Trainer Craig Widdison has returned to the local training ranks after serving a two year disqualification.
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Widdison has moved into the stables previously used by Sylvia Thompson where he will have the use of 20 boxes.
Before being outed in April 2020, the young horseman was the second biggest trainer on the Border behind Albury based counterpart Mitch Beer.
Widdison had more than 35 horses on the books.
However, Widdison initially intends to scale back on numbers as he slowly rebuilds his stable and focuses his attention on young horses.
"I'm a while off having my first runner and have got three in work at the minute," Widdison said.
"Initially I will have a small team and a few previous clients told me they were keen to support me again when I came back.
"Most of the gallopers are young horses and only one of them has raced previously.
"I should have seven in the stable by the end of the week.
"If everything goes to plan I could have up to a dozen horses in the stable within a month.
"I feel that's a nice number to start with.
"As a trainer it's always exciting to have young horses coming through the stable because they are untapped and you don't have to try and fix someone else's problems.
"But in saying that, I'm always on the lookout for horses and won't be knocking back potential clients either."
Widdison has spent the past two years working for the Naughtin Development Group.
Tyrone Naughtin is the chief executive officer and part owns several gallopers trained on the Border including the Donna Scott and Kym Davison stables.
He is also a sponsor of the Albury, Wodonga and Corowa Race Clubs.
ALSO IN SPORT
Widdison said the past two years had flown by relatively quickly.
"I appreciate Tyrone giving me a job and I enjoyed working there," he said.
"It was probably only the last couple of months that dragged on a little bit because I was that keen to get back to training.
"I enjoyed having weekends off and spending some quality time with the family.
"But I was always keen to return to racing and once it's in your blood, it's hard to get away from."
Widdison revealed he seriously contemplated crossing the Border to train at Albury.
He said being eligible for lucrative features races in NSW including the Country Championships, The Kosciuszko and TAB Highways was hard to ignore.
Widdison is a previous winner of both the Albury and Wodonga cups with Willi Willi.
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