Racing Rewards Series as good as a G1 for Wederell and ‘Bling’

Easter Saturday (Apr. 8) at Addington Raceway may no longer play host to the G1 Easter Cup, but when you look at the fields attracted at South Island harness racing’s premiere venue, it’s hard to argue that those tasked with revitalising the meeting hit the nail on the head.

The two mile time honoured Easter feature was won by some of the greats of the track in it’s 78-year history.

Highland Fling, Lordship (twice), Hands Down (three times), Blossom Lady, Master Musician and more recently cup winners such as Monkey King, Terror To Love and Self Assured.

With the industry unable to get a license to run in a more traditional time slot due to trading and gambling laws around Easter, the Saturday evening meet which regularly competes with a plethora of other entertainment options (ie Super Rugby) had steadily declined to the point that changes were necessary.

Effectively taking the funding from the Group One, of which the lion share of $100,000 went to a champion, Easter Saturday has instead become a celebration of the forgotten heroes of the industry. The ratings horses who fill the fields week after week and provide the unheralded product the industry couldn’t survive without.

Formerly known as the RATTO Showcase, the newly minted Racing Rewards Showcases were the brainchild of industry stalwart, Bruce Barlass. It will see three pacing and two trotting races worth $27,000 each be run on the eleven-race programme.

To qualify, horses must have been R35-60 and 4YO and older from January 1, 2023, and had at least three starts from then to April 2. The nominations were enormous and if you needed any indication of what it means to some of the lesser-known industry participants, a conversation with 30-year-old West Melton horseman, Jesse Wederell will give you some idea.

“The Rating Rewards Series gave me something to aspire too racing for a great stake in our own grade and a chance to get rewarded for the work we put in getting him to the races most weeks,” said Wederell.

“This race series is actually amazing because it gives horses like my fella and myself something to target and something to look forward too, rather than just racing in normal races, week in week out.”

The ‘fella’ he refers to is the ever-consistent Bettterwithbling (Betterthancheddar) who Wederell trains and co-owns with his uncle Tony.

The seven-year-old gelding hasn’t won a race since he cleared maidens on the 20th of November back in 2020 at this third attempt. In his 31 races since, he has had 15 placings, 22 if you count back to 4th place with his worst placed effort a pair of ninths when drawn poorly.

In the qualifying period since the 1st of January, Betterwithbling has started eight times for three Addington placings, with only one run finishing further afield then fourth. With that said, the bay with a blaze more typical of a Sweet Lou found himself on the cusp of missing out on a start such were the depth in nominations.

“I’ve targeted this race for quite a while, but I have just had no luck all season with bad draws and luck in the running and in the end, it didn’t look like we would get a start due to not earning enough points.

“I was checking my phone every 15 minutes when the fields were due hoping I made the field and even that was exciting. Where else am I possibly going to get the chance to race for nearly $30,000,” he said.

Wederell has held a training license for coming up nine seasons having trained seven winners and 35 placings from 174 starts at the races. By virtue of this weekend’s stake, he will crack the $100,000 mark in purses for his efforts.

The former South Canterbury lad juggles his passion of harness racing with full time work which at this stage suits him down to the ground.

“I work in the Butchery Department at Service Foods which supplies cafes, restaurants and rest homes all their meat products. I’m up by 3am every morning and finish by lunch time so I have the afternoon to work the two horses I have in my care.

“I have Betterwithbling and another pacer called All Together Now who I work at Peter Yeatman’s place in West Melton. I have nothing coming through besides those two, but I am looking around for some going horses and might add another one.

“At the moment I am quite happy doing the small numbers. With the cost of everything at the moment, working the couple of horses as I am, and having a full-time job is probably the way to go for me. I am quite enjoying doing it as a hobby,” he said.

Wederell moved to West Melton recently to be closer to his partner having spent the better part of a decade working at the freezing works in his hometown of Timaru.

His passion for the horses was born out of some family ties to the industry and has had a solid grounding over the years mixing his experience with some well-respected names when time permitted.

“My Nana and Grandad had horses and they actually had a top liner years ago called Cardinal King (First Lord).

“My Mum married a horse trainer and my uncle used to work for Derek Jones and Richard Brosnan years ago when they had big numbers, so I have always been around the horses and then I did a bit of work experience when I was at school in a few stables.

“I started off with Murray Tapper and then I went and worked with Graeme Telfer. I used to help out Brent White and when I first moved up here, I did some work for Katie Cox as well,” he said.

Through that time Wederell has had some reasonable success for a young fella selling some of his going horses like the Sands A Flying gelding Garibaldi who won a race in New Zealand before going to Lance Justice and winning a further half dozen.

“He won my first ever race as a trainer at Rangiora which would have to be my career highlight so far. He did a fantastic job over in Australia and I was quite lucky to get nice money for him which helped set me up a bit.

“Phil Monty (Sands A Flyin) was another, he was the best horse I ever trained ability wise, but when the money came up it was too good to turn down. He won 18 races in Australia and around $130,000 in stakes,” he said.

While Betterwithbling might not be a champion of the track, his aforementioned record is befitting of the Racing Rewards Series and having been bred by a family member and worked with him since he was a foal, Saturday night will come with more excitement than just the opportunity for financial reward.

“I am very excited and nervous at the same time. I have never had a horse run for that sort of money, and it’s quite a big thing for me and my family. It’s great that I get to share the experience with my Uncle who co-owns him with me and bred him,” he said.

Tony Wederell bred Betterwithbling having acquired his Holmes Hanover dam, Reincarnation, with a Badlands Hanover colt at foot while at the old PGGW South Island mixed sale.

Reincarnation was a full sister to the 12-win mare, Kliklite, who was second in the 1998 NZ Messenger behind OK Royal and third in a NZ Standardbred Breeders Stakes. She was good enough to line up in Yulestar’s 2000 NZ Cup and wound up producing a couple of smart pacers of her own such as the G2 Leonard Memorial winner, Top Tempo (In The Pocket).

“It’s a good family and Tony ended up breeding her to Betterthancheddar which obviously produced Betterwithbling. He did all the early education with him as a young horse along with Tracey Healy. She helped break him in and probably had him for the first couple of preps.

“Early on he was a very very lazy horse. The worst thing about him without working in company like he did early on was that he was just a bit of a dope, and it just took a wee bit of time for him to wake up and get going. When I first got him, I used to be more tired than he was just trying to get him to pace,” he laughed.

“As time has gone on, he has just got better and better,” he said.

BETTERWITHBLING REPLAY

Wederell credits his race night driver, Jonny Cox, for working the oracle and rounding out the seven-year-old into a more of a well-rounded racehorse then the one who had his trainer in more of a lather after doing any fast work.

“I used to do 95% of the work with Betterwithbling by himself so he actually went to Jonny Cox’s place for about a month and when he came home, he was a different horse. The company work and the experience really rounded him into a more professional product.

“He gives you every single thing he has got, and he is very honest. He is quite tractable too and has gone 3:11 multiple times, he can sprint, but probably because of the Holmes Hanover in him he just lacks some real sharp acceleration. He got home great from the rear in his last start at Addington though when Carter (Dalgety) drove him,” he said.

Betterwithbling finds himself drawn in a tricky barrier of three the second row (12) for his world cup final on Saturday night, but with that said, his recent efforts have him rated as a $6 third favourite in a tightly contested betting market where the rank outsider is paying just $41.

Race favourite Franco Cornel (Bettor’s Delight) might have the class edge on his rivals with services of leading driver John Dunn who is trained by his wife and father. He does begin from the unruly with a capacity field to navigate. While you wouldn’t begrudge any trainer/owner success in such a race, in a perfect world, one of the several hobby trainers like Wederell will have reason to celebrate.

“I really hope so, he is in the zone, he is a happy horse, 2600m is definitely his go and with Jonny on board they will know he is there. He knows the horse inside out and has been associated with him the whole way through and hopefully he can pull it off this week.

“With racing you still need luck and everything to go your way, but if he gets it, it might just be a night to remember,” he said.

For complete Addington race fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink