... if what I read is correct then he's produced a massive jump to win the Australian Champs - O.K., it was windy at +3.1 but 8.78m is huge : I'm picking Taurima's National Record won't survive the year.

NZ T.A.B. released these options today – First time they've done this sort of thing; anything similar happen in Oz?

1st Kiwi Trained Horse Home:

Daffodil $2.10
Capecover $4.50
Harris Tweed $5.50
Spin Around $6.50
Gallions Reach $7.50

Age Of Winning horse:

4yrs $2.90
5yrs $3.10
6+ yrs $2.10

Winning Margin (1st vs 2nd)

Up to + incl ½ L $2.65
¾ L to 1 ½ L $2.65
1 ½ L + $2.65

Bart Trains Winning Horse:

Yes $3.10
No $1.33

Head to Head - Viewed/Alcopop

Viewed $1.75
Alcopop $2.00

Head to Head - Master O/Daffodil

Master O $1.80
Daffodil $1.90

Head to Head - Roman Emperor/Shocking

Roman Emperor $1.75
Shocking $2.00

Head to Head - Spin Around/Gallions Reach

Spin Around $1.80
Gallions Reach $1.90

Head To Head C'est La Guerre/Mourilyan

C'est La Guerre $1.85
Mourilyan $1.85

Tote Price of Winner

Under $8 : $2.30
$8 - $15 : 2.95
$15+ : $2.70

Morning All,
Good luck to everybody today, and as an aside, good luck to Tom Watson for the next two days - I'm hoping the great man finishes well up the leaderboard.

Eagle Farm:

R1 No6 – Barclays
R3 No16 – Agent White
R5 No13 – Smart 'n' Crafty
R7 No8 – Majorca

Toowoomba:

R3 No13 – Etching
R7 No5 – Redran

Caulfield:

R1 No7 – Midarri Dan
R3 No10 – Hazeldon
R4 No15 – Sea Hunter
R7 No7 – Jennings

Rosehill:

R3 No6 – Cheap Thrills
R5 No10 – Danz In Paris
R6 No11 – Mr Unforgettable
R7 No4 – Zarvista

New Plymouth (Pukekura):

R10 No9 – Kuda Mahal

... Kicks off shortly – I've got a couple of small interest bets going: Nick Whatney top 5 finish @ $14 and Whatney to top a group of U.S. Players (excl Woods) at 8's. Also had a wee stab at your bloke Sim for a top 5 @ $50. Of the three NZers starting I think David Smail should do the best – very underrated player who plies his trade on the Japanese Tour. Thoughts on the main chances, anyone?

... normally I inbox a few forumites to let them know if our bloke is running, but this was all very last minute as I didn't think he'd get a start here. Twoeezy has drawn a nasty barrier for the mile race at 5.17pm NZT, so he'll have to bring his "A" game. His mile record is 8-4-2 and he has boom apprentice James McDonald aboard, plus he'll like the good track here today.Fingers crossed.

Morning All,
Happy New Year to everybody. Going to the Hastings races today - fields are average to say the least but there should be some great sights on course. Temperature will be in the mid to high 20's and the track will be good and getting firmer during the day. Ellerslie has the Group 2 City Of Auckland Cup over 2400m at 6.14pm NZT - I quite the 4 y.o. Zabeel gelding Maythehorsebemagic in this; won three of his last four and gets in with only 51kg today after scoring by 2.3L last time over 2100m.

Hastings

1) No5 - Bossanova
2) No5 - Black Zhar
3) No8 - Kadetra
4) No3 - Beau Prince

Ellerslie

1) No9 - Kalanagra
2) No8 - Forever Roses
3) No8 - Smokin' Gun
4) No14 - Malukar
5) No7 - El Torro
6) No12 - Melancholy Miss
7) No9 - The Pooka
8) No13 - Crossyourheart
9) No18 - Maythehorsebemagic
10) No12 - The Flaneur

We get all the Perth races today but only 4 other races from Australia - nothing from Randwick or Flemington; pretty poor from our T.A.B.
Good luck if you're on the punt today.

D.

Te Rapa Race 1 - No12 Malukar. If the track is good then this Viking Ruler filly is worth a bit each way - has talent & was a very close up 5th in her debut run at Hastings on Oct 17 - was charging home over 1400 and up to 1600m in this. 12.26pm NZT.

Morning All,
Due to life circumstances I haven't had the luxury of time to post much or keep in contact with some forum members (sorry bout that – will be doing that starting tomorrow), but I can tell you that it's a beautiful morning here in Hawkes Bay for the Stoney Bridge Stakes and the track will be dead but improving throughout the day. In the main race I like Rios at decent odds, but this is a quality field and five or six could show up in this without surprising.

Picks:

Hastings R5 No6 – Keeperinthemyst
Hastings R8 No8 – Rios
Caulfield R5 No9 – Whobegotyou
Caulfield R7 No7 – Orange County
Rosehill R2 No9 – So Bewitching
Rosehill R4 No9 – Anna Bek
Rosehill R5 No5 – Glowlamp

I'll be having some each way on these this afternoon – good luck to everybody; a top day of racing today.

Good Afternoon All,
Verily, it is a slow time of year – Have had my head down for a while, but saw the splendid Australian song thread recently and thought I'd come up with something to get some of the music minds on the forum thinking.YouTube links provided where possible.


All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCwCBh0z3Hs

Hendrix makes the Dylan original his own – An ageless classic and one of the definitive covers of all time.


Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon – Urge Overkill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwGLJk_bySc

Lush, retro sounding version of the Neil Diamond track – The only mainstream hit from a very underrated early nineties group – Their 1993 'Saturation' album is a wee pearler. Of course, the song features on “Pulp Fiction” as well.


House Of The Rising Sun – Nina Simone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLh73RPvfgI

Classic folk ballad famously performed by The Animals, but reworked here by the transcendent Nina Simone.


State Trooper – The Veils

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srdi8gsHqVs

Unlikely combination of English born Finn Andrews and his NZ backing group covering 'Nebraska' era Bruce Springsteen. Became a staple on their live shows across the U.S.


Ace Of Spades – Shihad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3cumfhhUvo

A great singles band – the albums are uneven though. Saw them in Napier last year where they played a riotous show on the beachfront and copped 300 noise complaints for their trouble. They tore into a cover of 'Ace Of Spades' on a local music channel and did alright IMHO.


In This Hole – Cat Power

The gifted Chan Marshall covers her own song – It first appeared on the brilliant 1996 “What Would The Community Think” album, but on the imaginatively titled The Covers Record, she strips everything back to piano and vocals to haunting effect.

Happiness Is A Warm Gun – The Breeders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utyguyznDKQ&feature=related

Off the 1990 'Pod' CD – song appears at about 5.30 into the clip. Killer drumming near the end. Top lyrics – 'a soap impression of his wife which he ate and donated to the National Trust' – Yesirree, a stack of drugs taken back in the late sixties, thats for sure.

Crossroads – Cream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmUP-qwxlDI&feature=related

It's Clapton when he was good, and the immortal Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. I need say no more.


Song To The Siren – This Mortal Coil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mUmdR69nbM

Ethereal version of 70's troubadour Tim Buckley's tune, with peerless vocals by Liz Fraser.

Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKnxmkOAj88

Tim's boy creates one of the greatest covers ever with this spare version of the Leonard Cohen song.


Disorder – Bedhead

Little known Texas band recorded this Joy Division cover in an empty church in 1994. If you think that a countrified slowcore band from Dallas would make a complete hash of a gloomy synth pop tune, then my friends, you are most assuredly wrong.

Rocket Man – William Shatner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lul-Y8vSr0I&feature=related

Fantastic – Elton John's classic destroyed as only the genius William Shatner could do. The footage is circa 1978, and I don't think the unsuspecting audience knew what they were in for.

Evening All,
This arvo I blocked 8 horses in a percentage trifecta for the Stradbroke - $20 worth for a small percentage of the divvy, hoping of course that a roughie might run well to spice things up. Well, that happened and more, and since the NZTAB trifecta for the race was $35622.90, I pocketed $2137 for my trouble. I'm not a big dollar punter – I've got a mortgage and a small share in a 3yo that have to be taken care of before anything else, so to have a day like this is unbelievable; my biggest ever collect by a wide margin.To paraphrase Timesman, Gee I love the punt.

P.S. There will be beers tomorrow, and plenty of them.