Great Rivalry Leads to WA Derby Success

Auckland property developer and harness racing owner-trainer John Green always had a healthy respect for the triple Oaks winner Pullover Brown.

“She raced against a very good mare I owned called Alta Serena. They had some epic battles over the years,” Green said.

“When I saw there was a foal out of Pullover Brown being offered at the Auckland yearling sales, I told myself I am going to buy that.”

Green and his wife Trish subsequently outlaid $15,000 for the Mach Three filly known as Marcy Runkle.

“She only had three starts. She ran fourth and second as a two-year-old and then she won her first start as a three-year-old and the following Tuesday fractured a pastern on the training track,” Green said.

Retired to the stud, Marcy Runkle produced The Beaudster (by Rock N Roll Heaven) as her first foal. He has won eight races in Western Australia to date including one at Gloucester Park and has banked $95,348.

Next, to the cover of Art Major, she left Murtle The Turtle, an impressive winner in intermediate grade at Cambridge Raceway last Thursday.

“We sold her as a two-year-old and she’s won three races so far,” Green stated.

Runkle Crunch (by Captain Crunch) is her third foal.

Trained originally at Green’s Ardmore stables by Brian and Gareth Hughes, the gelding won four races – all at Alexandra Park – before John sold a half share to clients of leading Perth conditioner Aiden De Campo.

“Aiden’s father Andrew and I became very good mates when I took a couple of horses to Perth in the 1990s. I won the Golden Nugget in 1995 with Beefy T,” he said.

“Andrew did a lot of driving for me. I had another good horse called The Suleiman, who we took to Hobart and Andrew drove him to win the Tasmanian Pacing Championship.”

Following a couple of unlucky fourths in top company in Perth, the gelding put it all together when he captured the Group 1 $200,000 WA Pacing Derby at Gloucester Park last Friday.

Starting from the back row, Runkle Crunch settled three deep on the marker pegs before being angled to the outside rounding the home turn.

The gelding accelerated quickly to gobble up his rivals in the home straight and win by 7.2 metres at a career-best 1:56 rating over 2536 metres.

It was his fifth lifetime success and increased his stake earnings to $182,587.

Runkle Crunch’s success in the Group 1 WA Derby continues an incredible legacy for New Zealand-bred pacers in the rich Western Australian feature.

NZ-breds have now captured 18 of the 25 editions since the turn of the millennium, a record that underscores the enduring strength and influence of Kiwi bloodlines in the west. Interestingly, the great New Zealand-bred Shakamaker won the final WA Derby of the 20th century in 1999, setting the tone for decades of dominance to follow.

His triumph also marks the third consecutive year the prestigious classic has fallen to a New Zealand-bred, following the Gloucester Park victories of Christopher Dance in 2023 and Skylou in 2022. Runkle Crunch now joins a decorated honour roll that includes past Kiwi-bred champions such as Chicago Bull, Beaudiene Boaz, Alta Christian and King Of Swing.

Green compared Runkle Crunch to Courage To Rule, who he trained to win the last Victoria Derby held at Moonee Valley in 2010.

“He’ll go through to open company. He follows speed really easily,” Green stated.

To bring Marcy Runkle’s breeding record up to date, she has a yearling filly by Captain Crunch who has been broken in and is nicely gaited, a colt foal by Lazarus, and she’s been served again by Captain Crunch.

“I’ve sent three mares to him this year,” John said.

The others are Whispering Artist, an Art Major granddaughter of Alta Serena who won six races including the 2023 North Island Breeders Stakes, and The Honey Queen, a 1:50.3 Menangle-winning half-sister to Green’s New Zealand Cup hero Thefixer.

Thefixer and The Honey Queen are both products of Green’s dual Oaks winner and broodmare gem Tosti Girl.

“I had about 24 mares at one stage but we’re now down to three,” he said.