Punt Drunk: Wild weather wreaks havoc on Australian racing
Punt Drunk Daily – March 24, 2021
Imagine a whole day without one single race being held in this great country of ours? Well, we did not need to imagine that yesterday, because we bloody lived through it.
All of us suddenly became greyhound or harness racing experts when all three thoroughbred meetings were abandoned due to heavy rain on the east coast of Australia. Only the Ipswich card has been abandoned today, so here’s hoping we can punt all afternoon long!
Yeah, we would postpone the meeting too
Our dedicated Chief Executive Officer, Ken Rutherford & Racecourse Manager, Rick Johnston provided us with an update of the conditions at Hawkesbury Race Club this morning.
We are sending our thoughts & prayers to all of those in our wonderful community at this time!
WATCH 👇 pic.twitter.com/gcf8ITk6XP
— Hawkesbury Race Club (@hawkesburyrc) March 22, 2021
The Hawkesbury races were scheduled to be run on Thursday, but naturally they have been postponed as a result of chaotic weather in New South Wales. As you can see from the track’s Twitter account, conditions are better suited to water polo than horse racing at the moment. The track manager, Rick Johnson, said he has never seen anything like it before in his 15 years at Hawkesbury. The track had copped 275mm since Saturday, and with a further 100mm expected in the next 24 hours, conditions are not supposed to improve until tomorrow. Anyone got a pair of flippers we can borrow?
Surely they are dreaming?
"There will be sunshine after the rain"@rosehillgardens @aus_turf_club @R1CHARDFREEDMAN pic.twitter.com/JSio2WHKMp
— Freedman Brothers (@Freedman_bros) March 23, 2021
We are three days out from the rescheduled Golden Slipper at Rosehill, and despite needing Noah’s Ark to get to the joint, the stewards are confident we will be starting on a track rated in the Soft range. On Monday afternoon the track was officially a Heavy 9, bordering on a Heavy 10. If the track is in the Soft range come Saturday morning, then fair bloody play, but we think that is a genuine long shot.
Wednesday racing tips – March 24, 2021
Punt Drunk’s best bet of the day
The Thomas Carberry-trained Johandough was a dominant last-start winner at Ballarat when smashing her rivals in an all-the-way victory. She has only missed the top three on one occasion over 2100m, and we expect Craig Williams to have her leading this field up. The four-year-old mare should be too strong for them over 2100m on a track that should favour on-pace runners.
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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…
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