Edmonds backs RQ plan
GOLD Coast trainer Toby Edmonds says he is a fan of the new zoning regulations set out by Racing Queensland as he prepares to race five starters in today’s QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap.
In their first year as a partnership, Toby and Trent Edmonds are second in the Queensland Trainers’ Premiership with 71 winners so far.
The recent zoning rules put in place by RQ because of the COVID-19 pandemic has now limited the father-and-son team to the metro south west zone, incorporating the Gold Coast, Ipswich and Toowoomba.
It has forced the Edmonds’ to race five runners, which were destined for the nowscrapped winter carnival, in the one race on the Gold Coast today.
Edmonds’ runners Fisticuffs, Scout and Baroda are all up against each other in the 1200-metre race, along with Befana and Maozi.
Edmonds applauded RQ for developing a strategy to keep the industry going amid these turbulent times.
“We’re all just happy to be racing at the moment,” Toby Edmonds said.
“They’ve done the best they could in the amount of time they had.
“Everyone would love to tweak it if they could but at the moment we just have to put something on.
“I did hear some commentary out of Brisbane that we shouldn’t be getting this sort of prizemoney but we’re as much a metropolitan base as they are.
“If it wasn’t, it would be detrimental to our owners to not compete for that prizemoney.
“At the end of the day, it is what it is. It won’t be forever. Make do of it while we can. Everyone will survive and wake up tomorrow morning.”
The Edmonds’ stable is also set to unleash Winter Bride at
Randwick on Saturday.
Winter Bride has just arrived back from two Group 1 races in New Zealand, where she finished second and fifth.
Edmonds said Winter Bride was in good shape following a short break and was confident of her ability at Randwick.
“We were obviously heading to an Adelaide race with her but when all these cross borders got shut down, we had to fast track it to this race,” Edmonds said. “She’s as good as we can have her for this race.”