Kelly hoping Dark Tszyu can end metropolitan drought

By Glenn Davis

With a small team of eight horses in work at her Gold Coast stables, trainer Melissa Kelly has limited opportunities in the metropolitan area.

However, Kelly is hopeful her former Hong Kong galloper Dark Tszyu can be competitive when the seven-year-old resumes in the Class 6 Handicap at Eagle Farm on Wednesday.

Kelly hasn’t had a metropolitan winner for 14 months since her stable star Oughton claimed the Listed Eye Liner Stakes at Ipswich in June of last year.

The Eye Liner Stakes triumph was one of the biggest wins of Kelly’s career and was her second black-type success following Oughton's victory in the Listed Recognition Stakes at Doomben in November of 2024.

A son of Exosphere, Dark Tszyu started his career with Kelly by winning a Gold Coast barrier trial in November of 2022 before he was sold and did his early racing in Hong Kong.

Dark Tszyu won his first three starts at Hong Kong’s Sha Tin course from May to July in 2023, but did not win in his subsequent 11 starts, before he won for the fourth time at Sha Tin in April of last year.

He returned to Australia after his final Sha Tin start in July of last year and was given a long spell before returning to work ahead of his first Australian start.

That was when he finished fifth to the Barry Lockwood and Emma-Jane Vincent-trained Concession in a 1000 metre Benchmark race at the Gold Coast on April 4.

Dark Tszyu - a Dylan Turner mount - hasn’t raced for four months, but showed he was ready for his return when he finished second in a Beaudesert barrier trial last month.

All four of Dark Tszyu's wins overseas were over 1000 metres, the same distance as his Eagle Farm assignment.

“He had a wind operation when he was in Hong Kong, but he’s won since then,” Kelly said.

“It took him a while when he came back to acclimatise, so this run is more about where to place him in the future.

“I just want to see what he can do and I’ll be happy if he just runs a place.”

A mother to 12-year-old son Cody, Kelly is kept busy with her small team.

Kelly’s father, the late Trevor Fay, was a popular Gold Coast trainer before his passing in 2012.

“I’ve been training on and off for about 15 years,” Kelly said.

“I had a couple in work before Dad died, but I gave it away for a while when I became pregnant and had my son Cody.

“Dad left me a couple of horses to train after he died, so I started training again and played around with them for a while.”