Lauchlan Kenneth Scobie Mackinnon was born on the Isle of Skye and came to Melbourne when he was twenty -three and four years later was a partner in the Melbourne Firm Blake and Riggall. In those more genteel times, he found time to be Chairman of the VRC as well as a company director on various boards. He lived in South Yarra and had a stud farm in the Goulburn Valley.
He was not what you might call a warm and fuzzy character. He used his position on the VRC committee to add an additional 4.5 kgs to the weight for age scale especially for Phar Lap after the gelding always beat his horse Carradale. He then insisted that Phar lap run in the 1931 Melbourne Cup carrying a massive 68 Kg. (He finished 8th) No wonder the legend went overseas!
A number of champion races horse’s such as Lonhro, Rogan Josh So You think and Rubiton have won the race which has a rich place in Flemington’s history. It was Bernborough’s last race after his shock defeat in the Caulfield Cup and this ended in badly. None of the more recent winners would fall into the champion category particularly since 2016 when the VRC made the surprising decision to change the date from the Saturday before to the Saturday after the Melbourne Cup.
If you are in front for the Carnival going into Stake’s day keep a little back. It is traditionally a nightmare day for punters. Even though the races have changed not much has improved since the perfectly named Tears I Cry (trained by Ciaron Maher and ridden by Nikita Berriman) won the then Emirates Stakes at 100-1 tipping out even money favourite Weekend Hustler. The Trifecta paid over $61,000.
Theme Bet
A Scottish theme with a touch of Wales and Ireland would be appropriate for Saturday Italian Race 1 Scottish Dancer (7 ) Race 2 Torbreck (7) Race 3 Harlech (3) Race 5 Gallic Chieftain (20) Race 9 Wicklow Town (12)
A winning Super Yankee (Parlay Formula 234 & 5 Bet) will result in a dividend of $622,020 but you may run into issues with the size of the pool and the limits that bookmakers place on dividends for multiple bets. In any event the UK has just gone into lock down so who would want to go there anyway.
Flemington
Race 5 Pondus (2) Le Don Vie (1) Future Score (7) Chapada (4) Creedence (8)
Race 6 He Doc (4) Bivouac (3) Santa Ana Lane (1) Libertini (9) & Nature Strip (2)
Race 7 In Good Health (8) Toffee Tongue (2) Challiot (13) Bonvicini (5) & Paradee (6)
Race 8 Fifty Stars (1) Harlem (2) Mugatoo (5) Dalasan (7) & Arcadia Queen (9)
Sydney
Race 6 Captivant (2) Race 7 Madam Rouge (2)
Toby’s Titanic (Lay of the Day)
Flemington Race 9 Arcadia Queen
