Time has been a friend to a once-erratic Bradman, who will have just celebrated his eighth birthday when he tackles Saturday’s Gr.3 Winning Edge Presentations 128th Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton Park.
The son of Pins and champion broodmare Baggy Green, Bradman was a frequent in the stewards report through his early years on the track, but perseverance paid off for trainer Roydon Bergerson when as a six-year-old, Bradman had his best-ever season collecting a stakes victory and over $146,000.
“He was mentally insecure, you go back through his history and in about 90 percent of his races, he was in the stipes report for doing something silly,” Bergerson said. “He would get his head up and try to run off, one day he actually tried to duck off in the birdcage when he had a race there one day.
“He’s a real character.”
Bergerson is able to look back on that period with a sense of satisfaction, with Bradman now an ultra-consistent galloper contesting the Riccarton feature for the second time, having finished a narrow third to Jay Bee Gee last year.
His form has been hard to fault through this winter, having placed or won at each start, including coming out on top at Trentham in June in the Whyte Handicap (1600m).
Bergerson opted to head back to the trials in between times, where jockey Bruno Queiroz gave him the tick of approval.
“He needed it, he had a decent, long blow,” he said. “Bruno was really happy with him though, he said he felt really good.
“He came and galloped him on the course proper on Tuesday morning here (at Awapuni), and he said he was really strong, and he’s pulled up super.
“He has travelled really well. All systems go now I hope.”
A slightly unexpected inclusion of Belardo Boy has come to the benefit of Bradman, who will now carry 58kg instead of the topweight.
“He would’ve been lumping the 60 kilos, so two kilos off will certainly help,” Bergerson said. “I think there’s only been one horse to win it on 60 kilos and that was Nashville, and he was a Group One horse.
“He’s not an overly big horse, but he’s strong and tries hard.”
Bergerson is no stranger to success in the south, having won the Winter Cup two years in a row with Karla Bruni, a galloper he draws comparisons with Bradman.
“We set her for the race each year and everything came off, except the jockey kept getting off and we had to find jockeys over the last few days,” he said. “She seemed to like having a left-handed jockey more than a right, she was a quirky little mare and was quite difficult to ride some days – a bit like him.
“But it was a real buzz because some great friends of mine raced her with me, that being Opie Bosson, Craig Sheridan, and Paul Humphries. She took us on a great ride, it was good fun.”
Bergerson’s attention will return to his home track of Awapuni on Sunday, where Charlotte’s Way will take on a class field in the $100,000 Japac Homes Polytrack Championship (1400m).
The Pentire mare will carry a featherlight 51kg under apprentice Elle Sole, and Bergerson is hoping that can assist her barrier woes of late.
“Kelly (Myers, jockey) thought she was a bit unlucky the other day, she got a bit tight and she doesn’t like being on the inside, she’s got to be in clear air,” he said.
“She’s won a couple on the poly, but she’ll need a lot of luck, this is a stronger field than she’s been running against. She hasn’t been jumping out of the gates and putting herself there, so if she can get out with Elle Sole on and no weight, that would help.
“She likes to free-wheel out in front or sit outside the leader, so if she can get that position, hopefully she can hang on. But she will be a roughie.
“It’s a $100,000 race on your back doorstep, so we can’t turn it down.”