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Edmonds Racing will today fly the flag for the Gold Coast with Wisdom Of Water and Smart ‘N’ Sexy in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic but it’s the 2017 victory of star mare Houtzen that opened new doors for Toby and Trent Edmonds.
THREE years ago a filly by the name of Houtzen changed the career of Gold Coast thoroughbred operation Edmonds Racing.
It’s been a decade since Toby Edmonds packed up his life in Sydney and shifted to Queensland in search of greater opportunity after struggling to survive in NSW.
The transformation, though a not-so-smooth journey, has been enormous.
Edmonds had two winners in the 2009-10 season when he started just six runners.
He had 90 winners when Houtzen rose to prominence in 2016-17 and more than 100 each season since.
In another major career move this season, Edmonds, 54, began a training partnership with son Trent, 29, and they have two runners, Wisdom Of Water and Smart ’N’ Sexy, in the $2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic today.
And they potentially have a third if emergency The Drinks Cart gets a gig.
It’s been a rapid rise on the back of Houtzen winning the same race in 2017.
“(Houtzen has made) huge amounts and it has made us, basically,” Trent Edmonds said.
“We are a fair way off being where we want to be but it has helped us along a bit.
“Looking back to 10 years ago now, Dad quit training in Sydney, packed up and moved to Patinack Farm (the ill-fated operation of Nathan Tinkler at Canungra).
“Financially it was an absolute shipwreck in Sydney, I’m talking a real struggle to make ends meet.
“As a battling horse trainer, and there are plenty of them, they live off the smell of an oily rag. Even us to this day.
“Yes, we have a big stable and we are semi-successful but our overheads are massive so you need to keep training winners and getting these clients and quality of horses.
“The transformation has been huge. When Dad got sacked from Patinack, he left there with three of his own horses. One was quite handy, the other two were slow as a wet week.”
The success of Houtzen, a $105,000 purchase at the 2016 Magic Millions Yearling Sale who went on to win the Group 3 PJ Bell Stakes and ran in the Group 1 Kings Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in England, has brought with it a profile that is attracting big-name racing operations from around the world.
Golden East Horse, who own Wisdom Of Water, is operated by Chinese racing identity Zhiqiang An who has bought horses from around the world, including big sales in the US and France.
He also owns a racecourse at Hohhot in Inner Mongolia.
Others to have linked with the Edmonds stable since Houtzen include Phoenix Thoroughbreds, an emerging force in global racing, Aquis, Raffles Farm in New Zealand, Group 1 Racing, and Queensland’s own Emmanuel Bloodstock and OnTrack Syndications.
“Blown away isn’t the right word when we are contacted by big clients but it’s vindication of how we have been going,” Edmonds said.
“Funnily enough with Wisdom Of Water we liked the colt at the sale last year and we went down to look at him at the Eureka (Stud) draft.
“A man who was in (the ownership of) Houtzen, Chris Casey, wanted to buy it for his syndicate but only had $50,000 to spend.
“The horse went for $70,000 but it’s quite ironic that we ended up with the horse because we missed out on buying him.
“Mr An’s agent, Stuart Boman, contacted us early in the year to ask if we wanted to take him on because he is a QTIS horse and they wanted it trained up here.
“Obviously a new client of his stature you are always going to say yes.”