SAVAGE MY SHORTLIST

I have none left after taking my scalpel to it lol.

No seriously the ones I have backed off your list are
The Midnight Club
Silver by Nature

Though I have backed eight in all, I'm not a professional surgeon!

Thanks for your input would love to get alot more in to find some sort of uber consensus from the finest minds in the online community. Imagine the one we could all agree on to get a good run how could it possibly loose :P

silver by nature needed soft ground. it may not even run.

i've done e/w on calgary bay and am tempted by becauseicouldntsee. backstage would be my pick of the shorter priced horses.

Silver By Nature, Bluesea Cracker and Skippers Brig want it a lot softer and there may be a few defections tomorrow. From your list the one I really like is Backstage.....watch the replay of last years race.....would have gone mighty close I reckon.

Bluesea and skippers have put in some sort of a result on good to soft ground. Will the good ground rule them out completly ? Does it actually make a huge difference to how they will run ? I have had the same feeling as you Sportygirl but didnt want to cross em off the list as im not sure of the difference it makes.

And anyone following this if it encourages you to chime in i have been making my shortlist every year for the past 4 years and somewhere in it ive always had the winner (Mon Mone is still bugging me) Wanna make sure i back it this time.

I had Mon Mome :-)

Over 4 1/2 miles the ground will make a huge difference. Personally I think they will pull out Silver By Nature. Good ground always favours the classier horses and it's hard to look past What A Friend, if it was flat you would put the mortgage on it.....but can it get round ?

Good call on Mon Mone i went on history and ignored because of its price to my regret, never again though will price be a factor.

The reason i never had What a friend on my shortlist....Good jockey, good trainer but the past winner stats is whats making me ignore it as a winner (could be good for a place though) anyway
just the fact that last years winner winner Dont Push It set a record for the last 10 years by winning off a weight of 11-5 as a 10 year old. A huge acheviement in my ametrurish follow the stats opinion.

Now we are talking a 8 year old, weight 11-6 to bust open  history... i just dont see it not for a winner anyway  (only one 8 year old in the past 10 years, Bindree off 10-4 has done it in 2002)

Now thanks to you , allinadayswork , JamesRB .... then there was 5

Back Stage
Oscar Time
Ballabriggs
Becauseicouldntsee
Calgary Bay

Lets see if we can trim the fat just a lil bit more.