Leading the charge to Moonee Valley on Saturday was my slightly Winx-obsessed 8 year old son, and a close friend visiting from Townsville, in town to tick the big race off her bucket list. Whilst I would have been happy to view it from my couch, we donned the hats and heels, soaked up the trackside atmosphere and watched history unfold before us. There are days when I am critical of the horse racing industry and its administrators; days when I worry about its future and the future of my family and friends in it. *Longing for the days when large racing crowds were the norm. But then I have days like Saturday, where I see the passion and excitement racing brings to others - My friend from Town

With the Caulfield Cup run and won, the spotlight now turns to Moonee Valley and champion mare Winx on Saturday. Winx is chasing both her 22nd consecutive race win and her third consecutive Cox Plate win. If she crosses the line in first place, she'll equal Kingston Town's 35-year-old record. *Kingston Town with jockey Malcolm 'Miracle' Johnston. Image courtesy Odds Sniper. Kingston Town was a superstar of his time. After failing to impress any buyers at the yearling sales, he was passed in for $8,000 and his breeder David Hains gave him to Tommy Smith to train. In his first race start as a two year old, 'The King' finished last and the decision was made to geld him. Following the operation

"A woman is not really dressed unless she is wearing a hat." Virginia Graham, US talk show host. This quote never rings more true than right now, in the middle of Spring Carnival. The races have become one of the very few places where we put in the extra effort to really dress up and wear a hat. Even the men get in on the action! *Hats are not just for the women! MRC Fashion Style Stakes Winner, Neil Carpenter. Image courtesy Melbourne Racing Club I grew up in a time when the racewear outfits my mum and her friends wore consisted of power suits, lampshade style hats and shoulder pads. When Princess Di was a fashion icon. Where coral, lime and muted patterns more suited to your grandma's cur

Benji and I, along with 20,000 other Melbournians, spent Saturday at Flemington cheering home Winx as she took out her 21st straight victory. According to Benji's Junior Garmin, over the day we walked 17,318 steps. I did it in heels. Comfortable heels, but heels none-the-less, and by the end of the day I was a little lame. Benji joked that maybe I needed a farrier...if I'm a hope of surviving Spring Carnival, he actually might be onto something! *A farrier at work. Image courtest: Heraldextra.com.au There is a saying among horse people - 'No Hoof, No Horse.' As a podiatrist is to a human, a farrier specialises in equine hoof care and is one of the most important people in a trainer's stable

Due to popular demand, Racing Kid is back... Benji has once again taken over my blog! Enjoy... *Benji having a chat with Apache Cat at Caulfield. Hi, it's Benji here again! On Sunday I went to Caulfield for Underwood Stakes Day. It was also Clip Clop Club Day and there was heaps of fun things for kids to do. One of the coolest horses I've ever met was there again too - Apache Cat. I got to give Apache Cat a pat and feed him some pieces of carrot. Lots of people were also giving him pats and wanting to learn more about him. He was very excited walking around his yard and he kept looking out to the horses on the racetrack. I think he wanted to race there again! Apache Cat was trained by Greg