Trainer Toby Edmonds rests up after Gold Coast trackwork accident
Trainer Toby Edmonds is still nursing a monster headache after his frightening accident at the Gold Coast, but he’s hoping a few winners can help ease the pain this weekend.
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Toby Edmonds is still nursing a monster headache as doctors deliberate on what further treatment he needs after his frightening accident at the Gold Coast on Monday.
The state’s No.2 trainer has been released from hospital and is resting at home, but will go back on Monday for another check-up.
“It probably hasn’t improved a great deal, but they let me out,” Edmonds said on Friday. “It’s a better bed at home and I get a better sleep. I’m not that crook (but) I’m getting awful headaches all the time and I’m on painkillers every four to six hours.”
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Doctors and neurosurgeons were reviewing scans on Friday to determine if Edmonds requires surgery. He’s had three CAT scans and he has a possible blood clot below the brain, although Edmonds said doctors weren’t overly concerned with that.
“They are just hoping it gets better with time,” he said.
Edmonds is good friends with rugby league legend Paul Vautin, who suffered a serious head injury while filming an anti-ad for The Footy Show some years ago. Vautin took several weeks to come right and has told Edmonds to ensure he gets plenty of rest as he recovers from the injury.
“Once your brain gets a whack it can be pretty touchy,” Edmonds said. “I feel fine, I don’t have slurred speech, I’m not getting giddy, I can do that stuff, I’ve just got bad headaches.”
Edmonds has continued to speak to his son and co-trainer Trent this week as the stable has several key runners at the Gold and Sunshine Coasts on Saturday.
“Battle Strike is resuming at the Sunny Coast. We do have an opinion of him,” Edmonds said. “1000m might be a tad short, but he has to kick off somewhere and he’s a Magic Millions three-year-old. We will kick him off here and see how far he gets.”
Simply Sacred, Pilote and Beach Break are all rated good chances on their home track.
Edmonds says he can remember just before the accident and then regaining consciousness shortly before the ambulance arrived on Monday morning.
Proven formula for success
It’s not by accident the black and lime green colours of Jamie Walter’s Proven Thoroughbreds are winning a lot more races in Brisbane at the moment.
Once again, the combination of trainer Steve O’Dea and Proven have a strong hand at the Sunshine Coast on Sunshine Coast, headed by Mooloolaba Cup favourite Reckless Choice.
Proven Thoroughbreds founder Jamie Walter said it was his late brother Guy, the champion Warwick Farm trainer, who first told him to seek opportunities further north and more recently the syndicator has poured even more resources into the Queensland arm of its operation.
“Initially, when my brother Guy was alive, he was our primary trainer and he suggested to me we really need a trainer in Queensland to take the next tier of horse,” Walter said. “Things that were running fourth and fifth in Sydney could go to Brisbane and win.
“That was our initial motivation and we landed on Steve quite fortuitously because he was only starting out at the time. He bought a horse called Go Cart from us and he won three Listed races in Brisbane with it and we thought, ‘gee, who’s this bloke?’
“So I flew up to Brisbane and had lunch with him and we’ve gradually built the stable since. He had just come down from Townsville at the time, so we’ve pretty much been with Steve from the get go.”
Now, O’Dea’s Eagle Farm stables are the lynchpin of the Proven operation, despite having trainers in other states.
“In 2019 as syndicators we’ve had 51 winners and the vast majority of those would have been in Queensland,” Walter said.
Of the 21 yearlings Proven bought this year, 15 have gone to O’Dea, who accompanies Walter at the sales.
“I’m a believer another set of eyes is really advantageous, plus I take the view the trainer is the one getting up in the middle of the night to train the horse … he’s got to like what he sees,” Walter said. “We have made a conscious effort to raise the quality of horse we sent to Steve and it’s grown exponentially.”
Sir Moments, winner of $800,000, is the best horse Proven has raced, while Sesar was held in similar regard after winning two stakes races for O’Dea before Aquis Farm took over a majority share and his management.
Reckless Choice isn’t in that league yet, but he’s making a name for himself in his own right.
“He’s been a ripper,” Walter said. “He didn’t win his first race until his ninth start. He was a bit of a bridesmaid for a while.
“Steve had always said he was a big kid who didn’t know what he was doing and told us to ‘hang in there’ and sure enough, the penny dropped.”
Other Proven Sunshine Coast runners are Better Get Set (Race 1), Francisca (Race 2) and Missed The Alarm (Race 4).
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