1 DELTA BLUES (Katsuhiko Sumii) 56
2 IMPERIAL STRIDE (Saeed bin Suroor) 55.5
3 RAILINGS (John Hawkes) 55.5
4 ROMAN ARCH (Robbie Laing) Noel Callow 55
5 OUR SMOKING JOE (Lee Freedman) Jim Cassidy 54.5
6 HEADTURNER (John Hawkes) 54
7 GRAND ZULU (Gwenda Markwell) 53.5
8 SHORT PAUSE (David Hayes) 53.5
9 TAWQEET (David Hayes) Dwayne Dunn 53.5
10 ACTIVATION (Graeme Rogerson) Michael Rodd 53
11 POP ROCK (Katusuhiko Sumii) Damien Oliver 53
12 SERENADE ROSE (Lee Freedman) Steven King 52.5
13 AQUA D'AMORE (Gai Waterhouse) Stephen Baster 52
14 DIZELLE (John Hawkes) 52
15 ICE CHARIOT (Ron Maund) Jim Byrne 52
16 TESTAFIABLE (Peter Moody) Luke Nolen 52
17 SPHENOPHYTA (Lee Freedman) Danny Nikolic 50
18 GROWL (David Hayes) Craig Williams 49
Emergencies
19 LAND 'N STARS (Jamie Poulton) 53
20 ZIPPING (Graeme Rogerson) Glen Boss 52.5
21 STORMHILL (Tim Martin) 51.5


I'm very annoyed about Zipping...have him in a couple of doubles and really wanted him to run

At this stage, I expect the winner to come from:
Railings
Imperial Stride
Pop Rock
Serenade Rose
Dizelle
Sphenophyta

Ill take Railings, Pop Rock and Sphenophyta from your list chuck, and add Our Smoking Joe, Grand Zulu and Activation

Likewise. Fair dinkum, they really have to do something about the qualifying conditions. Every year we seem to have horses which have next to no chance getting in ahead of horses which have a very good chance. Zipping's form is FAR superior to numerous horses which were never in danger of missing out. I mean there's got to be something wrong when the 2nd emergency is equal 2nd favourite!!!

Latest Tab Sportsbet odds:

SPHENOPHYTA $3.50
OUR SMOKING JOE $6.00
ZIPPING (2E) $6.00
GROWL $6.50
SERENADE ROSE $8.50
ACTIVATION $11.00
RAILINGS $13.00
TAWQEET $14.00
POP ROCK $17.00
HEADTURNER $18.00
GRAND ZULU $21.00
IMPERIAL STRIDE $21.00
AQUA DAMORE $26.00
DIZELLE $31.00
TESTAFIABLE $35.00
ICE CHARIOT $41.00
DELTA BLUES $61.00
LAND N STARS (1E) $61.00
ROMAN ARCH $101.00
STORMHILL (3E) $101.00
SHORT PAUSE $201.00

how did grand zulu and testafiable get in the field? through which races?

They didn't have to win any races, Chuck. I assume they got in purely on their handicapped weight compared to WFA, the same factor that kept Zipping out. At the moment, there are not nearly enough qualifying races involved. It is based far too much on the weight given to them by the handicapper, and that is mostly old form, not current form.

Yep, just had a look and there were only 2 horses in the cup which won races to exempt them from the ballot - Growl and Sphenophyta. Apart from that, all of the other positions were decided by comparing their handicapped weight to WFA.

The two horses you mentioned, Grand Zulu and Testafiable are both 4.5 kgs below WFA, whereas Zipping is 6 kgs below WFA. If Sphenophyta had only finished 2nd in the Turnbull instead of winning it, he would have missed out altogether as he's 8 kgs below WFA. Same with Growl. If he hadn't won on Saturday he wouldn't have made the field either. He's 7.5 kgs below WFA.

As I said, far too much rests on the weight allotted to each horse by the handicapper and that is mostly based on old form. They need to allow many more qualifying races to allow the horses in the best form to get in the race.

you could list half the field in the same boat as those two horses. SERENADE ROSE, RAILINGS, HEADTURNER, GRAND ZULU, AQUA DAMORE, DIZELLE, TESTAFIABLE, ICE CHARIOT & ROMAN ARCH. All have not lived up to the form they have previously produced, and you could make an arguement that Zipping should be in in front of them any day of the week.

Just on Grand Zulu, what are peoples thoughts? He'd shown fair form (at best) but his last run in Sydney (Natures Way Hill Stakes - 1.8 length Desert War) and his Yalumba Stakes (2.3 length 5th to Casula Pass) were more encouraging runs.

He has had a few issues with respitory problems and from recent reports these appear to be in the past. Currently $34 and $9.25 with IAS.

Might see if I can recoup my (apparently lost) outlay on Zipping

Thanks

__________________
Stix
.......Giddy Up..... !!

Barrier Draw:

1 DELTA BLUES 17
2 IMPERIAL STRIDE 13
3 RAILINGS 7
4 ROMAN ARCH 10
5 OUR SMOKING JOE 2
6 HEADTURNER 18
7 GRAND ZULU 12
8 SHORT PAUSE 6
9 TAWQEET 3
10 ACTIVATION 5
11 POP ROCK 11
12 SERENADE ROSE 15
13 AQUA D'AMORE 4
14 DIZELLE 20
15 ICE CHARIOT 19
16 TESTAFIABLE 14
17 SPHENOPHYTA 8
18 GROWL 9
Emergencies
19 LAND 'N STARS 16
20 ZIPPING 21
21 STORMHILL 1

Not a good week for Zipping!!!