CRAIG Dumesny has seen a lot in racing in the Central West during more than 40 years of covering the sport, but the Western Districts Harness Racing official can’t recall anyone matching what Steve Turnbull did in Parkes on Monday.
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The Lagoon trainer managed seven wins on the 11-race program, narrowly missing out on an eighth when Hey Porsha was beaten by a head in one event.
It put him into rare company, and potentially broke new ground as far as this region is concerned, according to Dumesny.
“I can’t remember anyone doing that around here,” he said.
“I know that John McCarthy, who is ex-Bathurst, once trained seven winners in a meeting, but it wasn’t in this area. It may have been while he was in Queensland, I think.
“I’d guess that Steve himself has probably come the closest to anyone in the Central West. When Amanda [Turnbull] headed off after her last drive on Monday I asked Steve if he’d done six before; he said he didn’t think so.
“For some reason I was sure he had. I texted Amanda and asked her. By the time she got back to me with ‘I don’t think so’, Steve had driven the seventh anyway so they were definitely into new territory by that stage.”
It wasn’t a record for Australian pacing, with McCarthy indeed having done it – at Albion Park in 2010 – while Shayne Cramp managed the feat by nailing seven wins from as many events at Mildura only last August.
Lance Justice won seven in a program at Globe Derby in 1989.
It isn’t quite so rare that it will make world headlines, like when jockey Frankie Dettori won all seven races in a meeting at Ascot, but with only three other easily remembered matching efforts in the last 25 years, it is up there.
“I’m fairly good mates with A.D. Turnbull and idolised him when I was growing up. I can still recall watching him have five wins from six drives at a Peak Hill meeting one time,” Dumesny said.
“I’ve still got the racebook at home. As someone who’s known their family for a long time, I’m pleased that their stable has achieved it.
“Obviously, when you look at their operation, they do have a bit of an edge on the opposition because they get given the better horses by the major owners. Emilio Rosati is a very prominent owner and he had three of those winners on Monday.
“But having been trackside, the striking thing is just how beautiful and healthy their horses looked. It is pretty clear to see just how much effort goes into their training and to present them as they do is a remarkable effort and shows the care they take.
“Really, there is no reason why they can’t have another big night like that when they return to Parkes on Friday and then again next Wednesday.”
