Nostradamus I am not. Heck, I'm not even ''Dear Fiona'', the clairvoyant from those women's magazines (I have two older sisters, so those publications were lying around the house when I was younger - honest).
But here's a bit of lazy crystal-gazing to see if I can work out what's going to happen in the world of racing this season.
Let's start with the easy ones.
Sure things
• John McInerney will win the greyhound trainers' premiership by several hundred wins.
• The natural order will be restored and Mark Purdon will win the harness racing trainers' premiership.
• Matthew Cameron will probably ride out of his skin this season and finish second in the jockeys' premiership. Again.
• Dexter Dunn will win the drivers' premiership. Probably by about 70 wins.
• A European-bred galloper will win the Melbourne Cup.
• The Golden Slipper in Sydney will NOT be won by a New Zealand-bred galloper.
• There will be at least 15 drunk people at New Zealand Trotting Cup day.
• Chris Waller will cry in a post-race interview after a big win in Sydney or Melbourne. Good on him - nothing wrong with a bit of emotion.
Educated guesses
• I'm Themightyquinn will finish in the top two if he makes it to the New Zealand Trotting Cup.
• It's A Dundeel will win at least two group 1 races in Australia this season, including the Cox Plate.
• Another high-profile New Zealand thoroughbred trainer will set up a satellite stable in Sydney.
• An Australian horse will win the Interdominion Pacing Championship in Sydney.
• The New Zealand trotters - be it I Can Doosit, Stig, Vulcan or an up-and-comer - will have it all over their Australian rivals, especially if Let Me Thru does not make it back to the races.
• Recite and Ruud Awakening will have some titanic struggles in the 3yr-old fillies' races this season, with Recite winning the head-to-head battle come the end of the 3yr-old features..
• Spectators at big race meetings around New Zealand will realise how incredibly stupid it is to run on to a track during a race and put their lives - and the horses' and jockeys' lives - at risk, and we won't have any such problems this year in Otago or further afield.
In a perfect world ...
• Armbro Demon would come back from her latest spell recovered from her injury problems and charge through the grades.
• An Otago-trained horse will win the Coupland's Mile at New Zealand Cup Week. We've got a few chances this season at least.
• A group 1 winner in either the harness or galloping code will come from south of the Waitaki - be it trained or bred down south.
• A superstar from New Zealand - maybe It's A Dundeel - will capture the attention of mainstream media and give the industry a flagship horse to turn into its own Black Caviar.
• Bart Cummings will train his 13th Melbourne Cup winner - and the first in partnership with his grandson James - and will promptly retire with one of his trademark one-liners.
