Trainer Steve Wolfe and jockey Shaun McGruddy were back under the regional spotlight after capturing their second feature country race in seven days,
A week after Quokka-bound sprinter Rope Them In returned to take out the $400,000 Bluff Knoll (1099m) on his home deck in Albany, Currimundi led the stable to a Listed Pinjarra Cup (2300m) victory on Sunday.
Claiming his third Cup success from 41 career starts, Currimundi powered home after being ninth at the turn and gained the winning break over Fear The Wind near the finishing line.
In a three-way driving finish, Currimundi defeated Fear The Wind by a short-neck with a further long-neck margin to third placegetter, Demolish, who hit the front briefly.
Race favourite and last start Bunbury Cup winner, Captain Pluto, settled back and ran on for fourth, but was never a serious winning threat in the straight.
Currimundi, a son of boom sire, Playing God, returned to the winner’s enclosure since capturing the Albany Cup (2100m) – Diggers Cup (1800m) double 12-months ago.
The six-year-old, starting at $11, turned the tables after running seventh to the Grant and Alana Williams-trained Captain Pluto in last fortnight’s Bunbury Cup (2019m).
“He didn’t lose much ground around the turn today (Sunday),” Shaun Mcgruddy said.
“From the 600 hundred to the 400 hundred he lost about four lengths in the Bunbury Cup.
“He wanted to lay out and that really cost him the race.
“Today, he still dropped the bridle, but he didn’t completely lose ground.
“I was still in touch with them on straightening.
“This guy isn’t really bred to stay, being by Playing God, he’s a home bred.
“Steve Wolfe did a good job out of a Pins mare.
“But he’s tough and a trier.”
Wolfe won his second Pinjarra Cup, nearly thirty years since King Brian’s triumph in 1999.
