The Punt Drunk team takes you over what was a plain old weekend in the racing world. Artorius let Aussie punters down for about the 15th time in his career, Incentivise’s brother won like Incentivise at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, and a horse that hasn’t won for about as long as Artorius proved too good in the Missile Stakes.
CAN LIGHTNING STRIKE TWICE?
Good horses often don’t have superstar siblings. Winx and Black Caviar’s brothers and sisters never did much on the track, while Verry Elleegant’s brother goes OK in New Zealand without being a world-beater.
However, Incentivise’s brother Argyle Lane has given punters something to get excited about. The son of Golden Archer took his record to two wins from two starts on Sunday at the Sunshine Coast, roaring away to win comfortably in similar fashion to that of his Caulfield Cup-winning older brother.
It was also a special victory for trainer Joshua King. He has taken over a number of horses from Toowoomba trainer, breeder and owner Steve Tregea, and Argyle Lane was his first win. While it is unlikely that this horse will scale the same heights as Incentivise did 12 months ago, it certainly is an exciting time for the young trainer to have a runner with this ability in his stable. Keep an eye on this one, punters.
Michael Murphy guides Incentivises half brother ‘Argyle Lane’ to victory today at Sunshine Coast. This horse is quickly building a nice record, with plenty of wins to come for him. A massive congratulations also goes to Josh King on training his first winner
pic.twitter.com/sIp5G9J5LO
— Andrew Ackerman (@Ackers88) August 7, 2022
GIVE HIM A SLOT!
After a tough day for punters on Thursday, the long-priced winners continued on Saturday. The Group 2 feature in Sydney, the Missile Stakes, was taken out by $101 outsider Hard Empire, who wound back the clock to win his first race in roughly 600 days. Trained by Gold Coast father-and-son duo Toby & Trent Edmonds, the nine-year-old came from near last to fly home down the outside and spoil the party for Wandabaa in what was her final race start.
Trent Edmonds took to Twitter shortly after the victory, with a short but sweet message to Everest slot holders.
Give him a fffffn slot
the old boy
— Trent Edmonds (@TrentEd1) August 6, 2022
UNLUCKY? AGAIN?
It’s the same old story with Artorius every week. Having zero tactical speed is never going to help a horse’s winning chances, and unfortunately for the 2021 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Artorius, he is one of those horses. On Sunday night (AEST), the Anthony & Sam Freedman-trained galloper contested his third start in Europe, finishing sixth in the 1300m affair. Once again, he got a mile back and hit the line strongly without threatening the winner. Will he ever win another race, or is it time for Artorius to join a number of squibs at stud?
Artorius finished 6th in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest overnight
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via @AtTheRaces)pic.twitter.com/y2QAiCBFyK
— Racing.com (@Racing) August 7, 2022
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…
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