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By John Curtis

As it turned out Brad Widdup needed to win only the first race at his home track’s final meeting of the season on Sunday.

But just to be sure he also won the second – defeating closest rivals Annabel & Rob Archibald – to seal his first Hawkesbury premiership.

Hawkesbury’s leading trainer had begun the day tied with Team Archibald on 13 winners for the 2024-25 racing year, and didn’t waste time adding his name to the honour roll.

Trainer Brad Widdup has won his first Hawkesbury title

Fittingly, his most successful jockey Christian Reith was aboard his two winners Afloat and Tequisoda – punters were happy as well as both were odds-on favoruites.

Afloat ($1.90) took the HRC Motel Provincial Maiden Handicap (1300m), and Tequisoda ($1.24) followed up by landing the Blakes Marine Maiden Plate (1500m).

Hawkesbury has been Widdup’s base since he took out his licence and began training toward the end of the 2016-17 season, scoring with his first runner (Junglized on Canberra’s synthetic track, with Reith aboard) on May 26, 2017.

“Christian has been back riding trackwork for me a couple of days a week,” Widdup said. “It’s very satisfying to be able to win the premiership on my home track.”

Sunday’s double took him to 60 for the season (and a career 417), and he has consistently prepared a similar number of winners for the last four years.

Widdup numbered 63 in 2021-22, 59 in 2022-23 (during which he clinched a maiden Group 1 triumph with Icebath at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup carnival), and 61 last season.

Former Godolphin three-year-old Afloat (a son of Astern) was having his first start for his new trainer, and returned an immediate dividend on his $40,000 purchase price. But Widdup has had to wait a while to get him to the races.

“Afloat got a little crook after he ran second in a trial at Warwick Farm on May 22,” he explained. “I had to ease up, and couldn’t trial him again until earlier this month.”

Handy from the outset, Afloat defeated fellow Hawkesbury co-trainers Mitch & Desiree Kearney’s Share The Joy ($6) and Wyong trainer Kristen Buchanan’s Tambeloa ($3.10).

Pierro two-year-old Tequisoda broke through at only his second start after an unlucky first-up second on debut at Wyong on July 5. In a Pierro quinella result, he beat late closer, three-year-old filly The Cristal ($4.60) and fellow Hawkesbury trainer Marc Chevalier’s The Iron Star ($12).

“I feel Tequiosoda is going to be allright, and will probably stop with him for now,” Widdup said.

Fellow Hawkesbury trainer Alexandre Lemarie was the other provincial trainer to be successful at the meeting. Lemarie won his second race this season when Show County ($12), ridden by Keagan Latham, took the Godolphin Midway Benchmark 64 Handicap (1300m).

Show County broke through at the Wyong Cup carnival last September, and his trainer has had only a handful of runners since and, understandably, was delighted to get back into the winning list.

Zac Lloyd for the second season running won both the senior and apprentices’ premierships.

Like Widdup, he also clinched a double, scoring on favourites Unusual Prospect ($1.30) and Against The Law ($2.40) to boost his season’s tally to 18 at Hawkesbury.

He had also ridden eight winners there before graduating to the senior ranks during the season – and that was enough to hold out Zac Wadick and Braith Nock (seven wins each).

View the full results with race replays for Hawkesbury here