Pumpkin Rumble gives Attard another shot at Valedictory Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Kevin Attard won the Grade 3 Valedictory Stakes with Melmich in 2015, and has seen the son of Wilko run second in that event in back-to-back years. This year, Attard is pointing both Melmich and Pumpkin Rumble to the Valedictory, which will be run over 1 3/4 miles on Woodbine’s Tapeta on Dec. 9.

Both Melmich and Pumpkin Rumble enter the Valedictory off of a win. Melmich recorded his first win of the season in an allowance event over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta on Nov. 10, while Pumpkin Rumble won the 1 5/8 mile-Valedictory prep on Tapeta by 6 3/4 lengths on Nov. 16. Attard said he was thrilled to see Pumpkin Rumble deliver a big performance in the prep.

“He came up with a huge performance and won pretty easily,” he said. “It’s always very exciting to see that kind of race prepping into the bigger one.”

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Pumpkin Rumble has had a productive year in 2018, recording three wins in the allowance ranks and a pair of runner-up finishes in seven starts. Following a fifth-place finish in an allowance over 1 1/4 miles on Tapeta on Aug. 18, Pumpkin Rumble was given a break. It has appeared to do the 7-year-old English Channel gelding a world of good, as he’s since come back to win back-to-back starts.

“He’s come back at full strength,” Attard said.

While Pumpkin Rumble has eight wins in 41 career starts, he’s still chasing a graded stakes win. Pumpkin Rumble has hit the board in five graded stakes, including a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes back in June.

“He would be well deserving of that, that’s for sure,” Attard said. “He’s run some good races against tough opposition throughout his career. For him to be rewarded, I think the owners would appreciate that a lot.”