Edmonds scores in cross-border raid
GOLD COAST trainer Toby Edmonds won his first Lismore Cup when Fairlighting outsprinted her rivals to win the $60,000 event yesterday.
Fairlighting ($4 favourite) also gave former Victorian and now Gold Coast-based jockey Ryan Maloney his first Lismore Cup (2100m) winner.
The five-year-old daughter of Sebring beat recent Murwillumbah Cup deadheater Future Event ($5.50) with the Julie Pratten-trained I’ll Miss You ($21) third.
“She sprinted good,” Maloney told Edmonds after a race in which the jockey was patient and waited on the inside
for a winning rails run.
Edmonds has enjoyed plenty of success at northern NSW tracks this year with the former Scone trainer winning country features such as the Tamworth Cup and the
Ramornie Handicap sprint at Grafton.
“She had a great run and it was a good ride,” Edmonds said of Fairlighting.
“A bit of rain before the race helped too. A heap about an hour before would have been even better because she is a swimmer.”
A hailstorm 20 minutes before the race delayed it by about five minutes.
Fairlighting could be off to stud soon but not before Edmonds finds a few Saturday Gold Coast races for her.
“This is probably our first runner in the Cup and we haven’t been here that much to be truthful,” Edmonds said.
“We’ve won just about every other cup in northern NSW.
“She (Fairlighting) is no star but she’s an honest thing and she might be able to win a couple of Saturday races (on the Gold Coast).”
The Lismore win kicked off a period where Edmonds can win races in three states over three days.
He has a runner at Ipswich today, while tomorrow he four at Caulfield in Victoria and two at Caloundra.