HE has already won the Eugowra and Blayney Cups so far this season and today Steve Turnbull’s talented gelding Oh I Am The One is chasing a cup treble.
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This time it is Young’s Cherry Festival Cup (2,100 metres) which is on the hit list for the son of Gotta Go Cullen.
While Amanda Turnbull has driven Oh I Am The One in both his cup wins thus far, this time her trainer-father will take the reins.
And despite an impressive record this season with five wins and a second placing from three starts and a barrier three draw, the master trainer-driver is playing down Oh I Am The One’s chances.
“He is still up in grade a bit for that race, but he’s a nice horse,” Turnbull said.
“He’s a tough bugger too.”
Amanda praised that quality – toughness – after Oh I Am The One took out the Blayney Cup.
Despite sitting outside Kapow Shannon for almost the entire 2,140m journey, he still managed to post a track record mile rate for that distance, lowering the previous mark by more than two seconds.
“[He is] such a tough horse, he just keeps on finding in his races and I am prepared to drive him tough if I have to – he’s my kind of horse,” she said.
Though Oh I Am The One faces a handy field, including stablemate Macworthy, Bernie Hewitt’s Katsidis and Chris Frisby’s Uncle Lile, Turnbull’s form runner has proven he can handle smaller tracks.
He won his heat and then the Group 3 final of the Canola Cup at Eugowra.
“He ran at Eugowra which is probably a similar track, a tight little track. So that won’t be a problem I don’t think,” the trainer said.
The other factor Turnbull believes will not trouble Oh I Am The One is the heat. He actually pointed to the fact that hot days lead to fast times.
“It is strange because when I went to America, they always race their time trials in the middle of the day, the hottest part of the day, that’s when they can go their fastest,” Turnbull said.
“The air mustn’t be as thick or something like that. It is interesting, the times at home in the summer are always quicker that they are in the winter too.
“The hottest part of the day the Yanks said is when horses are their best.”
While Oh I Am The One will be a strong chance in the Young feature, it is a different story for stablemate Lamorak when he runs in the Group 3 Tony Turnbull Free For All (1,609m) at Menangle Park tomorrow night.
Though Turnbull would love to win the race given that it not only holds Group 3 status, but is named after his father, when asked if he thinks his horse can sneak a placing, he quipped: “Yeah, probably last place”.
The Live Or Die x Breffni Castle horse has finished in the placings in 50 percent of his starts this season and his last outing was a win at Menangle, but the 90-race veteran is facing higher graded opposition. He has also drawn barrier seven in a nine-horse field.
“He’s only a M2 and there are horses in that race which are M9 and M14, I don’t think he’s as good as the other horses who will be running around,” Turnbull said.
“He went good last start, but that field will test him. I think I am only making the numbers up.
“I would have been nice if he drew barrier one and could follow them around, but I guess we’ll see how he goes.”