Howard Atkinson

Maybe 'Party For One' or 'Eternal Flame' will get us Styx home. I know Hesi is cheering for us ! 😁

Yes indeed, Barb 😁. . . ex-PM 'Teflon' John Key's run came to an inevitable end . . . and so has Teflon Howie's run ! Running that close to the wind it was just a matter of time before I would come unstuck . . . glad it was you Barb with your first victory and very well done. Max Factory have had a wretched time of it this comp . . . so a deserved success here with Haysugi to put the smile back on your faces. Now let's set about some damage limitation, fellow Styxsters ! 🙂

Scratching Replacement for me, please PJ. Comp R2 - (Matamata R5) 15 is out . . . replaced now by 9 Thanks, PJ.

Scratching Replacement for me, please PJ. Comp R8 - (Caulfield R8) 3 is out . . . replaced now by 4 Thanks, PJ.

Styx v Max Factory Howie v Barb R1) 1-6 R2) 1-15 R3) 1-2 R4) 3-7 R5) 3-5 R6) 1-2 Best Bet - New Zealand R7) 1-5 R8) 3-8 Best Bet - Australia R9) 6-8 R10) 7-10 It's our 'Double-Joker' play this week, and 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. Good luck to Barb who sets about upsetting 'Teflon' Howie with his deceptive 5-1 winning record, that solitary loss being to a marauding PWJ who completely failed to read the script that had been headed up 'Get In Behind', and badly over-achieved on a day when miserable mediocrity had been called for. Best of luck, fellow Styx-ers. Let's finish this round-robin in style, at the head of proceedings, Thanks for this very fine comp, PWJ.

😁😀

1. Any "myth" of Styx invincibility has I believe been entirely in your own mind, Hesi, and in no-one else's. I don't recall anyone else having made such an assessment, certainly no-one in the Styx team. I can see where a panic may have set in elsewhere when we Styx skipped about 15 or so points clear after just the 2nd round. Triple Joker does that, and at that time most every other team had their Triple Joker play still in their arsenal. Some have played their Triple Joker since to good effect, almost as good an effect as we Styx achieved. No surprise there. And so the points range condenses. No surprise there. We Styx have had to fight hard for very late victories and also incurred a loss before we played Reapers, so no smashing of Styx invincibility suddenly occurred with the Reapers result. We Styx aren't "going to have to work hard for our points now" as you describe it, Hesi . . . we have always had to work hard for our points in very close match-ups in most games we have played. I say this in the nicest possible way, Alan. Just banter. 🙂 2. I'm sure Our Maizcay won't mind me saying that our ace player is Gordy . . . the record has shown that from the outset of the comp. . Seemed a very random statement, Hesi, that Our Maizcay is "somewhat out of form for him" when talking of a guy with an enviable 4/2 win/loss record this comp. Sorta came out of left field. Is there some history that I don't know about ? 🙂 3. "the Maxis could even make the finals". The record would surely suggest otherwise. TABLE AFTER ROUND 6 8th 1 points Max Factory^* $4626.80 That's not to say that with a couple of good longshot winners they can't beat the Styx next Saturday, but overall in the comp going forwards to suggest a finals berth for The Factory would be a somewhat fanciful proposition, even Maxi would concede that.

Well done today Hesi and the Reapers . . . the result said 3/2 but it felt like it was a more comfortable win for you all than that . . . you had a couple of big margin winners and the two matches we won were closely-fought affairs. Plus you got a nice team profit as well. So well done you guys . . . hitting your straps nicely as we all move towards the business end of proceedings. Hard luck my Styx guys . . . outgunned today but still a respectable team aggregate over $1100. We're still leading this whole comp as we've done for many weeks, with our best yet to come. And still with the double joker up our sleeve and intending to use that to good effect next week to stake our claim to be Minor Premiers. The Factory stand in our way of achieving that . . . we'll see ! 🙂 Many thanks for another highly entertaining PJ Comp day, PJ. Always absorbing stuff and a whole lot of entertainment for us all.

Further Scratching Replacement for Our Maizcay (Styx) Comp R6 ( Flemington R5) 9 is scratched, replaced by 10 Our Maizcay's two runners are therefore 1 & 10. Many thanks, PJ.

Styx v Reapers Howie v Secret Squirrel R1) 2-5 R2) 1-9 R3) 7-12 R4) 5-15 Best Bet - New Zealand R5) 10-13 R6) 2-10 R7) 3-4 Best Bet - Australia R8) 1-2 R9) 1-8 R10) 1-7 Styx looking to stay at the top-of-the-tree, as the Reapers begin to emerge from the undergrowth with a better performance last week. They're not completely out of things. Actually could be surprisingly close here, meaning we're keeping our remaining Joker in its holster ready to play in the final round against the factory workers. Some very, very good horses running around in comp races this Saturday, so will be enjoying the watch. Good luck, Secret Squirrel. I ain't topped 200 in 5 outings this season, so my 4-1 record is very, very deceptive. You would have every reason to fancy your chances in our match-up. I hope you're studying hard, Hesi. THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN 2147.60 Gordy (Styx) (4/1) is a-comin' for ya ! 😁

One thing we're sure of is that Maxi has never cottoned-on to is Get Smart's iconic 'cone of silence'. Definitely one of the more ebullient players going round.

That good fellow Hesi thought he was gaining momentum in the Comp, with an eye towards the next round. . . . and then this happened 😁

Hard luck, Maria & Showtime. You deserved much, much better out of today's game and when Kuroyanagi got bloused out in the 8th of 10 we Styx were almost out for the count. Just as last week the Magnificent Seven supremo Gordy stepped up when all seemed lost, and alongside a red-hot Smiler saved the day for us. I should have named our team the 'Houdinis' instead of 'Styx' . . . that is becoming readily apparent. Looks like we've got a resurgent Reapers to scrap with soon - - - today's Reapers effort was most likely a flash-in-the-pan - - -and they'll be quickly back to struggle street. That's the word going around anyway. I'm far too diplomatic to comment one way or the other on that. Maybe we'll dust off our remaining joker when the Reapers come a-callin'. Thanks for another excellent PJ Comp day, PJ. Heaps of entertainment.

The race is too short for you, Atishu. Running on nicely into 5th or 6th, that will be perfectly acceptable to team Styx. A very good campaign ahead . . .don't see that brought undone with an over-exertion today. See what you can do . . . and don't disappoint us team Styx. 🙂

Too late ! ☺️ Ayrton and Atishu. I've smacked them both hard with dollar bills flying everywhere, to dull their enthusiasm a tad. I'll be happy or I'll be rich . . . and happy is very much my preference. 🙂

wow . . . Styx making a real race of this, just like last week, when all seemed lost. That man Gordy again - Magnificent Seven Head Honcho, - and Smiler chiming in beautifully. Gonna be a cracking final race.

Showtime will be working hard to get the minimum 6 points for a Triple Joker win extended out to 9, 12, or 15 points to make the day really worthwhile for them. If they can get 2 hot favourites beat in the final 2 comp races then they can do it ! Otherwise they might just have to settle for the 6. We'll see. 🙂

I suspect that nose has cost us the win today. No matter . . . we'll be back !

Styx wanting 'Kuroyanaki' to win this !

Close game ! We don't mind how close . . . as long as our beak is in front at the right time . . . like last week ! 🙂

Lots of unlucky runners in that one. Candle was dead stiff. But come the end of the day, ya gotta be handy in the running at Te Rapa.

Styx v Showtime Howie v Maria r1) 7-12 r2) 1-6 r3) 2-12 r4) 4-7 BB r5) 1-4 BB r6) 2-3 r7) 1-4 r8) 5-6 r9) 4-15 r10) 1-2 Good luck to my opponent today, fellow Captain, Maria. I recall being trounced by Maria only about a month ago, and me saying I don't want to be playing Maria again any time soon ! Yet here we are. 😁 Many thanks for that, PJ. ☺️ To say that I'm longshot material today would be an understatement. Best of luck today to my mighty team-mates in team Styx. Let's keep that handy lead in the comp, fellas.

You think ??? 😁 You're a very generous-spirited man, Ray. 🙂

Well, what an ending ! 1st v 2nd . . . and it didn't disappoint. $2615 amassed by the two teams the Styx and the Magic. Styx trailing all day . . . who ya gonna call as the situation reaches crisis point ? Well, ya gonna call the 'Magnificent Seven' leader of course . . . and up steps Gordy who promptly smashes the home run. Gordy v Heather 1st & 3rd on the 'Magnificent Seven' list was always gonna be the individual match-of-the-day. Again. . . it didn't disappoint . . . $423.80 to $301. Very well done, you two ! 🙂 Hard luck team Magic on being nutted out of it late after leading throughout the day. You ladies and Jammo played outstandingly today, and to say that you well-deserved your 6 points is an under-statement. Team Profit. Higher aggregate. We're very relieved to have kept you Magic to 6 points, the way you played. As well as Gordy of course, a massive contribution from our Our Maizcay for the Styx deserving a special mention. The pack are a chasing, so we Styx are gonna have to have all our wits about us in coming weeks ! Many thanks, PJ, for another very fine PJ Comp day . . . thank you for all your skill and commitment.

We're always looking for Captains, Rees. Your name is now locked in ! 😁