“I started to get excited when he cruised up alongside the favourite In Flight at the top of the straight, but I still needed to see what I know he’s capable of,” said Brad Widdup in the wake of Jedibeel’s emphatic Rosehill win. “He never runs a bad race, but up to date I’ve always had the feeling we weren’t quite seeing his A game.”
In emphatically winning the 1100m Schweppes Hcp, the rising five year old produced exactly the kind of professional performance Brad’s been waiting for. Jedibeel “pinged” the gates and quickly found an ideal spot behind the leaders for Tyler Schiller. Approaching the 600m it was clear he was in the right spot at the right time, with Extra Flash carting them along at a brisk speed. In Flight had the job of taking the field up to the leader, while Quick Tempo was locked away on the fence. Form runner Contemporary was further back than anticipated.
Jason Collett on Quick Tempo did his best to nudge Jedibeel out of the way on the corner but Schiller adroitly put him back from whence he came. Contemporary got an uninterrupted run along the fence and looked dangerous for a few strides but it was all over in a twinkling when Schiller pressed the button at the 300m. Jedibeel left them standing to post a 2.5 length victory over five time winner Contemporary. It was a coming of age for the promising gelding.
All too easy! Jedibeel (Tyler Schiller) recorded a career best performance in the Schweppes Hcp - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
“We made the major decision to have him gelded following two unplaced runs last spring,” recalled Brad. “He wasn’t beaten far in either, but I felt he wasn’t producing his best effort. That may sound a tough call because he’d already won three races. It was just a gut feeling on my part. You’ve seen the result this preparation. Three wins and two seconds from five starts. He may measure up to stakes class next time.”
Brad has been especially pleased to produce such heartening results for Jedibeel’s owners Mike Gregg and his grandson Lachlan Sheridan. Mike, a relative newcomer to the racehorse ownership ranks contacted Brad out of the blue in 2019, shortly after the trainer had suffered a major setback to his newly launched career. Widdup had been training in his own right for just over two years when his principal client Damian Flower was stood down from all racing participation by Racing NSW.
“I was absolutely devastated and very close to walking away from the career I’d dreamed about,” said Brad. “My team numbers were depleted and I had no idea how I was going to replace them. I got a bit of a kick along when we won a couple of stakes races with Akari, but I desperately needed a new owner or two to help me get over an awful kick in the teeth. “I was stunned to get a phone call from Michael Gregg asking me to help him get started in the business. Rather than subject him to the long wait required for a yearling to reach the racing stage, I recommended he consider a tried horse from NZ.”
Mike Gregg (third from left) listens intently to Tyler Schiller's summation of Jedibeel's win - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
A couple of months later Brad was in Auckland for the Karaka Sale when informed a couple of unraced three year olds were available for inspection at the nearby training property of Mark Fraser-Campin. The horses were in a paddock together and the trainer took his time in assessing the merits of both. He passed up the Iffraaj/ Odessa gelding in favour of the paddock mate, a gelding by El Roca from Pin A Four. Mike Gregg opted to back Brad’s judgement and became the new owner of the El Roca gelding which he later named The Grundler. “The horse was at the races in six months and won a Newcastle maiden at his third race start,” said Brad. “A couple of months later he won a Cl 1 at Goulburn. Throw in a couple of seconds and it was a reasonably pleasing introduction to the racing game for Mike Gregg. It would have been a sensational introduction had I picked The Grundler’s paddock mate. That one turned out to be Ayrton who so far has won eight races including four at stakes level for over a million dollars. Luck’s a fortune in this game.”
Mike Gregg's conspicuous colours were hard to miss as The Grundler got the better of Bella Violet in a Cl 1 at Goulburn 17/12/2021 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Of all the yearlings Brad inspected before the 2020 Inglis Classic Sale, Jedibeel was the one he liked most. His sire Savabeel needed absolutely no introduction, while his dam Starry was a daughter of Exceed And Excel. She hadn’t set the world on fire as a race mare but had won a Newcastle maiden and registered four placings for Team Snowden. “He was just one of those yearlings I had to have,” recalled Brad. “He ticked every box from my viewpoint and I would have been very disappointed to miss out. I mentioned him to Mike Gregg who decided to come on board, making Jedibeel his first ever yearling purchase. It’s been a dream start.”
Mike sees thoroughbred racing as a fascinating diversion from his long time business interests. He’s been the holder of directorships in multiple successful companies over a long period of years and is currently heavily involved as a founding partner in Shearwater Capital. In 2022 he retired after sixteen years as a non executive director for WiseTech Global, providers of software solutions to the logistics industry.
Mike’s trainer Brad Widdup deserves great credit for the manner in which he’s bounced back after the setback in 2019 which could have terminated the only career he’s ever wanted. Three years ago the affable horseman was able to negotiate the purchase of his well appointed stabling complex in Rickaby St Clarendon, adjacent to the backstretch at the historic Hawkesbury racecourse. He’s currently working a team of 70 horses for a wide cross section of owners. Around half of them are fashionably bred two year olds, several of which are already showing great promise.
Brad was well qualified to launch his own training career much sooner than he did. Few trainers can boast a more thorough education, or a more impressive list of tutors. Brad’s journey began in his hometown of Albury under the tutelage of his father Pat, a successful trainer and first class horse breaker. Young Widdup was twenty years old when he ventured to Sydney and into the employ of Warwick Farm trainer Rod Craig. He later spent four years with astute Kiwi horseman Brian Smith, before returning to Rod Craig for a second enjoyable stint.
Brad had 24 years of experience under the belt by the time he launched his own career in 2017 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Always searching for new horizons and with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Brad grabbed the opportunity to become a foreman in Bill Mitchell’s Queensland operation. He actually replaced Peter Moody who had bitten the bullet and launched his own training career. Brad spent four years in Brisbane under the direction of another good horseman in Liam Birchley. Sydney beckoned, and before he knew it he was working as a foreman for Graeme Rogerson who had a massive team in work at Randwick. It was a valuable ten months for Widdup who got to work with horses like Cox Plate winner Savabeel and Golden Slipper winner Polar Success. Next adventure was a very settled four years with Kevin and Jenny Moses at Randwick - four years he still regards as among the happiest of his career.
Brad Widdup was just warming up. He submitted an application for a job as foreman to Peter Snowden at Jack and Bob Ingham’s state of the art Crown Lodge operation at Warwick Farm. He was stunned when asked to attend an interview just six hours after lodging the application. Four months later he was one of many employees to feel the shockwaves of insecurity when the entire operation was sold to Sheikh Mohammed for the mind boggling sum of half a billion dollars. Such was his worth in this veritable racing empire, that he was still working for Godolphin nine years later. Surely the time had come for Brad Widdup to announce the beginning of his solo training career.
Brad displays the trophy after a win by Islands in the Belle Of The South at Goulburn 24/05/2020 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
With 2023/2024 all but gone, Brad is still a fighting chance of posting his best ever seasonal figures. Jedibeel gave him 61 wins for the racing year, just two wins off equalling his best score achieved two years ago. He’s won 353 NSW races since launching his own brand in 2017. He’s already had a taste of elite level success with the quirky but massively talented mare Icebath who made $2.3 million dollars at last year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale. “She’ll be the benchmark for horses to come through my hands in the future,” he said. “What a record - 39 starts for 5 wins and 16 placings and over $5.2 million dollars. She won the Invitation at Randwick but was denied wins by narrow margins in a Golden Eagle, Doncaster, George Main and Cantala Stakes. Nobody begrudged her only Gr 1 win in the Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington. I’ll never forget her.”
Icebath (Kerrin McEvoy) wins The Invitation at Randwick 2021 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Brad’s not sure if there’s another Icebath on the premises currently, but he has come up with a quintet of stable residents who should keep the flag flying in the first half of the new season. “Phearson, Ruby Flyer, and Be Real are three nice horses who’ll pay their way next preparation,” said Brad. “I really like a two year old filly called Hyperbolic who’s had only two starts for a second at Hawkesbury and a very good fourth at Randwick, and of course there’s Jedibeel who’ll go to the paddock with Saturday’s win under his belt. I love to spell them straight off a comfortable win. You know they’re going out full of confidence and with petrol still in the tank.”
It wasn't hard to tell Hunter Widdup was proud of Jedibeel's brilliant win at Rosehill - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - Jedibeel was all business in the Schweppes Hcp at Rosehill - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)