Thanks Dougie for posting the Hobart Thousand Final field. What are your first 3 picks in order and what do you assess as their "true odds", that is, anything over those respective odds is good value.

With regard to tonight's Hobart Thousand Final does anyone have any comment/opinions on specific dogs' chances and/or factors that may affect the race result (for example, is there anything that can jump and either has a severe habit of heading sharply left or maybe heading right at the first turn). Such advice could influence who I have my few dollars on. What about you Dougie? I suppose Taipan Bale looks tough to beat but to be honest I don't know much about the dog especially his preference regarding boxes. Runner-up in 4 Victorian country cups and the best heat time looks like pretty good credentials.

I think Taipan Bale will be hard to beat from box 1 after his run last week. Im leaning towards Excel Like Time because of the trainer. Knowing Anthony for about 10 years now and deserves to win a Group 1 race. And you would have say the locals have great chances as well. Good Luck to all the connections of the finalists. cheers Dougie

My Tip
Excel Like Time
Taipan Bale
Damascus Road

I looked very hard last night at Little Spaniard in that 8 box, thinking that the one, two and three might get tangled up at the first turn but alas I fell for Damascus Road in view of his ability to run very near the 26.0 mark and the $7 or $8 on offer. I should have just watched. Taipan Bale was of course well beaten but I must say I was very impressed with how he kept coming on right to the line, good dog.

Hobart, Thursday 18th December, 2008
Race 8 WREST POINT HOBART THOUSAND FINAL 9:51pm
S/E Final F*552 461m

Place Dog Trainer Box Rug Weight Start Price Hdcp Margin Margin Comment
1 LITTLE SPANIARD M B Stringer 8 8 34.8 $11.00 SWAB
2 TOPLINE DOOVEE M B Stringer 4 4 31.1 $29.00 2.00 2.00 SWAB
3 EXCEL LIKE TIME A Azzopardi 3 3 31.7 $7.20 3.50 1.50 CK SWAB
4 TAIPAN BALE G J Bate 1 1 34.0 $1.60F 5.75 2.25 CK VET INJ SD(10)
5 PERSONIFICATION P J Phillips 6 6 35.7 $59.00 8.75 3.00 COLL(2)
6 DAMASCUS ROAD D M Cannan 2 2 32.5 $6.90 8.90 Head CK
7 DASH OF MYSTIQUE D M Goodluck 7 7 29.0 $23.00 17.65 8.75 COLL(2) CK
8 CHARCOAL CREEK G R Greig 5 5 33.3 $9.10 20.65 3.00 COLL CK VNI
R TURANZA BALE G J Bate RES.
R LUCKY LOUEY M V Strickland RES.

Time 26.40 Split 1 N/A Split 2 N/A Split 3 N/A
Win N/A Place 1st N/A Place 2nd N/A Place 3rd N/A
Quin N/A Exa N/A Trif N/A First 4 N/A
Run/Dble N/A Dly/Dble N/A Quad N/A . .