EDMONDS, MARSHALL AND A HORSE CALLED SPICY MARTINI. A CASE OF LOYALTY CARRYING THE DAY

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 7, 2026

You have got to admire trainer Toby Edmonds and his old school values.

In a way, it is sad when ‘loyalty’ can be perceived as an old school value, but when the Edmonds trained Spicy Martini secured the Inglis slot in the $20 million The Everest, which will be contested at Randwick on October 17, the Gold Coast based trainer had no hesitation in confirming that the mare’s regular jockey Taylor Marshall would be in the saddle on Everest Day.

Edmonds didn’t wait for the phone run hot with top jockeys looking for a big race ride … just as he didn’t go out and pitch the virtues of Spicy Martini to slot holders. He played it cool. He waited. He received that call from Inglis … and he had the right jockey for Spicy Martini already primed and waiting in the wings.

The horse had already done all of the hard work required to be recognised as good enough to earn a slot in the Everest and, equally, Marshall had proved himself to be the perfect fit for Spicy Martini, so the desired outcome ultimately fell very neatly into place.

It is worth remembering that Spicy Martini was an $8 000 online purchase who has already gone on the win $2 733 750 in prize-money, having recorded six wins from thirteen starts … so there is a fairytale element to a story that is still unfolding.

Taylor Marshall has partnered the five-year-old in her last four starts … winning the Listed Ascot Handicap … finishing second in the $1.5 million Group 1 Doomben 10 000 … winning the $3 million Stradbroke (all during the Queensland Winter Carnival) … before Spicy Martini was given a taste of Sydney feature race action when finishing fourth, just 0.74 lengths off the winner in the $1 million Shorts two-and-a-half weeks ago.

The Stradbroke win was the ‘sweet spot’ … yet, incredible, it arrived with the promise of more to come.

“Look, Toby has changed my career … astronomically … off the back the association with Spicy Martini,” offered Marshall, who was also quick to acknowledge show appreciation for the loyalty aspect involved in his booking for the ride in The Everest.

“I think it is becoming more and more unique … that level of loyalty … particularly when translating into a top tier, richest race in the world. It’s a privilege just to be a part of the day … to soak up the atmosphere in what is becoming an iconic race in the same breath as the Melbourne Cup and the Cox Plate.

“I’ve got so much confidence in the horse and Toby has so much confidence in me. I’ve said in the past that confidence, if you could bottle it up and throw a cork on it, it would be worth a fair bit of coin.

“I was apprenticed in Sydney. I did four years there, so I’m well versed with the track … and I think that familiarity will serve me well. It’s not a new stage.

“Yeah, it’s exciting to be honest and with Ka Ying Rising in the race, it’s a fairly unique situation where the expectation isn’t heavily on the other runners with the spotlight being focussed on one horse in the race.

“It’s pretty unique to have things so lopsided at this level, but we’ll just go in and enjoy the moment.

“Look, we’ve earned our spot there and we are by no means just going around making up numbers. We’ll be there to be as competitive as we can.”

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