Kingswood has delivered trainer Gavin Bedggood his most significant career win by clinching the Caulfield Cup.
Bedggood secured the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) on Saturday with the imported UK galloper Kingswood, surpassing his previous best victory in the Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley in 2024.
A capable jumps jockey in his era, accumulating nearly 100 wins, Bedggood transitioned to training in 2017, initially with lower-grade horses.
However, he rapidly established a reputation for acquiring and revitalizing horses purchased online, utilising the Cranbourne training facilities.
His inaugural ‘feature’ success was the 2021 Heatherlie Handicap, a race Kingswood coincidentally won en route to his triumph in Saturday’s feature event.
“I’m just rapt for my team at home,” Bedggood stated.
“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.”
Guided by jockey John Allen, Kingswood ($26) triumphed by a half-length over Saint George ($10), with Enfjaar ($12) a further half-length back in third.
Bedggood expressed his gratitude to Darren Weir for recommending him as Kingswood’s trainer.
“He told the owners to send the horse my way, so I’m grateful for that,” Bedggood conveyed.
“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 the barrier draw on Tuesday, Bedggood admitted to being disheartened when the gelding drew barrier 20, which became 17 after scratchings.
His initial strategy was to ride for luck from the rear.
“I had a chat to Johnny yesterday and said, ‘you’re riding it’,” Bedggood revealed.
“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 transported Kingswood to New Zealand late last year, where the gelding competed in three Group 1 races, including a victory at Ellerslie.
He noted that these races were strategically timed following a limited spring campaign.
“New Zealand was great,” Bedggood commented.
“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 a fall near the finish line involving Half Yours, ridden by Mark Zahra, and Ohope Win (Jye McNeil).
Half Yours went down, with Ohope Wins collapsing on top of the previous year’s Caulfield and Melbourne Cup victor.
Regrettably, Ohope Wins sustained a critical injury and was euthanised, while Zahra and McNeil were taken to hospital for observation after walking to the ambulance.
The Caulfield Cup always provides thrilling racing, and checking the latest racing odds at Australian betting sites can add to the excitement.
