Everest prayers and spring things

What a week! Derby Day never disappoints - "million dollar yearlings are never any good" - oh really? and throw the Golden Eagle in for good measure. Everybody's got an opinion on the beaten fav and we're no different. All eyes are on the Melbourne Cup though now - it's still the racing person's Christmas Day and nobody has tried harder to find the winner. One day we might actually do it but if you want to hear what we think this year, well we've had our crack. Hopefully we help.

The Cox Plate – we dissect a deserving winner, mad tactics and big runs. The Melbourne Cup – we’ve seen just about all the lead ups now and we’ve done the overseas videos. We work through who’s rising to the top of our pile. The Derby – there’s some dodgy staying pedigrees among some of the favourites. We look through the lead ups and try to flesh out the hopes of running the 2500m trip in the spring. And plenty more both past and future, including the Coolmore and Golden Eagle this weekend, not to mention Tara’s disturbance at a missing Daryl Braithwaite.

So much to deal with this week! It's become one of the great days on the calendar. In no particular order: Tempted’s Everest – we have our say. She’s an Aussie bred…but is she? She’s the pin up girl for shuttle stallions is what she is. And descended from an Oaks winner! The Caulfield Cup – did we see a Melbourne Cup hope there? A quick drill down into the raiders (Clocker’s bagging the favourite). What’s the shape of the Golden Eagle after the Silver Eagle? Is it possible we could be accidental part-owners in the Golden Eagle winner? We reckon we’ve found a Group One winner in waiting. The Cox Plate – the 3YO? The favs? Or is there an outsider begging for the 2000m?

We’re a bit more forward looking with a Caulfield Cup focus this week since it’s the race where there is not an odds-on favourite and there’s plenty in plenty of horse with winning chances. Then there’s the Everest after the barrier draw, the Thousand Guineas and we look back at last weekend. Three fillies beat the colts in the three Sydney features – is that telling us something?

In no particular order this week – a Rant, Epsom, Equimillion, Everest, Arc, 2YO’s, Prizemoney, Cox Plate, Caulfield Guineas. It’s a wide-ranging ramble on the week that was and the week that’s coming.

A spring dissecting – why we think the Derby favourite can’t win and will the $3mil carrot drag some of the Golden Rose brigade into its net. Pride of Jenni’s three-peat in the Feehan as a nine year-old was impressive but it has been done before – even more impressively as it turns out. One of our favourite horses has nabbed an Everest spot but is it too soon? Who we think can win the Epsom this weekend, along with some of the other majors. It’s D-Day for some. And we’ve dived into the micro-share revolution. Although Clocker bought into the wrong horse – so now we’ve got two! Finally we get musical with Jimmy – no not Jimmystar. The other one!  

Another Golden Rule and the Golden Rose. It’s a week full of hopes and dreams with a look at the Golden Rose, one of, if not THE jewel in the crown for making a colt instantly commercial at stud. And the other dreamers were at the official Sydney two-year-old trial this week. There are always good horses there and we go through the appealing prospects, some obvious, and some others who finished out of the placings. And a quick look at the major results this week, big race noms coming up and the Cup weights.

The Golden Rule, it was there for everybody to see on the weekend. Also the Golden Rose. The Everest. The Epsom. Racing in China - where winners don't count. And of course a bit on Sheza Alibi, giving hope to everyone with the racing dream. What we took from last weekend's racing. A brief look at what's coming this week, and importantly, are there more golden rule horses in the wings?

With spring hotting up Group One racing has started but it's still really only the build up. We go through who we think is building up the best as the proper targets get closer. Is there any hope for any joy for anybody who's not part of Camp Ka Ying in the Everest? And a Tara family favourite is sailing off into the sunset. Short and sharp this week but plenty to keep us interested.

We welcome Joe O'Neill from Prime Thoroughbreds. Joe's been syndicating horses successfully for nearly 30 years with current mares Cavalry Girl and Shadhaver flying the flag brilliantly. It's a wide ranging and chat about his selection processes, pedigrees, his thoughts on two-year-old and three-year-old racing and the changes his seen and the challenges ahead for racing. And of course we get in to the feature racing. The brilliant ones and the plain ones from the weekend. Tara much more forgiving than Clocker on some of them. He's got the pen out already! And the Hunter Valley stud parades - we take a quick fire look through the first season horses standing this year.