Trainer Gavin Bedggood treks north with Pioneer River

Gavin Bedggood will look back fondly on 2024, a year when he graduated to become a Group 1 trainer, and he will be out to tick off another milestone early in the new year.

The Cranbourne horseman will chase his first win in Sydney when Pioneer River contests Saturday’s $160,000 Precise Air Handicap (1200m) at Randwick.

Bedggood trained Just Folk to win a Hawkesbury Gold Cup, but has not had a placegetter from four starts at either Randwick or Rosehill and felt compelled to look north with his recent stable acquisition due to a lack of suitable options in his home state.

“He’s got a tricky rating, he’s 76 now, so you’ve got (benchmark) 74s where he’s getting 61 kilos or 84s, where he’s a long way down the ballot order,” Bedggood said.

“There wasn’t really much in Victoria for him in the next three weeks, so he’ll head up to Sydney.

“He’s been competitive in Sydney before.”

Pioneer River was an acceptor in both the Precise Air Handicap and the Toyota Forklifts Handicap over 1400m, which are both benchmark 88 events, and will carry just 52kg after Molly Burke’s claim.

The seven-year-old son of Snitzel, who started his career at Lindsay Park when David Hayes was still in charge and also spent time with Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, has only been in Bedggood’s care for two starts and heads to Sydney off a dominant BM70 win at Cranbourne.

That was his first win since a Flemington success on New Year’s Day 2022.

“He won last start after having not won for a very long time and I thought it was a dominant win,” Bedggood said.

“He drops nine kilos in weight and sometimes going up in grade and down in weight you can pull one off.”

Pioneer River, a $14 chance, has drawn the second-widest alley in a field that is down to eight runners with Disneck, an impressive winner at Randwick last Saturday, and classy colt Amazing Eagle heading the market.