J-Mac breaks record, while Spicy salutes in Stradbroke

Tron Bolt carried the weight of the dollar into the G1 JJ Atkins Stakes on Saturday as one of the most heavily backed horses across the Queensland Winter Carnival.

Sent out at even money, the Toronado two-year-old lived up to his hype with a confident victory under James McDonald for the Hermitage Thoroughbreds ownership.

Trainer Chris Waller, who said the JJ Atkins was a target he had picked from a long way out, credited Tron Bolt as a colt of unique temperament.

“He really is a cool dude,” he said. “Nothing worries him and he really is a special horse for that reason.

“That attitude will take him a long way, and it shows he’s not under pressure. He’s having a pretty good day out.”

Tron Bolt, an Inglis Ready2Race graduate, was at the races for just the fourth time, pulling off a dramatic step-up in company after winning his last two handicap outings at Rosehill and Randwick (Kensington).

The JJ Atkins was the colt’s first time at stakes level and brought his record to three wins in four career starts.

McDonald had opted to pilot Tron Bolt over stablemate Stormy Marco, and the decision was a good one, hauling him past Malcolm Johnston’s long-standing record of 16 Group 1 victories in a season.

McDonald now heads the record with 17, and had Fangirl still in-hand for the Stradbroke Handicap.

Tron Bolt boasted a pedigree to match his odds on Saturday.

He is the first foal from the Casino Prince stakes winner Baccarat Baby, who won the G3 Sunshine Coast Guineas and was stakes-placed multiple times.

Initially a $250,000 Easter yearling last year, consigned by Gilgai Farm, Tron Bolt was pinhooked for a big result into the Inglis Ready To Race catalogue last October, going home with Hermitage Thoroughbreds for $900,000.

Baccarat Baby, herself, is well-related as a half-sister to the triple Group 1-winner Duais, while the fourth dam in the pedigree is the exceptional Red Luce, a three-quarter sister to the dam of Holy Roman Emperor.

Following the JJ Atkins, the second of Eagle Farm’s Group 1 events was the Stradbroke Handicap, with Toby Edmonds’ Justify mare Spicy Martini a popular winner on course.

This mare was a withdrawal from the Chairman’s catalogue earlier this year and headed into the Stradbroke off a last-start second to Rothfire in the Doomben 10,000.

In the end, she was a comfortable winner of the Stradbroke at her second attempt, having run 15^th last year, and trainer Toby Edmonds said his team had worked solidly to get Spicy Martini to this level.

“The last three months we’ve been digging in and working really hard on her,” the Gold Coast trainer said. “She has a great pedigree and she’s a very valuable filly.”

Spicy Martini was a Group 3 and three-times Listed winner heading into Saturday. Six career victories from 12 starts has left her with close to $2.7 million in prizemoney.

A great-grand daughter the champion mare Alinghi, she was an Inglis Digital yearling in 2023, bred and sold by the Coolmore consortium Katom to Edmonds for just $8000.

“We fluked it,” the trainer admitted on Saturday.

Spicy Martini was ridden in the Stradbroke by Taylor Marshall for the jockey’s maiden Group 1 success.

“Every jockey needs that one horse to put them on the map,” Marshall said. “I’m hoping she’s that one, which she’s already proving to be.”

She is the the first Australia-bred Group 1 winner for her Triple Crown-winning stallion Justify.