Punters put down thousands to back a winner at the Noonamah Tavern frog races
A FLUTTER on the frogs proved to be more popular than the fillies at the Noonamah Tavern with punters dropping hundreds to secure their amphibian for the annual frog races.
Northern Territory
Don't miss out on the headlines from Northern Territory. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A FLUTTER on the frogs proved to be more popular than the fillies at the Noonamah Tavern with punters dropping hundreds to secure their amphibian for the annual frog races.
One syndicate spent $3520 on lucky number frog No 19 – Black Night.
However it was frog No 2 – Menace Hopper that took home first place. It was purchased by mates Colin Ballard and Bert Kellett for $750.
Mr Kellett said they had attempted to buy a frog at the races last year but missed out.
This year the duo were determined to back a jumpy four-legged competitor and pooled their cash together.
Mr Kellett said the frogs had proved to be more lucrative than a punt on the fillies.
“I blew 160 bucks on the races; Col didn’t put a bet on the races, he was saving it for the frogs,” he said.
But it almost wasn’t to be, with the duo eyeing off another ribbiting racer to back.
“We didn’t look at that one originally, we looked at a few others but that was the one we ended up going on,” he said.
The blokes took home more than $5000, with the runner up pocketing more than $3000 and third place more than $1000.
RELATED NEWS
Territorians expected to celebrate the Melbourne Cup in droves
This Melbourne Cup mare has links to the Red Centre with one owner who calls Alice Springs home
Fillies, fashion and a whole lot of bubbly at Darwin Cup
Noonamah Tavern manager Tony Innes said the races were on shaky ground with the pub struggling to source 24 frogs until Monday morning.
“On Friday we only had half a dozen frogs, Sunday night we had seven or eight and on Monday morning one person brought in 15 and we got a few more (Tuesday),” he said.
The frogs will be collected by the people who brought them in or otherwise released into the beer garden.
OFFER EXTENDED: Amazing NT News subscription offer: Read everything for $1
In total more than $18,000 was raised for charity with the money to be split between Variety NT and the Humpty Doo volunteer fireys’ NTFRS Santa Run.
“I’m absolutely rapt we raised nearly $19,000 for charity … it’s pretty awesome,” Mr Innes said.
CareFlight evacs nine to hospital after 4WD rollover
A crime scene is still in place near the Daly River and Dorat road intersections as police investigate a single vehicle rollover that hospitalised nine.
LISTED: All the winners from the Motorsports NT Awards
Motorsports NT celebrated another huge year for its thousands of members in its annual awards night celebrating the best competitors, volunteers and officials. Check out all the winners.