Tron Bolt's JJ Atkins tilt putting Ruddy and Hunter on the map

Cover image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography

There is nothing like a good horse to create good publicity, and Cade Hunter and Liam Ruddy received the ultimate vindication for their hard work when their 2025 Inglis Ready2Race Sale graduate Tron Bolt (Toronado {Ire}) put his hand up for a G1 JJ Atkins Plate tilt with a strong win at Rosehill on Saturday.

The most high stakes yearling purchase they made last year turned into the biggest success of their maiden breeze-up draft, and every milestone he hits is a further reminder that what they are doing works.

Making a real racehorse

Tron Bolt, a son of G3 Sunshine Coast Guineas winner Baccarat Baby (Casino Prince), was no cheap pinhook, but Ruddy and Hunter are no ordinary first-time pinhookers.

Ruddy, formerly the racing manager for Ciaron Maher and now a licensed trainer in his own right, and Hunter, who runs breaking and pre-training operation Hunters Lodge, paid $250,000 to purchase the colt at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale from Gilgai Farm. In October, he sold for $900,000, contributing to a $1.3 million haul for the duo’s first ever Inglis Ready2Race draft.

Hermitage Thoroughbreds signed the docket, and the colt was sent to Chris Waller. After a debut third, he got off the mark with a midweek victory at Kensington, and further demonstrated his quality at Rosehill on Saturday by rocketing forward from the back of the field to win by almost two lengths.

“Onwards and upwards and obviously the JJ looms,” Waller’s assistant trainer Charlie Duckworth said at the time. The colt currently sits as favourite for the last juvenile Group 1 of the season.

"We were just talking with (fellow assistant trainer) Darren (Beadman) saying it's amazing for a breeze-up horse, they often get a reputation for being a bit fired-up because they're having to use that as their sales pitch through the yearling market.

"He is beautiful and relaxed, and he hasn't put a foot wrong from the moment he arrived in the stable for his first preparation right through until today.”

That description is precisely what Ruddy and Hunter’s program tries to produce; real racehorses, not just those that breeze up well. Both have utilised what they have learned in the Thoroughbred racing world to date to aid them; before Maher, Ruddy honed his craft in the stables of Waller and Gai Waterhouse, and likewise Hunter cut his teeth breaking in at Godolphin and Vantage Hill.

The insights both brought to the operation have been invaluable for preparing their stock in a way that appeals to trainers.

“We took a little bit of a gamble last year by training our horses more like racehorses than breeze-up horses and being a bit softer on them,” Ruddy said. “So it’s really rewarding to see them actually do it on the track. Everyone says things like that, but Tron Bolt isn’t just doing it on the track, he’s bound for the top level as a 2-year-old, which just goes to show what kind of start he has been given.

“I have spoken to Mr Waller a number of times, and I remember asking him in January about Tron Bolt and he told me, ‘he’s an elite prospect’. They have held him in high regard for a long time.”

“It’s a really great outcome from our first draft,” said Hunter. “It’s a great platform for us to have produced a horse like this, and hopefully we can generate the same kind of success with our next draft. It’s our biggest hope out of this that Tron Bolt gives buyers the confidence in the preparations we are giving our horses.”

Ruddy’s off and racing

In the time since October’s sale, Ruddy has been granted his own training licence and has taken up residence at Dartbrook Downs in Scone, a property that boasts a deep sand training track, water walker, and treadmill within minutes of Scone’s racecourse. He got off the starting blocks with his first handful of runners at the start of the year and has around 35 to 40 horses on the books now.

“It was a bit of an uphill battle to start with, the first 10 horses were the hardest to get,” Ruddy admitted. But determination and connections made in his time under Maher have paid off. The Dartbrook facility was previously used to pretrain horses for Annabel and Rob Archibald, and Ruddy seized the opportunity to secure it when it became available.

“We're getting to the point now where we're starting to roll through them and we're starting to get some results on the track,” he said. “The breeze-up results have put me on the map a bit, especially with our Asian clients. Many of them like to test the waters with a horse over here and see what they have before they take them to Hong Kong, which I can do for them.”

At the recent Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale, Ruddy was in action twice during the race prospects section, purchasing G3 Dark Jewel Stakes winner Melody Again (Your Song), who was also fourth in the G1 Coolmore Classic, for $350,000 and multiple stakes winner Aviatress (Smart Missile) for $360,000. The intention is to upgrade their race records before returning them to the sales ring in the hopes of increasing their value.

“We will be saddling up our first Group 1 runner in four weeks,” Ruddy said. “Melody Again will go to the Tattersalls Tiara. It feels good to have a horse like her in the stable, especially since Ciaron Maher was the underbidder. If you’re bidding against Ciaron on a horse, you know you’re onto something good.

“Aviatress is also a very talented horse that we bought off of Richard Jolly. She is very well credentialled, so she should be a very fun horse to run in Sydney. We might even look at targets in Western Australia in time, there are lots of good fillies and mares races over there, and the prize money for them is pretty good.”

Having incubated in the forward-thinking stable of Maher, Ruddy is not afraid to look into travelling the right horse if the targets are worth it.

“Where I am in my career, I would be very happy to do a stint in WA,” he said. “There’s so many more options for good horses if you are willing to travel.”

Setting his sights high and backing himself is part of Ruddy’s roadmap to success.

“When you are starting off training, I feel like if you're not willing to go out there and spec the horses and back yourself to do it, why would anyone else do it for you? That was the same philosophy we had at the breeze-ups.

“Spending $250,000 on Tron Bolt felt very scary at the time, but we loved the horse and we believed in the horse. It’s easy to say that now, but that’s the truth.”

Ruddy bought four yearlings in his own name at the sales this year, and tips a Hellbent filly he bought at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $100,000 as one to follow. The daughter of Hold On Tight (NZ) (Cape Blanco {Ire}) - a half-sister to Turn Me Loose (NZ) - is owned by an all ladies’ syndicate.

“Maybe it sounds a bit silly to say as a young trainer, but she makes me very, very excited,” Ruddy said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes it to the Magic Millions 2YO Classic. I obviously saw a lot of very good 2-year-olds at Ciaron’s and I think she’s as good as many of them were at the same stage in time. She went to the track this morning and we got a huge opinion of her.”

A proper horseman

Hunter, who has also competed in showjumping to the highest level, opened Hunters Lodge in 2023 and has been steadily building a strong return client base with his work. His first Ready2Race draft has further put the operation on the map, and he hopes to continue to build on his good reputation with both the next draft and the horses he breaks in for other clients.

“It’s very important that people can trust your product, and trust that it will be able to perform,” he said. “It was such a big unknown going into last year’s sale as to how we were going to be perceived as first time vendors, and we still needed the writing on the wall after selling well. We still needed to produce some good racehorses from that draft, which is what we can say we have done now thanks to Tron Bolt.”

The end product that the duo produced has achieved its purpose already, and Hunter has had a number of heads turned in his direction, leading to new clients.

“The sale certainly built up more of a reputation for Hunters Lodge,” he said. “People have solid proof of what we are trying to do, which is to turn horses into the best possible versions of themselves. As a result, the business has been able to grow this year.”

From his share of last year’s profits, Hunter has been hard at work upgrading the Hunters Lodge property, expanding his number of boxes and improving the infrastructure.

“From the day we set this place up, I have wanted to build five star facilities here and to create a safe, practical environment to bring out the best in these horses,” he said. “I want to be known in this industry as a good horseman. I want to be able to give every horse the best possible foundation to set them up for success, and I want to do the right thing by all my clients by ensuring that best possible start for every horse.”

Tron Bolt has definitely been the beneficiary of the best possible start at the Lodge.

“He was a great horse to have in the system,” Hunter said. “He was a horse that definitely did a lot for us last year, so he’s a fantastic horse to have on the resume. If he can pull off the JJ Atkins then I don’t think he will be heading to Hong Kong any more.”

Backing yourself

So far this year, the partnership has signed for 17 yearlings that are all bound for the Inglis sales ring again in October. Their top spend - $200,000 for an Exceed And Excel colt out of I Spy (Zoustar) at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale - might have been less than in 2025, but the proverbial net they have cast has been wider.

The increase in numbers is due to an increase in the duo’s self confidence to produce the right product.

“We have bought a fair amount of bloodstock since January, so it feels pretty good to get one as good as Tron Bolt in our first year of buying,” Ruddy said. “So this year we have been more confident in what we can do and we have bought a few more. We have something across the whole spectrum as well, from a $15,000 Cosmic Force we bought at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale all the way to a Zoustar filly that we are going to breeze up as well. We’re playing at all levels.”

The duo still utilise Wyong-based trainer Sara Ryan, who took their draft to the racetrack last year, as well as sending horses to Ruddy to continue their preparations after Hunter has started them.

“Cade breaks them in and pretrains them, and then Sara and I take them to the track,” Ruddy said. “And it is a great system, because Sara was so great to us last year, but if they need a change of environment from Sara’s stables, they come up to me. That’s our unique edge.

“We never lose touch with where any of the horses are, they are always in our systems and we control every part of the process. When you are the one who has that much money tied up in these horses, you are who cares the most.”

Hunter emphasised that every purchase was made with the sale in mind as a final destination.

“We didn’t have a set number we wanted to buy, we just bought horses we thought we could turn into the best versions of themselves,” he said. “And they have all been selected with the sale in mind - Liam might have his licence, but these horses are not ones that aren’t good enough for him to train or anything like that, these are genuine sales horses.

“If we had only walked away from the sales with three or four horses that we believed in, then that would have been all we had this year."

The horses are still prepared the same way as has been successful so far.

“We are much more focused on educating them correctly, above all else,” Ruddy said. “It has already worked really well with Tron Bolt, both at the sale and on the track. It’s great for the sale to produce those kinds of results, as well as great for us. People can see that you can buy a proper Australian racehorse at the sale, not just a horse for export.

“To have a 2-year-old like that come out of your first draft is very special, and if he manages to win the JJ Atkins as well, then I imagine there’s a spot for him at stud in the future as well.”