Jungle Rules Winter Championship Heat
- Saturday, 12 June 2010 07:15
Jungle Ruler had conditions to his liking when he ploughed through the heavy going to win the third heat of the 2010 Winter Championship Series at Flemington.
The grey earned a start in the Listed $200,000 Final (1600m) of the series at Flemington on July 10 when he landed his fifth win from 11 heavy track starts and his 11th victory over his favourite journey, 1400 metres.
"He grows another leg when he sees it (heavy going). It's unfortunate what's happened to the track but it made it for us today," trainer Peter White said.
An infestation of cockchafer beetles has eaten into the roots of the grass making it heavy and shifty with plenty of sand kickback.
Ridden by Darren Gauci, Jungle Ruler ($6.50) sat outside the free-going leader Dr Doute's ($7) but quickly grabbed him in the straight and went on to score by a length from Offenders ($6) with Dr Doute's three-quarters of a length away third.
Gauci said the track was "not too bad".
"It felt like there was a heavy spray of sand more than anything else, just as though it was raining," he said .
Gauci said he thought Jungle Ruler was travelling a bit too well coming to the turn as he was galloping so keenly and he was worried Dr Doute's had set too fast a pace.
"He's a tough horse," Gauci said of Jungle Ruler.
The Lion Hunter entire, now rising seven, is a winner at 15 of his 71 starts and Gauci has been aboard him in five of those, three at Caulfield and the Peninsula Cup at Mornington.
"Gauci's probably one of the best front running riders in Australia I think and he loves the horse and knows him," White said.
Gauci took over the reins from Dan Brereton who rode Jungle Ruler when he carried 60.5kg to win on a heavy track in a 1400m Winter Championship heat at Cranbourne at his previous start on May 30 and the horse dropped two kilograms to 58.5kg on Saturday.
White said Jungle Ruler was a "very naughty horse" earlier in his career but had settled down with maturity.
"He surprises me lately how even tempered he is. He's starting to become like a pet dog," White said.
Pictures: Fiona Tomlin
