(ROD GALLEGOS is a senior presenter and commentator with Sky Racing and Sky Sports Radio.)

It's that time of the year again when trainers are crunching the numbers in hope of getting a Blue Diamond Stakes start and, even more importantly, a gig at the Golden Slipper.

And one of the great anomalies is the races deemed to be "restricted sales" remain persona non grata.

The argument is that all prizemoney amassed from these races - Magic Millions and Inglis events - does not warrant consideration towards the qualifying clauses for the Group One events.

Considering the Magic Millions and Inglis sales are the prime arenas for obtaining a yearling, has the rule outlived its usefulness?

Well, recently one of the recognised form gurus of Australia racing, former leviathan bookmaker, Dominic Beirne, propounded a valid argument to support repealing or, at the very least, modifying the rule.

Put it this way, if racing was a university course, Mr Beirne would have his masters degree. In a recent interview on Sky Sports Radio he argued that prizemoney earned from other restricted races was acceptable. He specified the offending "restricted" events as gender (as in colts and geldings or fillies) or number of wins (no metro wins, one, two etc).

If racing administrators remain immoveable, then Beirne suggested the compromise that a proportion of the aforementioned prizemoney should be credited to the placegetters.

Food for thought? We are entering a remarkable revolutionary era of racing - merged Sydney race clubs - so why not, in racing parlance, take the bit between the teeth and bolt forward?

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MAYBE I am becoming old and grumpy but this year still doesn't appear to be a vintage crop of two-year-olds.

Is it a hangover from Equine Influenza or is the rush to kick off the juveniles so early taking its toll?

Regardless the Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper are attractive propositions.

For the Blue Diamond, I fancy the Tim Martin-trained filly, Anevay, in the light of her gallant second in the fillies Preview last week. As for the Golden Slipper, it is there for the taking by my old mate (well, to be accurate I think he is younger than me) Neville Layt with his speed-to-burn filly Karuta Queen.

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FROM a Sydney racing point of view it only gets better from now on.

This Saturday the Expressway Stakes is a lively launching pad for the autumn carnival, even though it is still officially summer.

Hot Danish, of course, is a short-priced favourite and jumps from the inside barrier. However, the $8.50 about five-year-old Centennial Park is appealing. A horse for which I have considerable respect, this David Payne-trained gelding has a sound overall record and the capacity to race well while fresh. From four previous attempts when resuming he has had two wins and a second.

Several times placed at Group Two and Three level, Centennial Park contested this race first-up from a spell last year and ran a tidy race to finish fourth to the well-performed Rangirangdoo.

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IN MELBOURNE, the listed Mandred Stakes may highlight the future prospects of current favourite, Star Witness.

But once again, looking for value, I am going to back the $15 chance (TAB Sportsbet Fixed Odds) Mr Chard. The Craig Williams mount had a good record just below the top grade during the spring and I will be surprised if he doesn't run a bold race first-up.