Time flies quickly in the world of racing.
Just a year earlier, Hughes had claimed a benchmark 70 contest over 1400m at Caulfield during his initial stint under trainer Gavin Bedggood. Now, on Saturday, the gelding claimed Group 3 glory in the Victoria Handicap (1400m), while establishing a fresh track record along the way.
With a masterfully timed steer from Jett Stanley, Hughes ($19) started from the rear before threading his way through rivals to prevail by 1½ lengths from Athanatos ($11), while Meridius ($9.50) finished another length back in third position.
Bedggood confessed the result caught him off guard.
“He won a benchmark 70 on this day last year,” Bedggood said.
“But he’s a very easy horse to train. We learnt that fresh is best and we just try and space his runs.
“He was four weeks between runs today. He doesn’t do a lot of work. He had a gallop on Monday morning and then we’ve pretty much left him alone.
“It seems to work well for him, but I thought he might be getting to the end of it.
“He got very hot pre-race when I was saddling him up and I was worried about that, but it was a great ride and full credit to the horse.”
Bedggood noted the directions given to Stanley were straightforward after Hughes’ triumph in the Echuca Cup (1400m).
“What I said was ride him ‘second half’,” he explained.
“He has to be ridden where he’s comfortable. We’ve tried riding him close in lesser grade and it hasn’t worked for him.
“John Allen got it right last time and Jett executed it to a tee today.
“He really likes that ducking and weaving sort of ride. He’s not a big horse, but he loves getting amongst other horses and it works very well for him.”
The gelding Hughes now heads for a brief spell at the beach as his team ponders the next campaign.
Bedggood suggested the Golden Mile (1600m) at Bendigo in the coming month might suit.
“He’ll go and have his week at the beach,” Bedggood said.
“Maybe the Golden Mile could be a race as that works within the four-week time frame, but he’ll tell us.”
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