Latest news with #punting
News.com.au
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Monday Racebook: Gilbert Gardiner's horses to follow and forgive from Flemington on Saturday
Form expert Gilbert Gardiner analyses Saturday's Flemington Community Race Day, revealing his horses to follow as well as five to forgive. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! â– â– â– â– â– FIVE TO FOLLOW SPLASH BACK (1-length 1st of 12, Race 7): How could you not? Savage turn of foot late to nail TERRESTAR and the plucky SASSY BOOM after being hemmed away in an almost impossible position third last in traffic. Her win at Caulfield the start prior was equally impressive. Spring beckons for the rising six-year-old mare. SPLASH BACK FROM THE CLOUDS 🤯 🤯 She might be pretty good! Splash Back comes from nowhere to the delight of the punters, giving Tom Prebble a race to race double! @Grahame_Begg — 7HorseRacing ðŸ�Ž (@7horseracing) June 21, 2025 FIELDELO (3.8-length 2nd of 11, Race 9): Crashed into a rising star in SHE'S AN ARTIST, who smashed the clock to win the 1100m Three-Year-Old Handicap by 3 3/4 lengths. Tracked the winner to the 800m but unable to quicken as sharply when She's An Artist sprinted clear. Fieldelo, trained by Toby Lake, stuck to her task to run second. BRIDAL WALTZ also gallant in third. She's An Artist shares a resemblance to a certain sprinter & she might share some of that ability... ðŸ'©â€�🎨 The bald-faced filly trounces her opposition under hands & heals. @CWilliamsJockey @cmaherracing — (@Racing) June 21, 2025 RELENTLESS VOYAGER (4.5-length 6th of 12, Race 8): Expect to see more of him in coming weeks and months. A lovely Australian debut, albeit luckless, by the imported stayer, twice stakes' placed in England last year. The Ciaron Maher-trained gelding had not raced for 10 months before last Saturday. Held up multiple times inside the last 200m and barely got out of second gear. "What a day for team Payne!" Jimmy The Bear atones for an uncharacteristic poor run last start, bounding away with the David Bourke Handicap ðŸ�» Michelle & Patrick Payne have a quartet & their apprentice, Tom Prebble, has a treble 🤩 — (@Racing) June 21, 2025 FROM A DISTANCE (0.8-length 2nd of 11, Race 4): Worked into contention nicely in the straight but snookered between horses on the heels of winner TAKEN. The Symon Wilde-trained gelding got clear air eventually, inside the last 75m, and surged into second position. Could be hard to hold out next start at 1600m. Stablemate DARKBONEE (3rd) saved best work late after being held up. Taken lugs 60kg to extend his winning-streak to four ðŸ'Œ @CWilliamsJockey collects his first winner of the afternoon. @MickPriceRacing — (@Racing) June 21, 2025 HARD TO CROSS (4.3-length 8th of 13, Race 5): Wet track, 1600m third-up could be a nice recipe for the typically consistent performer. Posted wide without cover last Saturday in the second half of the field and shunted deeper again in the straight. BRIGHT STRIPES (3.1-length 7th) an eye-catching run late. Cafe Millennium collects an elusive second victory after going winless since his debut ðŸ¤� @lindsayparkrace has their galloper humming since joining the team this preparation. @LukeCartwrightt — (@Racing) June 21, 2025 • â– â– â– â– â– FORGIVE RED GALAXY (6.4-length 11th of 16, Race 5): Travelled outside leader FREAK OF NATURE (11.2-length 13th of 13) and both weakened in the straight. Jockey Craig Williams told stewards Red Galaxy made an abnormal respiratory noise on pulling up. A post-race endoscopy detected a throat condition that may have affected Red Galaxy's performance. Freak Of Nature also pulled up with signs of a throat condition. AVEBURY (4.6-length 8th of 12, Race 7): Faded out of contention late but potentially reached the end of her preparation. Raced consistently of late, with big weights, including a Caulfield win four starts back. OBSERVER (6.4-length 5th of 8, Race 1): Won too impressively the start prior at Sandown, bolted in by five lengths, to sack off one blemish. The two-year-old colt appeared to travel well at Flemington but wilted when jockey Craig Williams asked for an effort as BUCCLEUCH (1st) and MILLENNIUM BLADE (3rd) challenged at the 300m. Buccleuch surges away from his fellow 2yos under the guidance of @TheBeeegan ðŸ'Œ @mj_payne — (@Racing) June 21, 2025 â– â– â– â– â– STEWARDS SAY Jockey John Allen reported ST LAWRENCE (Race 8) failed to respond under pressure and was disappointing. A post-race veterinary examination did not reveal any significant findings. Trainer Gavin Bedggood could offer no explanation for the performance. Stewards will follow up with the stable.
The Sun
21-06-2025
- The Sun
Iconic tourist attraction could vanish forever in huge blow to one of UK's most popular destinations
AN ICONIC tourist attraction in one of the UK's most popular cities could soon be extinct. Punting on the charming River Cam in Cambridge could soon be a thing of the past as the organisation managing the time-honoured tradition warns it could collapse within twelve months. 1 CamCon, who act as the Conservators of the River Cam, says it is "in crisis" and may become "unviable and inoperative" without urgent financial intervention, The Times reports. The crisis centres on two lock islands essential for regulating water levels and which are at urgent risk of collapse. Their potential demise could mean the the famed Backs - which offers punters a scenic view of King's College and other landmarks - could soon be rendered "a measly, muddy trickle" which won't be able to support flat-bottomed boats which accommodate tourists. David Goode, CamCon's chairman, has highlighted that both Jesus Lock island and Baits Bite Lock, situated a few miles up the river, face an "imminent danger of collapse". "If it was imminent a year ago it's not going to get better," he added. "On the river stretch along the Backs between Mill Pond and Jesus Lock the water level is held artificially high by the sluice gates at the lock." The historic city heavily relies on the industry for waving in thousands of domestic and international visitors annually. Beyond the punting industry, university rowing clubs will also be affected as the Cam could soon become overgrown with weeds. David continued: "There would be a lot of consequences: the loss of punting, exposing of the foundation of college walls and the devastating impact to the appeal and economy of Cambridge." Provisional financial support to stabilise the river could cost in excess of £1.5million, while permanent aid would require more than £10million per structure. Oxford and Cambridge's chief coaches share how they're feeling ahead of The Boat Race Anne Miller, co-chair of the Cam Valley Forum which advocates for river conservation, called on the colleges to step up their efforts. 'If the river is fetid sludge the tourists aren't going to want to come; the colleges along the river are going to suffer," she said. 'We are a techy city. We've got loads of billionaires, wealthy colleges, wealthy businesses from Microsoft to AstraZeneca. "If everybody puts a chunk in a kitty we can get this sorted." The Sun Online has reached out to Cambridge County Council for comment. How to enjoy a river punt on the Cam Nothing is as quintessentially 'Cambridge' as floating down the River Cam in a wooden punt. It's the best way to view the city's most famous buildings, as many of these are spread along the banks of the river and cannot be seen from the centre of town. Punting is also the only way to see all the stunning bridges which give the city its name, including the Bridge of Sighs and the Mathematical Bridge (which, according to urban legend, was constructed using no nuts or bolts). You can get a chauffeured tour complete with a guide or simply rent your own, but be warned, first-timers are known to occasionally fall in. Don't worry if you're visiting during the colder months — punting firms will equip you with blankets to stay warm and umbrellas in case of bad luck with the weather. Prices vary by season and by company, but guided tours on a shared boat cost around £15-30 per person for adults and roughly £10 for kids. If you fancy a go at pushing the punt yourself, it will cost between £24-£36 per hour.
News.com.au
20-06-2025
- General
- News.com.au
The demise of cash brings a stark new reality for Australians
Cash is king, so the saying goes. These days it's more like Prince Harry – exiled and mostly forgotten about except for the odd bit of novelty entertainment. I was recently packing for a week away at the Warrnambool races and shoved my hand in a suit pocket before putting it in the bag – only to find a wad of $50 notes that I'd clean forgotten. As best I could deduce, I must have won it on the punt previously and never retrieved it from the jacket. So I proceeded to hand it all back to the bookies, never to be seen again – which, in one way or another, is what has happened to most people's cash. Not necessarily on the punt. But it's nowhere to be seen. Even as a young man, there was a time when I only punted with cash. I'd do the form on Friday evening and Saturday morning I'd go down to the pub or TAB to put my bets on for the day. There were always a few coins on hand to have a quick bet if I popped into the pub for a quiet pint in the afternoon. I was on first-name terms with the lady who ran the TAB near the newsroom in Adelaide. The kitty was in my bedside drawer and I could see exactly how much cash was coming in and out. Then Covid came along and the sneeze police said you couldn't go to the pub or you'd be put in the city watch house so I was forced to punt online instead – and I've been doing it ever since. It's a bit sad, really, because I enjoyed the ritual of going to the TAB to have a chat and put a bet on but new habits formed and they stuck. Now, on a Friday afternoon, I sometimes take myself to the pub with some cash for the novelty of having a bet the old fashioned way. All of this is to say that you don't realise just how quickly habits form – and how fast that has driven cash into obscurity. You may say you don't care because it's easier to use your credit or debit card. And that's fine so long as you still have the freedom to use cash – but just you wait till that doesn't exist anymore. This masthead's Ella McIlveen recently wrote of how supermarkets are slowly squeezing out cash by reducing the number of self-service terminals that will take it. Many of the Coles and Woolworths outlets she visited had just two terminals accepting cash. One – a Coles shop – had none at all. The only way you could use cash was to go to a manned checkout. Except none of them were manned. This is not for the convenience of the consumer. It is a deliberate ploy by corporate Australia and the federal government to reduce the use of cash so they can eventually scrap it altogether. It's a bit like banks keep justifying the closure of ATMs and branches by saying that fewer people are using cash without acknowledging that one of the main reasons fewer people are using cash is because they've taken away all the places from which you can get it. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that ultimately leads to the abolition of the one form of money over which you have complete control – which is exactly what they want. The most valuable resource on the planet today is not dug out of the ground, it's dug out of your life. Data is worth more than gold or any diamond and digital transactions paint a picture of who you are and what you do. Your bank probably knows you better than you know yourself. And once you get rid of cash, the government can introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC). CBDCs would be issued by the federal government of Reserve Bank but because it exists digitally and not physically, it can potentially give the issuer control at all times. The controller of a CBDC could, theoretically, add or deduct money from your account at any time for any reason. It could give the controller – the government – the power to dictate how that money can or cannot be spent. And it could give the government complete oversight of how and where you spend your money, thus creating a surveillance state on a mass scale. You may figure that's unlikely to be a problem – but imagine that power in the wrong hands. Governments don't always act in your best interest.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Iowa football special teams star given lofty predictions from CBS Sports
Strong special teams are synonymous with the Iowa Hawkeyes. LeVar Woods, Iowa's special teams coordinator and arguably the best in the country, has transformed the unit into one that has won games for Iowa and often dictates field position in Big Ten battles. One way Iowa helps its offense and defense is with the punting unit. While it isn't flashy or always the most fun, Iowa does it more effectively than just about anyone in the country. They back their opponents up to help the defense, which in turn creates short fields for the offense to work on. Advertisement Leading the charge for Iowa in the punting game is the Australian, Rhys Dakin. Entering his second year with Iowa, Dakin knows he is a vital part of Iowa's success and is hoping to take the next step forward after a strong freshman campaign. If he can continue his punting prowess, CBS Sports believes he could take home the Ray Guy Award as college football's top punter. Ray Guy Award (Top Punter) Prediction: Rhys Dakin, P, Iowa Iowa is a punting factory. The Hawkeyes have another really good one in Dakin, who averaged 44.1 yards per boot as a true freshman last season while totaling 2,822 yards with his leg, ranking eighth nationally. He also led the Big Ten with 29 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. - Will Backus, CBS Sports Rhys Dakin punted 64 times for Iowa in the 2024-25 college football season with a booming average of 44.1 yards with a season-long of 61 yards. More impressively, Dakin dropped 29 of his punts (45.3%) inside the opponents' 20-yard line, which puts them against the odds on pure yardage, let alone going against Phil Parker's Iowa defense. Iowa will continue to punt and play the field position game as a more conservative team in the country. When done right, as Iowa so often does, it can win games. Advertisement Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football, Rhys Dakin land Ray Guy Award prediction from CBS
The Sun
12-05-2025
- The Sun
The cheapest and best way to see one of UK's most popular holiday destinations & the pitfalls tourists make each summer
WHEN it comes to UK holiday destinations - Cambridge consistently features in the top five, thanks to its historical buildings and world-class university. It's especially popular in summertime, when scores of tourists flock to the city's river to take in the sights. 6 6 George Geach has worked as a 'punting chauffeur' in the city for the last three years, taking tourists on trips along on the River Cam in his boat. He says it's hands down the best, and most affordable, way of seeing Cambridge - thanks to the unique position the river has through the university colleges. Around 200 punts are manned by chauffeurs on the 4.5 mile stretch of the river. A punting tour in Cambridge costs just £15 per person and each boat holds up to 12 people. The tour lasts 45 minutes, where a chauffer pushes a flat-bottomed boat along the water with a 16ft pole. In total, guests pass seven University of Cambridge colleges, venture under nine bridges, including saac Newton's Mathematical bridge, and see Jesus Green Lock, built in 1836. Even in the winter when the weather is more depressing, he enjoys "people taking it as more of a romantic experience", where they wrap up and drink mulled wine. George said: "The land either side of the river is owned by the University so it is an affordable, concise way to see everything in one go. "Otherwise you'd have to pay to see the colleges individually - where here you can sit on the boat with a river tour guide and chauffeur." He added: "It's better than being in Oxford. If you look at other places - you don't really see as much as you see when you go punting in Cambridge." Futuristic electric boat that can FLY on water unveiled as luxury 'river limo' that quietly glides over bumpy waves However, with 900,000 people taking a ride each year, the 23-year-old has seen his fair share of obscure experiences. George said: "One guy on a boat was quite drunk and very peckish. "He saw another boat with a pizza and he dived in the river and swam over to the other boat. "He stole their pizza and swam back to his boat - and got attacked mid-swim by swans who wanted a bite themselves." George has also experienced a number of stag and hen-dos, where jumping into the River Cam is a usual part of the tour. He shared: "They cause lots of drama - all sorts of screaming and shouting and jumping in." Then there is the risk of falling in the water... 6 George explained: "I always tell people that the boats are really safe and there's no way you can fall in. "The only person who could fall in, is the guy at the back. "However we have had people falling in the river after their girlfriend has pushed them in whilst taking photos of King's College. And the company has also had some proposals go wrong. "We've had failed proposal tours where tour guides are told that there will be a proposal mid tour only for the answer to be a big fat no," George added. Some visitors, who feel extra confident are also keen to have a go at punting for themselves. George commented: "We have self-hire antics where people renting a boat out for themselves for the first time. 6 6 "They go round in circles, smash into bridges - causing general havoc. "They then blame the tour guides for not being skilled enough pushers to get out their way when they are blocking the entire river. "A collision in unavoidable." There was also one time during the May Ball fireworks at St John's, when around 50 boats are parked up to watch the fireworks, when some guests desperately needed the loo. George shared: "One boat load of people were parked up underneath a weeping willow and charged people £5 a pop to have a wee under the cover of the singular tree within the vicinity." Despite all the weird and wonderful experiences, George still loves what he does. Cambridge's counterpart Oxford is also has punting tours, as do some other UK locations including London on the River Thames, Canterbury on the River Stour and Stratford-upon-Avon on the River Avon. One man, who lives on a canal boat, says it is the best way to experience the UK. 6
