Punt Drunk: Vale Te Akau Shark
Punt Drunk racing news – February 5, 2021
Thank f**k it’s Friday! It’s been a pretty shit 24 hours in the racing community, with the popular Te Akau Shark passing away yesterday morning and two Melbourne Cup winning jockeys now in doubt to take their places for Saturday’s C.F. Orr stakes. However, today is a new day! The hope is restored with more race meetings today than you could have hoped for.
Te Akau Shark, we hardly knew ye
We are saddened to hear of the passing of Te Akau Shark – winner of the 2020 Group 1 TAB Chipping Norton Stakes at Royal Randwick. Our thoughts are with @TeAkauRacing and all connections. pic.twitter.com/iiFYR6JA36
— Australian Turf Club (@atc_races) February 4, 2021
Sometimes life can be a right bitch, and the entire racing community felt a bit flat when news came through that Group 1 star Te Akau Shark had passed away. He went blind in one eye during his stint in Australia and ended up contracting pneumonia, which ultimately defeated the Shark. He only graced the track 14 times, racking up seven wins and five minor placings. It’s hard to forget his third-place finish in the 2019 Cox Plate, while his win in the Chipping Norton Stakes in 2020 was superb and matched perfectly by Darren Flindell’s call. The Shark was retired just prior to Christmas, and despite his short career, his impact on the New Zealand racing community will never be forgotten. ?
COVID strikes again
What a ride! What a win! Twilight Payment WINS the #MelbourneCup! pic.twitter.com/4AOoRsFd1v
— 10 Sport (@10SportAU) November 3, 2020
The 2020 Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Jye McNeil is one of a handful of racing participants sent into isolation following that positive COVID case in Melbourne 36 hours ago. He and Damien Oliver along with Denis Pagan and Robbie Griffiths have all been stood down from duties until further notice, and boy, that must shit McNeil. He was supposed to jump on the back of Swats That this morning at a trial in the lead up to some big races this Autumn Carnival, but this latest COVID scare means he may have to jump on the horse first up without ever being sat on the back. Swats That is a classy galloper, don’t get us wrong, but that’s not what you really want heading into Group 1 racing.
Racing identity in the mud
Just when you think everything in the horse racing industry is going swimmingly, something always manages to pop up. A disgraced racing identity has found himself in a video doing the rounds. It shows him slapping a woman at a bar during the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast before punching a woman in the face and then punching a gentleman coming to that woman’s defence. Now, we are not going to name this person, because why should we give his name the light of day. It’s just an important reminder to not be a dickhead.
Friday’s Racing Tips – February 5, 2021
Punt Drunk’s Best Bet Of The Day
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…
