Last year’s Stradbroke Handicap runner-up Tyzone went one better in spectacular style at Eagle Farm on Saturday when he came from near last to score narrowly in Queensland’s premier Group 1 sprin.
In a first Group 1 triumph for Gold Coast trainers Toby and his son Trent Edmonds, Tyzone left it to the final few strides when he overhauled the $51 outsider Madam Rouge to achieve a goal firmly set 12 months prior.
In a blanket finish where a length covered the first five horses home, Robbie Fradd (Orange silks) got enough out of Tyzone a son of Written Tycoon, to grab Madam Rouge on the line with Niccanova in third.
Trent Edmonds has only been licensed as a trainer this season after joining with his father, and he was all but speechless after the victory.
“I’m only Johnny On The Spot and Johnny Come Lately kind of thing as I just started my partnership at the start of the season so for me that’s obviously great but for my old man, who has been slogging away for a long time, it’s huge,” he told Sky Thoroughbred Central.
“He’s just a star. Horses don’t do what he’s done. He’s a winning machine. It’s just so special.’’
Edmonds said the Stradbroke had dominated the team’s thoughts all season with the horse.
“From the time he ran second last year, we hatched a plan,’’ he said. ‘’We were even going to spell him for a long time and bring him back just for the winter.”