It seems to get earlier every year, and believe it or not the Group 3 Monash Stakes is the feature at Caulfield this Saturday.

Once a spring launchpad for returning sprinters and weight-for-agers, the Monash has crept forward on the calendar to the point where it is now run before midwinter. This year's will be more of a goodbye than a hello for Enver Jusufovic's group-winning sprint mare New York Lustre, who's earmarked to have her second-last run before retirement in Saturday's Monash.

Elsewhere, Randwick is the venue for Sydney racing while Queensland metro racing returns to town at Doomben and the SA version heads to Gawler.

You'll find Australia's best form guide for Saturday's Caulfield, Rosehill, Doomben and Gawler meetings in this week's Best Bets.

On pages 4 and 5 you'll find four-state selections from some of the nation's leading form analysts as well as our popular Black Bookers, Sectional Stars and Video Stars features.

Best Bets ($7) is on sale Thursday morning in NSW newsagents, Friday elsewhere.