LOCAL TRAINERS GETS MAIDENS OUT OF THE WAY AT HAWKESBURY

TOMMY Wong is hoping he doesn’t lose his debut home track winner to Hong Kong, whilst Brad Widdup was simply relieved to get a maiden victory done with Escargoes.

Between them, Dashing Splendour ($160,000 in Adelaide) and Escargoes ($280,000 in Sydney) cost $440,000 as a yearlings – and kept the local flag flying at today’s Hawkesbury meeting.

Dashing Splendour (Louis Beuzelin) at $13 upset another debutante, Newcastle youngster Slander ($3.20 favorite) in the 2YO Maiden Plate (1100m), whilst Escargoes (Tommy Berry) broke through in the 3YO Maiden Handicap (1100m) as a $2.35 favorite.

The Hawkesbury duo formed part of four provincial winners on the seven-race card; Gosford’s Kylie Gavenlock scoring first-up with Murphilly ($14) in the Midway Benchmark 64 Handicap (1400m), and Wyong’s Tracey Bartley with ex-Godolphin four-year-old Last Druid ($9.50) in the CG&E Benchmark 64 Handicap (1100m).

Dashing Splendour was purchased at the Magic Millions sale in Adelaide last year, and is owned in Hong Kong.

It was no surprise that the Harry Angel gelding handled the ‘Soft 7” at his first start as his dam Resplendence’s sole success was at Port Macquarie on a ‘Heavy 10’ in 2020.

Wong trialled him twice at Hawkesbury leading up to today’s debut – and he performed well on both occasions, finishing second over 800m in February to subsequent city placegetter Coco Affair, and also second to talented Hawkesbury youngster Tenenbaum over 1000m last month.

“Dashing Splendour is a nice horse, and I’m hoping he stays here with me,” Wong said this evening.

“But he is owned in Hong Kong, and they keep changing their mind about him going there.”

It’s been a quiet season for Wong, whose only previous winner was Platinum Gift (also ridden by Beuzelin) at Nowra on New Year’s Eve.

But he says he has been busy with a lot of “babies’ in his stable.

“I’ve got 10 yearlings here at present, and there’s been a lot of focus on them,” Wong said.

Widdup, Hawkesbury’s leading trainer, could not believe Escargoes has taken eight starts to put his name on the winner’s board.

A son of Capitalist, the three-year-old had been placed four times – two at the provincials and two in the country – prior to today’s resumption.

“Escargoes is a lovely big horse with a lot of ability, but he’s been his own worst enemy,” Widdup said.

“We took him to the Snake Gully Cup meeting at Gundagai to break his Maiden, and he ran a close second and should have won.

“A couple of runs later he was also an odds-on favorite at Moruya and wouldn’t go straight and was beaten in a photo finish.

“Escargoes won a 740m trial at Randwick earlier in the month, and I put him over a couple of jumps earlier this week.

“He did a good job today, and hopefully that will now give him the confidence to go on and win more races.”

Escargoes led home a Hawkesbury trifecta, with Blake Ryan’s Smoke ‘N’ Darts ($3) second and the winner’s stablemate Last Tour ($11) third.

Both Escargoes and Last Tour (a lightly-raced Farnan three-year-old) are raced by Mulberry, Widdup’s major supporter.

Widdup has trained eight winners – including doubles at Wyong and the new Illawarra track, and a Saturday stand-alone at home – in the last fortnight, and many of them race under the Mulberry banner.

STORY JOHN CURTIS, MAY 14, 2026 - PICS BRADLEY PHOTOS