Under the care of astute Grenfell (near West Wyalong) mentor Mark Hewitt and rising through her grades, Cahill faced a potential dilemma on what his next move could be with his talented mare.
“All my mares are based with Jackie Gibson at Success Stud, and I’ve had a number of horses with Mark over the years. He’s an outstanding horseman but is based a long way from Menangle, so it’s taxing on both horse and trainer making those long trips. I needed to make a choice, send her to a Sydney trainer or send her elsewhere,” Cahill explained.
“I had my eye on a Menangle-based trainer, but he had quite a few mares all in the same grade so I thought that wouldn’t be productive. I had a good chat with Steve Turnbull, and he suggested I send the mare to Brisbane and Jack Butler.
“I’d never had a horse with Jack but Steve spoke really highly of him and I decided to reach out and get the ball rolling. My original plan was to break $100,000 in stakes and then bring her home to retire and breed from.”
The Bettors Delight-Jerada Ace (by Christian Cullen) mare arrived in Queensland boasting fine stats including nine victories while being twice Group 3-placed.
Jeradas Delight finished as the runner-up behind Art Series in the 2018 Group 3 $30,600 NSW Breeders Challenge Regional Final at Bathurst while the following year, she finished third behind Rocknroll Pearl and Love My Sister in the Group 3 $30,600 Go Girlfriend Final at Menangle.
Making her local debut on July 18, 2020, at Albion Park, the richly bred mare made it obvious she was destined for bigger and better things when dominating her rivals in a time of 1:54.5.
During her first 10 starts, all at Albion Park, Jeradas Delight recorded three wins and five minor placings before having a break.
Upon her return in 2021, Jeradas Delight continued to mature and improve while maintaining very consistent form.
With TAB Constellations carnival looming, connections were eyeing the mares’ features including the inaugural running of the Group 1 $100,000 Garrards Golden Girl over the 1660m on the second night of the Albion Park winter carnival.
Jeradas Delight stamped her ticket to the big dance with an excellent second to Fame Assured in the final lead-up event, the Group 3 $30,000 Fleur De Lil Ladyship Stakes the week prior.