Pestwac (Tony Moffat) returns with more tales from the betting ring in days gone by. ‘Kitch’ had a thing about horses ridden by Roy Higgins.
Tulloch Done This: SP bookmaking in a country town
February 2, 2026 by 1 Comment
Pestwac (Tony Moffat) gets into a reminiscing mood and meanders along with some colourful memories from an old bush-town Australia.
Almanac Horseracing (Tales): The Gambler’s Ghost
January 29, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Wayne Peake shares his story ‘The Gambler’s Ghost’, the account of a tragic punter’s redemption, from his eBook ‘The Gambler’s Ghost and Other Racing Oddities’.
Almanac Horseracing: ‘The Longshot Plan’ – a Horseracing System from the 50s
January 12, 2026 by 3 Comments
Tony Moffat talks us through a 1950s betting system known as “The Longshot Plan”.
Almanac Literary: – ‘The Marvellous Cup’: a story told in ‘Touchstone’, a biography of Samuel Griffiths.
January 6, 2026 by Leave a Comment
In this third extract from ‘Touchstone’ Murray Bird and Richard Griffiths, ‘The Marvellous Cup’ looks at the world of racing in Australia in 1890, and in particular the Melbourne Cup.
Almanac Literary: ‘The Bribe’ – a story told in ‘Touchstone’, a biography of Samuel Griffiths.
January 2, 2026 by Leave a Comment
In this second extract from ‘Touchstone’ Murray Bird and Richard Griffiths show that Samuel Griffiths was a man of great integrity.
Almanac Horseracing: Dunkeld Cup Day – Saturday, 15 November
November 14, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Dandy Andy presents his thoughts and tips for the Western District time honoured Dunkeld Cup running on Saturday 15 November.
Sal’s Preview 2025: Orr Stakes Day Preview – The FIXture is in – and it makes me wild!
November 14, 2025 by Leave a Comment
In his final preview for the year Sal Ciardulli takes us to Caulfield for Orr Stakes Day. Sal also comments on the AFL’s Wildcard Round. [Thank you Sal for the considerable time and effort you have taken throughout the year presenting your racing and footy tips, it has been very much appreciated. – ED]
Sal’s Preview 2025: Champions Day Preview – Going into the Last Quarter: a Stayer’s Test!
November 7, 2025 by Leave a Comment
It’s Champions Day at Flemington on Saturday, with unsettled weather forescast, punters may be wise to considering backing stayers suggests Sal Ciardulli in preview and tips.
Almanac (Irish) Life: My day at Páirc MacUílín, Ballycastle
November 7, 2025 by 20 Comments
Murray Bird recently had a couple of weeks in Ireland. He was so taken and moved by the people, their sport and their music, their friendliness and their likability, that he just had to get his thoughts on the page. This is an Almanac classic. It’s travel, observation and understated commentary. It’s wholehearted participation and engagement. Please, pour yourself a Guinness or a whisky, and immerse yourself in a superb account of a hurling game and what happened along the way in getting there. This is the story of a grand people and their rich history and culture.
Sal’s Preview 2025: Oaks Day Preview – I’ve Got a Good Feeling!
November 5, 2025 by Leave a Comment
It will be another fabulous day of Spring Carnival horseracing with the Oaks Day meeting. Sal Ciardulli presents his thoughts and tips for the meeting.
Melbourne Cup: The Almanac sweep and trifecta
November 4, 2025 by 5 Comments
Here’s what the mugs at the Footy Almanac came up with.
Almanac Horseracing – Cup Day Preview: can Valiant King drive us home?
November 4, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Sal’s back with a fine-toothed comb run over the field for the Melbourne Cup today.
Almanac Poetry: ‘The Race That Stopped A Nation’ by Patrick Smith
November 4, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Today is the running of one of the world’s greatest horse races, The Melbourne Cup. Patrick Smith recalls in verse the circumstances surrounding Damien Oliver’s win on Media Puzzle in 2002, ‘The Race That Stopped A Nation’.
The 2025 Melbourne Cup Field and an invitation to Monday evening’s digital (Teams) meeting of the tipping minds
November 3, 2025 by 4 Comments
Join the annual Almanac Melbourne Cup tipping round table, via Microsoft Teams, Monday night from 8pm EDST. Sweeps and form analysis to decide on the Almanac Trifecta.
Almanac Horseracing – Confessions of a teenage racegoer Part IV: the 1980 Golden Slipper Stakes and other Yobbo headline grabbers
October 31, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Wayne Peake provides us with another hugely entertaining excerpt from ‘Confessions of a Teenage Racegoer of the 1970s’ a section of his book ‘Sydney Racing in the 1970s’.
Sal’s Preview 2025: Derby Day – What will Racing Santa Bring Us?
October 31, 2025 by 3 Comments
It’s Derby Day at Flemington on Saturday and Sal Ciardulli presents his thoughts and tips for the meeting.
Almanac Books: An Extract – ‘Touchstone: Racing, Racing Men and Racehorses’ by RM Griffiths & MG Bird
October 28, 2025 by 1 Comment
Samuel Griffiths witnessed his first Melbourne Cup in 1877 at the tender age of nearly 12 years. His great grandson Richard Griffiths co wrote a rollicking yarn with Murray Bird about Samuel’s life in ‘Touchstone: Racing, Racing Men and Racehorses The life and times of Samuel Griffiths 1865-1937’. The Footy Almanac presents an extract from the book.
Sal’s Preview 2025: Cox Plate Preview – Farewell to the Grand Theatre
October 24, 2025 by Leave a Comment
With the two-day 2025 Ladbrokes Cox Plate Carnival this weekend punters have plenty of racing to consider. Sal Ciardulli makes it easier with his thoughts and tips for picking a winner.
Almanac Fiction: Harry calls a winner
Wayne Peake has written a cracking fictional turf story about Harold Trump renowned race caller until sacked for calling the wrong winner, a bank robbery witnessed by Harold, the apprehension of the bandits at a race meeting, and in a twist, a reward from the man who sacked him.