Spicy Martini … the name has already got a celebratory ring to it … and that is just what trainer Toby Edmonds, jockey Taylor Marshall and the connections of the four-year-old mare will hope to be doing after the running of the $3 million Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
With visiting riders taking fifteen of the eighteen rides available, Edmonds has remained loyal to local jockey Taylor Marshall, who gave Spicy Martini superb rides in the two races she has had so far in this preparation, runs which, while very good in themselves, served as a valuable warm-up to Saturday’s big showdown.
“She’s had a trouble-free prep this time around which is good. That’s always important I think going into a big race like that,” said Edmonds.
‘Yeah, Taylor (Marshall) stays on. He rides her well and he makes the weight easily. No wasting or anything so he should be fit and strong.’
“I like her with no weight … dropping from Weight-For-Age to a Handicap … down from 56,5kg to 51.5kg … that’s a big advantage … and she loves Eagle Farm, so I’m looking forward to it.”
An $8 000 purchase who has already banked $891 750 in prize-money, Spicy Martini will be having her second crack at the Stradbroke and Edmonds is adamant last year’s run can be roundly ignored.
“They nearly put her over the rail in the running,” stated Edmonds, giving a good reason for dismissing that result.
Edmonds has won the Stradbroke previously, that was in 2020, when Tyzone took the honours when Edmonds was training in partnership with his son Trent … that win coming in front of near empty grandstands as racing reeled under Covid restrictions.
Tyzone, who was ridden by Robbie Fradd, was the last horse to claim a win in the Stradbroke for a Queensland trainer / jockey combination. It would be quite something if Edmonds can double up on that distinction.
For Marshall though, Spicy Martini offers him … what up to now … has been a rare opportunity to claim glory at the elite level … and, make no mistake, Marshall is well capable of making the opportunity count.
The rides on the daughter of Justify has come full circle to bring Marshall to this point.
His two rides on Spicy Martini this preparation were not the first occasion on which Marshall had partnered the lightly raced four-year-old mare whose record currently stands at an impressive five wins from eleven starts.
Marshall did, in fact, ride Spicy Martini to victory when she won on debut back in October 2024, scoring a clearcut win at the huge odds of $41 … in from $51 … but he then had to wait a further nine runs and nearly twenty months before reunited with the Edmonds trained runner, which he did when he got the got the leg up in the Listed Ascot Handicap at Eagle Farm on April 26.
A win in the Ascot Handicap at double figure odds of $15 did little to encourage punters when Spicy Martini took on Group 1 company in the Doomben 10,000, but then Spicy Martini didn’t know she was totally unwanted in the betting at $30 … and she gave all the doubters a huge scare when hitting the front halfway up the straight and only giving way late to the faster finishing Rothfire.
A low weight … a jockey and horse combination which seems to gel … a track at which Spicy Martini has won three out of four races, along with that close-up Group 1 second placing … a record which ticks the box on all racing surfaces (Spicy Martini has won on all of good, soft and heavy going) … jumping from barrier number two … and hoping she got rid of all of the bad luck in the running last year … there can’t be too many positive setups going into the race.
At $20 … not bad odds either.
“Getting back on her is just the way racing goes at times,” explained Marshall. “She won first-up and then went straight to the Mode … a Listed race in her second ever start … and I remember choosing another ride and she came out and won back-to-back.
“My track record on her was one from one on her … and, yeah, it is just the nature of the game … I was Johnny on the spot when Toby (Edmonds) booked me to ride her first-up this time around.
“She came out and won quite impressively … and her Doomben 10 000 run was super.
“She’s the type of mare …she is so versatile, and obviously the rain we are copping and expecting right throughout the week won’t trouble her.
“I think, compared to last year, when she won the Fred Best to get into the Stradbroke, her runs weren’t as spaced as this time around. She was a month between runs going into the 10 000 and now a month between runs into the Stradbroke … and I just think she is thriving with that programming.
“I’m confident in her and her ability.
“She ticks a lot of boxes.”
