There was no more deserving win at the Wyndham Harness Racing Club meeting yesterday than that of Wyndham Cup winner Devil May Care.
The diminutive seven year old in his seventy fourth start beat a field of very good country cups horse and rewarded his trainer Hamish Hunter with his third Wyndham Cup.
His other wins came in 2012 and 2014 with Franco Ledger.
"This is my roots, Wyndham. This is where I started off. It's always great to come back and compete here. It's a great thrill," said Hunter after the gelding's ninth win.
His record at Wyndham has been good. From eight starts on the track he's won one and notched up two seconds and two thirds. Hunter said Devil May Care has won a race every season he's started.
"The gelding son of Falcon Seelster raced as a two year old and won a race. He even ran fourth in the Welcome Stakes."
The seasons though have been peppered with a string of injuries and that's why he hasn't been sold.
"On average he gets injured once a year. He's a horse with high drama in that respect. He's managed to come back every time so it's been great. He's such a lovely horse who is so genuine."
In yesterday's 3200 metre race he bobbled away before settling behind Shak'n Cullen who lead early. Char Do Neigh then took over as the front runner leaving Devil May Care three back on the inside but three lengths off the leading two.
Pulp Fiction took over with 1800 metres to run.
With 1000 metres to run Hunter moved the gelding off the inside running to face the breeze. At the 500 Pulp Fiction started to struggle and Hunter moved up to challenge. On straightening he hit the lead and held off the Tony Barron pair Quick As A Trick and Delightful Dash. The winning margin was one and a half lengths.
"We just got a lovely run and he felt tremendous."
Devil May Care's last win was at Cromwell in January 2014.
He's owned by Graham, Jill and Ben Cooney. Graham also owns and Hunter trains, the winner of race two Comic Book Hero.
Hunter currently sits on 494 training wins.
Bruce Stewart – Southland Harness Racing – Check site here