A Brunswick woman who spent years on the front line of the ‘Nup to the Cup’ movement has defected to punting, after being shown a replay of Munhamek’s fairytale win in the 2023 Gold Rush.

29-year-old breathwork practitioner Clementine Crabapple had been a regular at Cup Day protests and a long-time admin on the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses’ social media accounts. 

That all ended however when she was shown vision of the last ride of champion jockey Damien Oliver’s career. Oliver, in the saddle for the final time and having won the previous two races on the Ascot card, came from the clouds on Munhamek to land a legacy-sealing victory right on the line.

“That is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen,” Crabapple told The Pakistan Star.

“And how good was Darren’s call?” she added. “It just doesn’t get any better than that… And in Ollie’s home state, too.” 

When asked who she would be backing in Tuesday’s Cup, Crabapple revealed she had eyes only for one horse.

“That Maher thing Point Of Law looked like it was going to run through a bloody brick wall at Geelong, he’ll be getting mine.”

More to follow.