Jockey Wiremu Pinn put the icing on the cake of his most successful day in the saddle when he guided Bradman (NZ) (Pins) to an upset victory in the Listed Bramco Granite & Marble Flying Handicap (1400m) at Trentham on Saturday.
The win came 35 minutes after Pinn won the Gr.1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) aboard Move To Strike (I Am Invincible). That was Pinn’s second Group One win and came more than two years after his Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1600m) win with Mascarpone (NZ) (Shooting To Win).
Pinn is forming a special affinity with the Roydon Bergerson-trained Bradman, who he has ridden to three wins from four mounts. He had the six-year-old travelling comfortably in sixth in a strung-out field in Saturday’s Flying Handicap, then brought him out to the middle of the track to make his run down the long Trentham straight.
Bradman moved through his gears and soon drew up on the outside of Our Echo (NZ) (Echoes of Heaven), with the late-finishing Provence (NZ) (Savabeel) joining in wider out on the track. Bradman got the better of Our Echo in the final 100m and kicked away, defying his $21.10 odds and winning by three-quarters of a length. Provence caught Our Echo in the last few strides and took second place by a neck.
“Roydon texted me last week and sounded bullish about this horse,” Pinn said. “I thought he was really well placed in this race with 53kg, and he’s come out and won it very nicely in the end.
“I’ve won three times on him now, so we seem to get along well. His manners aren’t the best sometimes, so he’s probably not the easiest horse to train, but Roydon has done a great job with him. I think his manners are slowly getting a bit better – a bit like me, you could say!
“The horse is really maturing and there could be more to come with him in the future.”
Bradman’s win completed a notable family double on the Trentham card, with Bergerson’s son Sam training the Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Move To Strike in partnership with Mark Walker.
Remarkably, Bradman became the fourth individual stakes winner for his dam Baggy Green. The Galileo mare has also been represented by four-time Group One winner Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park), Group One winner No Compromise (NZ) (Pins), and the Listed winner and Group One-placed Benaud (Reliable Man).
Bergerson paid $85,000 to buy Bradman from the Book 1 draft of Valachi Downs at Karaka 2019. His 44-start career has now produced seven wins, 17 placings and $225,567 in stakes for his dozen owners.
