Bedggood lands old school plunge

The rich tapestry of racing is woven with tales of famous plunges. This wasn’t on the scale of a Getting Closer or Torbek (Google them if you don’t know). Not even close.

But Gavin Bedggood pulled off a well-executed go in the opener at Ballarat on Friday.

Enamorada, a debutant 4YO mare, was briefly posted as much as $11, though that price lasted less than a blink. Once the market settled, $6/$6.50 was widely available and punters were keen to step in. By race morning she was $3.80, and by the time the gates flew back she had crunched into $2.80. The only thing stopping her from starting shorter was the starter’s button.

A key ingredient in any plunge is the jockey booking, and Bedggood nailed it by engaging the in-form Ethan Brown. He had Enamorada parked just off the speed, and when he presented her at the top of the straight, it was clear the question was only “by how far?”. She strode clear to win by six lengths under minimal urging, delighting punters nationwide.

The stable had hidden her beautifully at the Cranbourne jump-outs. She was ridden quietly at the tail, doing enough without ever exposing her ability, about as good a disguise as you’ll manage in the modern era of widely available jump-out vision. For the sharp-eyed, the talent was obvious, but the wider market was none the wiser.

Post-race, Bedggood confirmed “that was the plan.” A good old-fashioned plunge, perfectly executed by a stable clearly in tune with its horse. Hats off to Gavin and the team.