Punt Drunk: Racing world mourns the loss of Deane Lester
It has been an actioned packed week in the racing world and that racing world was rocked by the news on Friday morning that renowned form expert Deane Lester lost his fight with cancer at age 54.
We tend to take a light-hearted approach in Punk Drunk, but for this weeks opener we just want to take a moment and thank Deano for the countless amount of winners he tipped to us over the years. Racing, today, is a lesser world without him.
Lester an analyst we can aspire to be
Vale Deane Lester 🙏
Racing is mourning the death of the highly respected form expert & media personality ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2qfNpDK3VZ
— Racing.com (@Racing) February 16, 2023
Deane Lester has passed away at the age of 54, with the respected racing analyst losing his battle with cancer.
Lester has long been regarded as one of the premier form analysts in the industry, with trainers and jockeys often taking in his advice.
Regarded as one of the good guys in the industry, Lester battled Spina Bifida his entire life, but it was rare to hear a complaint come out of his mouth.
Sympathies to his friends and family. RIP Deane.
Shorts & Thongs for the Grand National?
The Grand National is one of the most well-known dates on the horse racing calendar, with the well-heeled flocking to the Aintree, UK, jumps race.
Which is why the Punt Drunk crew read with interest that they had dropped their dress code for the 2023 event, due to be run on April 15.
Perhaps the organisers (Jockey Club Racecourses) saw the outstanding fashion at Australian marquee race dates and wanted to follow suit (pun intended).
Or perhaps The Grand National organisers decided that with the passing of Queen Elizabeth in September last year, the time was right to bring the famous hunt race into the modern era.
While Queen Elizabeth did not attend the Grand National in recent times, as the jumps racing industry came under scrutiny from animal activists, the Royal Family was a fixture at the event.
We get the feeling, with the Queen always a picture of demure class, she would have much preferred the fashion from the 1950s, when she attended the famous Liverpool race.
There was barely a hair out of place.
Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett says racing needs a day off
WHILE our immediate reaction at Punt Drunk to talking head Jeff Kennett suggesting racing needs to stop running seven days a week was “shut up Jeff you Hawthorn numpty”.
The former Victorian Premier does make some good points about the mental toll the seven-day industry can take on participants.
“There must be a day off, if you are serious about your industry, you have to have a day off,” Kennett told the Asian Racing Conference in Melbourne.
“We should never race seven days a week, I don’t care who argues the case.
“It is always going to result in human penalties that should be avoided.
“If you drive people into the ground, you are going to hurt them.”
At the very least, Punt Drunk is advocating that the industry looks closely at the toll racing daily can have on trainers, jockeys and peripheral participants like strappers and vet staff.
Now we’re off to to do the form for Timbuktu.
I’ll Be Gone’s remarkable comeback
We love a good comeback at Punt Drunk, which was why the fourth race at Kangaroo Island on Thursday caught our eye. Just watch this and be amazed!
Melbourne Cup guidelines back in the headlines
Dr Grace Forbes might not be known heavily outside of hardcore racing circles, however she played a major role in shaping the policies that have decimated the participation of International runners in the Melbourne Cup.
Speaking as the General Manager of Racing Victoria’s vet services, Dr Forbes championed increased scanning and inspections of horses prior to running in the Melbourne Cup, following the death of 2020 Melbourne Cup runner Anthony Van Dyck — the sixth death in eight years.
“The Melbourne Cup is a sporting, cultural, social event viewed by 750 million people globally—and dead horses can’t be part of our nation’s great race,” Dr Forbes said at the Asian Racing Conference.
“After the 2020 Melbourne Cup, the industry and general public demanded change. The raw emotion was the culmination of a number of incidents over the years and not solely what had happened in the Melbourne Cup.
“This was not acceptable and more needed to be done to ensure our international horses returned home safely.
“We took important steps to reduce the risk of injury—and we don’t apologize for making these decisions to safeguard horse welfare and safety.”
While we respect Dr Forbes expertise, in our humble opinion the fitness of horses should be left to the stable and own personal veterinary staff. The sideshow of “will he or won’t he or she run” has become a distraction to what has always been our favourite week of the year.
Kissick cops ban for ‘brain explosion
We have all been there, clocked off when we thought the job was done.
John Kissick did the same thing last Saturday night in the opening event at Toowoomba.
The popular hoop was in hot water after the first race at Toowoomba on Saturday night when he stopped riding on Mark Currie-trained horse Jeronimos in the closing stages of the 1300m Class 1 Handicap.
Kissick has since been suspsended for a month following the event.
Let us know your thoughts! Is that fair, harsh or too lenient from QLD stewards?
About Punt Drunk
Welcome to Punt Drunk – our 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…
