The topic on everyone's lips at the 2019 Gulgong Cup was whether Brett Thompson was going to be able to pull off back-to-back wins in the highlight race.
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After taking out last year's run with More Than Art, now trained by Bryan Dixon (Gilgandra), Thompson, although had favourite Sugar Dance initially entered but later scratched, had just one runner.
Attalea.
It came at no surprise there were some hefty contenders including Attalea for the race, and after a relatively tight finish, it was Cody Morgan's (Tamworth) Mr Pumblechook who took out the $10,000 race.
While only a small horse, Ms Wendy Peel who jockeyed the five-year-old gelding to the finish line, says he was always more than capable.
He's only a little horse but he was able to hold the weight today.
- Ms Wendy Peel
It was a relatively clean run for the jockey who recently underwent surgery for a fracture dislocation of her right shoulder, and says getting her first win after returning 'means a lot'.
"It's my first winner back, I've only been back for a couple of weeks and it means a lot," Peel told the Mudgee Guardian.
"I was quite confident going into the race.
"Brett Thompson's horse, Attalea was the one to beat but Mr Pumblechook drew well.
"Cody said if you can, run third on the fence. I was able to get the gun run into the race, they were running along at a nice tempo.
The gaps opened up at the top straight and it just worked out really well for me, I was able to get the job done.
Second to Mr Pumblechook was last year's winner, More Than Art with Thompson's Attalea running in third.
The Gulgong Cup was held on June 9 at the Gulgong Racecourse.