Stephanie Faulkner was in the spotlight on her home track of Phar Lap Raceway on Tuesday, collecting a fitting victory for the connections of He’s Tunza Grunt (NZ) (Pure Champion) in the Dunstan Horsefeeds Waimate Cup (1600m).
The meeting was initially set to be run on Sunday, but after heavy rain through the week, it was rescheduled to Tuesday, and that was telling in the testing track conditions on course. One runner that was always going to appreciate the ground was He’s Tunza Grunt, Faulkner’s four-win galloper who came into the Cup underrated after resuming over 1200m in May.
Riccarton visitor Iffididit was backed into odds-on favouritism and was prominent early from an outside barrier, while jockey Brandon May opted to settle near the tail of the field aboard He’s Tunza Grunt. Along the back straight, outsider Quartz Queen put a big margin on her rivals, but began to tire at the 600m and Iffididit and Midnight Runner hit the lead turning for home.
Iffididit kicked clear at the 200m but was very wayward in the closing stages, just as He’s Tunza Grunt came powering over the top to score impressively by 1-¼ lengths.
Faulkner had been slightly sceptical on entering the open contest early in his new campaign, but was thrilled to pull off the win.
“I thought this may have been a bit ambitious second-up, but he’s an older horse and didn’t have a long spell, and being a lighter-framed horse, he’s come back pretty fit,” she said.
“He loves those loose, heavy tracks and he’s pretty tough.
“It was great to win today, I haven’t really looked at the programme but I’ll be doing that now. He was getting back down into 65 grade again, but he’ll be back up near open company now.”
A son of Pure Champion out of an unraced Encosta De Lago mare Sacred Jewel, He’s Tunza Grunt has now earned over $100,000 for Diana Goodeve, a Waimate local and long-time supporter of the club alongside her late husband Bob.
“It was a lovely win for Diana, she is from Waimate and they have put a lot of time and money over the years into supporting the Waimate Club,” Faulkner said.
“I haven’t won this as a trainer before, and I actually ran second in it riding one of Bob and Diana’s horses years ago, back in the early nineties.
“It’s probably one of Diana’s lifelong dreams to win this race, and I know Bob will be up there smiling.”
Earlier in the meeting, Faulkner had taken out the opener with a new addition to her stable in Storms Ahead (NZ) (Astern). Formerly trained by co-owner Clinton Isdale, Storms Ahead was first-up since running at Pukekohe in October, but was well-backed in his southern debut closing at $2.40.
In the hands of Tina Comignaghi, Storms Ahead was one of the slowest from the gates and ended up tailing the field early, as Lagobee strode out to a sizable lead. The favourite was giving his rivals a decent head start on the home turn, but going through his gears in the straight, he got up just in time to catch Queen Of Kings by a head.
The son of Astern has made a good impression on Faulkner since arriving in her care and she was rapt with the effort.
“Clinton Isdale part-owns this horse with Eddie Brooks, and he had sent him down with three or four weeks under his belt,” she said. “He picked up a little problem, so I’ve just been chugging him along. He’s had a good, slow, long build-up and he’s had a lot of miles in his legs.
“He’s definitely not a front-running horse, but Tina said he’d come out of the gates quite awkwardly and in true Tina relaxed fashion, she let him find his feet and got him comfortable with a good amount of pace on.
“He was able to get home over top, which was probably a bit of class showing through.
“He’s a lovely, athletic looking horse and I don’t think that will be the last we’ll see of him, he’ll get up to 2000m or further, and he relished in the wet track today.”
Bred by Inglewood Stud, Storms Ahead is out of a five-win mare Lakers Bay, who placed in a Gr.3 White Robe Lodge Handicap (1600m). The gelding was initially sold through the National Yearling Sales, but was subsequently reoffered through gavelhouse.com in May 2024, where Isdale secured the gelding for $1,000.