It has been an intriguing week in the racing world and we have an absolute stacked Saturday of racing at Sandown and Rosehill to sink our teeth into, would we want it any other way?
We have five Group 1’s, Anamoe, the return of Melbourne Cup champion Gold Trip and plenty of winners to find. The team at Punt Drunk are up and about for yet another weekend on the Rex Hunt!
Shalatin bids farewell to Australia
Before we dip into the Group 1’s, arguably the biggest news story of the week was perennial place-getter Shalatin heading to Singapore.
Formerly trained by Joe Pride, Shalatin had placed seven times from his 12 starts with the Group 1 winning trainer.
He was beaten at a starting price of $4.40, $1.60, $3, $1.85, $1.35, $3.60 & $1.40 throughout his career.
Shalatin has been the butt of many jokes throughout #RacingTwitter and the son of Shalaa will now be plying his trade over in Singapore after being sold online for $100,000, after earning connections over $280k in prizemoney.
Racing Twitter will be watching on carefully, let’s hope he isn’t too camera shy in Asia.
Zaaki off to the paddock
Update on Zaaki: pic.twitter.com/RrEBfnfMEE
— Annabel Neasham Racing (@ANeashamRacing) February 23, 2023
It is not the start of Autumn Carnival unless a superstar is ruled out.
Unfortunately for the Annabel Neasham-trained Zaaki, he is the one who is set to miss out on the chance of defending his All Star Mile crown.
It means for yet another year since the race’s inception in 2019, we will have a new winner in the fan-voted event.
Zaaki was comfortably in the Top 10 votegetters when the news broke yesterday he will miss the autumn.
Neasham’s reasoning was that due to below-par trial performances her Group 1 champ would be chilling in a paddock.
He naturally is not the best horse at the trials, but he certainly brings out his best efforts time and time again on race day.
Perhaps we see him go up to Queensland? Either way, the Autumn Carnival(s) are lesser without Zaaki.
Controversial take: JMac factor is overrated
Alright, hear us out; we are not saying James McDonald is overrated by any stretch of the imagination, we are just saying the market is far too kind to him in recent times.
At Warwick Farm on Wednesday, JMac had a full book of seven rides, all of which were under a $5.50 quote.
He returned with no winners and four minor placings, including a second aboard $1.45 pop Pereille.
It came a few days after being rolled aboard Nature Strip in the Black Caviar Lightning at $1.95.
In fact it is not the first couple of times McDonald has been beaten when on short-priced runners in recent times.
He’s been rolled aboard Don Coreleone ($1.60), Kazou ($1.60), Pereille ($1.40), Sophia’s Magic ($1.80), Hollywood Hero ($1.85), King’s Gambit ($1.28) and Junqueira ($1.65) since January 26.
JMac has seven rides at Canterbury tonight where the average SP at the time of writing is $2.90. At Randwick on Saturday he has four of the 10 favourites, including Anamoe at $1.60 in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes.
We expect he will prove us wrong one way or another, but it certainly is something to keep an eye on going forward throughout the autumn.
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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