| All points of Queensland were cheering loud as star galloper Tyzone swept home to win today’s Group One Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm. |
Notching a first Group One success for so many of his connections, Tyzone produced his usual stunning finishing burst to win an exciting edition of the famous Brisbane race. The win was the first at racing’s elite level for Edmonds Racing – the Gold Coast based training partnership of father-son team Toby and Trent Edmonds. “It’s a big thrill – finally,” a delighted Toby Edmonds said. “I had to wait for Trent to come on board to get it.” “The horse delivered. He’s very strong and back to handicap conditions today was a big thing.” “Tom Hedley – in the north I don’t think racing would survive without him. He often gets a horse up there that’s very good and he sends that to us – it’s great. We are so glad that we can deliver him his first Group One as well.” And for son Trent Edmonds, he admitted to being “lost for words.” “This is outstanding,” he told Sky Racing after the win. “He’s just a star. Horses don’t do what he’s done. He’s a winning machine.” Master North Queensland horseman Roy Chillemi, who trained Tyzone to 10 wins earlier in his career said the win provided him with an incredible thrill. It was Chillemi who spotted Tyzone at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale and he went to $60,000 to secure him from Kenmore Lodge for a group headed by leading owner and businessman Tom Hedley. “I really liked when he breezed how much he stuck his head out and tried to go faster,” Chillemi said. “Every time he was asked to to go faster he kept finding – he just wanted to run.” “The only thing that worried me at the sale was his size. He’s a bit small, but what he lacks in size he makes up for in heart.” “He showed it with me from day dot. You could take a sit on him and he would switch off and then he could sprint so well. He’s the fastest horse I’ve ever trained. He could break 32 seconds over 600 metres at home.” “I’ve watched the race in a pub and everyone here knows me so I’ve had a lot of congratulations,” Chillemi added. “It was an incredible thrill and I must admit I had to reach for my hanky.” There were loud cheers from the Bond family’s Kenmore Lodge property when the chestnut gelding stormed home to score his biggest win. Cameron and Kellie Bond, who’ve been preparing breeze up horses for about a decade, reared Tyzone from a foal, broke him in and prepared him for sale. “I was absolutely screaming the place down,” a proud Kellie Bond said. “He’s been such a good horse from the time Roy and Tom bought him from us and he deserved a Group One.” “We were feeding up and came inside to watch the race – it was so exciting!” Bond said early on Tyzone was a bit of a “handful” but he quickly turned into a racehorse through his education. “Tim Bell breezed him up at the Gold Coast and the horse was flicking his tail around before the breeze up and was a bit full of himself. But he knuckled down in the breeze and the more he knuckled down the better he went.” “Tim came back and said he had the most economical action in the draft. He said he was a 100 per cent professional and boy hasn’t that turned out to be true,” Bond added. Kenmore Lodge will present another quality draft at the 2020 Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale later this year. While Tyzone got the decision on the post, the effort of the runner-up Madam Rouge was outstanding. She was left in front a long way out and was only grabbed late. Madam Rouge shot to prominence in January when she stormed home to win the $1 million Magic Millions Snippets (1200m) at the Gold Coast. Winner: Tyzone Breeding: Written Tycoon-Rezonet (Hussonet) Race: BRC Stradbroke Handicap G1 (1400m) Sold for: $60,000 Sale: 2015 Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale Vendor: Kenmore Lodge Buyer: Roy Chillemi Earnings: $1,236,500 Owner(s): TW Hedley, GV Posselt, DE Scheffler, Ms JL Cooke, BJ McDonald & Mrs NA McDonald Trainers: Toby and Trent Edmonds (Gold Coast) |
