Darren Beadman is arguably Australia’s most successful jockey, but he is also a jockey with the unusual career twist of being an ordained minister. Darren Beadman’s Racing Career: Take One Beadman’s riding career had a flying start when he won the apprentice jockeys’ title in his first season, 1982/83. He won the title again in 1984/85, the same season he had his first Group 1 win on Inspired in the Golden Slipper, a race he won again in 1997 on Guineas. In 1990, Beadman won the Melbourne Cup on Kingston Rule in only his third start in the race. In 1996, Beadman completed the double of winning the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup – two of the most prestigious races on the Australian racing calendar. Also in 1996, he took the record of 186 winners Australia-wide and won the Sydney Jockeys’ Premiership. Beadman won the 1996 Melbourne Cup on a horse called Saintly – quite an appropriate name when you consider his next career move. Beadman Joins the Ministry and Takes the Road Less Travelled Beadman had been given a nine month disqualification from racing in Hong Kong. On his return to Sydney, Beadman used the nine months to consider his future, and he decided to make a full-time commitment to his faith and the Hillsong Church. The birth of his daughter who is profoundly deaf may also have affected his decision. Beadman stunned the racing world in 1997 by announcing that he was retiring from racing to become a full-time member of the ministry at the Christian Life Centre at Waterloo, a Pentecostal Christian Church better known as the infamous Hillsong Church. Beadman Returns to the Race Track and Further Success The lure of the race track was too strong though, and in 2000 Beadman returned to the track and continued his dazzling racing career. He won further Sydney Jockey Premierships in 2002/03 and 2003/04, and recorded 143 wins in 2004/05 and 152 wins in the 2005/06 season. These days, Beadman is again based in Hong Kong but still races frequently in Australia. His son Mitchell Beadman is also a jockey. In March, Darren returned to ride Bart Cumming’s filly Occurrence in the Surround Stakes – replacing Mitchell. In April Beadman was compared to the famous jockey George Moore, when he rode Tuesday’s Joy at Rosehill’s BMV, bringing a tally of three Group One wins from three rides on the mare. Unfortunately Beadman had a bad fall in a Hong Kong race in October, which meant that he missed the 2008 Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup. He cracked his coccyx (tail bone) and was out of racing for some time while it healed. Darren Beadman has been inducted into the Australian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and is considered one of Australia’s greatest ever jockeys - even though he is currently based overseas. It would seem that although he has changed course over his life, he has discovered his true calling: not as a minister but as a jockey who inspires many others. No Tags

In the second installment of our Fact or Fiction series, today I will discuss the old saying of ‘never bet in maidens’. Is this really wise advice? Are we better off avoiding races that are restricted to the lowest possible class of horse? Or are there money-making opportunities even in low-grade events? Around 30% of all races in Australia are for maidens only, so if you are excluding yourself from betting in these events you need to make sure you are doing so for valid reasons. Let’s take a look at the overall stats for the 13,000 maiden races in Australia over the last 3 years: The favourite had a 34% winning strike-rate and lost 8% on turnover at TAB prices. The second favourite had a 19% strike-rate and lost 11% on turnover. The third favourite had a 14% strike-rate and lost 11% on turnover. And how do these numbers compare to the 31,000 non-maiden races over the last 3 years? The favourite had a 31% winning strike-rate and lost 9% on turnover at TAB prices. The second favourite had a 18% strike-rate and lost 13% on turnover. The third favourite had a 14% strike-rate and lost 13% on turnover. So you can see that in actual fact the strike-rate of favourites in maiden races is better than in all other classes combined. And the loss on turnover on maidens is reduced by 1-2% for each starting price rank for at least the first 3 horses in the market. A 34% winning strike-rate is a good starting point so we’ll now focus exclusively on the favourite in maiden races. How important is the number of career starts? What about track condition? Or finishing position last start? Backing a maiden favourite at it’s first career start lost just 3% on turnover at TAB prices. That could quickly be turned into a small profit-making situation by betting best tote, bookie or Betfair prices. Other than that there was no strong pattern across the number of career starts so don’t rule out a maiden favourite just because it has had 10, 15 or even 20 unsuccessful tries. The performance of the favourite in maidens did vary quite markedly depending on the state of the track. On good tracks it was a 35% winning strike-rate for 5% loss on turnover. But the loss on turnover on dead, slow or heavy ground was between 10 and 17%. So we can safely say that as a general rule we’ll be better off focusing on good tracks only. In terms of last start finishing positions, the worst performing horses were those that finished 2nd, 3rd or 4th at their most recent run as each of these lost between 8-10% on turnover. This is up to double the overall good track/maiden favourite qualifiers so there is a good case for excluding these horses as they appear to be overbet as a rule. So if we were to concentrate just on maiden favourites on good tracks where the horse finished 5th or worse last start (or is having it’s first career start) you would have had a 35% strike-rate and be all square using TAB prices. Once again if you were betting with the corporate bookies or Betfair you would be showing a profit. This is a pretty good result across 3000 races but is just one method of analysing maidens. There are a number of ways you can approach betting on these low level races and make a profit. As always it’s a matter of doing your homework and being disciplined. I think it’s safe to say that punters who ‘never bet on maidens’ may well be costing themselves some good winners. If you have any rules or favourite sayings of your own that you would like tested please drop me a line at championpicks@gmail.com No Tags

Caulfield, nicknamed “The Heath”, is a famous Melbourne racecourse that is one of the only racecourses in Australia to rival Flemington as one of the country’s best-known racing tracks. Located in Melbourne’s south east, the track is only 8 kilometres from the CBD, and is home to the Melbourne Racing Club. 1859 saw the first racing at the Caulfield site. In those early years, horses battled through rough bush and sand, which earned Caulfield its nickname of “The Heath”. The Victoria Amateur Turf Club (now the Melbourne Racing Club ) held its first formal race meet in 1876, and in 1879 introduced the now famous Caulfield Cup - a race considered by many to be Australia’s best test of speed and stamina. The Caulfield Cup is run over 2400m on the third Saturday of October. The ultimate dream in Australian racing, of course, is to win both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups: but so far only nine horses have done so. Caulfield was extensively redeveloped in the 1990’s, and the new track opened in 1996. The main Rupert Clarke stand is fully enclosed – which is a good idea in Melbourne’s often fickle climate. It offers uninterrupted views of the track and some of Australia’s most prestigious races. The biggest event at Caulfield is the Spring Carnival, which includes three days of racing, leading up the Caulfield Cup on the last day. The Caulfield Guineas Day and the Thousand Guineas Day complete the Spring Carnival. Caulfield hosts around 20 race days a season, and other important and historic races at Caulfield include the Blue Diamond Stakes (Victoria’s richest event for two-year-olds) as well as the Oakleigh Plate, Futurity Stakes and the C.F. Orr Stakes. There are two other major carnivals held: the Summer and Autumn Carnivals. The track is triangular in shape, with three straights and a total circumference of 2080 metres, including a finishing straight of 367 metres. The course proper is 30 metres wide, and was entirely re-laid in 2005 with banking on the turns, varying from 4% on the home straight and 2% on the other turns. Caulfield is a 20-minute drive from Melbourne’s central city on the South Eastern Arterial. Trains and trams make the track easily accessible without a car as well. Like its rival across town at Flemington, Caulfield promotes its function facilities for those needing an event catering for up to 200 people. For a meal with a twist, Caulfield offers gourmet dining with a view, at the Promenade Tiered Dining Restaurant which is located directly opposite the finish line. Every table is equipped with an individual LCD TV - for all those who were always told they couldn’t watch TV while having dinner! Other dining options include the buffet style Bernborough Restaurant in the main Rupert Clarke Grandstand, complete with bar and tote, or the more exclusive Blue Diamond room in the member’s area. Whether you go to Caulfield for the racing or the dining or the betting, its good odds that you wouldn’t have to fight your way through the bush and sand to get there any more! No Tags