Jockey Steven Pateman could barely suppress a smile as he was cantering  Zed Em down to the start for the Brierly Steeplechase, the feature of day one of the Warrnambool carnival.
There has been no shortage of compelling horse racing storylines in recent years but Patch could top them all when the one-eyed underdog sets off in the Kentucky Derby for the first leg of US thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.
This year's $6 million Melbourne Cup is poised to become the direct beneficiary of a number of high quality stayers that competed in arguably the world's toughest 3200m race, The Tenno Sho, run at Kyoto in Japan on Sunday night.
As a jumps jockey, Steven Pateman has won everything there is to win at the famous Warrnambool May carnival.
The Asian Racing Federation will later next month create one of the most powerful "Anti-Illegal Betting Task Forces" in a bid to outlaw the haemorrhaging of billions of dollars of betting money to underground bookmakers.
Hawkesbury will take the next step towards completing a polytrack training surface this week, a project Anthony Cummings is looking to use as he upgrades the training facilities at Princes Farm.
The departure of John O'Shea from Godolphin will be completed this week once financial terms are agreed, but debate has already turned to who will take the job.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have English, maybe the second best sprinter in the country, fit and ready for the challenge of the Robert Sangster Stakes at Morphettville on Saturday.
Jumps racing takes centre stage in Warrnambool this week, though there's also plenty of flat racing on offer.
An afterthought for Fabrizio could parlay into a Brisbane winter campaign after his comfortable win in the Hawkesbury Cup
John O'Shea will leave his post as Godolphin's Australian trainer after three years and take an extended break from racing.
While John Price knows his sprinting three-year-old Wise Hero is a horse of the future, the trainer will resist the temptation to travel for rich and more lofty assignments in South Australia next week.
Shillelagh left behind the frustrations of autumn as she proved too strong for favourite Daysee Doom in the Godolphin Crown at Hawkesbury on Saturday.
Scott Singleton's first memories of the Hawkesbury track are next to the bull ring as a five-year-old as his grandfather trained horses. His best came on Saturday as Shazee Lee exploded through late to take the Hawkesbury Guineas.
Muswellbrook trainer Justin McIntosh is hoping being reunited with old mate In A Wink will provide his fledging career with a massive boost, starting in Sunday's Tamworth Cup.
Melbourne Cup winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy will carry the bandaid on his nose at Hawkesbury on Saturday after having a sun spot cut out and wants to spread the word for jockeys to get checked.
Grace Panella took out the champion of champions at the NSW Mini Trots Championships at Tamworth over the Easter weekend, but it was the Harris family from the Riverina that starred in two categories
Hugh Bowman has a big lead early in the world's best jockey standings and will look to extended it when he rides Werther in the Sunday's Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Hong Kong.
With Warrnambool on the horizon next week the racing focus will turn to the jumps horses, who take centre stage at the three-day carnival.
While the possible impact of 457s and early starts on the turf holds prominence, Saturday's Hawkesbury Guineas, the race that launched Chautauqua, will have the best ground for a Saturday around Sydney for two months.
With the major South Australian races approaching, Saturday's meeting at Morphettville looks like an excellent lead-in to their carnival.
Ron Quinton is a master of bringing his horses through the right races and he believes Hawkesbury's Godolphin Crown is just that for Daysee Doom.
It has always amazed even her most ardent and dedicated followers just how jockey Linda Meech manages to find the time and the energy to criss-cross the state seemingly on a daily basis.
Hawkesbury trainer Garry White wants to complete the box set of feature races at his home track's stand-alone meeting with Generalissimo in Saturday's Hawkesbury Guineas.
Bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster liked what he saw when a Snitzel colt out of Bramble Rose walked into Inglis' parade ring at Newmarket last year.
Godolphin blue dominates the top of betting for Saturday's Hawkesbury Gold Cup and trainer John O'Shea believes the market has it right with Spectroscope leading the way.
A downturn in the Karaka Select Sales at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Sales has resulted in the company introducing a new format for Karaka 2018.
Bathurst harness racing trainer Nathan Turnbull was won the right to continue to train despite a first sample taken from Destiny Warrior showing a irregularity to cocaine after he won at Dubbo in February.
Anthony Cummings and his new training partner son Edward are hoping that the training deeds that ignited their remarkable family dynasty over half a century ago in Adelaide, can again assist them when they arrive in South Australia later in the week.
Whatever the future for the St Leger, Caulfield trainer John Moloney and connections of Dornier were revelling in the win on Tuesday.
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