Punt Drunk: Archie pleads ignorance over cobalt doping claims
Call in sick, make your way down to your local pub, order a parma and a pint, and dig in to an impressive Wednesday on the punt. Let’s be honest: we all deserve a day off, and what better day to do it than on a hump day with plenty of horse racing on around the country? Be sure to check out HorseBetting.com.au’s free betting tips for today’s racing action.
First slot filled for The Everest 2021
Nature Strip has been secured for the Chris Waller Racing slot in the 2021 The Everest. pic.twitter.com/mxfJpK7RkX
— Chris Waller Racing (@cwallerracing) April 20, 2021
Could it have been anyone else other than Nature Strip that filled the first slot for this year’s running of The Everest? Chris Waller was never going to look anywhere else for his prized slot in the world’s richest turf race. With the retirement of Bivouac announced last week, it is one less top-tier sprinter Nature Strip has to worry about. However, just like Yes Yes Yes and Classique Legend in the past, there are always new challengers emerging for the title of Australia’s best sprinter. At the moment, Nature Strip is the one to catch – both figuratively and literally.
Archie done for doping
The Victorian Racing Tribunal has determined that Archie Alexander administered cobalt to a horse in breach of AR245 (1). The positive dates back to Nov 2018. No penalty has yet been handed down.
— Damien Ractliffe (@DamienRactliffe) April 20, 2021
Archie Alexander is one of the most popular trainers going around, but not so much in the eyes of the Victorian Racing Tribunal. The Englishman has been issued a breach notice for administering cobalt to one of his runners, Tom Knight, who returned a positive test for the prohibited substance in 2018 after a race at Kilmore. It is believed that a certain feed the horse was consuming had contained cobalt, unbeknownst to Alexander, so this has the potential to be a bit of a ‘he said, she said’ type of hearing. But where there is smoke, there is fire. Let’s hope that for one of the good guys of the racing industry this is simply a slap on the wrist and he does not have a serious case to answer in front of the VRT.
Wednesday racing tips – April 21, 2021
Punt Drunk’s best bet of the day
When Adam Durrant and William Pike team up, good things often happen. We say ‘often’ because even the great Wizard of the West could not stop Treat Yo Self from finishing second last time out. She now has four consecutive runner-up performances to her name, but it was her own errors that stopped her from breaking the run of outs at Bunbury on April 7. Expect Pike to have her in the second half of the field and then savaging the line late.
About Punt Drunk
Welcome to Punt Drunk! Our new daily column covering all the latest horse racing and punting controversies, dramas and headline news. Have a story or gripe or issue that just grinds your gears? Just hit us up in the comments or contact us page and our jaded, punt hardened Punt Drunk staff will give it the Punt Drunk treatment it deserves. Don’t expect pleasantries or typical racing media fanboy gloss from Punt Drunk – we’re on the punt and we don’t have time to bullshit; the next is about to jump…
