GIVE him a heavy track, and he’s goes off like a bomb!
Hawkesbury’s leading trainer Brad Widdup won’t mind in the slightest if he can find a similar surface for three-year-old Likeabomb’s hat-trick attempt.
The son of Smart Missile was a $6 chance when he made it two in a row on heavy ground at Gosford on Saturday, upsetting hotpot Cosy Corner ($1.45) in the Class 1 Handicap (1200m).
Likeabomb had broken through at Kembla Grange on November 7 in a 1200m Maiden Handicap at $11 at his sixth start after being runner-up twice previously at the provincials.
Rory Hutchings rode him in his first win, and again at Gosford and later told Widdup the gelding had done a good job to post a second victory.
“It might have looked ugly, but he was strong through the line,” Hutchings reported.
Confirming the merit of the Hawkesbury three-year-old’s performance was that he conceded the runner-up, a last start Gosford winner, a tidy 4.5kg.
Widdup previously won three races (two at the provincials and the other at Royal Randwick) with Odyssey Moon mare Moon Reader for the Walker family from Yass.
“Sadly Richard Walker passed away earlier this year, and his son Simon now manages the business,” Widdup said.
“Richard was a very well-known polo player who represented Australia 17 times, captained the team on three occasions and was awarded Hall Of Fame status.
“The Walkers bred Likeabomb and Tim Martin pre-trained him at Goulburn before he came to me.
“He certainly likes a heavy track, but his two earlier placings were on good and soft surfaces.”
Widdup, who posted his 17th success of the season, rekindled memories of his time working with Darley/Godolphin, as Likeabomb’s dam is the Lonhro mare Rainbow.
She never raced, but her dam, the now deceased Grand Lodge mare Crystals, was a Royal Randwick winner in 2004 from a brief career on the track.
Following on from Fabio Martino’s first Bong Bong picnics win last Friday (with Eliseo), Widdup’s success with Likeabomb was the Hawkesbury training base’s 57th of the season.
*Story John Curtis, November 26, 2023 - Pics Bradley Photos*