We hate to harp. Well, perhaps not in some cases. It's that time of the year and our December hobby horses are just coming right in their coats and starting to get that be-on-me look, so we thought we would trot them out for a run on the eve of international week.
Firstly, the International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) next Wednesday and the glaring omission, yet again, of a South African representative.
Not to put too fine a point on it, and no disrespect intended to Joe Talamo or Chantal Sutherland, but their appeal is novelty value, regardless of their ability.
Punters will have little or no faith in riders from a part of the world that has had little participation here, outside of the IJC, in well over a decade and even less impact. They may well draw the right horses and the right gates and manage to win the thing and good luck to them both - having a North American rider in the contest is the right move.
But two from North America and none from South Africa, the source of the Hong Kong championship winner Bart Leisher 21 years ago and in every year since 1992, with the sole exception of Tony Cruz's last championship in 1995?
Not just this year but every year, the South Africans are left out.