It may still be winter, but spring is definitely in the air.

The better horses have emerged from hibernation and prepared for meetings at Caulfield and Rosehill this Saturday.

The big question mark hovers over Sepoy as the winner of the Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper last season. Often Slipper winners just don't come up at their next preparation.

While Sepoy looks to be an outstanding colt, there still is that nagging doubt. The Peter Moody-trained Golden Archer only met Sepoy once earlier this year and finished third in the Blue Diamond Preview. He just may be capable of causing an upset in the Listed Vain Stakes this Saturday.

In the other Melbourne feature, the Peter Laurence Stakes (formerly the Liston) the Michael Ken-trained Absolutely won the AJC Oaks in April and she has found form fairly quickly when resuming in the past.

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The San Domenico Stakes at Rosehill may be an intriguing affair because the two main combatants, Foxwedge and Karuta Queen, have good first-up credentials.

My preference is for the Canberra-based Karuta Queen.

And in the Starlight Stakes I fancy that Gold Trail may recapture his best form. He is something of a world traveller having raced in Singapore, England, Brisbane and Melbourne at his past four starts.

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These days when time seems to be such a precious commodity wouldn't it be prudent to streamline racing protest hearings?

Well, in the view of former jockey and now respected form expert, Ron Dufficy, the time is right.

During the popular Punters Post Mortem program on Sky Sports Radio last Monday, Dufficy served up the proposition that current protest hearings are unnecessarily cluttered with too many participants or combatants. The present process is that jockeys (the protestor and protestee), trainers of the respective horses and the owners are entitled to give evidence.

Dufficy argues that the trainers and owners really don't have any significant input on the hearing.

In his rather succinct, and learned style ‘The Duff' theorised that the jockey, who lodged the objection, should outline his grounds and the other jockey may have the opportunity to rebut the allegation. "The owners and trainers only offer their observations."

"The stewards are the best qualified to give their observations," he said.

And it is a good point. The final decision does rest with the stewards and as experienced race watchers, aided by the extensive video coverage; they are eminently qualified to make the ultimate decision.

As a former jockey and now a highly respected form assessor and astute punter, his opinion is worth more than just a cursory glance.

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There still is a lot of speculation about where promising New Zealand apprentice James McDonald will eventually decide to advance his riding career in Australia.

Currently, a tug-of-war type battle is being fought, between leading stables in Melbourne and Sydney for the youngster's signature.

But did McDonald let it slip during an interview with Shawn Cosgrove on Racing HQ last Tuesday? While discussing his future he slipped in the comment that he liked Sydney.

Despite subsequent pressure from Cosgrove, young McDonald wouldn't elaborate but, as the old saying goes, a wink is as good as a nudge.