• Max Presnell

During the wasting process Jack Thompson resembled a grasshopper while John Miller struck a praying mantis pose during their sauna sessions at the now defunct Giles Baths at Coogee.

• Patrick Bartley

 It seems the domination of two-year-old races by trainer David Hayes just gets stronger and Saturday's meeting at Caulfield will be no exception.

• Adam Pengilly

Wilf Mula remembers being told he was a hex. A sport that was supposed to bring people together had friends sidestepping him at sales and parade rings. Wonder what they would think now?

• Adam Pengilly

It's the $2 million question Gary Portelli has been asked all week, but will Michael Hawkes be the one who will answer it for him?

• Patrick Bartley

Nearly two years ago, members of the media, Racing Victoria executives and senior Seven West officials gathered in the boardroom of the network in Melbourne to announce the birth of racing.com.

• David Polkinghorne

The Black Opal Stakes is looking to lure punters from Singapore and New Zealand.

• Adam Pengilly

Toby Edmonds is hoping Sundance's main Summer Sprint rivals will be vulnerable fitness wise as the canny Gold Coast trainer plots a potential Magic Millions swoop via Warwick Farm.

• John Holloway

The performances of the progeny of Frankel were an outstanding feature of racing in 2016. The hype is about to land Down Under big time.

• Adam Pengilly

Racing Australia's contentious whip policy is having the final touches applied after an exhaustive review. But don't expect jockeys to have their use further restricted.

• Patrick Bartley

In a significant twist to the James McDonald betting inquiry senior NSW integrity officers are now hopeful that a pivotal witness may give evidence.

After being a late withdrawal at Randwick on Boxing Day, group 1-winning former New Zealander Dal Cielo is scheduled to head back to town for the Summer Sprint at Warwick Farm.

• Adam Pengilly

Pocket rocket Destiny's Kiss closed to within one more win of being a million-dollar marvel as the horse shunned in a sales ring and not big enough to be exported to Hong Kong continued to defy father time.

Lindsay Park senior trainer David Hayes may have been disappointed with Oscietra's third at her Flemington debut but he's happy in the knowledge the stable has two ready-made replacements.

• Michael Lynch

So you've bought this horse who could not be better connected. 

• Michael Lynch

For the sons and daughters of superstar sportsmen and women, living up the family hype and public expectation can be impossible.

• Adam Pengilly

As if there was any doubt about Winx's place on the world stage, there shouldn't be now after trainer Chris Waller and the two-time Cox Plate-winning heroine's connections were invited to rub shoulders with the world's best later this month.

• Michael Lynch

Tulips normally bloom in spring, but the filly of that name flowered in perfect style at Moonee Valley on a hot and summery New Years Eve twilight meeting that saw out 2016 and welcomed in 2017.

• Adam Pengilly

He shirked at initial attempts to put him into the gates, but Winning Rupert never gave his connections or punters cause for concern afterwards after landing a half-million dollar payday and smashing a track record at Eagle Farm.

• Adam Pengilly

Michael Hawkes thought "justice prevailed". He would have done well to take a straw poll of punters at Canterbury nearby. If their 2016 had been bad, they stumbled into the new year on their knees and with a headache long before the clock struck midnight.

• Adam Pengilly

Bloodstock guru Julian Blaxland scouted a filly which started a Magic Millions favourite in his first year of trading. And now he's warming to the idea again after From Within soared to the brink favouritism for the $2 million Gold Coast sprint.

• Michael Lynch

We all think the Melbourne Cup, with its $6.2 million prizemoney, is a pretty big deal. 

• Adam Pengilly

A leading Canberra trainer has urged Racing NSW to consider adding a Provincial Championship qualifier in the nation's capital as the local racing fraternity digests their shock switch away from the Country Championships.

• Max Presnell

Among the diversions of cobalt and whipping,  2016 was the Year Of Winx, one of the most dynamic winners of the Cox Plate, the weight-for-age championship of Australasia spiced by visitors.

• Adam Pengilly

The United Harness Racing Association has formally lodged a submission arguing against the proposed whip ban from September on the grounds it will harm the integrity of the sport.

• Adam Pengilly

Neil Werrett's Magic Millions and Golden Slipper hopes go on the line either side of the new year on the weekend, but it was news on Black Caviar's latest test to see whether she was in foal that had him fretting the most.

• Adam Pengilly

One of the Northern Territory's top cattle farming families and that of one of the Top End's former leading policeman might now be linked by marriage, but it is their association with cult speedster Sirbible which will matter most on Saturday.

• Patrick Bartley

David Hayes has stood before the microphones at press conferences for decades but the trainer admits that Friday morning's media conference to discuss the debut performance of champion race mare Black Caviar's daughter, Oscietra, was different than any he had been involved in before.

• Patrick Bartley

No doubt the most important race around Australia this Saturday will be the $500,000 Perth Cup, which will be breaking with tradition and being staged on New Year's Eve moving from New Year's Day.

• David Polkinghorne

Ominous rain drops doesn't discourage Canberra trainer's mare from saluting to set up back-to-back wins.