THERE wouldn’t be many prizes for guessing which surname most people associate with harness racing at the Showground.

And one of the men that carries that name, Steve Turnbull, will have a perfect chance to leave the venue on a high note tomorrow when the Bathurst Harness Racing Club holds its last ever meeting there.

Turnbull and his family have been synonymous with the precinct for decades, from his father A.D Turnbull’s days as a top line trainer-driver, through to the present where his daughter Amanda dominates the track.

He will start three horses in the final race on tomorrow’s program. 

Fittingly, two of his best runners in recent years in Ardle McArdle and My Dusky Sound will front up for it.

Sadly for Steve Turnbull himself, he won’t be on hand for the meeting.

“It’s a bit of a shame, but I can’t drive at the meeting, I’m on holidays,” he said from the Vanuatu capital Port Vila this week.

“We booked holidays going back a long way and didn’t know this was going to be happening, we’re going to miss the whole thing, which is pretty sad.

“It is exciting that we’ve got the new track, but at the same time it will be sad to leave the Showground after so many years, everyone has a lot of memories there.”

In the race itself, the Farewell Sovereign Standing Start Handicap (2,130 metres), standing start specialist Ardle McArdle will go off 20m with stablemate My Dusky Sound joining fellow backmarker Satellite Ace at 30m.

A third horse from the stable in Itdontmattertome will jump from 10m.

Between them Ardle McArdle and My Dusky Sound have well over 200 race starts and nearly $400,000 in prize money. It would be fitting in many respects if either of them could give their trainer a win in the final race at the track.

“Ardle McArdle is a specialist in these races and My Dusky Sound has done well before, though Itdontmattertome is having his first go, so it will be interesting to see how he goes,” the trainer said.

“All of them have been doing a good job at Menangle lately and I’d expect them to run pretty strongly again. 

“It would be a nice way to finish there, that’s for sure.”

At times during his life the Showground must have felt like a second home for Steve as he learned his trade from his father, raced alongside him and his brothers, and more recently passed on his knowledge to his children.

With so much success, it must be hard to nominate standout memory.

However, there are a few that he can pinpoint and one of them is relatively recent.

“I think probably winning mum’s race [the Shirley Turnbull Memorial] in 2009 with Slick Bromac was pretty memorable, it is always one that really sticks out for me,” he said.

“Also of course some of the races with Smooth Satin as well, who had some great wins there. It’s going to be strange going to the new track and leaving the old one, but it is still exciting.”