Little Toro Loco Monsters Them

The inaugural Ladbrokes Sunshine Stars Yearling Sale Classic was taken out by the Ben Battle trained and Nathan Dawson driven Toro Loco at The Creek on Saturday night.

A $15,000 purchase from the 2023 Sunshine Stars yearling sale conducted by Nutrien held on the Gold Coast, has provided Ben and Tamara Battle with their biggest thrill in the sport.

Moving to Queensland in 2019 from the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, the Battles now call Queensland home, purchasing a property at Mutdapilly, marrying and starting a family all in the past five years.

The win of Toro Loco is by far the biggest victory for the couple, with Ben earlier this season surpassing 200 career training wins.

“This is what you dream of, why you get up every morning and work your backside off,” Battle said following victory in the $125,000 classic.

“The feeling is pretty surreal to be honest.”

Resuming from a spell in the preview, Battle was confident that the gelding would take good improvement from the run after battling some illness with Toro Loco leading into his return.

Then with the washed out final which was originally to be held on November 16, the extra week actually worked in the gelding’s favour.

“I said to Nathan, ’whatever he does in the heat, he will certainly be better for the final’.

“We got washed out last week which was probably the best thing that happened for us, just to have another week with him and keep him in his routine.”

My Ultimate Felix began quickly as expected from the inside barrier, while race favourite, Stay Foolish, moved forward to sit outside the leader through the opening 500 metres.

Grant Dixon and Happy As Can Be made a charge at the 1000, circling the field quickly and injecting some speed into the contest.

With the speed strong through the middle stages, Dawson decided to make his move, charging from the 600-metre point, setting Toro Loco alight to find the front turning off the back straight and once in front tried to stave off the challengers.

Sitting in the grandstand watching the race with wife Tamara, Battle was not confident that his gelding would be able to grip on.

“He is probably not noted for being the most overly brave horse out there, he is only a real little fella, but he has a good turn of foot,” Battle said.

“But Nathan just sums it up so perfectly every time, he had to move when he did and make a call and more often than not, he makes the right one and was good tonight.”

It proved to be a winning move with Toro Loco holding on to post a 4.9 metre winning margin over Fakistra, with Taking A Punt running into third.

The couple’s first son Bailey is responsible for naming the gelding, an avid fan of monster trucks, El Toro Loco is the name of Bailey’s favourite and has now been shared with the Sportswriter gelding.

The 2025 Nutrien Sunshine Stars Sale will be held Sunday February 23, with the online catalogue now available by clicking the link below.

2025 Catalogue click here.