Eagle Farm wins in hoops’ track poser
PREMIER jockey Jeff Lloyd and gun apprentice Baylee Nothdurft will fulfil engagements at Eagle Farm tomorrow despite originally being booked for Gold Coast Goldmarket mounts.
Lloyd was set to ride From Within in the Goldmarket, the last race at the Coast, but said he was happy to let stewards make the call on where he needed to ride, until a call from trainer Toby Edmonds.
“Toby said he was unlikely to run From Within in the Goldmarket and then asked
me to ride his horse Qiji Phoenix in the last race at Eagle Farm, so it sorted itself out,” Lloyd said.
Nothdurft was chasing his first black-type success on Mr Marbellouz in the Goldmarket
but will instead stay at Eagle Farm, with the blessing of trainer Kevin Kemp.
Nothdurft has key rides on Get Stuck In (Tony Gollan), Sword Of Justice (Ben Currie) and Shogun Sun (Kelly Schweida) late in the day at Eagle Farm, and will honour those bookings.
Kemp’s preference is to run Mr Marbellouz in the $125,000 Goldmarket as opposed to the $75,000 Eagle Farm Open Handicap. Dale Smith has been booked for the Gold Coast mount.
The proviso for Mr Marbellouz is that if the Gold Coast came up very wet tomorrow morning, Kemp would scratch and run at Eagle Farm, where Nothdurft would retain the ride.
Lloyd rates Edmonds’ resuming three-year-old Usmanov his best chance at
Eagle Farm.
“I like him a lot. I think he’s a good horse,” he said. “He has a tricky draw but hopefully we can overcome it.”
Lloyd wasn’t bubbling with confidence about his mount Defence Missile turning the tables on Mishani Hustler in the 3YO Jewel.
“You would think Defence Missile will have a task beating Mishani Hustler,” he said.
“He had his chance the other day. My only hope is that a few inside (Mishani Hustler) dig up and make him work early.”