While Gavin Bedggood is renowned for his success in reviving horses that began their careers elsewhere, the Sandown meeting on Wednesday demonstrated his talent with newcomers as well.
The Cranbourne-based trainer presented the two-year-old filly Burning Heartz, who secured a hard-fought victory in her debut performance at the $50,000 Sportsbet Jockey Watch Handicap over 1300 metres.
Bedggood acquired Burning Heartz for $26,000 at the Magic Millions yearling sale in Adelaide last year and expressed his satisfaction in achieving the win for the connections, many of whom were persuaded to invest in shares shortly before her initial race.
“I probably still owned half of her up until about a fortnight ago, so I’ve sold the rest of her over the last couple of weeks since she’s trialled up,” he stated. “I gave a couple of people a ring and told them she went alright, so it’s good to be vindicated today. “It’s great to get a two-year-old winner. We’ve been a stable that’s been marked as a tried-horse trainer but we had a two-year-old (Egyptian Dancer) run second on Saturday at Caulfield and it’s good to get a winner today.”
Burning Heartz marks only the third two-year-old winner for Bedggood, a former accomplished jumps jockey who is approaching the 250-win milestone as a trainer.
The daughter of Cool Aza Beel triumphed in a closely contested finish, with less than a head separating the top four finishers.
The $4.40 favourite clinched the win by a nose over Delahra ($6), who narrowly defeated Tagabella ($9) for the runner-up position, with Anglais ($4.40) finishing a close fourth.
Joe Bowditch, who rode Burning Heartz, commended his trainer’s efforts in preparing her to win over 1300 metres first-up, and Bedggood is optimistic about her future prospects.
“I would say that further (in trip) is going to be no issue in time,” he remarked. “She’s got a great constitution, I’ve never seen her leave feed, and she just wants to work with you. “She dropped her head nicely in the run there and the world’s her oyster.”
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