were indoors today hence their no show. Has anyone heard anything about these two recently?

18 minutes ago, The Chazz said:

Just give them the water and milkshakes to shut them up.  Will also allow you to write better notes for us!  

Lol, just some basic notes until the more comprehensive posters bob up.

Arrived at training when the main group was coming out.

 Jeffy was running laps for about half an hour at a decent clip with Hibberd. Both left early.

Viney, Vanders and J Smith showed up briefly and headed back inside. 

Tyson and Hunt no shows today, no clue as to the reason.

Spargo and Petty were on restricted duties  and also left early.

Spotted the Weed briefly participating in a handball drill with one of the coaches, also early shower.

The rest of the group seem to moving extremely well in the various drills. They are currently in what seems like a full ground simulation.

Fritch is on the end of several plays and is a very good shot at goal.

Im trying to take as many notes as possible but a certain 3 year old keeps screaming for water and milkshakes.

Kent has participated for most part and seems free moving.

Oskar Baker is putting in some hard yards around the ground with running.

Lever very vocal as is Jetta. Like it.

Harmes looking really impressive in the match drill, covering the ground well.

Will have some more updates a bit later on.

39 minutes ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Well he cant take a trick re the barrier draws but hes due for a break soon. At least in longer races sometimes its not so much of a handicap.....looks like a soft track, how does he go in that sort of ground? I like Burning Front and watch out for that Waterhouse Bott lightwieght missile at the bottom there, one of only 3 runners they have sent down. Maybe your quinella with those two. Good luck D77 Ill be watching on!

I like De Little Engine in the Cup race, was flying home last start although he doesnt seem to win much these days. Quinella with Grey Lion. Have you come up with the form for The Kingston Town yet Macca? Whos W Pyke on this time!??

Spoke to mate yesterday and they might scratch the horse again. If they go ahead with the scratching he will have a jump out on Monday to keep him ticking over and race at Caulfield next Saturday.

I also like De Little Engine for the cup Wadda. Great run last time.

I'll be popping down to have a look at the boys train tomorrow, hoping to see some fellow Demonlanders there. 

On 04/12/2017 at 11:50 PM, Wadda We Sing said:

Yeah, as i always say, some weeks you make a deposit and other weeks its a withdrawal....either way its a bank. Last saturday was definitely a deposit.

I shall have a look at the form from the Railway then. Thanks. Any news on Dan Zepher D77??

The Zephyr has accepted for the 1400m Gold Bullion but once again has drawn the car park. Barrier 16 from 16, no luck with the barriers at the moment.

Looks like a very tricky race and quite tough to win it. 

Scroll to race 8 to check out the early form.

http://racingaustralia.horse/FreeFields/Acceptances.aspx?Key=2017Dec09,VIC,Racing.com Park

7 hours ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Yeah, as i always say, some weeks you make a deposit and other weeks its a withdrawal....either way its a bank. Last saturday was definitely a deposit.

I shall have a look at the form from the Railway then. Thanks. Any news on Dan Zepher D77??

Hi Wadda, Dan Zephyr has been nominated for two decent races at Pakenham this coming Saturday.

A 1200m handicap and the 1400m Gold Bullion.

Both races carry good prize money and we will find out tomorrow which race they choose when acceptances come out.

He was scratched on Ballarat Cup day because of the wide barrier (14) but my mate was a little peeved when they bypassed the Ballarat race and chose Warrnambool a few days later and accepted with barrier 13. Not much difference there so he couldn't quite understand the decision.

As it turned out the Bool meeting was abandoned and the horse has done some good work since his last run.

Will have more updates later on this week.

.......and meeting abandoned.

On 25/11/2017 at 2:57 PM, Wadda We Sing said:

Ill be on him again. Good luck D77!! Oh no i wont, just noticed the scratching. Let us know when hes up next!

Dan Zephyr racing tonight at Warnambool Race 7 at 7pm.

I have no word as yet, I see he's drawn wide again though.

Sorry for the late notice, i was made aware a short time ago.

13 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Any questions Demonlanders want to ask?

There was talk about West Coast being into Fritch.

Were we always drafting him at 31 or was that to trump West Coast at 32? 

I noticed the Eagles asked for extended time with pick 32.

43 minutes ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Oh dear! Yes i think i remember Shakespearean Lass?......you would have done ok on the all up tho? 85 /1 is ok!

But yes i know the feeling. Myself and a mate were putting on FFs on an Emirates Stakes day a few years back. I was adamant i had the winner at 17/1. Then i also wanted to put this horse in for 4th who had only ever missed a place once in about 10 starts. My mate said we didnt have enough money left to put it in. Of course my horse won which we had 1 out and the horse we left out ran 4th.......we had 80% and it paid 185,000. So yeah i know the feeling.........Thats Racing, but sometimes common sense needs to prevail!!

By golly, 80% of 185,000, wow. That stings mate!

You make a great point about common sense prevailing, we were so wrapped up in the all up at 85/1 we didn't stop to think if we were to win the bet we would also get the quad if we went field/field. 

My mate was away all weekend so I'll speak to him tonight and find out about Dan and the reason they scratched him and also future plans.

I missed the races last Saturday at Ascot due to work, look forward to you and Macca giving me some tips this weekend.

9 hours ago, Wadda We Sing said:

I was just having a look at the Moonga Stakes at Caulfield back in March won by Voodoo Lad ( a fav of mine). Dan Zephyr had a pretty good run, looks like the weights might have beaten him at the end there, but it was up there most of the way. He will win some races.

https://www.racing.com/videos/2016-10-15/voodoo-lads-moonga-stakes

Voodoo Lad goes around in the Winterbottom Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. 26/1

Opps, no he doesnt, didnt make the final field......must have been why he was 26/1!

Hi Wadda, Dan Zephyr has been a great little horse for connections. He's had some terrific runs.

If you look a bit further back on October of 2016 he ran 4th to Redzel by 1.9 lengths first up at $51. We know Redzel is possibly the best sprinter in the country right now.

Here is a story that will make you shake your head. 

An ex stablemate of Dan was a horse by the name of Shakespearean Lass which I was also a part of a while back. My mate stayed in as a part owner and both horses ran at Caulfield in February of 2016. 

Dan was in the opening leg of the quaddie and the Lass was in the second leg. My mate and I took the all up on fixed odds at 85-1. 

Both horses saluted that day but do you think we placed a quaddie? 

Third and fourth legs of the quad paid about $20 each for the win and the quad that day paid in excess of 100k. If we had placed even $20 for a quaddie it would have given us about 15% with field/field in the last two legs.

We still talk about that missed opportunity.

As they say ' That's Racing!'

As long as they are all competitive beasts, bring their own skillset to the team and make competition for spots fierce we should be happy.

They are part of the MFC family now and good luck to them, hopefully a couple of them surprise us in the upcoming season.

The MFC faithful to change Oskar Bakers nickname from ' The Ginga Ninja' ( cool nickname btw) to ' The Bread Man'  as he will deliver the goods when selected mid-season. 

1 hour ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Ill be on him again. Good luck D77!! Oh no i wont, just noticed the scratching. Let us know when hes up next!

Hi Wadda, not sure why they scratched the horse, will keep you posted on its next run.

1 minute ago, DemonAndrew said:

Pick 37 - Harrison Petty

Did they say on Fox he fractured his elbow the other day jumping a fence?