Hold onto your hats because the first faltering steps of the 2010 Spring carnival is about to lurch into action this Saturday. Although the official racing year starts on August 01 the unofficial start, as far as I am concerned, starts with the wfa Sir John Monash Stakes and here it is.As you know I am in Mark Kavanagh's corner this Spring (wow, that's not hard to do) and I note he has Elusive Touch entered while I have decided to add Joseph Pride and Chris Waller to my trainers list and the for

Hold onto your hats because the first faltering steps of the 2010 Spring carnival is about to lurch into action this Saturday. Although the official racing year starts on August 01 the unofficial start, as far as I am concerned, starts with the wfa Sir John Monash Stakes and here it is.

As you know I am in Mark Kavanagh's corner this Spring (wow, that's not hard to do) and I note he has Elusive Touch entered while I have decided to add Joseph Pride and Chris Waller to my trainers list and the former has entered Electric Dreams. Formwise, at the weights, we are guessing as fitness levels versus weight advantage (Royal Ida must have that at wfa) is always just an educated guess but if I am going to follow a couple of stables I need a plan of attack.

The plan will be to back the runners I like from the stables to win $100 each win as long as I receive what I consider a fair price. Naturally, that's when the fun begins because "what is a fair price?" but that will be my decision as the betting progresses. Sometimes it will be 20/1 while other times it will be 2/1. What about you? What are your thoughts about stable betting? What is your minimum acceptable price? Yes, there is a bit to think about, isn't there. If my attack works early in the carnival I shall be raising the objective per win and who knows what amount I will be shooting for by the time the real Spring carnival is in full flight? It could be chocolates or boiled lollies.

The keen ones among you will have had a look at the weights for Saturday and would have noticed two Bart Cummings runners have been entered: the enigmatic Moatize and the Melbourne Cup aspirant, Precedence.

Like I said earlier - hold onto your hats.