Winterbottom Stakes: Shaun McGruddy hoping for maiden Group 1 win with longtime Albany trainer Steve Wolfe

Perth jockey Shaun McGruddy said a win at this Saturday’s $1.5 million Winterbottom Stakes with Steve Wolfe-trained Rope Them In would be the “ultimate” salute to the longstanding pair. McGruddy has been Wolfe’s No.1 jockey for the past two decades, partnering in some of the State’s biggest races including the Winterbottom Stakes, The Bluff Knoll and The Quokka. Like Wolfe, McGruddy has never won a Group One race, but the pair will link up for the 1200m sprint feature Ascot on Saturday, with Wolfe’s rising four-year-old gelding Rope Them In. McGruddy drew barrier nine at Tuesday’s barrier draw, while Wolfe’s other runner Red Can Man, who will be jockeyed by Shaun O’Donnell, drew barrier 11. The star jockey is relishing the chance to pinch a maiden Group One victory with his close trainer partner. “It would be the ultimate, and I’m certainly running out of time it seems, but rapt to be going in with a chance on Saturday,” he said. “Whether it can be this coming Saturday or not, I’m not sure. “I think that he could be a quick one at some stage of his career.” McGruddy has ridden Red Can Man plenty of times previously, including at last year’s Winterbottom Stakes when he ran fourth, and admitted it was a tough decision to pick between the two runners. “Wolfe was pretty adamant I should’ve been riding Rope Them In,” he said. “I absolutely thought that Red Can Man would be a good chance, because he’s such a big and strong and older horse. “So at weight-for-age, it’s not easy for horses who have just turned four. “So it won’t be easy for Rope Them In because he’s not a big, strong horse . . . but he’s going good and he’s going to be a top-liner.”