Runkle Crunch crushes in WA 4YO Classic

Runkle Crunch, by Captain Crunch, was a dominant front-running winner of the Group 3 $50,000 4YO Classic (2130m) at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

The Aiden De Campo trained pacer led from start to finish and never gave his rivals a look-in, scoring an uncontested one-and-a-half-length victory in a career-best mile rate of 1:53.2, just 0.6 seconds off Vampiro’s track record for the distance.

It was Runkle Crunch’s ninth career win, lifting the reigning WA Derby champion’s earnings to $265,942.

Bred by John and Trish Green, Runkle Crunch is out of the Mach Three mare Marcy Runkle.

In a good weekend for Captain Crunch, his Australian stakes-winning sons Brooklyn Dan and Soho Trump quinellaed a Victoria Derby heat at Melton on Saturday, while in New Zealand, his 2-year-old son Captain Wolf recorded back-to-back wins with an impressive three-length victory over the older horses at Addington on Friday night.