It could be like Gavin Bedggood’s Christmases all came at once, but without sounding cliché, a trans-Tasman double provided the Cranbourne-based trainer with one of his best days at the track.
Bedggood took his reliable galloper Kingswood ($10) to New Zealand and a daring ride by Rory Hutchings delivered a second win at the highest level in the Group 1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie.
Then, an hour later, Harry Coffey followed up aboard Hedged ($4.20 fav) in the Listed Christmas Stakes (1200m) at Sandown.
“Massive,” Bedggood told Trackside NZ after Kingswood’s win.
“I thought we were cast 100 metres after the start. We weren’t where we were meant to be.
“I thought we were going to look like mugs but fair play to Rory. It was a ballsy ride.”
Hutchings took control of the race from the 800-metre mark as he set the five-year-old entire forward and led by four-lengths as the field turned for home to effectively pinch the win over the classy local opposition.
It was a second Group 1 win for Bedggood to add to Mornington Glory’s win in the Moir Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley in 2024.
“There were plenty of knockers,” Bedggood said of the NZ plan.
“I’m a realist. He’s not in the top echelon. He’s a bloody good B-grader but on his day in Melbourne, he would be competitive in an Australian Cup or a race like that.”
At Sandown, Harry Coffey timed his run to put three-lengths on the field at the 300-metres mark of the Christmas Stakes to win by just short of that margin, beating home Nadal ($7.50) and Aviatress ($4.40) a nose margin away in third.
Rob Norton, director of Roll The Dice Racing and managing owners of Hedged said that a trip to the Magic Millions Day at Gold Coast on January 17 was a possibility, but the gelding was likely to stick to racing at Flemington.
“He had a tough run and was too good,” Coffey said.
“He covered extra ground, faced the breeze and with all that said rhythm he’s been in and he didn’t give me any grief.”
Hedged broke a run of outs dating back to June 2024 when the gelding won at Ipswich.
