CASABLANCA, Tuesday: Good morning! We
generally find it necessary to decamp to some remote foreign city at this time of the year when a certain horse race thunders to a conclusion down Melbourne way. You see, with the assistance of the Column One crystal ball, we’ve acquired the habit of predicting the place getters.
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AND we’ve had considerable success. We can even recall choosing the nag that come second-last as long ago as 1997, so our credentials are sound. Indeed, we’ve even nailed the last three place getters in the one year – and we’ve every intention of chasing that glittering record in this Year of Grace 2007.
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OUR predictions, nay certainties for today can be found in the last item below.
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AS for the annual frivolities associated with The Cup, no doubt the top hats will be much in evidence, armed with their new Bentley Havana and Rolls Royce
Phantom coupes, complete with well stocked wicker picnic baskets. Champagne flutes will be much in evidence, while jeroboams of Moet & Chandon will doubtless bubble icily on the side. Or methuselahs or even the odd balthazar or two. Jolly good fun.
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FROM our tent in the Casablanca desert , shared with a few laconic Bedouins, we can see … well, not much actually, just the endless sands dotted with camels straight out of Crock. All they lack is the Foreign Legion cap. Wonder if Eadie Bond, The National’s horse racing editor par excellence, would like to run a book on the camel races here?
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THE reality in PNG will be those anxious faces tipped up to the telly on the wall at the bookies as the favourite yet again is pipped at the post or buried in the mob a few furlongs back. Many will lose a lot; don’t bet if you can’t really afford to lose.
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RIGHT! The predictive moment can be postponed no longer, so here we go. The 2007 Melbourne Cup (trumpet fanfare, release larks and nightingales) will be a symphony crafted by Mahler, hotly pursued by The Fuzz and a Zipping finish will be recorded third. Don’t say we didn’t tell you. Good luck!
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– Dee Nesenolis