Steve Taylor, 28 July 2025

The 2025 TAB Territory Punter of the Year competition brought the Darwin Turf Club to life on TAB Metric Mile Day, Saturday 26 July, with 25 syndicates battling it out for $10,000 in prizemoney and the prestigious title of the Territory’s best punters. This year also saw the debut of the Metric Mile $5k Challenge, giving teams the chance to pocket an extra $5,000 by picking the winners of all seven races.

The action kicked off with Race 1, where Tayarn Halter’s Predicting ($6.30) beat Thank God I Gothim ($4.80) and Cee Pee One ($4.40). The 2025 Semi Official Shanghai Punters Team and Pirate Eyes got off to a flying start, landing big win bets on the winner. Unfortunately, the prospect of the Metric Mile $5k Challenge was short lived for most, with 22 of the 26 teams wiped out at the first hurdle. Race 2 was more subdued, with Gary Clarke’s Pharaoh Magic ($4.30) leading all the way from Vinnie’s Spirit ($5.50), with Hello World ($3.10) third. Several teams picked up small exotic wins, but no major movement occurred on the leaderboard.

Race 3 saw momentum build as Wild Beau stormed home, with Let It Ride and last year’s champions Rastamouse both landing $300 win bets. Meanwhile, chaos unfolded at Caulfield as Vain Champagne won at 20-1, knocking 21 teams out of the quadrella in the first leg, leaving only Let It Ride, Compassish Crew, Punting Duo, and 4 Leg Multis still alive. Race 4 provided one of the day’s best finishes as Chloe Baxter’s Miami Baby ($6.00) stormed from last to first to beat favourite Rossanado ($2.20). Cannonball capitalised with a $126 win bet, while Rastamouse also nailed the result with a $100 bet.

Race 5 turned the competition on its head when Dummy Spit ($4.00) delivered for Andrew Perdon, beating Rising Fire ($4.50) and Starton ($7.50). Cannonball placed a bold $450 win bet, returning $1,845, while Hank’s Tuition Kitty, The Buff Crowd, and The Big D’s also picked up healthy returns. Race 6 saw the highly backed Pink Panther rolled by Villa Seventynine, much to the delight of Rastamouse, who smashed a $662 win bet to collect $2,714 and surge into contention. At the same time, Let It Ride and Compassish Crew came agonisingly close to a massive Caulfield quaddie collect, still alive after secuing Leg 1 ($20), Leg 2 ($11) and Leg 3 ($3), only to be undone by 35-1 outsider Windstorm in the final leg who hadn’t won in 1750 days! Ouch.

The day’s drama peaked in Race 7 when Gary Clarke’s Wolfburn ($7.50) led all the way, delivering the longest-priced winner of the day. Cannonball rolled the dice with a $1,000 win bet and $536 place bet on Wolfburn, collecting a massive $8,572 to storm into first place and finally claim victory after two years of finishing runner-up. Lockett’s Losers, All About Punting, and Punting Duo also backed Wolfburn, but none could catch Cannonball.

Thank you to TAB for their generous support, MC Shane Green for keeping the energy high, and the Darwin Turf Club team for hosting another outstanding event. Congratulations to Team Cannonball on their well-deserved win – third time’s a charm!

Final standings as follows:

• 1^st place: CANNONBALL $8,572
• 2^nd place: RASTAMOUSE: $3,500
• 3^rd place: LOCKETT’S LOSERS: $3,150
• 4^th place: ALL ABOUT PUNTING: $2475
• 5^th place: JEMAR: $1962
• 6^TH Place: LET IT RIDE: $1215
• 7^th place: PUNTING DUO: $1042
• 8^th place: NOT BROKE FURLONG: $801
• 9^th place: PUNTY PUNTERS: $385
• 10^th place: NOBBY’S WARRIORS: $347

All other teams finished with a balance of $0