“Trapeze Artist is Tye’s horse … I want to dedicate the win to him.’’

This was jockey Blake Shinn’s emotional tribute to Tye Angland after Trapeze Artist led throughout to win the Group 1 $500,000 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

Angland was Trapeze Artist’s regular jockey before the jockey suffered neck and spinal injuries in a Hong Kong race fall late last year. He has been left a quadriplegic, although he has some movement in his arms.

The jockeys riding in the Canterbury Stakes had “Team Tye” emblazoned on their silks as a tribute to Angland who was at Randwick with his young family on Saturday, the first time he has been to a race meeting since the fall.

Angland watched the Canterbury Stakes from the jockeys’ room preferring to keep a low profile but enjoying being around his many mates in the riding ranks.

“All the jockeys are riding for Tye,’’ Shinn said.

“He’s on track and this is his horse. It’s pretty emotional really to be given the opportunity.

“It could’ve been me in Tye’s position, having a fall and breaking my neck (last August).

“My heart goes out to him and I’m very honoured to be able to ride this horse and ride in these silks in support of Tye. A sensational win on a superstar horse.”

Owner Bert Vieira was moved to acknowledge his wife, Gai, and Angand in an emotional aftermath to Canterbury Stakes.

Vieira’s wife remains in hospital after suffering critical injuries when she was the innocent victim in a motor vehicle accident involving a police highway patrol car last September.

“This win is for Gai and Tye,’’ Vieira said.

Perhaps there was a sense of destiny about the win as Trapeze Artist ($3.40) led throughout to win by 1½ lengths from Shoals ($5) with three-quarters of a length to Prompt Response ($41) third.

Kementari was sent out the $3.30 favourite and ran disappointingly, finishing at the rear of the seven-horse field.

Trapeze Artist ran a track record 1m 14.19s for the 1300m, breaking the standard Happy Clapper set in this race last year.

Shinn, who is Happy Clapper’s regular jockey, was having his first race ride on Trapeze Artist, seizing the moment when he took the four-year-old straight to the front early.

“Once I got to the front and I had control I was never in doubt,’’ Shinn said. “He doesn’t like a sit-sprint so we made it a bit of a test. The thing about him is he’s a bulldog.

“How are they going to beat him? On his best, he’s up there with the world’s best sprinters and he proved that today.”

Trapeze Artist scored the fourth Group 1 win of his career, taking his career earnings to $5,543,750.

“It’s the most Group 1s I’ve won with a horse,’’ trainer Gerald Ryan said.

“We’ve got too more to go – the TJ Smith Stakes and All Aged Stakes. It’s the same plan as last year when he won both races.’’

Shoals is likely to follow the same path as Trapeze Artist after closing late for second.

“She ran well, it was just race fitness really,’’ said Tim Clark, rider of Shoals. “But she’s back in good order.”

Brenton Avdulla was full of praise for the gallant effort of minor placegetter Prompt Response.

“She has run awesome,’’ Avdulla said “She felt great, tracked the winner, but he put a margin on us on the corner. But it was a good effort and back against mares she’ll be hard to beat.’’

Ball Of Muscle’s spring preparation showed punters he was a genuine top-line sprinter but they again ignored him for Redzel and it proved costly on Saturday.

At Royal Randwick, Ball Of Muscle beat the two-time Everest champion in a thrilling finish.

The eight-year-old won three Group races over the spring and was set to head to the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes in Perth before having a bleeding attack.

But he was back with a bang yesterday for trainer Joe Pride.

“He is underrated and never lies down,’’ Pride said. “When we get him right, he’s super hard to get past.

“They get to this point, and Terravista did the same, where they’re old and people just want to look for the younger up-and-coming horse.”

Ball Of Muscle pinched a three-length break on straightening after Redzel and Estijaab had a little bumping duel which cost Redzel a bit of ground.

“Maybe we got a little bit of help on the corner with those two (Estijaab and Redzel) racing each other,” Pride said.

Jockey Glyn Schofield has had a great association with Ball Of Muscle and said the horse deserved his win.

“You never get a bad run from him,” Schofield said. “We had to burn the candle at both ends because I had to get rid of Estijaab first then Jungle Edge came at him from an outside draw before holding Redzel out when he came at him which is no easy task.”

Redzel’s jockey Kerrin McEvoy said his mount just had too much ground to make up in the straight against a good sprinter.