DOUBLE ACT SET FOR BIG SHOW
INDIVIDUALLY, Toby Edmonds and Jeff Lloyd are outstanding horsemen.
Together they are a lethal combination who have taken Queensland racing by storm over the past two years.
The Gold Coast-based trainer and jockey had an amazing 28 per cent winning strike rate last season.
No wonder punters love to back their horses.
Lloyd, 56, has made a stunning recovery from a welldocumented stroke in 2013.
He has won the past two Brisbane metropolitan jockeys premierships and rode 189 winners nationally last season.
Despite their success, Edmonds and Lloyd are unassuming and respectful of each other’s horsemanship.
Edmonds, 52, is not a glitz and glamour man. He is quietly spoken and prefers to be out of the limelight. He lets his horses’ results do the talking. And they speak volumes. Edmonds-trained horses last season won 90 races, with the highlight being Houtzen’s scintillating victory in the $2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast in January.
It’s just 10 weeks into the 2017-18 season and Edmonds has already won 24 races in Queensland and Victoria.
None of them had the pressure of The Everest, a 1200m scamper billed as the world’s richest race on turf with $5.8 prizemoney to the winner.
“I’m OK right now but I won’t be too good come race morning,” Edmonds told Sky Racing’s Trek To The Everest program.
Edmonds, although originally a New South Welshman, is proud to be representing Queensland as Everest fever hits its peak today.
His contender Houtzen, the winner of five of her seven starts, is a $21 chance and not rated highly by punters south of the Tweed.
“A lot of people are saying we can’t win but I’m quite sure everyone didn’t think Queensland could win the third Origin, either,” he said.
“I’m not converted in the football but I’m a Queenslander right now.”