New partnership looks for breakthrough win at Gold Coast

By Glenn Davis   

The new training partnership of Toby Edmonds and Stephen McLean hope to celebrate its maiden victory when racing returns to the Gold Coast grass track on Saturday.

The Gold Coast track was recently given the thumbs up by jockeys and trainers following a set of trials on the grass and will stage its first meeting on the new turf since March.

The Edmonds and McLean partnership has a big team of acceptors at the Gold Coast after having no luck with its only starter, Clover’s Prince, who finished fifth at the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday. 

It’s the second training partnership for Toby Edmonds who co-trained with his son Trent for a few years before he branched out on his own to train in Victoria. 

'Team Edmonds' shared in many successes including a Stradbroke Handicap win in 2020 with Tyzone.

The 32-year-old McLean hails from Bundaberg and has a wealth of experience in the racing industry.

As a teenager, McLean spent time working with Mark and Denny Baker at Hallmark Stud in New Zealand during school holidays before taking up a full-time role for three years after completing his schooling.

“I then moved to Mick Kent in Melbourne for two-and-a-half years and he got it into my head to go travelling again,” McLean said.

“I went over to Newmarket in the United Kingdom and spent 18 months with Chris Wall and then on the way home I stopped off in the United States for 12 months with Tom Morley.

“I was Tom’s travelling foreman and I managed to do three months at Belmont, three months in Saratoga and six months in New Orleans.

“I got to watch Justify win the Kentucky Derby in 2018 which was pretty special.”

When he returned from the United States, McLean had an eight-month stint with Archie Alexander in Ballarat before a further three years in Sydney with Bjorn Baker.

He also spent 18 months with Murwillumbah trainer Matthew Dunn and 12 months working with Michael Freedman in Sydney prior to joining Baker’s Warwick Farm stable.

McLean has only been with Edmonds for six weeks and is hopeful his latest training venture can land a winner on the new Gold Coast grass and rates Mean Approach in the Class 1 Plate as one of the stable’s best hopes.

Mean Approach won his maiden on the Gold Coast Polytrack three starts back and is coming off a last start fourth in a 1200 metre Class 1 Handicap at Murwillumbah on August 23.