It was a case of mission accomplished for Australian trainer Gavin Bedggood at Ellerslie yesterday.
The Cranbourne horseman had previously competed at the Auckland track as a jumps jockey a decade ago and he eyed a return across the Tasman this week with his well-bred group 3 winner Kingswood.
With a view towards securing his future stud career, Bedggood was in search of an elite-level victory, and he felt the group 1 Zabeel Classic presented the perfect opportunity.
Bedggood gave jockey Rory Hutchings instructions to be on pace but Kingswood was slow away, and Bedggood thought the race was over from the start.
However, Hutchings was able to work his charge off the fence down the back straight, and off a sedate pace he quickly launched Kingswood three-wide to loop the field and serve it up to his rivals.
Hutchings caught his competitors off-guard and quickly created a two-length buffer.
Several of his more favoured rivals rallied late, but Hutchings’ masterful move proved the telling of the race, and Kingswood scored by 1½ lengths over Jaarffi with a further long neck back to Legarto in third.
The victory was a sentimental one for Hutchings, who had won his first elite-level victory in the race 11 years ago aboard the Graeme and Debbie Rogerson-trained Soriano.
He only picked up the ride on Kingswood when John Allen was suspended.
Bedggood was rapt with Hutchings’ race-winning tactics but the trainer had thought it was game over shortly after the start.
"We weren’t where we wanted to be — they didn’t go quick," Bedggood said.
"Watching the race unfold, I was working out how I was going to explain this. We were going to look like mugs.
"Fair play to Rory — what a ride. He is not a sit-and-sprint horse, and it was well-executed.
"He had to do something because, where he was, riding for luck wasn’t an option.
"It wasn’t going to suit the horse the way the race was panning out."
The victory also vindicated Bedggood’s decision to campaign in New Zealand, and he said he came under plenty of scrutiny before the race.
Kingswood will now remain in New Zealand to consider the group1 Herbie Dyke and Bonecrusher races, and his trainer is hoping yesterday’s performance has grabbed the attention of New Zealand stud masters.
In one of the earlier features, exciting filly Well Written continued the perfect start to her career with victory in the group 2 Auckland Guineas. — LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
By Joshua Smith
