Punch One Out Hangs Up The Gloves
Multiple track record holder Punch One Out has been retired following her second placing in a heat of the Group One Australia Cup last Saturday night.
Owner Grant Fennelly made a decision on Sunday morning after discovering his bitch had come on-season.
“When we woke up on Sunday morning she was spotting (bleeding), so I said that's it, she's retired.”
“Jason and I have had terrible injury problems with her lately and she was a week to week proposition, so I knew when she came on-season I would retire her straight away.”
Punch One Out recently returned to Jason Mackay's Richmond Vale kennels in January after a two-month stint with Fennelly in Queensland. The daughter of Knocka Norris and Little Egyptian won five of nine starts for her owner, including the Group Two Gold Coast Cup at Albion Park.
“I had a great run with her in Queensland and if we wanted too, she could have broken a lot more track records.”
“Even though she only won one group race, she doesn't have to prove anything to me.”
Punch One Out began her career back in July of 2012 at Lismore and finished second over the 420m. At start number four, she cracked her maiden status with an impressive 20.58 performance over the 366m straight journey at Capalaba and went on to win her next four races including a fast 30.21 at her first attempt over the 520m distance at Lismore.
Fennelly made the decision to transfer his bitch to Jason Mackay in New South Wales, where he unleashed the sports newest superstar during March of last year, with her breakout performances in the Group One Golden Easter Egg series.
Punch One Out began the series by running a gallant second behind Fully Advanced, who recorded a flying 29.45 over the 520m. After getting into second place, she took plenty of ground off the winner and managed to reduce the margin to three quarters of a length.
No one expected the freakish performance they were about to witness on March 23, as Punch One Out exited from box five in a highly competitive Easter Egg semi-final, containing the likes of Spud Regis and Peter Rocket. Jumping brilliantly from the middle draw, she exploded to the lead and gapped her rivals by six and a half lengths, smashing the Wentworth Park track record by 0.16, clocking 29.27.
Unfortunately she failed to run a place in the Group One final the following week, however lost no credibility after producing the fastest run of all time around the prestigious Wentworth Park circuit.
Stamping her authority as a force to be reckoned with, Punch One Out's record breaking run was about to continue on debut at Richmond over the grueling 535m distance. The $1.30 favourite blitzed her opposition by ten and a half lengths and claimed her second track record, breaking the 30-second mark for the first time in history, clocking 29.90.
Punch One Out was a regular finalist in some of Australia's most coveted Group races including; 2013 Group One Top Gun, 2013 Group Three Sandown Shootout, 2013 Group One Golden Easter Egg and 2014 Group One Paws Of Thunder.
Racking up $141,749 in prizemoney throughout her career, which ended with twenty-two wins and sixteen minor placings from forty-nine starts, Punch One Out will now make her mark as a broodbitch with her first mating to Fabregas, creating an enormous amount of buzz amongst potential buyers.
“In the last two days my phone hasn't stopped with people who are interested in her pups. Obviously I will wait and see how many she has first and if I have to keep them all, that won't worry me at all.”
“I chose Fabregas because of the Bombastic Shiraz bloodline that I'm confident will produce some good pups. I have two out of her mum's (Little Egyptian) next litter and they have broken in outstanding.”
We salute the career of a true superstar of the sport, a bitch that produced performances that the greyhound racing world had never seen before and may never see again.