Racing: Punters go for Black Caviar at short odds

Titch. Photo / Natalie Slade

There is no one more frustrated than a bookmaker who can't lay the right bet.

Many of Melbourne's bookies this week have been giving double odds on Black Caviar's opposition in this afternoon's A$1 million Newmarket Handicap in an effort to drum up business to balance their books.

Even at $1.25 punters have lined up to be on Black Caviar to the total exclusion of the others.

No surprise there.

This might be Black Caviar's most vulnerable race because of the 58kg topweight, but it's difficult to believe even 62kg would have brought her back to the others in that walk-in-the-park win at Flemington last start.

Trainer Peter Moody concedes the mare will get beaten for the first time eventually and that protecting her unbeaten record is not a priority.

Even if and when that happens his excitement machine will remain the one shining beacon in a season that lacks real stars among the older horses in Australia.

Go girl.

Titch well prepared
Much has been made of $1 million Auckland Cup winner Titch being a hurdler of sorts.

Yes, he's three from three in the hurdling game, but that doesn't make him a hurdler any more than Melbourne Cup winner Vintage Crop was a hurdler.

The cunning Dermot Weld won a hurdle race with Vintage Crop leading up to the handicaps being declared for the 1993 Cup, ensuring he got in the race at the right weight.

And that was over proper fences in Europe, not those ridiculously tiny things they call hurdles in Melbourne.

You could jump them carrying your grandmother.

The real story of the Auckland Cup was Kevin Myers' preparation of the horse. Fabulous.

And if you wonder why there were no quotes from Myers - that's his choice.

He answers his cellphone to only a few.

The press are not among them.

International flair
No Australian horses at Ellerslie this year, but what a splash the international jockeys made.

The money stayed in New Zealand hands, unlike last March and we got to see real class in the saddle.

Can't be all bad.

Big chances at Ellerslie
Bet of the day at Ellerslie this afternoon - well, there's a bit of competition.

Ken and Bev Kelso have great chances with Miss Sharapova and Magic Briar, Asgoodasitgets looked a good thing beaten last start and Anabandana is a real bit of stuff.

Difficult to choose among that quartet, but it's nearly impossible to get out of your mind the way Anabandana simply buried the opposition late in the Matamata Breeders Stakes.

Let's go with her.

The TAB wasn't exactly begging you to have something on at $2.20 yesterday, but they're probably right.

That's about her odds.