Racing experts’ trifecta tips and form guide

Perfect for Half Yours (nine), but Meydaan landing gate 22 pushed it out of my top four calculations. Interesting though; It will be ridden by two of the country’s best jockeys in Al Riffa (Mark Zahra) and Meydaan (James McDonald), so anything is possible. I continue to apply for Buckaroo and Presage Nocturne’s Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup races. How do you see imports?

I’ve always been tempted by imports, and I probably almost fell for Al Riffa before you saved me. Let’s face it French, German and Japanese horses have a better strike rate than English runners, so I’m really interested in Presage Nocturne, trained in France by Italian Allesandro Botti. He has been here to watch the horse and has some concerns about the congestion of races here, but his fourth Caulfield Cup suggests there are no problems. German goalkeeper Flatten The Curve is very interesting. Hank Grewe is a man of few words but the horse has won in America and Germany and will love the wet track and the two kilometres. “We’re hoping for a wet environment,” Grewe said. “He’s a very easy horse and can go wherever he wants in the race, over the fence or on the pace.” America’s Parchment Party deserves to be 50-1, while Japan’s Chevalier Rose has the same chance but should be shorter with jockey Damian Lane, who had success at Lys Gracieux in the 2019 Cox Plate. Coach Willie Mullins is also coming to watch Absurde, which might mean something. Maybe Willie has a good feeling. Goodie Two Shoes is a lightweight trained and owned by Irish legend JP McManus. If push comes to shove, I love Presage Nocturne while rethinking Al Riffa (it didn’t last long!). Buckaroo fascinates me. What are you thinking?

Recent history says coming off a hot Cox Plate run and carrying some weight is the formula for winning; Just ask Verry Elleegant and Gold Trip. So Buckaroo is one of the top four chances for me. I want him to be behind Half Yours, the fairytale story Torranzino (bush trainer Paul Preusker and rising star Celine Gaudray) and the international best Presage Nocturne. Then I will add Valiant King, Meydaan, Royal Supremacy as insurance and Middle Earth and Goodie Two Shoes as third. Can you complete us with your winning formula, Pete?

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It seems bomb-proof to me if you name more than half the field and tell me how you finished second, fifth, sixth and seventh in your three-way standings as you lay on the couch watching the replay on Tuesday night. This field is even but I like the stayers with strong Caulfield Cup form, so I’m tipping Presage Nocturne to win, Half Yours to be second and then come back to third in River of Stars and Royal Supremacy. Thanks to your joke about the river, I fired Al Riffa in half a day, so my top three trio numbers are: Presage Nocturne (No.6), Half Yours (No.14) and River of Stars (No.21). I also draw the line at Buckaroo, which is a star, but this year the race seems like an afterthought. Good luck Danny. No matter what, don’t look back in anger.