Former champion jockey Darren Beadman will join leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller’s team from the start of the new racing season.
And in announcing the prized recruitment of Beadman, an integral figure at Godolphin for more than a decade, Waller also revealed that he would consolidate his presence in Melbourne by taking on Carbine Lodge at Flemington previously occupied by Godolphin.
The upheaval at Godolphin has been caused by management’s decision to depart from a private training model, with its more than 200 racehorses to be dispersed among nine different trainers across Victoria and NSW including Waller, from August 1.
The transition to Waller will allow Beadman to continue his decorated career in racing after being a mainstay at Godolphin firstly under trainer John O’Shea and subsequently James Cummings for the past eight years.
Waller said the experience, knowledge and respect carried by Beadman would “bring excellence to our team”.
“As our stable continues to grow, so too must our leadership team. With Charlie Duckworth doing an outstanding job as assistant trainer, particularly with horse placements and purchases, Darren’s addition will allow us to further support our staff, riders and horses,” Waller said in a statement.
“He will assist with race day operations, trackwork and trials, and serve as a mentor for our emerging talent.”
Beadman’s move to Sydney’s premier stable comes just a day after it was confirmed that Cummings’ long-time offsider and current Melbourne foreman Nacim Dilmi would be Domeland’s private trainer based on the NSW Central Coast.
The Straight News Desk
Waller, who will train Godolphin’s Silver Slipper-winning colt Beiwacht and Group 1-performed mare Commemorative next season, said moving out of his current Flemington stables, where he has trained more than 50 Group 1 winners, would allow him to “better showcase our team in Victoria”.
“While it is sad to close one chapter, we are excited about what the next one will bring,” he said.
A prominent figure at Godolphin since being recruited by O’Shea as his assistant in 2014, Beadman was the operation’s fill-in between its permanent appointees.
In a two-month period late in the 2016/17 season, after O’Shea suddenly quit the role as head trainer, and Beadman oversaw Godolphin’s large team of racehorses until Cummings took over, he trained 37 winners from 227 runners including Impending to land the Group 1 Stadbroke Handicap in Brisbane.
Tim Rowe
The appointment of Beadman, a seven-time Sydney jockeys’ premiership winner who was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame in 2007, will take effect from August 1.
Cummings has secured a training contract in Hong Kong from the start of the 2026/27 season.
