POCKET ROCKET GIVES WIDDUP 500 CAREER WINS
Five-year-old mare Sneaky Choice ($14), ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, snatched a last stride victory in the Benchmark 72 Handicap (1600m) to give Hawkesbury’s leading trainer his 500th success.
It was her maiden metropolitan triumph and, fittingly, raced in Widdup’s colours.
“Sneaky Choice is raced by the Colley family, who bred her,” Widdup said this evening.
“I trialled her five times before taking her to the races because she was so small.
“You could pick her up and carry her.
“But she is very honest, and it was great to see her get a breakthrough in town.
“Sneaky Choice has had a good preparation without winning until today.
“She was narrowly beaten at Warwick Farm in early September, also at 1600m.”
Sneaky Choice has won now four of her 15 starts, today’s success boosting her earnings to just over $131,000.
McEvoy took full advantage of the mare’s favorable draw, then got her out into the clear in the straight to make what proved to be a winning run.
She surged strongly in the closing stages to nab Leica Storm ($10) right on the post after that gelding looked to have established a winning break.
Widdup, after a lengthy “apprenticeship”, began training at Hawkesbury toward the end of the 2016-17 season.
His first runner was in fact his first winner when Junglized scored on Canberra’s ACTON (synthetic) track on May 26, 2017.
Widdup’s maiden Group 1 winner was Icebath at the Melbourne Cup carnival at Flemington in October 2022.
Sneaky Choice was his 14th winner so far this season, and the 42nd for the Hawkesbury training base.
Meanwhile, Widdup will start debutante Toytown (Nash Rawiller) in Saturday’s Max Lees Classic (900m) at Newcastle’s metropolitan stand-alone meeting.
But he says the Lucky Vega colt is different altogether to filly Fire Lane, with whom he won the Max Lees four years ago when she was also having her first start.
“Fire Lane was a running type, whereas Toytown finishes off,” Widdup said.
“The 900m is probably too short, but he is a nice colt and I’m sure he will run well.”
Toytown, the first horse Widdup has trained for Yu Long Investments, won a Hawkesbury 800m trial on October 20, and was to have kicked off at Rosehill Gardens last Saturday, but was an emergency for the $1m Golden Gift (1100m), and didn’t make the “cut”.
