On the day the striking chestnut with a giant stride was beaten a neck by Octagonal in the AJC Derby, I stood in the crowded Ballarat TAB and loudly proclaimed, ‘Octagonal will never beat Saintly again.’

TABs are full of unhappy gamblers swearing and moaning through their wallets. In the main, they are not women. Losers easily outnumber winners. As each race broadcast on the screens comes to an end, blame is apportioned, on the jockey/the trainer/track bias/the slow fuckin’ horse. On that day in 1996 my Saintly prophesy shared the same fate as most post-race interjections: it was completely ignored.