If you've got some loose change floating around in your pocket, you might want to have a bid on Black Caviar's half-brother who is in the Inglis Easter sale in Australia next Wednesday.
Judging by what Black Caviar and All Too Hard - both out of the dam Helsinge - have done so far, your pockets will need to be the size of Victoria, and you'll need more folding stuff than jangling coins. And don't bother trying to get a loan off Nathan Tinkler, judging by the news of his racing empire's demise this week.
I'm a dreamer . . .
As a fan of winning something for nothing, I've signed up to Harness Racing New Zealand's Dream Team competition. This competition is similar to the popular fantasy leagues where you pick players who have all been assigned prices and you need to keep under the ''salary cap''. The Dream Team competition is much the same - you have to spend a maximum of $500,000 across 12 categories which is easier said than done. There are points awarded for your horses who finished between first and fifth in races between tonight and the Harness Jewels weekend in Ashburton on June 1-2, with any success in the Harness Jewels meetings gaining double points.
. . . but I'm not the only one
Unfortunately, others have decided they shouldn't just leave all the spoils to me, and Harness Racing Zealand's Brooke Henderson said more than 600 people had signed up by lunchtime yesterday. You have until 4pm today to get your entry in, so get your boss to look away for five minutes and log into hrnz.co.nz. With the first prize being a trip for two to the Australasian Breeders Crown in Melbourne later this year, a few trainers are entering as well so this could be your one chance to get one over your favourite (or least favourite?) trainer.
Vale Ray Cairns
Long-time racing followers would have noticed a death notice for Ray Cairns in the Otago Daily Times earlier this week. Cairns was a mainstay around the jumps racing scene in the 1950s and 1960s. Brian Anderton told me at Wingatui on Wednesday Cairns would never give an inch on the track but was a good man off it. Cairns won five Great Western Steeplechases at Riverton during his time in the saddle.
Lazy fiver
Less said about last week, the better, other than to say there's a reason why certain horses remain maidens for some time. Libertybelle Midfrew has been a tidy little juvenile filly in her two starts to date, doing nothing wrong at Forbury Park when the race wasn't run to suit. She tackles her 2yr-old rivals in race 6 at Addington, and was at $10 in the fixed odds markets yesterday afternoon which could be value, even from her second-line draw.
