WIDDUP A DUAL WINNER ON NEW TRACK

TUESDAY: May 5, 2026: BRAD Widdup didn’t hesitate to support the opening of Australia’s newest racetrack today – and was rewarded with a double.

Hawkesbury’s leading trainer boosted his season’s tally to 48 when favorites Whoa Nellie and Tequisoda scored in consecutive races.

Tyler Schiller partnered Whoa Nellie ($1.55) in the Provincial Maiden Handicap (1300m), and Christian Reith replaced Tommy Berry (who stayed in Central Queensland to win the postponed $1m The Archer at Rockhampton on Yellow Brick), on Tequisoda ($3.70) in the Midway Benchmark 64 Handicap (1400m).

Widdup had also posted a double at Wyong last Thursday, and also won with Bella Khadijah at his home track’s stand-alone meeting last Saturday.

“It’s great to get a double any time, but especially for Mike Gregg’s Mulberry Racing,” he said this evening.

“I had trailed horses at the new track, and my only concern was that it might suit front runners.

“But it played really well.”

Deep Field filly Whoa Nellie was one of four horses Widdup purchased as yearlings on behalf of Mulberry at the 2024 Magic Millions sale in Perth – and all have won.

“Seven Days, Bondi Blossom and Azure Angel had all won before, and Whoa Nellie is the last of them to win,” Widdup said.

“That was only her third start, and she is still raw.

“I feel she is 12 months away from being fully matured.”

Pierro three-year-old Tequisoda has now won twice, and was beginning a new campaign, not having raced since December.

Whoa Nellie fetched $180,000 in Perth, and Tequisoda cost $160,000 as a 2024 Inglis Premier yearling in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Widdup is hoping to carry his current winning form into Gosford’s stand-alone fixture on Saturday.

He will run Sunset Park in the $300,000 Listed Gosford Gold Cup (2100m).

Widdup has booked Rachel King for the mare, who won the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at Flemington last spring on wet ground.