Last year's inaugural attempt at crystal-ball gazing was a solid if not spectacular effort. Matt Smith tries once again to look into the future and work out what's going to happen in racing in the next 11 months.
Hot favourites
•Dexter Dunn wins the harness drivers' premiership. Again. Let's go with a margin of 74 wins for this term.
•Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen prepare at least 13 2yr-old winners before July 31 next year (they managed 20 this year).
•Matthew Cameron and Rory Hutchings are two of the jockeys who will notch up 100-plus wins this year.
•Kevin Myers (leading the trainers' premiership at present) will be in the top three at the end of the season, and those of us in the media will still be second-guessing how he does it.
Each-way punts
•The Diamond One will place in a group 1 race this season.
•Jonny Cox and Amber Hoffman will get within three wins of Phil Williamson in the Otago harness trainers' premiership.
•Donna and Dean Logan will win at least six races at one race meeting at Ruakaka.
•Dream Collector will win a feature race in the greyhound calendar.
•As much as we'd love to see him here, Themightyquinn won't quite make it to the New Zealand Cup this year. I'm more than happy to be wrong on this one.
•Former football star Michael Owen will be back at Flemington with Brown Panther for this year's Melbourne Cup and the horse will finish at least three places better than his 8th last year.
•A product of White Robe Lodge stallion Raise The Flag will take its place in the New Zealand Derby.
Big odds
•The Diamond One will win one group 1 and place in another this season.
•An Otago-trained trotter will run a placing in the Dominion Trot on November 14. I'm prepared to include Armbo Demon in this category, even though she is technically now in the All Stars Stable at Rolleston. What? It's my list.
•I won't need my jacket and gumboots at all at Otago race meetings in December and January.
•New Zealand-bred gallopers will run the quinella in the Cox Plate.
•A group 1 winner will be the star attraction at Forbury Park before next winter.
