Punt Drunk: LeBron James returns at Moonee Valley
The Spring Racing Carnival is well and truly underway and the best horses are either back or not far away from a raceday return.
The team at Punt Drunk have looked far and wide for some of the more quirky news pieces across the week that was, ahead of another massive Saturday on the punt.
Giddy up!
Giga Kick and LeBron…same, same but different
At first, second and pretty much every glance after you won’t find any similarities between Giga Kick and Lebron James, but gun jockey Craig Williams found the unlikely comparison.
Williams, who rode Giga Kick in trackwork on Tuesday morning, used an unusual analogy to describe the feel of riding the defending champ in The Everest.
“Giga Kick’s performance, the size of him and his amazing ability sets him apart,” he said.
“After riding him at Cranbourne in a trial the other day, I said the horse felt like LeBron James playing high school basketball.
“The horse is just so big, so powerful and so athletic – he’s pretty special.”
Giga Kick will return to racing in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday, with connections eyes firmly on defending The Everest (1200m) on October 14.
Anti-Activists going to a new level
Our friends at australianracinggreyhound.com are fighting the fight for us punters.
They put together a fantastic piece this week after some questionable approaches from the anti-racing (and usually unemployed) campaigners.
Here is an excerpt from the story:
The drums are beating globally, and the cancel culture groupies and tax-free donation addicted virtue signalling organisations are again preparing to upend racing.
On the back of news that the bastion of the vacuous left, the highly anti-racing biased Australian ABC, is again preparing to organise another hit-and-run example of activist journalism that will no doubt contravene most of the standards of journalism that they are supposed to uphold.
“Over the weekend, presumably with drones poised and eager news crews hidden in campervans, a couple of chooks were thrown into the Warrnambool greyhound carpark.
We would imagine the intention was to cause as much mayhem as possible and get footage of a greyhound chasing a chook.
The plan failed, but the intent to manufacture news and manipulate situations to achieve an end should not be lost on all greyhound participants.
These are the same grubs who happily trespass on family farms in the middle of the night.
Despite their assertions to the contrary, they have no moral compass.
It’s the spring, so keep an eye out for all the anti’s to make their annual noise around Melbourne Cup week. Because why protest at a maiden at Penola year round? Instead they will just try and grab a headline or two.
JMac out for a month
Following a fall at Wyong last Friday, the best jockey in the world James McDonald picked up a fractured foot.
JMac would go on to ride a winning double at Randwick last Saturday with said broken foot, but is now on the sidelines for the next month!
It means there is plenty of winners to be had for a Sydney-based jockey.
Who will stand up and take the spring by the cojones?
Will it be Nash Rawiller? The veteran who is every bit a Group 1 jockey
What about Jason Collett? Who has started the season off in fine style.
Or how about Zac Lloyd? Godolphin’s gun apprentice, who has been dubbed JMac 2.0. This kid is a deadset star and a Group 1 win is well and truly on the cards for the son of a gun.
About Punt Drunk
Welcome to Punt Drunk – our weekly 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…
