Our Sparky Horse

Picking winners is one thing; backing them correctly is another — and in Australian horse racing, staking is where a good selector hands the year back. In April 1987, writing as Statsman, one Pract...

In Australian horse racing a wide barrier draw is worth almost nothing at one track and up to two lengths at another — the same number, a different meaning at every course. In June 1986, writing as...

At one Victorian horse racing track the home straight is 461m, and at another it is 200m. The punter who always backs the horse that gets over the top of them late is making the same bet on two cou...

In Australian horse racing the four Melbourne racecourses stand out for their complete difference to each other — and the barrier draw is worth something different at every one. Statsman takes thre...

Australian horse racing runs on so many racetracks, all of varying sizes and designs, that the track itself carries a form guide of its own. Statsman spent five years on winning patterns at Randwic...

Professional gamblers call it 'deep state' handicapping: the horse racing method Bill Benter and Alan Woods used to make millions on Hong Kong racing. The average punter has no idea of the penetrat...

When outsider Sparky Miss won the ABCOS Adelaide Million, a race with a first prize of $408,000, I'm sure most punters shook their heads in disbelief. After all, how could a youngster who'd been o...

A bold showing from Bel Mer in the Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday could set her up for a start in next month's Group One Manikato Stakes.The mare, who will be a five-year-old on the ho...

A bold showing from Bel Mer in the Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday could set her up for a start in next month's Group One Manikato Stakes.The mare, who will be a five-year-old on the ho...