The horses are now another year older and Saturday really marks the beginning of the return of the stars, old and new. It was about this weekend last year that The Mug began an odyssey for the spring, going the plunge on Zipping for the Caulfield Cup after a close up fifth in the equivalent race to the Bletchingly, being run this Saturday. Getting on a $71 and then watching the odds tumble in to $6 was one of my best racing experiences, as was the anguish of then watching it almost not get a start, drawing the grandstand and finishing nowhere.

It also set off an unhealthy taste for the ante-post market. As if picking a winner on the day was not hard enough, picking from a field of 200 horses 3 months before kick-off seems, and is, inordinately stupid. But it is the lure of the big reward that draws the Mug, and really not even the win, but the experience of seeming to have some ability to pick a good horse before the pack.

So the focus of the Mugpunter this spring, along with finding a good place to punt, will be identifying potential antepost winners for the big races. Not based on press or punditry, but by picking out a few of the week-to-week performances that indicate a big spring for a few lesser knowns.

And your help is required. The Mug needs contributors. Pick your horses to watch and the Mug will create a page that lists them and their odds for the 3 big spring races. To check the nominations, go here.