FROM lying in a hospital bed with three broken
vertebrae to training the winner of the Listed
$240,000 Bendigo Cup (2400m) - it’s sure been
one hell of a year for trainer Jamie Edwards.
Edwards won his own version of the "Melbourne Cup"
when handy gelding Sertorius won the cashed-up bush
feature yesterday from Lloyd Williams’ Massiyn ($8.50)
and Peter Moody’s French import Kesampour ($7).
But Edwards wasn’t all smiles after a horror trackwork
accident at the start of the year left him fighting for his
life.
"I was riding a horse at Geelong at the start of the year
when it snapped its leg, we both hit the deck and I
broke my back and neck," Edwards said.
"I broke three vertebrae in my neck. Things were a bit
risky for a while. It was touch and go.
"While I wasn’t in hospital for long, the recovery took a
while.
"Eight months down the track and everything is good.
Hopefully I’ll be back riding myself by Christmas."
Edwards, 45, said it had been lean pickings for his
stable, but things had started to turn around, and
hoped Sertorius’ victory could continue any
momentum.
Ridden by Ryan Maloney, Sertorius was backed into
$3.80 favouritism on track, and didn’t disappoint the
good number of punters on track. Edwards admitted he
was unsure late Tuesday if he’d even run Sertorius in
the Cup, but was more than confident once he watched
the horse trot early yesterday.
Bendigo Cup winner Setorius with co-trainer Jamie
Edwards. Picture: Jay Town Source: HeraldSun
"You can sometimes second-guess yourself," Edwards
said.
While Edwards was arguably the happiest man at
Bendigo - the historic meeting a club official proudly
described as "Victoria’s sporting and social event of the
year" - things didn’t exactly go to plan for Gai
Waterhouse’s raider Hippopus.
Hippopus tired in the straight to finish 10 lengths last,
with jockey tommy Berry offering no excuses.
"He faded pretty quickly, and I’d say he’ll be heading
back to Sydney now," Berry said.
"His work has been fine, and he was completely fit
today going into this race, so there were no excuses."
Meanwhile, Cox Plate winner Shamus Award had his
older half-sister, a mare named Double Dee out of
Sunset Express, take out the $15,000 first prizemoney
in the fourth event at Bendigo yesterday.
Comments
Post a Comment