Sport
25 June, 2025
First trip to Brisbane for Battle of the Bush trainer
Richmond's Shryn Royes has never been to the capital city before.
Richmond trainer Shryn Royes has no idea what to expect when she arrives at Eagle Farm on Saturday for the $200,000 Battle of the Bush Final.
And it’s not just because she’ll be competing against horses from all over the state.
Shryn has never actually been to Brisbane before.
A bush girl through and through, the Julia Creek product will occasionally pop up in Townsville or Cairns with a horse, but Mount Isa is still the “big smoke” as far as she is concerned.
On Saturday, Royes will be competing for a cheque bigger than anything she’s seen before.
The winner will go home with $112,000 – a great result considering Royes paid just $3500 for Mr Metrics, who had three trainers prior to arriving in Richmond.
But qualifying for the race and winning it are two different things, something that isn’t lost on the veteran trainer.
“It won’t be easy. You’ve got the likes of Pat Webster in there and he’s not a bush trainer; he’s a provincial trainer,” she said from Bundaberg, where she has spent the last week with Mr Metrics ahead of the race.
“Just to get him into the race has been a challenge.
“We had to get him six starts in the bush and we lost a race through rain.
“Then he’s missed a run from not going in the barriers.”
Royes was sweating at her home track last week when Mr Metrics had to earn back his barrier certificate at Richmond in order to be able to race at Eagle Farm.
“I was a little bit nervous but they are good horsemen at Richmond and have good barrier attendants,” she said.
“He’s not a horse that you can rouse on. As soon as he walks up to the gate, don’t pull his head, don’t do nothing, just walk straight in and he’ll go in.”
Royes said she was not worried about Mr Metrics going into the gates on Saturday, with a lot of experienced barrier attendants on hand at Eagle Farm.
The biggest concern could be the actual barrier, with the star sprinter set to jump from gate 14 or 15, depending on scratchings.
However, Royes thought the wide gate could suit her on-pace galloper.
“I thought it was beautiful,” she said when asked about the barrier draw.
“You’re out of trouble and there are a couple of horses drawn just inside him that should take him across.”
Jockey Micheal McDonald has been given the task of piloting Mr Metrics in the Battle of the Bush Final, although he will need to work hard to make the riding weight on Saturday.
When McDonald jumped on the scales at McKinlay, he still needed to shed 4kg to make the 55kg allotted for Mr Metrics.
The confident hoop said he’d make the weight, even though he missed last year’s Battle of the Bush Final due to being over his allocated weight.
“I’ll get there. I’ve learnt my lesson,” he said with his usual cheeky grin.
“I think he’s a big chance so I want to be on board.”
Regardless of the result, the trip to Brisbane caps a golden era for Royes and her team, which consists of her partner, former jockey Justin Esser, and her daughter Courtenay.
While Royes has held a trainer’s licence for decades, she’s trained more winners in the past few years than she probably had in the 10 prior.
“I used to only get the rejects; the horses that had problems,” she said.
“I’ve got a few owners now that are supporting me.”
Even with more success, the bush trainer still won’t spend big on horses.
“You can’t afford to when you’re basically racing for dirt,” she said of the low prizemoney in the North West.
“It costs you just as much to feed them and travel them to the races as what you earn.”
