Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
New Zealand-bred pacer Runkle Crunch gave a brilliant frontrunning performance when he was rated perfectly by his trainer Aiden De Campo.
De Campo smashed the race record to win the $50,000 Four-Year-Old Championship at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
A well-supported $2 chance, Runkle Crunch ruined the perfect record of the $1.90 favourite Cyclone Jordy, who was aiming to notch his twelfth win from twelve starts in Western Australia.
Runkle Crunch rated 1.53.2 over the 2130m to eclipse the race record of 1.53.7 set by Theo Aviator when he beat Sangue Reale by a half-head in November 2019, and he now is sure to be a major player in the $125,000 Four-Year-Old Classic next Friday week and the $200,000 Golden Nugget a fortnight later.
Contesting the $450,000 WA Pacing Cup on December 11 is also a possibility for Runkle Crunch, with De Campo saying: “That could be on the cards. But we will have to get through the four-year-old races and then let him do the talking.”
Cyclone Jordy began from barrier five and he raced three wide early before moving to the breeze, while the polemarker Belly Up ($16) was enjoying an ideal passage behind the leader.
After a solid lead time of 36.3sec. and an opening quarter of 30.2sec. Runkle Crunch made life extremely difficult for his pursuers by dashing over the following 400m sections in 28.3sec., 27.1sec. and 27.9sec.
Cyclone Jordy wilted in the final stages to finish ninth, just over seven lengths behind the winner.
De Campo admitted it was quite a relief to win, saying: “I actually got nervous for the first time for a long time, leading into this race. I was a touch worried that Jordy might have had a bit too much speed for Runkle Crunch early.
“However, Runkle Crunch ran the gate really well and I could have gone a bit slower. And he was travelling so well I wanted to keep rolling in moderation to keep Jordy chasing me.
“I looked around half-way down the back straight (in the final lap) and saw that Junior (Gary Hall Jnr) had the plugs out on Cyclone Jordy, while my bloke was super and was travelling strongly. I grabbed him up around the corner before letting him go at the top of the straight.”
Lincoln Lou ($51) caught the eye by running home fast from sixth at the bell to finish second to Runkle Crunch, with Belly Up in third place.
Runkle Crunch, a gelding by American sire Captain Crunch, was having his second start after a four-month absence, and he is sure to have derived considerable improvement from Friday night’s victory. He has won at five of his 14 WA starts and boasts a fine record of 25 starts for nine wins, four placings and $265,942.
“This win is not the B-all and end-all; there’s bigger fish to fry, coming up,” said De Campo.