Rough tips and other bets...
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The prize-money the Aussies are coming up with for their purses is incredible. The inter-state rivalry makes me believe a lot more kiwibreds will be crossing the Ta$man, the lure is too attractive.
ANALYSIS: Prizemoney wars show racing is in golden era
The one-upmanship of prizemoney hikes between New South Wales and Victoria in the past 24 hours further reinforces the enviable position racing currently finds itself.
With both jurisdictions boasting soaring wagering revenue on the strength of NSW tax parity, point of consumption tax, race fields legislation and the “sugar-hit” that was Covid-19, returns to participants have never been greater.
They say confidence breeds success and in the racing industry the stocks have never been higher.
Late on Monday, Racing NSW announced that The Golden Eagle would carry a $10 million purse from 2022, usurping the Melbourne Cup as the nation’s second richest event behind the $15m The Everest.
Some took the move as a pre-emptive strike to Racing Victoria’s announcement on Tuesday morning that it would introduce three new “Champions” events on Stakes Day at Flemington totalling an eye-watering $9 million in prizemoney.
That followed further announcements from RV that the Victorian racing industry will scale record heights next season with $314 million in prizemoney and bonuses on offer, representing an increase of $140 million since 2015.
Regardless of where you sit in the state tug-of-war for national supremacy, few can argue that participants across all facets of racing are the ultimate winners.
It’s almost enough reason to turn a deaf ear to the bitter interstate rivalry which — if the past 24 hours is any indication — shows no signs of abating.
In 2012, Racing NSW returned $148 million to owners while in 2022 it is on track to shell out more than $310 million.
That is more than double in 10 years.
Racing Victoria’s ascension is similar. Just remarkable figures.
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Clash of the titans in about, ooooh, twelve hours at Royal Ascot.
King’s Stand Stakes. G1.
Reigning Breeders Cup Turf Sprint champion GOLDEN PAL (USA) vs reigning Everest champion NATURE STRIP (AUS).
J-Mac faces Irad Ortiz Jr for the first time. (My two fave riders.) It’s both jockeys first trip to Royal Ascot. Golden Pal is unbeatable at home in America on a turn, not so great on a straight in U.K., but he is explosive. Hope James & Waller represent and do us proud.
I’ll be watching!
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@Kid-Chocolate said in Rough tips and other bets...:
Clash of the titans in about, ooooh, twelve hours at Royal Ascot.
King’s Stand Stakes. G1.
Reigning Breeders Cup Turf Sprint champion GOLDEN PAL (USA) vs reigning Everest champion NATURE STRIP (AUS).
J-Mac faces Irad Ortiz Jr for the first time. It’s also the latter’s first trip to Royal Ascot. Golden Pal is unbeatable at home on a turn, not so great on a straight in U.K., but he is explosive.
I’ll be watching!
Yep looking forward to this race. Both appear ripe for the picking though so the value bet could be Man of Promise. I still struggle to look past Golden Pal to place at $2. Goes in my multis
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There is plenty of value in this race, but I’m not going to wager, I just wanna see a dogfight between the two shorties and hope Nature Strip nails him.
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My fave jockeys:
1 J-Mac
2 Irad
3 Flavien PratJ-Mac and Irad have been my 1-2 faves for most of the last decade, so to see them in the same race for the first time gives me bonus excitement, and for same reason I don’t want to see them get swamped by an 15-1 outsider, but it could happen. J-Mac has some (not a lot) experience racing the long straight — he and Nature Strip won the Darley at Flemington on that style course — but Irad has fuckall. Steep learning curve on such a huge race with big expectations. Golden Pal has an explosive start, and in a turn race would be very hard to pin back. He’ll have a couple lengths on the field at the first furlong, and I hope Nature Strip stays close and grinds him down. Still, it’s a big ask for both riders racing on this course for their first time.
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@Kid-Chocolate said in Rough tips and other bets...:
There is plenty of value in this race, but I’m not going to wager, I just wanna see a dogfight between the two shorties and hope Nature Strip nails him.
I hope so too
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James has picked up a few extra rides at Ascot, now seven in total. Some are rough shots. I’ll take a swing and a have a small play on most of them, cross my fingers and see if he can do his horse-whisperer voodoo sorcery and get them over the line.
https://www.racenet.com.au/news/james-mcdonald-with-seven-chances-for-royal-ascot-glory-20220614
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Was that not fuckin’ beee-youuuu-teeee-fulll?
Congratulations Nature Strip.
Congratulations Chris Waller.
Congratulations James McDonald.
You have all done the Australian and New Zealand racing industry proud.
Annhilated them.
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@Kid-Chocolate absolutely!
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I am happy to say I played a few small exactas and tris with Nature Strip singled on top and won a couple hundred dollars on the exacta. Would have liked to get the 3rd place horse in the tri, it was over 100-1. $1 trifecta paid over $2.5k return, which goes to show you can still single a hot fave on top and get big value plays underneath.
Lots of craziness in the above clip.Racecaller gets his name wrong, calls him Nature “Stripe”. Broadcaster posts wrong winner, displays Twilight Calls as 1st. And that loose horse had me super concerned when he laid in on Nature Strip near the finish, but the old boy and J-Mac never panicked.
And really, does anybody think he’ll take his qualified spot in the Breeders Cup when there’s a $15 million Everest back home?
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What a year for Waller and J-Mac. An Everest, a Cup, and Royal Ascot. They have to be pinching themselves. Propelling themselves to the top ranks of all-time greats.
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[…]
Watching in disbelief was Hansen, who along with his wife Lady Tash watched the race with fellow Kiwi owners and lifelong mates Peter Kean and Paddy Harrison.
"I have been lucky enough to have been involved in some pretty special sporting moments obviously but this is a different feeling than, say, winning a World Cup because you have no control over the result," said Hansen.
"You hope for the best but I have owned horses since I was in my 20s and you know so much can go wrong.
"So I was nervous. But for him to win like that, that easily, was pretty incredible. You get the same rush as winning a big rugby game, the same adrenalin but you also get to do it with lifelong mates.
"That is the great thing about racing, it can give you moments like this."
Sir Steve Hansen's horse destroys opposition in front of royals
James McDonald and Chris Waller were on top of the racing world overnight.
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Always tickles me that Hansen’s dream as a kid was to be a jockey.
“Part-owner Steve Hansen, who enjoyed a glittering coaching career for the New Zealand All-Blacks, was equally caught up in the excitement of a moment he ranked amongst the greatest of his life.
“I didn’t think I would get this emotional, but I’m actually quite choked up,” he said.
“It’s difficult to compare it to my rugby career, but this is certainly right up there with the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had.
“To do it with such a great group of owners makes it even more special, we’ve had the best time since we got here and even if Nature Strip hadn’t won today, I would still have taken some great memories away. But for him to put on a performance like that, it’s just a dream come true really.
“And for the horse to be trained and ridden by fellow Kiwis, and two champion guys, it just tops everything off.”
http://www.tbv.com.au/nature-strip-enters-the-pantheon-of-australian-greats/
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Steve Hansen, top hat & tails. The Tao of Steve. It must be fun to live like Steve. Three Kiwi sporting legends.
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Waller and JMac will try to close out Royal Ascot in about 12 hours with Home Affairs in the Platinum Jubilee. They are 1/1 at the meet so far. If they double-up that would be some feat. I rate him a good chance. Aus sprinters are a cut above, so I’ll box quinella him with Artorius and maybe Wesley Ward’s Campanelle who still has Irad Ortiz listed as rider but he just copped a 5-day suspension in a horror week for him, so not sure if that’s under appeal, if he rides he stands a good chance for a place, but I’m going for the Aussies/Kiwis.
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@voodoo said in Rough tips and other bets...:
Well it's not quite J-Mac at Royal Ascot, but for anyone interested, Change is Coming makes its debut at the races today. Gosford R3, drawn the carpark at #11 but maybe has the gate speed to overcome it.
No responsibility taken for lost $
Good luck me
Change is coming to my TAB account one way or the other. Good luck, voodoo.
