HOME TREBLE FOR HAWKESBURY TRAINERS

A trainer who won his own race and quinellaed it to boot, another who burst back into the spotlight training in his own right, and a husband and wife training partnership who brought off the upset of the day.

Brad Widdup, Jason Attard and Mitch and Desiree Kearney all were winners at their home track meeting at Hawkesbury today.

Leading trainer Widdup took his tally to 52 for the season when $2.05 favorite Diamond Show (Kerrin McEvoy) was too swift at the end for stablemate Reverberates ($3.80) in the Brad Widdup Racing Provincial Maiden Plate (1600m).

Jason Attard relaunched his solo training career with a filly he believes can win better races when $1.35 hotpot Oui Oui Oui(Tom Sherry) took the XXXX Gold Midway Class 1 Handicap (1400m).

And Team Kearney put $41 outsider Hard Pick on notice before he led throughout and trounced his rivals in the Clarendon Tavern Benchmark 64 Handicap (1600m).

As part of a signage agreement, Widdup Racing gets a sponsored race each year – but the trainer didn’t know beforehand that Hawkesbury Race Club had put it on the Provincial Maiden, where he had two strong chances.

Fittingly, his pair of three-year-old fillies ran the quinella to give their trainer his 12th Hawkesbury winner for the season.

Diamond Show, a beautifully-bred daughter of Almanzor, showed a nice turn of foot in the straight to shed her maiden status at her sixth start.

Her owner, Summertime Thoroughbreds’ John Cordina, paid $340,000 for the filly at the 2023 Inglis Australian Easter yearling sale.

“Kerrin rode Diamond Show well, and it was nice to see her get her first win on the board,” Widdup said this evening.

“She appears as though she will get further, and I will look for another provincial race for her, but probably stay at 1600m before trying her over a longer trip.

“I’m sure Diamond Show is going to get better as she gets older.

“Whilst she won well, runner-up Reverberates ran another honest race. She tries hard.”

Canny Queen, who races in the same colours as Diamond Show, won’t proceed to the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday week, and is spelling in Queensland along with stablemate Jedibeel.

Jason Attard’s lightly-raced Yes Yes Yes filly Oui Oui Ouiwas the day’s shortest-priced favorite, and didn’t let those who took the short odds down.

Her jockey Tom Sherry was aggressive on her from her inside draw to take up a position, and she was too good for Aranese($10) and a late-finishing Iceman ($9).

“This was a big drop back in class from her last run in the Group 3 Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m) earlier in the month,” Attard said.

“The only query was how she would handle the ‘Heavy 10’ track.

“I didn’t give Tom any instructions, but he was keen not to forfeit the rails barrier, and had her in a winning position from the outset.

“Oui Oui Oui seemed to handle the ground well enough, and I will probably give her the chance to progress to a suitable race in town next.”

Attard has 16 horses in work, and was taken with the filly from the first time he saw her and rode her in her first gallop at Hawkesbury.

Hard Pick (pictured above) had not finished closer than ninth in four starts this campaign, and was beaten 10 lengths last time when 13th in a 1200m Class 2 Plate at Parkes nine days ago (when also a $41 chance).

“We took all the gear (blinkers and tongue tie) off him, and advised RacingNSW stewards that he was stepping up to a more suitable distance and would be ridden further forward,” Mitch Kearney explained.

“But he was on his last chance if he didn’t do something today.

“Molly (Bourke) got him going and really he never looked like losing.”

Hard Pick was by far the roughest priced runner in the seven-horse field and beat Gosford trainer Jake Hull’s Rathoran($3.20), who was shooting for a hat-trick, by two and a half lengths.

Mitch Kearney’s brother Shane, who was working for fellow Hawkesbury trainer Ed Cummings at the time, bought Hard Pick for $15,000 when he was put up for sale online last August and syndicated the Flying Artie four-year-old amongst family and friends.

. The local treble took the number of winners for the Hawkesbury training base to 135 so far this season.

Story John Curtis, May 27, 2025 - Pics Bradley Photos