A solid hit-out in a recent trial has forced a gear change for Gavin Bedggood’s stable newcomer Regal Lion.
The former Annabel and Rob Archibald-trained galloper will be having his first start for Bedggood when he heads out in the Enchanted Adventure Handicap (2000m) at Mornington on Saturday.
After running second in a Cranbourne trial over 1500m on the Caulfield Heath track last week and discussing the performance with jockey Beau Mertens, Bedggood has made the call to replace blinkers with visors on Saturday.
The 2000m contest at Mornington will be Regal Lion’s first for Bedggood and his first since finishing near the tail in the Listed Canberra Cup in March.
“He arrived to me in good order,” Bedggood said.
“He’s a sound horse and we gave him a trial at Caulfield last Thursday.
“He hasn’t been a winner for a long time, so I wanted to see if we could give him a bit of a victory.
“He went around them pretty easily and he looked like he was going to put them away, but he had a bit of a wait.
“Watching on and then listening to Beau’s feedback, we’ll replace blinkers with visors and hopefully that can be the trick with him.”
Since joining Bedggood’s team, Regal Lion has undergone a different training regime in an effort to reinvigorate the gelding.
“We’ve been doing a bit of jumping with him,” Bedggood said.
“He arrived a very fit horse, so we haven’t had to do much with him in between times, it’s more so just keeping him happy.
“Our environment at Cranbourne is we have yards, we’ve got the sandhills, and that seems to have worked well for him, so I would like to think he would get the chance to run well and the best of him would see him competitive for sure.”
