A day that started disastrously for trainer Toby Edmonds has ended on a high note with consistent gelding Mr Epic winning at Eagle Farm.
Edmonds’s Group One performer The Virginian was a late scratching when he arrived on course and was found to have colic.
“He appears to be getting over it but we will take him home and obviously monitor him. Hopefully, in a week or two he will be right to be back at the races,” Edmonds said.
Plans to take the Virginian to Sydney or Melbourne for the spring carnival are now up in the air.
But Edmonds’s disappointment was partly soothed when Mr Epic ($1.95) led all the way to win the Programmed Property Services Handicap.
“This horse is the real deal. He is so tough and he has now won four and been placed twice from his past six starts,” Edmonds said.
“We have been toying with the idea of taking him to Melbourne but we will have to wait and see after getting him home,” Edmonds said.
Veteran sprinter Rocky King was able to take advantage of a farcical early pace to score his first win in 14 months.
Backed from $21 into $15, Rocky King was able to stroll through the first 600m.
Rocky King held on to beat Dream Choice ($2.60) by 1-1/2 lengths with a short neck to El Sasso ($2.50) in third place in the St Margaret’s School Handicap.
Trainer Tom Bourke has never lost faith in Rocky King despite him not having won since taking out a Sunshine Coast race in July last year.
Rocky King was once regarded among the fastest 1000m horses in Queensland but Bourke has worked hard to get the gelding to settle better in his races.
