SELECTIONS - 8 November 2006

POOMA selections:

Kyneton 6-2 Nylstroem
Kyneton 7-5 Jamberoo

Non-POOMA selections (and ruffies in red below):

York 5-2

Today: Nothing particularly inspiring today apart from the races that the POOMA selections are in at Kyneton. 6-2 Nylstroem continues to win by coming from back in the field. He knocked off the smart Who's Crackin' last time with the leader that day, Keibler, in third place. It's a pity that horse is scratched today, as he would have ensured a genuine tempo that would help our pick. 7-5 Jamberoo is very well placed in the Kyneton Cup. He's up in grade but down in weight and it's worth remembering that he led nearly all the way in the Wagga Gold Cup before being run down late by McLir. Octrivia is the obvious danger and I'll take a quinella on those two. Heavy track at Grafton doesn't help things, as doesn't the dead at Ipswich (though that could be upgraded). I've picked out some quaddies so let's see how I go (don't like the look of the Murray Bridge one, as it breaks my rule of having a leg with only one or two in it):

Kyneton: 2 x 3-5 x 2-3-4-5-6-8-11 x 1-5-6-7-8-11
Grafton: 1 x F x F x 6
Ipswich: 1 x 1-2-3 x 1-2-3-4 x 1-4-5-7-11
Murray Bridge: 1-3-4-5-6 x 2-3-5 x 1-4-7-9-12-13 x 2-3-8-12
York: F x 2 x 1-3 x 2-3-7-10

Yesterday: Well, folks, let me be the first to make a prediction - Japanese horses will dominate the Melbourne Cup for the foreseeable future. Given that I was born in Japan I had a little quinella on the two but I should have had trifectas and First4s, as well! My thesis is that Japanese racing is now absolutely in the top bracket and, significantly, their horses have a real advantage over their European counterparts - the trip is short and the timezone difference is minimal. The benefit of having a run in Australia before the race is being shown to be a very wise decision. Japanese staying events are run at a terrific clip, as ours are, so local trainers will really need to lift their game to compete in at least the near future. I tend to cop a hiding every Melbourne Cup day but this year I managed to escape with my skin relatively intact due to a few good results that made up for all of the bad ones. Was a tough day at Flemington with 6 of the 10 winners starting at $10+ and only two favourites getting home. A couple of horses to follow are Royal Asscher, which caned them and can win again, especially up the straight, and Cicinero, which put in a really professional performance. He had come off a good run behind Anna's Choice and that form seems to be stacking up well.

POOMAs: 0 from 3 yesterday. Bay Story ran a good race for 2nd. Bianca is only a little thing and had to put up with a lot of buffeting through the run but she didn't really sprint over the last 100m. Amyjaye Power went like a broken rocking horse.