HARPO ’ s MARKS
Well , the Melbourne Cup is over for another year without me backing the winner of the great race .
And folks despite the advent of The Everest , The Cup is still the only race that Stops a Nation .
My great old friend , former Sydney Morning Herald chief rugby league writer and lover of the Sport of Kings , John “ Cracker ” McDonald , refers to The Everest as The Subterranean .
“ All that moolah to further promote the breeding of sprinters and ensuring all our big prize money for races beyond 1600m go to imported horses which are bred to stay ,” John tells me ( time and time again ).
But I digress ! Back to the Melbourne Cup . It hurts me deeply in mind and pocket to embarrassingly inform you that the last time I witnessed a horse carrying my wager be first to greet the judge in The Cup was in 1970 .
Baghdad Note was the neddie and ridden patiently and superbly by leading Kiwi hoop , Midge Didham - he stormed home at 25 / 1 to beat Vansittart and Clear Prince .
I was in the second year of my journalism cadetship at the sadlydeparted Daily Mirror , and was confined to the office while most of the sports staff were either down at Flemington or having a whale of a time at Royal Randwick .
Back in 1970 the TAB had been operating in NSW for six years but most of the off-course wagering was still handled by illegal SP ( starting price ) bookmakers .
There wasn ’ t a pub in the state which didn ’ t have a SP bookie holding court down the end of the bar or in a secluded room out the back .
But there were other places where SP bookies did their thing .
And one such place was the composing room at the Daily Mirror where there was an army of typists hammering away on the linotype machines and others doing a multitude of chores to create the newspaper pages in hot metal .
Lurking in the composing room was a
compositor who hailed from New Zealand – let ’ s call him , oh , Drop Kick .
Droppy really didn ’ t have to pick up his weekly wage because as the only SP in the building , he earned a motza off his fellow employees in the News Limited building .
Each Thursday pay-day , there would be a steady stream of workers trudging down to the composing room and handing over part of their wage to Drop Kick .
I had the occasional victory over the slimy mongrel but invariably he would win each bout – so often in fact that I was considering sending him a group certificate !
Anyways , back to 1970 and Baghdad Note !
I was very impressed with the Kiwi ’ s dead-heat third alongside Royal Show behind Beer Street and Voleur in the Caulfield Cup .
You ’ ve heard it time and time again but I ’ ll repeat it one more time – the Caulfield Cup is always the best pointer towards which neddie is first past the post in the Melbourne Cup .
Well , it was until the past three decades when the big prize money and kind weight allotment by the handicapper , ensured a flood of staying bred foreigners began coming to our shores to pluck the big money .
Back in 1970 my weekly wage was getting up to $ 30 and somehow – I must have snipped someone – I found $ 20 and decided to have $ 10 each-way Baghdad Note in the Great Race .
On the Monday afternoon , I again foot-slogged that well-worn path downstairs to Drop Kick ’ s bolt hole and placed the bet .
He grinned that horrible grin – there were a couple of fangs on permanent holiday – and wished me “ good luck ”. Yeah , sure ! Well , you could imagine my absolute , over-the-moon , whoopy-do delight the next afternoon when Baggie stormed down the outside to hit the front at the
Barrier Rise with
TONY BRASSEL
MISS GLENN is an unraced Written Tycoon 3YO filly out of the former smart sprinter Heatherly . Showed tremendous toe in easily winning 1080m trial in smart time on the Randwick Polytrack on Nov 11 . Don ’ t miss her .
ATHLETICA is an Exceed and Excel colt who made first trip to the 2YO trials at Randwick on the Synthetic and blitzed the field in a most impressive display . Could be a good ‘ un !
LASHES belied her poor run back from a spell in Melbourne with a dashing all the way 780m trial win on the Randwick Synthetic on Nov 11 . Showed plenty of pace and fight at the finish .
WRITTEN DOUBT is another Written Tycoon 3YO filly out of the Waterhouse- Bott yard . Ran slick time in winning 780m Randwick trial on the Synthetic on Nov 11 . Very strong down the running .
LUCKY SUN really shone in finishing powerfully to win a780m trail on the Randwick Synthetic on Nov 11 . There was just so much to like about the way he put the others away over the final 200m .
COOL RECEPTION will get a hot reception when the 3YO makes his racetrack debut going on scintillating 790m trial win at Kembla on November 10 . Ton of pace and very strong where it most mattered .
RELOADED was just out for a stroll around when 7th in a 1030m trial at Rosehill on November 8 . This bloke could be heading over to the Perth carnival so keep an eye out for him .
INCREDULOUS DREAM was under a tight rein throughout when 4th in a smartly run 1030m trial on a heavy track at Rosehill on Nov 8 . Lightly-raced mare out of the powerful Maher- Eustace stable and certainly looks primed to return to the winning list .
150m mark and then hold off a late surge by Vansittart .
When the starting price came through , as a noted mathematician , I grabbed a calculator and worked out my return was $ 312.50 . I was rich . Rich , I tells ya ! It had been so long since I had backed a winner with Drop Kick , that I had to ask a workmate when he paid out .
“ Friday mornings ,” he reported . “ He makes it that time so he can get the losers ’ money before they spend it on something foolish like buying shoes for the kids or putting food on the table .”
Alas , my friends , Lady Luck , whom I had met on rare occasions , had given me the flick once again !
On that fateful Melbourne Cup day , Drop Kick , at the invitation of the ( again with the sadly departed ) Invicta Hotel publican , had set up shop in the corner of the pub .
Now this was in the period when Bob Askin was NSW Premier and SP bookmaking and illegal casinos flourished – shops sold more paper bags than bottles of milk ( if you know what I mean !).
The occasional raid on an SP joint was done just for a bit of good publicity and the bookies were fined about one per cent of their daily turnover .
Well , on this fateful first Tuesday in November , the coppers raided the Invicta
Kellyville Cricket Club receives welcome boost from HomeWorld
by Patrick Staveley
The HomeWorld Helpers Grant Program is set to help the Kellyville Ridge Cricket Club fund some new equipment in time for the new cricket season with a handy grant of $ 1,000 .
The club is planning to use this extra money to buy gear for its Woolworths Cricket Blast programs . This program is a fun and exciting way encouraging kids from the ages of 5-10 to learn the basic skills and take up an interest in cricket within a friendly environment .
The HomeWorld Helpers Grant Program has set aside $ 10,000 worth in funds with $ 1,000 each going to ten separate Thunder Nation Cricket clubs . It sets out to develop the next generation of Sydney Thunder stars in the shape of improved diversity and inclusion opportunities , equipment , uniforms , coaching and local promotion of the game .
The Director of Marketing , Sponsorship and Community for HomeWorld Group of Companies , Trudi Busch , says the initiative between HomeWorld and Sydney Thunder has been very beneficial to local cricket clubs .
“ It has been great to see the grants being used by Thunder Nation Cricket Clubs over the past few years ,” she said .
“ We think it is important to support cricketing communities and hope that
Hotel , arrested Drop Kick and no doubt placed the confiscated money in a brown paper bag .
I never learned why Drop Kick scarpered back to New Zealand the following day without saying goodbye to his valued customers – but such were his bad manners .
Just another sad tale to place in my Book of Bad Luck on the Punt ( Volume III ).
SAD MARKS : The passing of legendary all-rounder , Alan Davidson . I became friends with Davo through his and his wife , Betty ’ s , love of horse racing . Great cricketer – even better man .
HIGH 1 MARKS : Can ’ t wait until Laws Of Indices returns to the racetrack . His first-up run in Australia in the Golden Eagle when fifth behind I ’ m Thunderstruck was outstanding . Might be one out of the box !
HIGH MARKS II : I hope you have been entertained throughout the 2020 with my monthly jottings . Wishing you and yours a safe and merry Christmas and that the New Year brings you peace , prosperity and happiness .
Howzat : Kellyville Ridge Cricket Club players have welcomed the $ 1,000 boost from HomeWorld .
these new grants will help local clubs develop their younger players . Cricket should be accessible to anyone who wants to give it a go .”
The funds are also split across clubs from Penrith and Parramatta to areas such as the Snowy Mountains and the far west , with Dubbo as grassroots cricket remains a key focus for Cricket NSW to continue to develop .
Ryan Hutton of the Kellyville Ridge Cricket Club says they will benefit well from this initiative .
“ Most of our equipment is well over 10 years old and has started to deteriorate ( so ) having new equipment for the kids to use will only strengthen their love of cricket ,” said Hutton .
The WBBL has just finished up but if you are still eager to watch the Sydney Thunder in action , the eleventh addition of the Big Bash League ( BBL ) is set to begin on the 5 December and you can watch it on Fox Cricket , Channel 7 or Kayo Sports .
BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 09 // DECEMBER 2021 33