Autumn Blackbook Comp
 

Hi guys. I was actually hoping to get this comp started before last weekend's racing, but I wasn't back online until yesterday, so we'll start it now.

Unlike some of the previous stable comps, this isn't about earning the most prizemoney or winning big feature races or anything like that. The idea is simply to select a stable of horses which you think will win races over the coming weeks. It can be a million dollar group 1 race at Flemington or a midweek maiden at Gosford. Doesn't matter. If you've spotted a horse that you think is going to win soon at any Australian TAB meeting, then you can pick it. And it's all based on winning Unitab TAB dividends, so if you can nab a future longshot winner, then all the better.

Please read the rules carefully, and if there's something you don't understand, please ask.





Rule 1:
The competition will be held on Australian TAB meetings between Sat March 8 and Sat May 31.

Final entries close at midnight on Thursday March 20. If you haven't submitted your stable by then, you miss out. But if you want to choose horses which are racing this Saturday, you must submit your stable by this Thursday night (March 6).

Rule 2:
Each person must choose a stable of 10 horses to start with. After that, you can have a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 horses in your stable at any one time.

If you have the maximum 12 horses in your stable, then you can't add any more until one of them is deleted. If you have less than 12, then you can add new horses at any time that you like, provided that it is at least 2 days prior to their next start. In other words, if you want to add a horse which is racing on a Saturday, then you must do it by Thursday night. Otherwise that run won't count. And if your stable drops to less than the minimum number of 8 horses, you have a week to choose new horses to get the number back up. It's up to you to make sure you keep the number of horses in your stable between 8 and 12. I will give regular updates on the number of horses in each person's stable.

Rule 3:
Horses remain in your stable for 3 runs OR until they win, whichever comes first. Everybody has a starting bank of $1000 and horses are backed on the following basis: 1st run $10 win, 2nd run $20 win, 3rd run $30 win.

When your horse has either won or had it's 3rd run, you can actually decide to pick that horse again if you wish and they will start over again from run number 1. Otherwise, they are deleted from your stable and you can pick another horse to replace them. By the way, if you're unfortunate enough to pick a horse which is injured, spelled or retired before it's 3rd run, that's just bad luck I'm afraid. Unfortunately, you're stuck with it and you can't replace it. So keep that in mind.

Rule 4:
You can include a distance range qualification for any or all of your horses if you wish. Then they will only be backed when racing over that distance.

For instance, you might want to choose a stayer in your stable, but you don't want to back it when it's 1st up over 1200m or something. Well, if you want to, you can simply put beside your horse "1600-3200" or whatever and the horse will only be backed over those distances.

But please be careful with this though, as sometimes there are odd distances. For example, a 1400m race might be listed as 1410m or something like that, and a distance range of 1000-1400 would not include this race. So I would advise you to put 1000-1499 in cases like that just to make absolutely sure.






So, there you go. Simply post your 10 horse stable here. But remember, if you want to include horses racing this Saturday, you must submit your stable by Thursday night.

It would be great if this included Harness Racing too. There does not seem to be enough interest in that form of racing which is a great shame.

Hmmm, that's an interesting idea. I hadn't thought of that.

One problem I see is that pacers/trotters tend to run more often than gallopers do. That would give the harness tipsters an unfair advantage because they'd have more chances to win and more chances to include new runners.

So I'll have to say no to that request for now. Sorry about that.

I agree with your comment about the lack of interest in harness racing compared to the other codes though. I've certainly started taking more of an interest in it this year.

I wonder why ... Barney

Because I'm doing harness ratings. ;) :D

Okay I'll have a shot

1 Largo Lad
2 Camarilla
3 El Daana
4 Tramuntana
5 Translate
6 Benatar
7 Tuesday Joy
8 Real Strike
9 Burgeis
10 Littorio

I'll give it a go!

Sirmione
Zarita
Arapaho Miss
Weekend Hussler
Miss Fantabulous
Camarilla
Snipers Bullet
Fiumicino
Sugar Babe
Light Fantastic

how do you know which horses will be going for a spell?

Well, if you stick mainly to horses which have just basically started their campaigns (had 1 or 2 runs back from a spell) or which you know are being targetted at later races, then you should be okay. If you check out the articles on websites like Racenet and racingandsports, that'll probably give you a better idea as well.

Alright thanks. I hope I can find this information before Thursday night. Usually the Friday paper will have the weekend races, so I have to find a web site which has the fields before then.

We can elect horses from sydney, melbourne, brisbane, adelaide, perth right? I assume anywhere as long as the TAB is betting on that meeting.