It's been
a tough 18 months for Toby Edmonds but the future is now looking a lot brighter
for the Gold Coast trainer.
Edmonds was
back in the winners' stall at Doomben on Saturday when former Melbourne
sprinter War Ends scored a hard fought win in the Rohrig Construction Handicap
(1200m).
War Ends,
ridden by Eddie Wilkinson, broke through for his first win in four starts for
Edmonds since being transferred from leading Melbourne trainer Mark Kavanough.
As a
yearling, the son of Redoute's Choice went through the Inglis sales for $400,000
in 2008.
However,
the six-year-old is still a long way short of recouping his outlay with $253,608
in the bank with six wins and four placings from 24 starts.
"He's
a real enigma but he's got plenty of ability," Edmonds said.
"He
just doesn't try his hardest all the time.
"But
getting back to a dry track certainly helped him today and I think half his
problem was that he was left a colt for too long."
Edmonds,
whose last Saturday winner in town was with Vaarwel in late March, believes War
Ends is still a work in progress but feels he's capable of winning a decent
race in Queensland.
"I'll
probably freshen him up now and if he can get to 1600 metres again there's quite
a few options with him," he said.
"There's some nice races coming up later in the year like the
Brisbane and Recognition Handicaps."
War Ends is
already proven over the distance winning the Listed Murray Bridge Cup in
October last year.
Edmonds has
endured a roller-coaster ride for the past 18 months since his departure as
head trainer in Queensland for Patinack Farm.
But as one
door closed, another opened for Edmonds who has steadily built a team of 20
horses in work at the Gold Coast.
"I'd
like to build my team up to 40 or 50 and get a lot more quality horses,"
Edmonds said.
"I've
had a lot of second hand horses but I'm really keen to get some quality again."
Although War
Ends was one of the outsiders of the field, Edmonds was always confident the
former Victorian would run well.
"I
thought he would be hard to beat if he put his best foot forward," Edmonds
said.
"The problem with him is that doesn't
happen all that often."
Racing Queensland webnews August 4
Photo: Trackside Photography
