Sal’s Preview: Round 10 Preview – The First Domino Falls

Sal Ciardulli presents his thoughts and tips for Round 10 of the AFL season 2026, also his racing tips for Flemington and Doomben.

Sal’s Preview – Round 9: I know it’s only Ruck and Roll, but I like it!

Sal presents his thoughts and tips for all the Round 9 matches plus his tips for the weekend’s racing.

Sal’s Preview – Round 8: Just Swanning Around

Adjudication errors and Draft issues are in Sal’s firing line this week. The feature races at Bendigo and Morphettville also come in for scrutiny.

Almanac (Life) Stories: Drover – The Blue Whale of the District

Pestwac draws on his life experience to relate the tale of Drover and Rover, two very unalike horses who caused a problem at the country races one day.

Almanac Horseracing: It’s A Gas Gas Gas

The People’s Elbow offers his thoughts on the main races at Flemington this weekend. Interestingly, he finds comparisons to gas policy in Australia. (Alert: some coarse language)

Sal’s Preview – Round 7: Through a Dark Blue Hue

Sal brings perspective to the Elijah Hollands situation and makes his call on likely Round 7 winners. This week’s major track meets are at Flemington and Morphettville.

Almanac Horse Racing: Fun With Numbers 2

Pestwac goes back to the track with insights (?) into systems that improve the odds of you winning.

Sal’s Preview – Round 6: If You Don’t Mind Umpire!

Sal offers his take on the various issues involving umpires before offering his tips for the main races at Mornington and Randwick.

Sal’s Preview – Round 5: Let’s Gather in the Autumn Glow

Sal cogitates on the concept of Gather Round and its location before offering his Round 5 tips as well as his thoughts about the feature races at Caulfield and Randwick.

Sal’s Preview – Round 4: All Aboard The Coaching Cycle – Bring your Alibi to the Championships

Sal takes the coach critics to task for their two-handed approach to the suitability or otherwise of particular coaches. But the continuing daytime Grand Final time slot gets a big tick.

Almanac Horseracing: Boo ars only

Pestwac, as we know, spent a lot of time on the punt where he came into contact with any number of colourful characters. Today it’s Dickie, a man of military bearing – although he probably wasn’t!

Sal’s preview – Round 3 and Australian Cup Preview: Like Guilty Feet, Footy Season’s got no Rhythm!

Sal says that ‘the Opening Round experiment prioritises novelty over cohesion and, in doing so, disrupts the flow that has long been central to the competition’. Hard to argue against. Read more here. Then there are the big meets at Flemington and Rosehill this weekend to consider.

Sal’s Preview 2026 – Round 2: Cheeky Devils – Glowing this Autumn

Sal is ranking the Matildas as the biggest game around this weekend but he’s still keen to pass on his thoughts about the AFL’s Round 2 as well as the major racing programmes at Caulfield and Rosehill.

Sal’s Preview 2026: Opening Round Preview – A bit misty optically

What’s a footy season at t Almanac without Sal’s Preview? Sal returns with his take on Opening Round, track tips for Flemington and marks of respect on the recent passing of several sporting legends. (Welcome back, Sal! – Ed.)

Almanac Horse Racing – Fun with Numbers and things on course

There are betting systems, there are educated algorithms, and then there is Pestwac! Work your way through Tony Moffat’s latest contribution to the science of picking a winner.

Almanac Horseracing: Black Caviar Lightning Stakes Day – Saturday 14 February

Group 1 Racing commences for 2026 at Flemington on Saturday 14 February. Dandy Andy previews and selects his tips.

‘Kitch’ and Higgins – bookmaking in the 60s

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

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

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

Tony Moffat talks us through a 1950s betting system known as “The Longshot Plan”.