A RECORD ACHIEVEMENT FOR LLOYD AND EDMONDS
By Graham Potter | Thursday, December 1, 2016
Jeff Lloyd was a star long before he rode a record breaking seven metropolitan winners at the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday.
In a stirring finale to the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership last season Lloyd dug in to become the oldest winner of that title, but if anyone thought that, at the age of fifty-five, Lloyd might start to shorten his stride after that sterling effort they have received a rude awakening with his performance in the saddle in the past four months stamping him as ‘different class’ and cementing his already substantial reputation.
With fifty one metropolitan winners on the board already and only a third of the season completed the chances are, all things being equal, that another record, the most metropolitan wins by a rider in a season, will fall to Lloyd come the end of the current season.
But Lloyd himself will probably not be paying too much attention to that option just yet. He is as humble a person as he is capable in the saddle and that only further enhances his stature.
Lloyd brings vast, multi country, international experience to his game, a resume that boasts more than ninety Group 1 winners and a strong mental resolve which, amongst other things, allowed him to overcome a well-documented, career threatening medical scare challenge to even get back in the saddle.
Perhaps that, in the end, will rank as his greatest achievement.
For now though, it is literally full speed ahead and with each passing success Lloyd is doing both himself and racing in Queensland proud.
When the spotlight shines on Lloyd, racing in Queensland gets to share part of the glow and, at a stage where the state needs every positive it can get, Lloyd’s contribution, like everything else he does, has been outstanding!
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Five of Lloyd’s winners on Wednesday came from the Toby Edmonds stable. That result saw Edmonds equal the training record for most metropolitan winners at a meeting ... a stellar achievement for a stable that has been firing throughout the season.
Edmonds and Lloyd have been the standout combination of the season and the fact that both rewrote the record books with the help of each other’s expertise was a very fitting outcome indeed.
Edmonds, who is having his best season yet, lies third in the Brisbane Trainer’s Premiership. He is currently just two winners shy of defending champion Tony Gollan and only four winners off the premiership lead, currently held by Robert Heathcote.
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HOW LLOYD RODE INTO THE RECORD BOOKS – Sunshine Coast, November 30, 2016
WIN 1:
LINLITHGOW - The Toby Edmonds trained Drumbeats filly was on debut after winning a barrier trial fifteen days earlier and she started second favourite at $4.50.
The three-year-old chased straight into the lead, then packed the field up a bit at the 500m before shifting gears and turning for home with a two length advantage.
Linlithgow had a wall of runners trying to reel her in with 220m left to run but Lloyd had rated her beautifully and she briefly kicked again to ensure she had enough in hand to maintain a winning lead.
*The first five races on the card had been won by five different jockeys. No sign yet that it would be a particularly special day for anybody.
WIN 2
SISTA ACT- Another second favourite who trumped the main fancy.
The Liam Birchley trained filly had finished a beaten favourite on debut but made no mistake here from the number one alley under an almost carbon copy of the ride on Linlithgow.
Again Lloyd controlled things from the jump, made certain he had enough in reserve for when it mattered most as he cleverly controlled the race from start to finish.
*Race to race wins for Lloyd! Not exactly earth shattering news and no real big deal ... yet!
WIN 3
I AM THE SCULPTER - Lloyd’s winning sequence was broken in the race that followed his win on Sista Act (where he finished unplaced) but he was quickly back on top and playing a big part in the second win of the day for the Lloyd / Edmonds combination.
Lloyd took the gelding, who was first up from a five month break and easy to back at $7, back from a wide gate but kept the five-year-old in a comfortable rhythm some four and a half lengths off the speed. He was still last turning for home but Lloyd quickly pushed his willing mount into a challenging position.
Lloyd took a brief moment to weigh up his options before settling on an inside rail run with his horse taking the gap with gusto to complete an authoritative last to first finish.
*Lloyd now had three winners in the bank. At this stage, when you looked forward to some of his upcoming rides it did seem that things could get very interesting.
WIN 4
JILL’S CHARM - We were now up to the ninth race on the card and, surprisingly, this was Lloyd’s first ride on a favourite on the day.
The mare had been very consistent in recent times and the Jack Duncan charge did not disappoint.
This time Lloyd negotiated his poor draw by moving around his field. He led briefly before taking the trail in second place behind Ponty who he proceeded to run down without any undue fuss in the home straight, making certain to power on strongly enough to ensure nobody else had any chance of seriously getting into the contest.
*That made it two race to race doubles for Lloyd so far. It was now more than just interesting. Lloyd’s performance had become the focus of attention. The question was, just how far could he take what was now shaping to be an exceptional day?
WIN 5
BIANTIC - The third win for Lloyd / Edmonds team and a second successive win at the track for the gelding, this time stepping up from 1400m to 1600m.
Lloyd landed in the leading line in a congested start but then settled fourth then fifth while staying within a three length striking distance of the lead. He then pushed his mount forward on cue on straightening where he still had the dual task of overhauling the front-running Wicked Trilogy while also holding off the $2.75 favourite Princess Charm who he was now racing hard right behind Lloyd.
Needless to say Lloyd’s judgement again carried the day as Biantic achieved both of those objectives to claim a fifth career success.
*Three wins in a row now for Lloyd to add to his earlier double. It was rapidly turning into a one man show ... and there were still two races to go!
WIN 6
SWEET SHAMROCK - It wasn’t getting harder, it was getting easier.
When in such a confident mood, why not go to the front and make the opposition chase ... and I mean chase ... and when they really knuckle down to it just move away from them with ease and break their hearts.
Lloyd did look around as much as three times in the home straight to check where his closest rivals were but he never had any cause for concern.
The 4.50 length winning margin (it could easily have been more) told the story.
This was the fourth Lloyd / Edmonds winner.
*Apart from the double earlier in the day Lloyd had now won races eight, nine, ten, and eleven. Few would bet against him extended that particular winning sequence to five in the last race. If successful there, that would take Lloyd’s winning tally for the day to a record breaking seven winners.
WIN 7
PLUCKY GIRL - If you had not being doing so already, now was time to just sit back and enjoy the Lloyd master-class.
The filly started favourite ... and why not? Afterall this was another offering from Lloyd / Edmonds team and the filly had already secured an eye-catching two wins from only three starts prior to this outing.
Once again Lloyd put the lightly raced three-year-old into a prime position early and then ran the race to suit himself.
There was a moment at the top of the straight when it looked like Plucky Girl might come under pressure but Lloyd was merely counting to ten before asking more of his mount who responded in kind to complete a day of rare success for both rider and trainer.
HRO congratulates Jeff Lloyd and Toby Edmonds and his team for their outstanding day at the office.
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