Turf Deli Racing News

A race of their own

Spring is finally in the air, and punters are all a-quiver with excitement as to what the next three months could bring.

Legendary races forever frozen in time.

Rising champions that will be talked about for years to come.

Cruel twists of fate on the punt that will cause horror flashbacks every time you walk past a TAB for decades.

And not one, not two but THREE All Greys Races.

Yes - try to hold onto the excitement punters.

This year the most talked about event of the spring is going to be the three All Greys races in the SUBZERO challenge .

This newly announced series kicks off on Thousand Guineas Day, which so badly needs a good race to inject some interest into the day. And still does ! From there it is barely ten days of nervous excitement, till the second leg on the Friday night pre Cox Plate Moonee Valley meeting, before all eyes turn towards that Thursday after the first Tuesday in November for the traditional feature of Cup Week - the All Greys Race on Oaks Day.

SUBZERO is well loved for his Melbourne Cup and clerk of the course activities and has been a great racing ambassador visiting more schools than a media hungry politician. So it is great to see his achievements recognised with his very own race series.

But why not run a race series especially for grey horses, over 20 years old, who have won a Melbourne Cup? Subby could just don a number and trot around the course, and when EFFICIENT gets old enough he can take over.


We think running special novelty races is a great idea, but don't see why you should limit it to just grey horses.

Here are some novelty races punters would both love and loath to see:


The Next Time For Sure Series
Putting the spotlight on well known money suckers doing what they do best - running on well, but never winning. In what would surely be a fiercely competitive event, the winner would be decided purely on a points only basis - and of course, actually winning a leg of the series would result in automatic disqualification.

Punters would flock on course to see races featuring well known offenders like SHARNEE ROSE, SPOT ON MAGGIE, ANUDJAWUN, EXTRA ZERO and MORANT compete with the undisputed queen and reigning champion YOSEI, who may just be the best run on and never win horse seen in a generation. To paraphrase Lee Freedman, go and find the youngest child on the race course - and even they will have sworn off her for a lifetime.

The Tongue Twister Challenge
Also known as the Horses With One Name, but Many, Many Syllables Challenge. Or the HorsesWithOneNameButManyManySyllablesChallenge for short.

Uniquely set on the same program, the three legs of this series are run in quick succession to test even the most eloquent race caller as MAYTHEHORSEBWITHU, HOWMUCHDOYOULOVEME, MAKEADREAMCOMETRUE and MYBIGFATGREEKHORSE fight out tight, bob of the head photo finishes.

The Sydney Consolation Series
This highly novel set of feature races are set in Melbourne during the spring, but with horses racing in the Sydney clockwise direction. One of the major spring targets for runners from the Gai Waterhouse stable, who always seem to lose about 3 lengths the moment they step over the state border.


The Witty Word Play Series
Here the competition is actually mainly amongst the owners to see who can make the most witty phrase to name their horse, using a well known sire. Leading contenders PIRATE'S JEUNEY, COSTA PLENTY, RUB DOUBT, PHELAN READY and HEY JEUNE take on the truly outstanding and undisputed champ - LONHROTOTHETOP.

The Imports Only Cup
No, wait - that was the Makybe Diva Stakes last week.

We are sure all you Punting Gurus out there have plenty of names to add to these lists, so feel free to send examples through, or add your 50 cent units worth on the discussion on our Facebook page.

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