Westie, yes, I succeeded today to get through the Sunshine Coast Library, to the State Library and then through to the PressReader and open up a form guide. In the process, I had to login multiple times, change passwords several times and, as a result, got pretty frustrated in the process. I still have problems. These sites are disastrous.

Anyway, all good and thanks for the suggestion.

With a hard copy of the paper, my approach is to make a variety of markings, highlights and notes. I'm not sure how I'll move forward with it 'on screen' - I'll just have to work out a process that suits. And I'll have to see if I can get through this process again when I try to find a form guide and whether I can print up any of the pages - I haven't worked that out either.

Thanks for the help, W. All good and will be a good resource.

I've signed up with Racenet. I didn't want to, but it just made sense. The formguide is a little enhanced and is easier to use than the free version. The extra news and other features should be interesting enough, so onward and upward.

As my wife said, we didn't know that we'd have to pay to watch most of our TV viewing not that long ago.

Easter Saturday!!!

47 years ago on Easter Saturday, I had my first win as an owner in a race at Kerang and I notice that the traditional Kerang meeting is on again today. Kerang is a fair bit north of Melbourne close to the Murray River and half the local population is related to me. You'll see the Radcliffe name all round the area, including a restaurant in nearby Echuca.

I've told this story about this win before, but I'll bore some of you again:

The story is that a footy club mate (an owner of Rock Prophet that ran in the big race at Sale yesterday) was asked to form a couple of small groups to race a couple of horses that had been resting in  paddock at Kyneton ... and never been trained. I got into the group that took an interest in the unraced 6yo by the French sire Dies. They used their imagination and named him Son Of Dies!! We were told that it jumps well and it was hard to keep him in a paddock. Right!! But Dies was the sire of one of Victoria's best jumpers in Chocolate Royal.

So, he got to the races and turned up at courses all over the state including Woodend, Donald, Mt. Wycheproof and even the picnics at Seymour - no placings, even at the picnics where we backed him from 16s into 8s and the jockey nearly fell off on the home turn.

Anyway, Easter is on the horizon and we're told he is going to have a run at Kerang. Easter was a busy time with footy and family commitments, so none of the ownership group could get up there. No special news from the trainer, so I had $10 SP on him as an interest.

Saturday came and went and we heard nothing. Then the news arrives that he had been backed into 5/4 favourite ... and won by 16 lengths!!

So, I won $12.50 on the punt ... and spent $28 on a photo of the win ... and you can't see the placegetters, so no one thinks he was actually in a race.

I've never gone to the Kerang races, but I do still have the photo and a story to tell.

Did you ever get the answer to the please explain from the trainer?

I don't recall ever meeting him, let alone talking to him ... I think he finished up as the official starter in the district

I like Matthew Cartwright as a good apprentice jockey and don't mind backing his rides. But the difference between a good apprentice and a top jockey was shown with Jye McNeil going onto Steel Prince today. Absolute brilliant ride today - he rode to suit a strong stayer with just fair turn of foot and fixed up his main opposition, Rousseau, along the way.

A wordsmith par excellence

We still have experts like that today . .

Surprised that they allow those colours to be resurrected . .

A complaint about the TAB ... surprise, surprise!!

TAB still shows the Warrnambool track as a Slow7. There have been 2 downgrades and it is now a Heavy 9!! This is a disgrace. I've been out on the road and using my phone to have a few bets, thinking it was still a 7. Not good enough

Thanks JWH .... I appreciate the compliment   

In my Easter Saturday story above, I mentioned that a good friend had put the ownership group together back them. Well, he still has a share of a few horses with Ray Besanko. One of them, Rockclliff just won at Bendigo. The reason that I mention it is that the horse carried his colours to victory ...

.... and those colours were at one time the colours carried by the great horse, and dual Melbourne Cup winner, Peter Pan!! There were 'experts' in those days that rated Peter Pan as a better horse thn Phar Lap. I wouldn't know .. just before my day.

I got a text from my good friend yesterday. Here is the message ....

Tomorrow. Soobooma. Caulfield R6. No13. Damian Lane apologised to Ray after Sale race on Good Friday ($150k race). Said poor ride, should have won. Have a couple of dollars each way. Cheers

I did what was recommended: wish I'd had more now ...