FINALLY I GOT HOLD OF IT..... VOL 1.

NEW BOOK ON

"HOW TO UNDERSTAND WOMEN"

Now before you all go off half cocked and send me comments about being sexist, just remember one thing. This one was sent through to me by a female with a good sense of humour. It appears as though my mate Paddy has some competition on his hands for the postings most likely to test out the censorship laws!!

FIRST ONE ON THE BOARD FOR TEAM LUCIANI

After a few frustrating weeks of horses going amiss and the usual stable hiccups, the new training partnership of Lou and Dion Luciani broke through for their maiden win at Belmont on Saturday. The horse to provide the new team with the maiden victory was the consistent and promising galloper AMELIAS DANCER. The horse was racing first up after a short break and dropping back from 2200m to 1600m. AMELIAS DANCER has always displayed above average ability and I must admit that I thought he would meaasure up as a stayer this campaign. After watching him race over a middle distance at his previous three runs, I was not as confident about his staying ability and we decided to switch him back to the shorter journey. I think with a bit more age and experience the horse is capable of making it in suitable country Cups and the first one of those may be the Boulder Cup at Kalgoorlie in three weeks time. The fast tempo and the 1760m should be ideal for him.

AMELIAS DANCER gets up in the last few strides to wear down the favourite  for a brilliant win with stable rider Jason Whiting on board producing one of his classic sit back rides.

A very proud DION LUCIANI leads his first winner AMELIAS DANCER back to scale after his victory on Saturday. An equally proud old man looks on keeping an eagle eye on the situation.

ALMOST NEARLY BUT NOT QUITE!

The new training partnership of Lou and Dion Luciani came within a whisker of having a winner with their first ever starter  when lightly raced filly HOT SASSO led for all but the final stride of the 1000m race at Belmont yesterday. It would have been an unbelievable start to the partnership as not only was it the first runner to start under the parnership banner, it was also the first race for the new season.

HOT SASSO, has shown speed in all her trials to date however her race performances have so far been a bit below par. Yesterday the filly appeared to revel in her role as leader and she should derive further improvement from the outing. We will look for a similar race in a couple of weeks time to see if she can break her maiden status and give her sire DUE SASSO a boost before the upcoming stud season.

While we were unlucky not to breakthrough for our own maiden win yesterday, Dion and I have three nice runners going to the races at Belmont on the weekend. VALLEY GIRL and GROZNY both resume in 1000m races and consistent mare BASKERVILLE STREET looks a good chance in her 1300m event. The soft track conditions should suit BASKERVILLE STREET who has shown form on a wet track in the past however I am genuinely concerned about the ability of VALLEY GIRL to carry the 57.5kg and still win on a rain effected track. She is only a tiny filly and will need to call on all her reserves of strength to beat what looks like a fairly handy bunch of race fit horses. GROZNY has shown good first up form in the past but has never raced on a wet track which leaves me a bit lost when trying to gauge his chances.

All in all, I am sure that both Dion and I will be tickled pink if one of our runners happens to break through for us so that we can get the wheel rolling for what is likely to be a busy season ahead. With so many lightly raced or unraced three year olds on the books and an equally impressive list of untried two year olds yet to be assessed, I get the feeling that this old boy might have his tongue hanging out and be looking for somewhere to lay down come the end of the upcoming season. Then again, thats what I took on a partner for!!

I'M NOT SEXIST HONESTLY!!!!

MEN DO REMEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

My good mate Paddy sent this one in on the weekend. Its an oldie but still brings a laugh.


A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband was not in their bed.
She puts on her dressing gown and goes downstairs to look for him.
She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee in front of him. He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall.

She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his coffee.
'What's the matter, dear?' she whispers as she steps into the room, 'Why are you down here at this time of night?'
The husband looks up from his coffee,
'I am just remembering when we first met 20 years ago and started dating. You were only 16. Do you remember back then?' he says solemnly. The wife is touched to tears thinking that her husband is so caring, so sensitive.
'Yes, I do' she replies.
The husband pauses. The words were not coming easily...

'Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car?'
'Yes, I remember!' said the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.
The husband continues. 'Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, 'Either you marry my daughter, or I will send you to jail for 20 years?'

'I remember that too' she replies softly.
He wipes another tear from his cheek and says...

'I would have been released today. '

EAR PIECES WITH MOBILE PHONES. DANGEROUS!!

Be sure to watch this from the beginning. It will make you think twice about how you speak on your mobile.

BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

Today marks the beginning of a new era as far as LUCIANI RACING is concerned. As from today, I will be training in partnership with my son Dion and all horses trained by us will now race under the name of Lou and Dion Luciani in the race book however I am sure the scribes will refer to us as Team Luciani which is fair enough.

Whilst we could have stayed with just myself as the official trainer, I felt that in recognition of where Dion is at as far as the running of the stable and the training of the horses, he deserved to be elevated to the status of Trainer as he really has done his trainers apprenticeship having been involved since the day he could walk.

As far as the workings and everyday running of the stable is concerned, nothing changes. Both Dion and I do as we are told by Sarah! (Alias "She who must be obeyed"). As far as the work for the horses and the programming of race campaigns for them, Dion and I will be able to bounce off each other as to what we feel is the best for each horse. There is no doubt in my mind that the old adage of two heads are better than one will certainly hold true as far as the new partnership is concerned.

I am sure that as in any family business or new partnership, there are sure to be a few teething problems however if you see Dion and I with our hands around each others throats at the track over the next few weeks, just remember.....we are simply discussing things!!!!