Thanks for being part of The Last Stride. We shape up to a magnificent weekend of racing. The Super Saturday at Flemington should be a beauty. I hope the public responds in a big way. I must say I would still prefer two big days over the long weekend, but this is the path the VRC has chosen to follow. By doing so, it certainly minimizes the amount of interstate and country interest.

It’s a great weekend to be in Melbourne, aside from the racing, but most interstate travelers would prefer two days at the races, particularly when you are going to the magnificence of Flemington.

Denman will be the star attraction of Saturday. He has developed into the power horse of Australian racing and we probably won’t see the best of him until he is seriously challenged. Will that happen in the Guineas? That is the big question? I doubt it. He makes his own luck and is pretty fool proof. There is a slight question mark about a tough 1600m. However, there is also a doubt about the ability of the opposition to fully test him.

Charges have been laid against Danny Nicolic and a professional punter after “that” prolonged investigation. I thought the investigation was all about his riding performances in several races. It turned out that the mobile phone became the focal point of the investigation. Can’t that wonder of technology get people into trouble?

It turned out that Betfair prompted the whole investigation. The only comment I will make is a repeat of what I said when Betfair became part of the gambling scene. When people can back horses to get beaten, there will always be suspicion.

Good Luck!

Welcome to another week of The Last Stride. A great day of racing in Sydney and Melbourne last Saturday and the count down to the Super Days is on. Only a fortnight to the VRC’s Super Saturday which is shaping as a great day. The Newmarket, Australian Cup and Guineas will all be great races.

Denman is dominating the betting on the Guineas after another dominant performance at Caulfield. What a pity So You Think won’t be there. This would have been one of the great match-ups of the Australian turf. Maybe it will happen later in the year.

The Silver Slipper will be run in Sydney this Saturday and it should shed more light on the Golden Slipper. We are less than six weeks away from the World’s greatest 2yo race. If you would like to be there in the Grand Pavillion at Rosehill, we have a great package available through Gunsynd Travel. It’s an all exclusive four day tour out of Brisbane. For more information, call Graham at Gunsynd Travel on (07) 46 711 677.

The Futurity will be the highlight at Caulfield this Saturday. This is a time honoured race but I can’t see a big field lining up this week. Star Witness was dynamic in the Blue Diamond on Saturday but won’t go to Sydney. He will go for a spell and then come back for the Spring. He looks a real star.

Good luck!

Welcome to another week of The Last Stride. We may have seen the emergence of a future star at Moonee Valley on Saturday. Lloyd Williams produced another outstanding galloper in Linton. The horse was having only its third start in the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes but produced a brilliant final 600m to win. Swoopers were advantaged at the Valley as is usual when the rail is true. However the pace in the first half of the race was very slow which made it difficult to make ground. Linton took off early and sustained a great burst of pace. It was the run of a very good horse. He will go straight to the paddock and we won’t see him until the Spring.

The inevitable comparison with another Williams grey, Efficient occurred after the race. I believe Efficient’s run on injuries is one of the great tragedies of Australian racing. He is a super star but can’t get through a preparation. Let’s hope this horse doesn’t suffer the same fate.

The great racing continues this Saturday with Blue Diamond Day at Caulfield. It’s a great day of racing further enhanced by the return of Weekend Hussler. He’s been away for a long time so let’s hope he gets there this week and then goes on. Australian racing needs all of its stars.

The controversy in Queensland Racing is set to escalate in the coming months. The Government’s suggested amalgamation of the three codes is seen by many industry participants as a power grab. It would mean the current Queensland Racing Board would be appointed for a five year period without election by the industry. There will be plenty more to come.

Good Luck!

The Last Stride is syndicating a 2yo colt which we bought at the Sydney Inglis Sales. He is a beautifully balanced yearling colt who has a strong pedigree being by the Champion 2YRO of Ireland, dual Group 1 winner Ad Valorem from the metropolitan performed mare Zebithea (3 wins).

Our aim is to buy horses at a price which will make it possible for the average person to afford to be involved in racehorse ownership. It is a terrific thrill, just ask the syndicate partners who own Ghostnthedarkness.

By the way, “The Ghost” is enjoying his well earned spell and will be back for the Winter Carnival.

If you are interested in our latest acquisition, act quickly, phone David 0413603588.

Good luck.

Welcome to another week of The Last Stride. Autumn is certainly beckoning and the action hots up from this weekend. The Friday night meeting at Moonee Valley this week will feature the $200,000 sprint. It’s good to see the Victoria Racing League promoting its Autumn Racing Carnivals. There is plenty to promote. The Caulfield and Flemington Carnivals look as if they will be boomers.

The Blue Diamond, Oakleigh Plate, Newmarket and Australia Cup should be sensational. Perhaps the best for years. Peter Moody’s stable stars alone will be worthy of going a long way to see.

Let’s hope all of our top gallopers stay sound. I have always felt that these Carnivals could have been promoted better. This year, it will be known as The Festival of Racing. I would also like to see the overall cost of attending these big days reduced considerably. This is a great opportunity to get the people out of their homes, pubs and clubs and back to the races. This year we have the product, so why not make it accessible to as many people as possible. The big sales always work for the retailers, let’s give it a try for our racing product. Sell more but charge less. It’s a winner for everyone.

Good luck and many winners!

The Last Stride professionals are off to the Magic Millions sales next week with the goal to select and buy another yearling that may be racing in the $2,000,000 Magic Millions 2YRO Classic this time next year.

By becoming a member of The Last Stride you will have the opportunity of purchasing a share in our yearling and receive The Last Stride services FREE for the racing lifetime of your horse. Our shares average around $1000.00 with 17 shares available for purchase (20 in total, The Last Stride retains three). You will have set monthly fees when your horse is in training and spelling.

If your interested in joining us you may want to register your details by sending us an email at webmaster@thelaststride.com with your contact information. First in will get priority when we announce our partnership.

Here's hoping for another GHOSTNTHEDARKNESS.

The Last Stride targetting winners Australia wide 7 days. Our The Last Word selections are available on the phone for just $22 - 1902 248 001.

Welcome to our Christmas week edition of The Last Stride. From all of us here, a very Happy Christmas and prosperous, healthy New Year. Thank you for your continued support over a long period of time.

I couldn’t hold back a feeling of dismay as I watched the events unfold at Royal Randwick last Saturday. The first race was a restricted 2yo race which carried $250,000 in prizemoney. Good luck to those lucky enough to have had a horse involved in the race.

Down the program, I saw the Villiers Stakes a 1600m handicap worth $150,000 run at Group Two level. Wasn’t this one of Australia’s great mile races? Well, it used to be. Some of Australia’s greatest gallopers have won this race. I can remember saving up my money all year to be able to afford a trip to Sydney to watch the Villiers. It wasn’t easy on $100 gross a week. The Villiers was mentioned in the same breath as the Doncaster and Epsom in those days. I must ask, “Why has the AJC let it slip so far?” It is now just another race.

Brisbane’s Lough Neagh Handicap carried more prizemoney last Saturday. To be honest, the Villiers doesn’t deserve to be a Group Race and probably won’t be for much longer unless drastic action is taken. Prizemoney must be at least doubled for next year or another proud racing tradition will die.

Jack Denham passed away last week. I regard him as one of the great trainers of my life time. He didn’t occupy the media limelight, but the deeds of his horses did the talking. He won the great sprints, the great middle distance races, the great staying races and the great WFA races. He was simply one of the legends of our sport.

Welcome to another week of The Last Stride. The jolly gentleman in red is preparing to appear and winners are essential over this festive season. The Last Stride will be attempting to provide that Christmas turkey in the next few weeks.

Burdekin Blues continued on his winning way in the George Moore Stakes at Doomben on Saturday. I don't believe this horse has received the accolades he deserves. He has now had 17 starts for 10 wins, 3 seconds and one third. He has won in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. He is as consistent as the day is long and always puts in.

He has yet to win beyond 1200 metres which is probably his only weakness. He is a speed horse and that is his strength. His dam Winsome Blue who has been a great producer couldn't get past 1000 metres. However, his half sister Winsome Girl was able to get over more ground.

Burdekin Blues may go to the Bat Of Hell next. This race is a real flyers race over 900 metres at the Gold Coast. This will be a new challenge. There is no doubt that Burdekin Blues likes to control his races in the lead. That is not easy over the cut throat 900 metres.

The Triple Crown at Doomben is a great innovation over the festive season. The next leg will be over 1350 metres. The crowd at Doomben on Saturday was massive. For too many years race club officials have tried to avoid the busy periods of the year. The opposite should happen. Become part of these festivals. There is no better place for a Christmas party than the race course.

Good luck.

Welcome to another week of The Last Stride. The curtain came down on another Spring Carnival at Sandown on Saturday.

Zipping created history by winning his third consecutive Sandown Classic. The win was the result of the confidence of his rider, Michael Rodd. This bloke is in a real zone at the moment. He took the initiatve in a slowly run race and made a bold move a long way from home. It meant he had to travel very deep but he had momentum when the sprint went on. Other jockeys were caught in the ruck coming to the turn and that made their task close to impossible.

Zipping has always been a top quality race horse but just seems to fall short in our major races. He has gone close in Cox Plates and Melbourne Cups but has made the last major race of the Carnival his own.

There is always a feeling of emptiness at the conclusion of this great Carnival and I can't help but feel a greater effort must be made to promote our "bread and butter" meetings throughout the year.

Most clubs now seem to concentrate exclusively on their big Carnival days when it comes to promotion. In many ways, these meetings promote themselves and it is our lesser meetings which need a facelift and greater promotion. We must give patrons a reason to go to the races and that means weekly promotions and affordability.

Many people now feel they can afford to go to the races only once or twice a year, and they're probably correct. We must examine free racing for patrons and value dining and drinking packages and we must get more people into horse ownership.

Welcome to another week of The Last Stride. We have witnessed another great week of racing at Flemington. By sheer weight of numbers, this is the greatest carnival in the World. What makes this carnival so great? Is it the horses, jockeys, occasion, tradition? I think it is all of those but the main ingredient is the people. The huge numbers which converge on Flemington create a unique atmosphere which can't be duplicated. Without them, this carnival would not be the same. I hope the powers that be realise that this carnival must be kept within the reach of the average Australian. I am now starting to have some worries in that area. Entry charges are increasing each year, food and beverage prices are exhorbitant and overall costa are becoming high. It's fine to say that is happening in all fields of entertainment. This is different! It is a unique event which has reached great heights because of the support of average people. Let's not turn it in to an event for the elite. If we do it will crash.

There were plenty of highlights over the week and Corey Brown featured in most. He won the Derby, Cup and Emirates. He didn't have much say in the Cup. He was always wide but aided by a snails pace and was able to stick on for victory. I thought Michael Rodd was the rider of the Carnival. He rides Flemington to perfection and his patience paved the way for a number of victories.

Mark Kavanagh was the top trainer. His ability to set a horse for a particular race and peak it on the day is outstanding. We look forward to Sandown.

Welcome to our special Melbourne Cup issue of The Last Stride. Inside this edition, our experts will give you their views on the big Spring Carnival races at Flemington. There will be no edition next week as we prepare for Australia’s biggest week of racing. Our next edition will be November 9.

The Cox Plate, the race of champions, may just have produced another potential Champion on Saturday. So You Think was having only his fifth race start in the 2009 Cox Plate but managed to destroy his opposition. He could be anything in the next couple of seasons. Bart Cummings is infallible at the moment. He must be getting divine assistance. He can do no wrong and he may well clean sweep the Carnival. He’s already got the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate, and the Melbourne Cup is considered “his” race. He’s done the hard work. The first Tuesday in November is his very own. We have been fortunate to live in his era. He has already re-written the record books but he will create his own version if he can win the 2009 Melbourne Cup. When people look back on his achievements in 100 years time, they will think it’s all fiction.

This is what racing is all about and the next week will be simply magic. I will leave you with the quote of the week from the Master. When asked why he was starting such an inexperienced horse in the Cox Plate he said “we need the money”!

The genius, Bart Cummings, dominated the World’s richest 2400m Handicap at Caulfield on Saturday. Welcome to another week of The Last Stride. Can you find enough superlatives to laud this great trainer. I don’t think so. He seems to be getting better with age. He sticks to his own beliefs, trains in the same manner as he was taught by his father and continues to pour scorn on those who say the old style of training is on the nose. He believes in getting plenty of miles into his horses legs and his twelfth Melbourne Cup winner, Viewed “killed” them in Saturday’s Caulfield Cup. It’s the only way to describe his win. He was twelve to fourteen lengths off the leader at the 800m but powered to the post under a brilliant ride from Brad Rawiller. If they had gone another 200m, he would have won by six lengths.

The Caulfield Cup is always a great guide to the Melbourne Cup and I have watched the race back at least a dozen times looking for the best runs. I can’t get past the winner, so dominant was his victory.

Bart was satisfied with winning the Caulfield Cup. He supplied the quinella with Roman Emperor. I wonder if there will ever be a more dominant Spring Carnival trainer? I think Cummings has made it impossible for any other trainer to match his feats. There won’t be many who will live long enough to have a try.

It was a great effort by Rawiller who is starting to get the recognition he deserves. He has beautiful hands and nerves of steel. I have always rated him slightly better than his brother.

Cox Plate Day is next. Good Luck!

Welcome to another week of The Last Stride. We have reached the silk department of racing and a big crowd turned out at Caulfield for Guineas Day. It was the biggest since the early eighties and augers well for Cup Day this Saturday. I would say the house full sign could well go up.

The track definitely favoured on-pace runners on Saturday. Those racing in the lead or with cover just behind the pace were very hard to beat.

Bart Cummings did it again winning the Toorak Handicap with outsider Allez Wonder. Our own Earl Carter realized this horse’s potential about a month ago and put her in his Spring Stable of horses. She returned a handsome dividend and will now go on to the Caulfield Cup.

Starspangledbanner also in Earl Carter's Sring Stable burst a few bubbles in the Guineas. He was ridden incorrectly at his previous start when they decided to take a sit. He is a free wheeling front runner as we saw on Saturday.

So You Think finished off powerfully and will be suited by a longer journey. Is he up to the Cox Plate? I’m not sure. It’s a big step but it won’t be a vintage Cox Plate this year.

Alcopop showed he is a serious horse with a dominant win in the Herbert Power. His acceleration was stunning as he put pay to his opposition in a few strides. He has only had ten starts and we don’t know how much further improvement is still to come. He is well weighted in the big races and has definitely arrived.

Queenslander, Paprika, will derive a lot of improvement from her first-up run in Victoria. She was just a little flat over the last 200m.

Mark Kavanagh must have left Caulfield on Saturday in a very bullish mood. He looks to have the two main chances in the Cox Plate in Whobegotyou and Maldivian. Everything looks to be falling into place beautifully.

We look forward to Caulfield Cup Day this Saturday.

The big guns started to fire at Flemington on Saturday. Turnbull Stakes Day is regarded as a dress rehearsal for the first week in November and a previous Melbourne Cup winner stole the show. Efficient zoomed home to win the Turnbull Stakes and dominated post race discussions. He was going to run a pleasing fourth or fifth at the 400 metres, which would have been a handy Melbourne Cup trial but the acceleration he produced over the last 150 metres made it a fantastic trial. His turn of foot is what puts him in a special category of stayers. It is the quality that is needed to win at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November. I doubt if we will see a better trial in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup.

Viewed and C’est La Guerre both turned in pleasing runs and look to be on target. The run of Scenic Shot was outstanding. He had a wide run for the entire 2,000 metres but was still slugging it out to the line.

Sydney’s super day was marred by the weather but a huge crowd turned out at Randwick. Racing the day before the NRL grand final has been a huge winner for the A.J.C. However, the tired old amenities struggled to cope. The complete overhaul of Randwick can’t come quickly enough.

The New Zealand stayer, Monaco Consul, was the find of the super Satruday. He looks a real VRC Derby prospect now and the stable says he’s the best horse they have had since Excellent. It’s a big wrap!

Nick Hall came of age as a jockey at Flemington and he has some great prospects for the Carnival.

Welcome to another week of The Last Stride. Caulfield produced some future stars on Saturday. Irish Lights looks the real deal. She produced great acceleration to win the 1000 Guineas Prelude. She hasn’t peaked as yet and will improve further into that big race in just over three weeks.

Meanwhile, in Sydney, More Joyous showed she is right in the mix for the same race. The $16 Corporates Bet looks great value now. We have not seen the best of this filly as yet.

Mont Fleuri put her hand up as a real VRC Oaks prospect with a storming finish in the Thousand Guineas Prelude. It was only her third run in a race and she looks a stayer of the future.

Trusting didn’t win but stole the show in the Caulfield Guineas Prelude. He hit the line like a train and I doubt if they can beat him in the Guineas. It will be a hot field but this is a very hot horse. The Cox Plate is not out of the question but the 3yo race looks his.

The Underwood Stakes produced some big runs but one horse stood out like a mouse at a tom cats reunion. Maldivian ran an extra 100m and still managed a close fourth. He was four wide most of the way! Vigor ran well at WFA and didn’t have much luck in the home straight. He looks the one to beat in the Caulfield Cup.

Master O’Reilly has raced very well this campaign and I have taken the juicy odds about him in the Caulfield Cup. He loves the track and is a very genuine stayer.

So You Think did the job well in the Gloaming Stakes and this colt is very good and will improve further.

It looks like a vintage year for the 3yos but I just get the impression that Trusting is the mast of the class.

Good Luck!