Howard Atkinson

Exactly right, Hesi . . . hence the dilemma that Styx finds itself in, as detailed in my post.

Jammy Jaffa . . . I like that ! 😁 Wasn't too jammy yesterday though . . . could be that the teflon coat of protection has started to slip. That can only be good for you, Jammo. 🙂

Scratching Replacements for Smiler (team Styx) Comp R2 - 14 is out ; replaced by 9 Comp R3 - 17 is out ; replaced by 9 Many thanks, PJ.

R1) 1-3 R2) 8-10 R3) 2-10 Best Bet NZ R4) 6-7 R5) 2-8 R6) 3-7 R7) 1-13 R8) 1-5 Best Bet Aus R9) 3-7 R10) 1-4 Good luck today to my opponent, Jammo. You've been in good form, Jammo, and I'm gonna have to go some just to keep you in sight. Best of luck today to my formidable Styx team-mates. Another team win is due, and it will come today. 🙂 Bloused out late yesterday in the shadows of the post ... we'll make no mistake today. Many thanks again for this very fine comp, PJ.

Upon reflection, we Styx may never get to play our Triple Joker at all this round ! The 2 teams above us we have played already this round (Kaos & Old Mate). Our next 4 games are all against teams below us (Magic, Showtime, Seagulls, Reapers, Max Factory . . . in that order). Magic is today, so we can't play Triple Joker against them. Showtime & Seagulls are 6 & 14 points below us, respectively. Chances are they'll still be below us when we come to play them, especially Seagulls. Showtime a chance, as they haven't played any Jokers as yet. REAPERS ARE OUR CHANCE . . . as they are presently only 2 points behind us, and like us are yet to play any Jokers this round. Max Factory may get to within 3 places of us on the ladder to enable us to play our Triple Joker against them in the final round, but it is a longshot given their present points status and their need for longshots to roll home week-by-week. So Reapers it most likely is. Hoping that Hesi & Co "pull finger" and sneak just ahead of us on the ladder prior to us lowering the boom on them in a big way in our forthcoming match-up. 'Cos if Reapers are still behind us come our match-up, then it'll most likely be sayonara to our Triple Joker, without a ball being bowled ! 🤯

Drat ! 🙂 Well done, Old Mate ! We gave you a bit of a scare after R9 . . . but you nailed it when it most mattered. Looks like we'll be able to play our Triple Joker somewhere along the way after all ! 😁 No time for moping . . . we're back in business tomorrow ! Thanks for another very entertaining PJ Comp day, PJ. Well done on your win.

ooops ... I was looking at your Reserve Race selections. So Rainbiel it is ! Good draw, good form, Joe Pride trainer . . . looks like you're in with a royal chance, PJ.

I think that Old Mate's best chance of toppling Styx is for PJ's 'C'est Magique' to get up. I'll be loading up on 'C'est Magique', so that it will feel like it is carrying 78.5 kgs. 🙂

We'll be seeing those words a lot today ! 😁

Scratching Replacement for me please, PJ. Comp R5 (Flemington R4) 2 is now out ... replaced by 4 Thank you.

'Teflon' Howie for the table-topping Styx R1) 4-5 Best Bet NZ R2) 4-7 R3) 4-5 R4) 4-7 R5) 2-3 R6) 2-16 R7) 1-6 Best Bet Aus R8) 1-3 R9) 1-3 R10) 3-11 Reserve R11) 3-4 Big day today for Styx up against Old Mate, as Styx race to maintain their commanding lead in this fine comp. Old Mate have a formidable roster with which to do battle . . .no doubt they will give us a run for our money. Good luck to my opponent Jack, whom I'm hoping will fall under the spell of 'Teflon' Howie whose meagre $1336 aggregate has been enough to overwhelm 6 of 8 opponents to date. We'll make that 7 out of 9 after today, eh Jack. Whaddya reckon ? 😉 Many thanks for another highly entertaining comp, PJ. Always a whole lot of fun.

Curious indeed, PJ. 😄 In fact we Styx have won only 2 of our last 6 matches . . . probably a better record that the Reapers 😘 . . . but still, nothing to write home about ! Our status at # 1 after a less than flattering win/loss record can no doubt be put down to . . . (a) the evenness of a draft comp where on any given day anybody can beat anybody (b) we Styx being made of teflon . . . the bad stuff just don't stick ! 🙂 Long may it continue.

I suspect Kovalica will win next time out, too. Went a very good race.

Very well done today, Ray and the Kaos. Too good for us Styx fellas today in a sterling battle back-and-forwards which went right to the wire, as I always suspected it would. At times it looked like team Kaos would get away with us . . . but we held in there and even managed to briefly hit the front at one stage late in the day. Unfortunately just as it was one horse (Hayasugi) that brought us unstuck last Saturday with a bulk team load-up, the same scenario this Saturday as well, but this time it was Tropical Squall instead of Hayasugi. Anyways, a grand, keenly contested match against formidable opponents the Kaos. Come the end of the day, fun and excitement was the winner. Do we get a point for being a participant in that, PJ ? 😀 Thanks very much for another excellent PJ Comp day, PJ. You've been an absolute star again. Thanks for all your efforts today my Styx team-mates . . . you hung tough and we weren't far away. Next week, eh !

Even though the distance is far too short for Kovalica, we all know what a class animal this is. Maybe . . . just maybe . . . the dream can turn to reality.😊

What a difference a race makes ! Kaos in the Styx ranks, after a great fightback from Styx brought undone by a tropical squall. 😁 Damn weather !

I rated Maria Farina a notch (in the case of Bonny Lass and Dragon Leap, 2 notches) below the other 5 runners in that race. Maybe that's why I'm not featuring in the 'Magnificent Seven' list ! 😊

Scratching Replacement for Robert (Double R), please PJ. Comp R9 (Randwick R9) 3 - Olentia is out replaced by 6 - Ausbred Flirt Thank you.

Scratching Replacement for me, please PJ. Comp R1 (Ellerslie R5) 1 - Waitak is out replaced by 7 - Petrucci Thank you.

R1) 1-4 R2) 3-10 R3) 7-9 Best Bet New Zealand R4) 6-11 R5) 3-17 R6) 1-8 R7) 1-3 Best Bet Australia R8) 3-8 R9) 2-5 R10) 2-5 A very tough opponent - team Kaos - this week. We Styx will need to be "right on song" to take this one out. Am expecting this to be a very close contest. Personally I'm up against Midnight Caller, who features prominently in the 'Magnificent Seven' stats. On that basis I'd have to say I'm more hopeful than confident of causing an upset here. But the beauty of this comp - ya just never know. Upsets happen. I've got a starter's chance. Good luck to you, MC ! 🙂 Wishing the best of luck to my formidable Styx team-mates. For sure, this will be a very good match to win. Many thanks, PJ.

I'm glad our Styx Grand Final match 20 April will feature Ellerslie racing. Riccarton - - I'll take Jasmine Fawcett mounts and hope for the best.

Careful with that decimal point, PJ. I was feeling bad enough at $100. Might be good enough for a spot in the Reapers, but there's no way I'll keep my berth at the Styx with $10.00. 😁

Just got too far back, and gave itself too much to do. Ya can't come from last in these sort of races. Another grand effort today from you, Smiler. 🙂 You're travelling beautifully, at or near the top of 'The Magnificent Seven'. An absolute asset for team Styx.

Well done Maxi & Barb all at The Factory. It looked like the one race that could bring us undone today would be the very, very open Blue Diamond . . . and so it proved. A great dividend for a very good horse. This was my prophecy in my pre-match preamble, and again, so it proved. "Whilst we Styx will be hot favourites to win this one well we will however be mindful of the maxim 'Always Beware The One You Never Saw Coming'. The personnel within Max Factory have pulled off many a major upset in past competitions, and will be fancying their chances of doing so again". Great team effort today by The Factory . . . you certainly deserved this one after a long run of bad luck. We applaud you. We Styx managed to keep our noses in front in the Team Aggregate stakes (nicely found as a BB in the last, Robert), so some reward, albeit small, for us Styx-sters. Hard luck my guys . . . we'll bounce back next week. Thanks for another great day's entertainment, PJ. Our Saturdays wouldn't be the same without your very fine comps.

Getting a higher aggregate than Max Factory will score us Styx-sters a valuable 2 points. At the moment we're $5 ahead. If that's all we get from this one . . . we'll take it ! 🙂