Racing
Regal Lion wins John Duff & Co The Lester: Post Race Trainer and Jockey Quotes
Trainer and jockey quotes after the John Duff & Co The Lester at Cranbourne on Saturday taken out by Regal Lion.
Race Result:1st: Regal Lion (Gevin Bedgood/Jamie Mott) - $172nd: Darknconfidential (Stuart Gower/Jason Holder) - $17
3rd: The Storyteller (John Leek Jnr/Lachlan Neindorf) - $41
Winning Time: 2:06.31 Last 600m: N/A
Margins: 1/2L x Neck
ranbourne Race 6 | Regal Lion
Take a bow @jamieleemott Regal Lion sustains a long run after being set alight at the 600 metre mark to score nicely
Ch. 78/68, Foxtel 529, Kayo or via our app
REPLAYS: https://t.co/ZIa4a02wC0 pic.twitter.com/hHwgawLypj
— Racing.com (@Racing) November 22, 2025
Winning Trainer: Gavin Bedggood
Winning the Deane Lester: "He was so influential to my whole career. He got me into buying tried horses. I used to drive him mad ringing him about different things, texting him, and nothing was ever too much. He never said no, and he was very good to me. Training a winner on Cranbourne Cup is great, but to win this race means a lot."
Backing up?: "I thought I had been too soft on him in between Mortlake and Moe. I watched him walk around the yard last week and he looked soft. I thought he should have run second and he blew out the last 100 (metres). He's a good doing horse, so the back-up didn't hold too many concerns. Richie, his strapper, rides him every day and had been happy with him all week and he had a little jump this morning which we do quite often leading into a run. He was quiet coming in, had a good blood on Thursday and all the indicators were there for a good run."
Planning to ride like that: "I thought he might have been a pair closer, but I told him to ride him where he was going to travel. He won an Ipswich Cup in a similar fashion and he won a Mortlake Cup recently. He doesn't have a great change up speed, but if you throw the cat amongst the pigeons and if you get run down late, that's on me, but I would rather you get going 100 yards to early than 100 yards too late and wait for other horses to get going."
Winning Jockey: Jamie Mott
On making move: "I was hoping to be a bit closer in the run, but I would have had to use him to do so. The tempo was genuine and I was hoping midway that they would slacken more and make it easier for me to do it, but they didn't really slacken that much and I waited just before the bottom corner to get moving and I was surprised one tried to come with me, but this horse was in great for today and Gav and his team have done a great job with him. When I asked for an effort he really responded well and for a good 700 metres too. It was a good effort."
How was he when got to front?: "He was very genuine. He kept kicking and every stride I asked for a bit more he kept giving and giving. He was out on his feet late, the last few strides, but it was a good solid tempo and I got going quite early. He did a tremendous job."
