Down the coast again, and again

I've been down to the south coast for 3 weekends in a row.  Twice to go diving with Matt, and once to go to the Moruya races with Karyn.  And then last weekend we went up to Sydney to go to the races at Warwick Farm.  I'm actually glad to have this weekend off.

Here are a few photos from the various weekends.

 Stake Knife running 3rd at Moruya.

 The jockey (Kayla Nisbet) was pleased with the result. Despite coming back with a face covered in mud. She seems to be always smiling.

 We stayed overnight at a place in Bateman's Bay overlooking the water.

 Our room.

 Having a glass of champagne and enjoying the view.

 The view from the room looking out to the East.

 I went for a walk after dinner and captured this view of the bridge over the Clyde river.  The section in the middle lifts up to let sailboats through.

 A moray eel that Matt and I saw on a dive at Broulee.

 Some colourful sponges.

 A large blue grouper that kept his eye on us.

 This is the beach at Broulee where we went diving.  There was a very strong rip just off the rocks that quickly sucked us out into the deeper water.  Just as we were getting dragged out in the strong current I remembered that I hadn't locked the car doors.

 Karyn and I on a bus trip to Warwick Farm with the Women In Racing crowd.  I reckon Karyn had a champagne glass glued onto her hand for the whole trip.

 We were invited by the racecourse manager to view the start of a race from the starter's position.  The next three show the horses jumping from the barriers.

Two in a row

This week we went to Moruya for its Melbourne Cup Day races.

This time Diamond Jay was in the second race.  It’s a nice change from normal where we seem to be always in the last race.  For me, that means that I get the chance to take better pictures because there will be more light around.  At Bombala a fortnight ago I was battling rain and dark clouds that made taking a high-speed photo difficult.

We decided to get there early because the racing club wouldn’t allow us to book a table in the Members’ Area, and we thought that if the weather was awful we wouldn’t want to be stuck outside.  So we got there early enough to get the best table near the windows.

It seemed to drizzle the whole way to Moruya, which was worrying.  But when we arrived the rain stopped.  The sun even came out after a while and there was even a large spectator turn-out.

It turned out to be a great day, with Diamond Jay winning by 2 lengths.

The crowd was deafened by the screams of delight from Karyn and Penny who then raced down to give DJ a good pat.

Karyn, as usual, gave a speech at the trophy presentation.  Unlike last time when the crowd ran away as she spoke, this time they hung around.

A final pose for the photographer… As usual, we couldn’t get the trophy away from Penny for the rest of the day.

A trip to nowhere in particular

Today we were supposed to go the races at Bombala.   Bombala is a small town about an hour south of Cooma, which itself is about 2 hours south of Canberra.

Bombala has a single race day each year as a major fund-raiser for the local schools, emergency services, rural fire brigade, etc.  The racecourse is actually just a pub with a racetrack attached.  This is what it was like the last time we went in 2002.

Anyway, Karyn is in a club called “Women in Racing” that does regular trips to events like this, so we decided to go along and avoid having to drive ourselves.  However, when we got to the bus at 7:30am we were told that the races were cancelled because of the recent heavy rains and the predictions for further rain during the day.  It was a further disappointment for us because one of our horses, Diamond Jay, was going to be racing there.

Nevertheless, the trip was still on they said.  They would find somewhere for us to go – like a kind of mystery bus trip.

It was a great trip, with lots of alcohol involved, starting at around 8am.  I took pictures of Karyn all day and night with a champagne glass in her hand at each time.  But she refused to let me put the pictures up here.

So we ended up at a little place south of Bombala called Delegate.  It can’t be too far from the Snowy mountains because it was so bloody cold.

Here are some pictures of the place.

As you can see, the town is really just a pub with a few other buildings for company.  Most of which seemed abandoned.

So we spent the best part of the day in the local pub, which fortunately had its own TAB and plenty of TVs showing the Sydney and Melbourne races.

All day the weather changed from sun, to sleet, to snow, and back to sun.  The temperature was close to freezing all day.  And the wind was about 50-60 km/h – so the snow and sleet was blown horizontal.  I was only about to get out once for a walk, and even then I couldn’t go far because the next sleet/snow shower was never more that about 15 minutes away.

But the group of people we were with were fun and we had a great day.

2 Chances, but no success

We went to the races today.  It's never happened before, but both of our horses were running at the same race meeting.

The races were scheduled for Queanbeyan, but because of heavy rain during the week the track was too wet.  So they switched the races to the synthetic track at Canberra.  From the photo below you can see the synthetic track inside the grass track.

Diamond Jay ran first in race two.  This was her first run after a spell, so we weren't expecting much other than to be competitive.  She did keep up with the leaders, but got trapped against the rails and couldn't get a clear run in the final straight.  In the photo below she is at the back of the pack (in pink and blue check colours) and a bit obscured.  It looks worse because the horse in front slowed right down at the end and she had no option but to slow down as well. The jockey said she had lots more energy in her, but nowhere to go.  Maybe next time.

Hot Eyed Glare ran in the last race and was a disappointment.  But consistent with previous form.  We had a jockey who's ridden for us for many years and he said that he just didn't want to run and probably never would.  So we'll have to get rid of him and find a replacement.   Coming down the final straight he just slowed down and everyone passed him.  We've tried various distances and track conditions, but nothing has made a difference.  In the photo below he is in the pink and blue checked colours second from last.

On the betting front, I came out $1 ahead on the day.  Big punter that I am.

Half a day's racing at Braidwood

Today we went to the picnic races at Braidwood.   This is a once-a-year event run as a major fundraising activity for the local town's community services.  We love going to these races because they are a great day out.
There's nothing flash about the racecourse, but it was pretty good for somewhere that has races once a year.  And the atmosphere is terrific, with everyone out to enjoy themselves.

The course has a very "personal" feel about it compared to other courses.  There was little separation between the people and the horses.  In fact the horses were unloaded in the carpark, in between parked cars.   You got to stand within spitting distance of the finish line; so much so that I had to change to my 18-55mm camera lens because I was so close.

Our horse, Diamond Jay was racing in the last race.

In the fourth race, one of the jockeys lost his saddle near the finishing line.  Here is a quick shot I was able to get off as he went by.  You can see the jockey trying to stay on-board whilst his saddle was down past his left leg.

We were sitting next to another jockey's wife, and she was really upset that this happened, because it meant that someone (either the trainer or the strapper) hadn't done their job and the jockey could have been badly hurt.

The fourth race was actually declared a non-race because the starting gates had a problem.  After about an hour of discussion between the jockeys and the raceclub it was decided to abandon the rest of the races on safety grounds.  I wondered why they didn't revert to a standing-start so the races could continue.

So races 4 to 8 were cancelled and we got to go home without a trophy or prizemoney.

It was probably going to be Diamond Jay's last race for the season before a rest, so she might not run again now for several months.  We'll just have to wait and see.

A poor way to end a day

Today wasn't as good as we hoped it would be. We took a trip to Bega.

Why go to a little hamlet on the far South Coast of NSW? Because of its racecourse. Our horse was running there, so we felt obliged to make the 3 hour trip. That's 3 hours each way. In a car for 6 hours. Locked in car with my mother-in-law. But of course I'm only joking, she's not too bad.

We had to leave at around 8am so that we could get there early enough to get a table in the Members area. So I had to get up at around 6:30 so I could spend half an hour on the treadmill first.

We picked up Penny, and after about 2 hours we stopped for coffee at Maccas in Cooma, where it was foggy and the temperature was a pleasant 6 degrees. By the time we got down to sea-level, the temperature had climbed to a mild 14 degrees and the sun was out.

Karyn went to say hello to Diamond Jay, and got bitten again. It happens every time. I guess one day she'll learn to stay away from the part with teeth.

It was a great race meeting at the Sapphire Coast track. Unfortuntely we came 6th. The jockey blamed the horse for not performing, but we prefer to blame him. So no trophy this time.

To make the day worse, Karyn put on a trifecta bet (picking first, second, and third) but the girl at the TAB put it on wrong. When Karyn realised this, she broke the cardinal rule of betting, and had the bet changed. If she'd left it alone, we'd have walked away with a 490:1 payout. But she broke the rule of never changing a mistaken bet, so we walked away with nothing.

So, back in the car for another 3 hour drive. With the mother-in-law next to me all the way. I had to drive, because the girls had consumed at least a bottle each.

By the time we reached Cooma we felt like a nice steak dinner, so we stopped off at the local RSL, and as luck would have it, the restaurant didn't open for another half an hour. We didn't feel like waiting, so back to McDonalds we went.

The girls pigged out on fat-burgers, while I had a wrap from their healthy-choice menu. Strange, but this menu has shrinked to almost nothing these days.

On the way back to the car, Fay tripped over and hurt herself. I'm sure the bottle of wine had nothing to do with it. She already had an injured ankle, so now she has an injured wrist and hip go with it. When we got home she realised the disadvange of our split-level home: stairs. It took ages for her to get upstairs and into bed.

Boy am I not looking forward to the morning when she tries to get up and finds out that her muscles have locked-up. Maybe I can go out somewhere before she wakes up.

I got into the spa for a relaxing float-around. And, of course, it started to rain. You know, I find it hard to relax in the spa when it's raining on my head.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Big Win at Bega

On Sunday we drove to Bega on the southern coast of NSW to see our new horse "Diamond Jay"  race.

Whilst being optimistic about her, we weren't sure about her real competitiveness.  In her last race, despite coming 3rd, she was also 11 lengths behind the leader.  You always hope that there was a reason for this, not just a lack of speed.

Anyway, we made the 3 hour drive there with some friends, stopping at Cooma on the way for coffee and then a lookout over the Bega valley.

Here's the view from the lookout.

Canberra is in the Southern Highlands of NSW, so we're about 600m above sea level.  So, being Autumn, it was about 8 degrees C.   As we descended to sea level, the temperature rose to about 21 degrees, so we had a relatively warm day ahead, windy though it was.

Karyn gave her usual pep-talk to the horse.  He must be getting used to her now.  Last time he bit her 3 times.

And of course the best horse won on the day....

Here's Penny and Karyn holding the trophy in the Committee Room.  There, we watched the race replay about a dozen times.

Notice how tightly Penny is holding the trophy.  She kept it hugged to her chest for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We're wondering if we'll ever see it again.