{"id":115385,"date":"2025-09-05T02:08:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T02:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/115385\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T02:08:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T02:08:15","slug":"it-runs-in-the-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/115385\/","title":{"rendered":"It runs in the family"},"content":{"rendered":"

The timing of Moonee Valley\u2019s temporary closure couldn\u2019t be worse for a semi-retired trainer hoping for one last hurrah with the descendants of a horse he didn\u2019t want to buy.<\/p>\n

\"Midwest\"Midwest loves the valley, just like his dam and granddam. (Photo: George Sal\/Racing Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n

Brendon Hearps, a racing industry \u201clifer\u201d as a barrier attendant, farrier and trainer, admits he will be a conflicted onlooker when the Moir Stakes signals the start of a countdown he wishes could be delayed.<\/p>\n

In less than two months, the peculiarly shaped racetrack with a knack for generating racing theatre as the home of the Cox Plate will be torn up, levelled and then reconfigured.<\/p>\n

When it is reopened, it won\u2019t be the same Moonee Valley that has provided Hearps with more city success than any other metropolitan racecourse.<\/p>\n

The Bendigo-based Hearps has never trained one good enough to run in the Cox Plate – billed as a race where legends are made.<\/p>\n

But has still managed to create his own memories of the racetrack, thanks to a reluctant purchase more than two decades ago that established a small dynasty for the blue-collar stable run by the knockabout trainer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a connection to three generations built on unadulterated speed and an affinity for racing at Moonee Valley that guarantees Hearps will have more than a passing interest in the result of the Moir.<\/p>\n

The only horse Hearps trains is a three-year-old filly called Hegely, a half-sister to Moir runner Midwest whom he bred and sold to Rosemont Stud as a yearling for $200,000.<\/p>\n

Hegely will most likely be the last racehorse Hearps puts a saddle on, saying \u201conce she has finished racing that will be it for me\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hearps trained Midwest\u2019s granddam Edgeton and her daughter Umgeton while sharing ownership with a group of friends.<\/p>\n

They gave the country trainer a pathway to city success and it was Moonee Valley where both mares came into their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoonee Valley has been good to me over the years and I was hoping to train another winner from the family there,\u201d Hearps told The Straight.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the worst part now is the track\u2019s going to be closed before this filly (Hegely) is going to be ready to get down there.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s only had the one run \u2026 but it\u2019s going to be too late to do that before it shuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cUmgeton died last year while foaling. We lost the foal as well, so I won\u2019t get another chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Edgeton won four races at Australia\u2019s most off-centre metropolitan racecourse, including the McEwen Trophy when it was decided at Listed level in 2004.<\/p>\n

A daughter of Racer\u2019s Edge, Edgeton also claimed a Valley victory over Dandy Kid, the winner of a record 15 races at the circuit, to become a storied horse in the racetrack\u2019s narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cI paid $5000 for this bloody chestnut weanling in the paddock \u2026 I had to take her (Edgeton) as part of a package deal,\u201d Hearps said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife said to me after five months \u2018are you going to pick that thing up? I said, I don’t really want to\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyway, I got it home and broke it in, and all it wanted to do was run. Fair dinkum.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the fastest bloody thing you’d ever get. She ended up winning a McEwen. She was a bloody good mare.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BrendanBreeder Brendan Hearps will be hoping Midwest can continue the family’s record at Moonee Valley. (Brendan McCarthy\/Racing Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Umgeton, the dam of Midwest, was also fast but not quite as good, although she was runner-up in a Carlyon Stakes.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, she followed in Edgeton\u2019s hoofsteps for two Valley short-course wins, beating her rivals with the type of speed that has been passed on to Midwest.<\/p>\n

Midwest hasn\u2019t missed a place at the track in five starts, which includes three victories and a last-start second to Baraqiel in the Carlyon over the Moir course, but he is one of the outsiders in the $750,000 race.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like the mother and the grandmother, that’s all anything in the family has done \u2026 just jump, lead and run,\u2019 Hearps said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMidwest is exactly the same. He\u2019ll lead in the Moir and it will be a matter if he can hang on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The timing of Moonee Valley\u2019s temporary closure couldn\u2019t be worse for a semi-retired trainer hoping for one last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-115385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}