Trainer Gavin Bedggood has celebrated his most significant career achievement with Kingswood’s victory in the Caulfield Cup.
The Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) on Saturday was secured by the UK-bred import Kingswood, a triumph that surpasses Bedggood’s previous best performance in the 2024 Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley.
Bedggood, who previously excelled as a jumps jockey with close to 100 wins, commenced his training career in 2017, initially focusing on lower-grade horses.
He quickly gained recognition for his ability to acquire and revitalise horses bought online, utilising the Cranbourne training facilities.
His first major success was the 2021 Heatherlie Handicap, a race that Kingswood ironically won on his way to Saturday’s feature event.
“I’m just rapt for my team at home,” Bedggood commented.
“They all turn up every day and they work really hard.
“I’m a hard task master. I’m anal and like things done a particular way but they put up with me, and I don’t get the results that I’m getting without good people behind me.”
Ridden by John Allen, Kingswood ($26) finished a half-length ahead of Saint George ($10), with Enfjaar ($12) a further half-length back in third.
Bedggood thanked Darren Weir for recommending him as the trainer for Kingswood.
“He told the owners to send the horse my way, so I’m grateful for that,” Bedggood said.
“When I got it, he told me it reminded him of Puissance De Lune, not because it’s a grey, but because it’s tough, it’s got a good constitution, and it’s got a good capacity.
“He was bang on with everything he said.”
Following Tuesday’s barrier draw, Bedggood admitted to being gutted when the gelding drew barrier 20, which became 17 after scratchings.
His initial plan was to ride for luck from the back.
“I had a chat to Johnny yesterday and said, ‘you’re riding it’,” Bedggood stated.
“I’ve ridden in races and it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and say I want you to do this, I want you to do that, but it’s not an easy task from where we drew.
“I pretty much left it in his hands. We were pretty much posted three-wide all the way and everyone wanted to question the horse’s credentials at a mile-and-a-half.
“We couldn’t condemn him on his run here (in the Zipping Classic, in 2024), it was on a heavy nine, and you had to put a line through it.
“It’s great to be vindicated.”
Bedggood took Kingswood to New Zealand late last year, where the horse competed in three Group 1 races, including a win at Ellerslie.
He explained that these races were timed well following a limited spring campaign.
“New Zealand was great,” Bedggood shared.
“We went over there with a target to win a Group 1 because there was limited opportunities for him at that time of year here and he had a limited spring.
“I felt a bit sorry for the horse because everyone said he went to New Zealand and knocked off a second-tier type of horse, but I didn’t think that was the case.
“I thought he might have been an Australian Cup horse in the autumn, or something like that, and he’ll come back and be that horse.
“We hit every target this preparation when we sat down and made a plan and to win the Grand Final is fantastic.”
The race was unfortunately marred by an incident early in the straight involving Half Yours, ridden by Mark Zahra, and Ohope Win, ridden by Jye McNeil.
Half Yours fell, with Ohope Wins then going down over the top of the horse that won last year’s Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.
Sadly, Ohope Wins sustained a catastrophic injury and was euthanised, while Zahra and McNeil were transported to hospital for evaluation after walking to the ambulance.
For those keen on the racing action, exploring Australian betting sites for the latest racing odds is a must.