David Vandyke gelding Tuff Tu Mus maintains unblemished record at Doomben with sixth straight win

Gritty gelding Tuff Tu Mus continued his impeccable record at Doomben, while extending his winning streak to six, despite some concerns from trainer David Vandyke.

Tuff Tu Mus surges to his sixth straight victory and remains unbeaten at Doomben. Picture: Trackside Photography

Sunshine Coast trainer David Vandyke would run Tuff Tu Mus every time at Doomben if he could after the gritty gelding kept his superb unbeaten record intact at the Brisbane racetrack on Saturday.

It may have been only a Class 6 race at the unfamiliar distance of 1600m, but that makes it six straight wins for Tuff Tu Mus, with five of his six victories overall coming at Doomben.

The four-year-old had been earmarked for this year’s Queensland winter carnival until some behavioural issues ruled out that path for the tough galloper, who has battled a couple of serious injuries during his career.

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The son of All Too Hard showed his class again carrying 60kg on Saturday, although Vandyke admitted he was a tad worried when jockey Tiffani Brooker had to go three-wide before making a late charge in the straight.

Hot favourite Tuff Tu Mus ($2.20) outsprinted Cranky Harry ($5) to win narrowly, with Merchant Flyer ($9.50) a further 1¼ lengths away.

“There was concern halfway through the race because the tempo was strong and I thought he got softened up a little bit early,” Vandyke said.

“I kept thinking ‘a mile, will he have enough there?’ but Tiffani gave him a nice cuddle behind the pace.

“He was stepping up to the mile and I was a bit concerned about going to that trip with a break because he was carrying a little bit of condition.

“I’m glad Tiffani pushed out when she did because we spoke pre-race about trying to take luck out of the equation.

“When the sprint was on, he was ready for it. The margin was only a neck but I thought he did a great job.”

That's 6 on the trot! 💥

Tuff Tu Muss takes out race 4 at Doomben!@[e-mail]/KuJOjYPftf

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 12, 2025

Tuff Tu Mus means “bloody tough” in Bislama, the national language of Vanuatu, where his Aussie owner John Fordham runs a kava factory in Luganville.

He was initially targeted towards quality races such as this year’s Group 3 BRC Sprint (1350m) but that plan was thrown into disarray when he started sweating up badly before races.

“It’s just one step at a time for him because mentally he’s a bit of a challenge,“ said Vandyke, who had to change the horse’s diet to help settle him down.

Asked if Tuff Tu Mus’ race manners had improved since his previous start, a victory at Doomben over 1350m on June 11, Vandyke said: “I’d say if 10 is his best and zero his worst, he was about a five today.

“He’s not there yet. We took him to the races at Ipswich last Wednesday and took him to the trials here last Tuesday so he’s been doing a little bit of travelling around.

“I think that’s very important with his preparation and trying to get his mental state even.”

Originally published as David Vandyke gelding Tuff Tu Mus maintains unblemished record at Doomben with sixth straight win