Maddie Raymond

Warrnambool trainer Maddie Raymond is set to saddle up her first runner at Caulfield on Wednesday - a horse boasting a win over one-time Melbourne Cup favourite Constantinople.

The galloper, Wentwood, will kick-off his Australian racing career in race eight - a BM70 Handicap over 1400m.

A five-year-old son of Pour Mois, Wentwood raced under the expert tutelage of Dermot Weld in Ireland before owner Glyn Davies decided a change of scenery was in order for the gelding.

"I've been good friends with Glyn Davies over the years. I've worked with some of his horses and he was really keen to send one over to me when I got my licence," Raymond told Punters.

Wentwood has taken some time to acclimatise to Australian conditions, but looked sharp winning an 800m jump-out at Stawell on January 7.

After stepping just evenly from the stalls, Wentwood moved up to join the pacesetter about three-off the fence before running to a clear lead around the home bend.

A two-length buffer at the top of the straight quickly became about six, with Wentwood romping away from his rivals to score in a slick time of 47.15 seconds - not far off Begood Toya Mother's winning time in a different heat on the same morning.

"It was a little unexpected," Raymond said of Wentwood's jump-out performance.

"It was a big question mark going to the trials because he's taken a little while to get settled over here.

"He's still got a fair bit of improvement to come so I was pretty happy with how he trialled."

Wentwood defeated Constantinople - fourth in last year's Caulfield Cup (2400m) - over 2048m at Cork back in April last year, but Raymond doesn't think punters should get too carried away with that.

"I know he beat Constantinople but it was Wentwood's preferred trip and Constantinople was using that as a bit of a starting point for his prep - plus he got held up - so we don't want to hype him up too much."

Raymond doesn't have any set plans for Wentwood beyond Wednesday, but believes we'll see his best between a mile and 2000m.

"He's still got his winter coat on him, so we'll just run him at Caulfield and reassess after that.

"I might tip him back out for a little break but it will just depend on how he runs basically - you can't rush things with these imports.

"Glyn (Davies) and Dermot Weld think he's a genuine 2000m horse but I think he might be a bit sharper than that.

"The racing here is a fair bit different to the racing over there and his work so far has shown that he would be competitive over 1200m first-up but we're going to 1400m."

Although new to running her own stable, Raymond has a solid grounding in the racing game and is currently working as Lindsey Smith's assistant trainer at his Warrnambool base.

"Lindsey's very easy-going and easy to work for. He's a brilliant horseman - I've learnt a lot from him," Raymond said.

Wentwood is one of only two horses Raymond has in work, but the young horsewoman is in no great rush to expand her stable.

"I'll just poke around with the two I've got and stick with Lindsey. I still have plenty to learn but hopefully Wentwood can get the ball rolling on Wednesday."

Status	Active
Owner’s Details	Mr B J Spicer, Mr M D Boyd, A Team Racing, Collock Racing, Mr M J Hayne, Mr M Chan, Mr D L Portelli, Mr C E Hardy, Mr J J Bartkowski, Mr B J Lee, Magnus Magic, Mr J Wu, Mr J El-Fahkri, Mr A J Rosano, Denman Bloodstock, Mr A Habchi, Mr J J Page, Mr D F Camilleri, Mr A McMahon
Stewards Embargoes	None on record
Last Gear Change*	03-Sep-2019, Cross-over Nose Band, On
Trainer	Ms Maddie Raymond (Warrnambool)
Racing Colours	Yellow, Royal Blue Knight, Royal Blue And Yellow Stripe Sleeves, Yellow And Royal Blue Star Cap
Career	Summary: 4-0:0:1    Prizemoney: $8,350     Prizemoney incl. Bonus: $8,350 BOBS Bonus: $0    BOBS Double Up: $0    Other Bonus: $0  1st Up: 2:0-0-1    2nd Up: 2:0-0-0      Firm: 0:0-0-0    Good: 1:0-0-0    Soft: 2:0-0-0    Heavy: 0:0-0-0    Synthetic: 1:0-0-1  Sand/Dirt Fast: 0:0-0-0     Sand/Dirt Wet Fast: 0:0-0-0

T 3rd of 8	CTRN 18Mar19 800m Good4 2YF-TRL $000 Luke Currie 0kg Barrier 0  1st Deserved 0kg, 2nd Lady Sheilack 0kg 0:47.16 (600m 34.76), 1.55L
9th of 10	CAUL 06Apr19 1100m Good4 2Y HCP $125,000 ($2,500) Michael Dee 55kg Barrier 6  1st Meuse 56kg, 2nd Flostar 55kg 1:04.03 (600m 35.22), 8.2L, 5th@800m, 8th@400m, $6/$6
9th of 11	WNBL 30Apr19 1000m Soft6 V GOLD STRIKE $100,500 ($2,000) Luke Currie 57kg Barrier 3 Rtg 60  1st Ginny Ann 57kg, 2nd Seatonic 57kg 0:59.94 (600m 35.64), 9.1L, 10th@800m, 8th@400m, $6.50/$10/$11/$10
Spell 18 weeks
Training information change: Tony McEvoy to Lindsey Smith
3rd of 11	BRTS 06Sep19 1000m Synthetic MDN-SW $35,000 ($3,150) Dean Yendall 54kg Barrier 10  1st Reard 56kg, 2nd Sodalicious 54kg 0:58.32 (600m 34.22), 6.25L, 6th@800m, 6th@400m, $26/$21
7th of 9	BRAT 22Sep19 1200m Soft7 3UP MDN-SW $35,000 ($700) Ms Alana Kelly (a) 54kg (cd 52kg) Barrier 5  1st Polanco 58.5kg, 2nd Living The Dream 58.5kg 1:15.20 (600m 35.93), 10.75L, 2nd@800m, 2nd@400m, $20/$26/$31/$26
Training information change: Lindsey Smith to Maddie Raymond

Was Maddie part of the Weir team at Warrnambool before Smith took over?

Red Hare wrote: Was Maddie part of the Weir team at Warrnambool before Smith took over? If we're going to tar an entire stable, we may as well be thorough

She was Prince of Penzance’s trackrider and strapper.

Has worked for D Hayes and Willy Mullins as well

Carioca wrote: acacia alba wrote: Raymond was a famous name in the breeding way back when.  Wonder is she any relation. Remember Miss Ann Raymond,  and her family in Vic ? You are correct AA, Sledmere Stud then on to ST.Albin. Vic. Guy Raymond had a stallion I'm pretty sure by the name of Marazion when I worked for tony lopes , he was getting on in years , this was late 60s , ST.Albin had a lot of history including hiding away Phar Lap, the horse we had by Marazion was Vita, Guy use to visit.

What the hell has that got to do with this thread? Go post on one of the multiple Weir ones

Gay3 wrote: What the hell has that got to do with this thread? Go post on one of the multiple Weir ones

Gay, it’s all tied into Darren Weir and you know it. Don’t pick and choose which comments take your side and which don’t. I have no filter. I could dress my comments up like Second Chance does to suit your stance, but I don’t have that ability. You know damn well where my comments are pointed, and exactly what direction Second Chances point. He is clearly a Weir sympathiser and clearly I am not. Every member on here knows that their comments could be attributed to any thread on this site if they want to search back far enough, surely this is just another. 

Oh please. Whenever there has been anything published on here that remotely questions integrity, you have always done your best to play it down. I’m more than happy to throw my hand up for what I believe in, and I’m just as happy for you to do the same. What I won’t cop is being questioned by the “mediator”. If I put my comment on the Weir thread I would have had it censored or received an “inbox” comment. You write what you wish, and I’ll write what I wish to write. Members definitely know where I stand and members know where you stand.

Discohips23 wrote: Oh please. Whenever there has been anything published on here that remotely questions integrity, you have always done your best to play it down.

She was a useful idiot I’m led to believe.

Funnily enough, people need to live & in order to do this, they either bludge off the government or seek employment.
A few of those looking for work, love & have their own horses so, given racing is the main award paying equine industry, this is where they seek a position.
However, most looking for work tend to prefer to seek jobs within driving distance of their residence which tends to narrow the choice, even more so, away from the major cities where many large stables are found.
Labelling as a likely cheat, every employee or ex of any trainer convicted multiple times is extremely narrow minded & twisted, so much for the iconic "A fair go"
You work in a racing stable, you put your head down & get on with it because if you leave for no good reason, a decent reference won't be forthcoming, the word quickly goes round & before you know it, you're stacking s/market shelves. Yes it is that bad.

Not at all! I'm saying that whilst staff may well know or suspect what a trainer's doing, it doesn't mean they condone it.
Retention of jobs very often entails turning a blind eye, no matter the industry.

The industry has been screaming out for stable employees for years. It’s a known fact that it has trouble getting new participants involved due to the low wages and work conditions (eg hours). Don’t tell me that it’s an excuse for an employee of a training establishment to turn a blind eye to what their employer is doing because they would find it hard to find another job, are you kidding me?. Sleep with dogs and you get flees, and this arrangement has infestation written all over it.

What good is a glowing reference when remuneration is at the award rate?