Jeff Lloyd won't rest on his laurels
Jeff Lloyd has put his rival jockeys on notice he won’t rest on his laurels after setting a record for the most Queensland metropolitan wins.
Lloyd claimed his 104th metropolitan winner for the season on Sun Deck at the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday to better Chris Munce’s previous record set in 2011/12.
The veteran jockey is now aiming to ride 150 metropolitan winners for 2016/17 and to also break Munce’s record for the number of overall Queensland wins.
Lloyd is leading the state title on 134 and is chasing Munce’s record of 153.
He is second on 135 behind Perth jockey William Pike (136) in the battle for the national title.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I believe I would get near Chris’s record in eight months,” Lloyd said.
“I aim to ride another 50 winners but the winter is coming and that makes it harder with all the visiting jockeys.”
Lloyd said the fact he had over a year off riding after a stroke in 2013 may have helped him in the long term as he had never felt fitter.
He starts his quest for another 50 winners with eight rides at the Toowoomba meeting on Saturday.
They include Always Sacred, Raffinato, Siegfried, and Fiery Heights for his main supporter, trainer Toby Edmonds.
Edmonds is chasing his own record as he needs one more winner to bring up 50 for the first time in the metropolitan area.
It would complete a good week for Edmonds after Aquis Farms bought a share in stable star Houtzen with the aim to run her in the $10 million Everest in October.
