[AusRace] Straight Six - a system

[Tony Moffat]

This one was glued to the wall of a pub within sound and sight of the
Straight at Flemington.

In an ante room, a closed off area for darts, and on the right wall as you
aimed at one of three boards was a message board and this system was there.
There were several, more, 7 or so, systems pasted up there. You took your
life in your hands reading it, anything, what with darts in flight, drunks
aiming them, and the general lack of bonhomie in the place, and the ads -
'ring Helen for an hour of soft love'  and no I didn't, ring, and even naïve
me could see a problem with the 'soft love' assertion.

What they did have was the best chicken parmi and it was pre cooked and
didn't seem to sit around long and nobody I know died from eating it. The
man who assembled it, the chicken in a bun, used his fingers, and spoke in
single word questions, like 'salad', 'salt', 'sauce' and you got your pot
for half price and there were baskets of chips everywhere anyway. A question
of cleanliness, germiness, best practice or the use of gloves or some
concurrence with the Service of Food Act somehow would be met with a surly
'do you want the thing or doncha'. He made some, 5, then went away to the
other side of the semi-circular bar to dispense drinks, and you waited and
when he returned you got yours. You could get fed without speaking, just
standing in line was judicial notice it was the chicken parmi you wanted. So
efficient. 

That dart room got painted over and the message board went. I did write down
the rules of the plans on the wall before this though. Nobody there knew the
history of those, the why or what fors, there was no TAB, I am unsure about
a SP, you would have to say yes, and I hope that Helen is happily retired.

(1)The only races to consider are those run over the straight course at
Flemington, 6 furlongs (this was then)
(2) Disregard the favorite except in rule (5)
(3) The runners to be considered are those who have raced over a mile on the
course, or have raced over a similar distance - (T) or (d)*
(4) Selections must not be favorite, ridden by apprentices, be back from a
let up.
(5) Selections must have form, and if previous rules fail to produce a
selection, and the favorite has the required attributes, and is the only
selection, it can be backed.
(6) Ignored - male runners only
(7) Ignored - can be female if the runner has the required attributes, and
it is the only selection (and it is favorite, somebody wrote that in later
but)
(8) Up to (-) runners can be supported if odds allowed - the number (a 3 it
may have been) was erased, or had a dart point hole through it right at that
location.

There is a long paragraph outlining the layout of the straight course, which
I foolishly did not copy entirely. From the barrier to the corner, the
course proper comes in from the left some distance out, there is a definite
down slope. After that there is a rise, then a plateau to the post. There is
a 7 foot height differential between the start line and the finish line,
although it dips to 18 feet at its deepest point (so says the paper). There
is no mention of the 5 furlong races there, these start in front of the 6
furlong races (obviously)

It is not highlighted, but perhaps should have been, that the straight six
is a test because of the ground undulation, in addition to the speed aspect.
So, that would go some of the way to explaining the mile requirement. A
strong miler is a beast of beauty, anywhere, and more so here at this
course. Old timers, which is another way of saying those in the game, do
consider the straight six a hard on the horse race, there is the weather,
the wind is not ameliorated by cover so much, all runners seem to advance
similarly, there is that run down hill then a requirement to sprint up hill
to the finish, there are occasionally 'divisions', inside,outside and middle
and each of those is a race in itself, Sydney (and Qld) runners do well
here, and running is often on the crown of the track unaffected by previous
four legged tractors. 

Rule (3) has an obscure meaning -(a) over a mile here, or over a mile
elsewhere, or over a similar distance (6 furlongs then, 6 furlongs today).
The correct amount of finesse, to get a bet, would be a run over a mile
sometime, as a first choice runner. Otherwise, to get a bet, a form run over
a similar distance (then/now).

Cheers

Tony




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