The weights are printed (all 29 pages) for the Easter weekend and I have to be fairly brutal as to which races I retain for serious consideration. Over long weekends like this there are so many tempting races and although small bets for fun are ok it is really a demanding job to make sure your serious bets are in races where you can be confident that all form lines can be assessed with a minimum of guesswork.In WA the running of the WA Derby and WA Sires holds no interest for this punter. The is

The weights are printed (all 29 pages) for the Easter weekend and I have to be fairly brutal as to which races I retain for serious consideration. Over long weekends like this there are so many tempting races and although small bets for fun are ok it is really a demanding job to make sure your serious bets are in races where you can be confident that all form lines can be assessed with a minimum of guesswork.

In WA the running of the WA Derby and WA Sires holds no interest for this punter. The issue of distance doubts at this level and the improvement young horses produce during a campaign says "stay out". The two open handicaps comprise of an 1800m event with only six nominations (small field, lack of pace) and a 1000m open that looks quite a good race to work on.

In NSW there are three distance races this Saturday (AJC Derby, Adrian Knox and the open class Chairman's Handicap). For similar reasons as in Perth I will drop the 3yo races and will add the Chairman's, a traditional lead up to the Sydney Cup, to my list. Naturally the Group 1 Galaxy Stakes will be worth considering and of the remaining races I will only bother with the 1200m Sapphire Stakes for the Fillies and Mares. On Monday the Hall Mark Stakes is the only event worth considering. I note El Cambio is entered in both the Hall Mark and the Group 1 Galaxy Stakes on Saturday.

In Victoria the Group 2 Victoria Handicap and 2000m Group 3 Easter Cup are the standout events on Saturday while on Monday at Moonee Valley there are four races that fuel my initial interest but, at this stage, I will shelve them until I see the final fields.

In South Australia the massive two day carnival at Oakbank has arrived. On Saturday we have an open 1100m event which is the best race on the programme for the flat runners but for jumping enthusiasts we have the time honoured Von Doussa Steeplechase where leading Victorian jumps trainer Eric Musgrove has 6 runners entered.

In Queensland I have started seriously studying the form and weights of the locals as in a few short weeks the Group races will be in force and I need to know the strengths and weaknesses of the better class runners. On Saturday there are two Listed races on the programme and although I will not be doing the form on these races I will certainly watch them carefully. On Monday, however, the open event of the day has a bit more grunt to it and at this stage I am keen to add this race to my weekend list.

So, all told over the weekend we have WA (1), NSW (4), SA (1) and QLD (1) for a total of 7 races that I will judge for serious betting.

At this stage I will study the form for those nominations I believe will be the main contenders, make some brief notes and have a preliminary selection order in mind.