THE OUTSIDER

Fellow victims of the punt,

The Outsider lives only for the present, and as such we shall not linger upon the Queen of Queens-esque mistakes of times gone by.  What I will say, however, is that despite the potential excuse of nearly falling coming around the home turn, ‘Queenie’ and her faithful hoop Froggy would still not have come even remotely close to playing a part in the finish.  The winner of the Werribee Cup (which, mysteriously, was actually run at Geelong), Mandela, was clearly the best performed horse in the race, and as I watched Mark Zahra produce the whip and give the gelding a few encouraging slaps across the shoulder, it was like four sharp knocks at the door of unhappiness. 

Looking forward (though only in the fleeting figurative sense, as the present consumes all), I’m off to peruse the form for Seymour today and shall no doubt unlock a couple of winners for us to wage our hard-earned on.  Prospective Derby Day bankrolls Australia-wide are suffering, and must be fed, watered and stabled before the first at Flemington on Saturday morning.  We must escape the mechanism, and though the social machinery of the betting-ring will inevitably demand that we fail, the benign indifference with which we meet the bookmaker’s smug looks will temper the humiliation of our turned-out pockets in perpetuity. 

Unfaithfully yours,

THE OUTSIDER

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