The countdown to the crowning of yet another Gold Crown and Gold Tiara winner continues with less than 80 days to go until the highlight of the Bathurst Harness Racing Club’s calendar.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As always, competition is expected to be stiff and it poses the question: will the long standing record of the same driver winning both finals be equalled in 2017?
That one and only luck reinsman to do so was Ricky Thurlow, now based in Queensland, but in 1998 was living in Bankstown.
At the time Thurlow was the stable driver for leading trainer Peter Walsh. As such, he had a good understanding of the big Troublemaker gelding with the unusual name of Flubber.
“We weren’t quite sure what ability he had early on as he was a lazy track worker, but we certainly knew after winning his first four starts, which included the heat, semi-final and final of the Bathurst Gold Crown,” Thurlow said.
Flubber then won his next start as well at Harold Park – a heat of the Australian Pacing Gold series – before finishing runner-up to Shakamaker in the $250,000 final.
However, the drive to win the Gold Tiara Final aboard Terricherry involved a bit of luck.
Terricherry was trained by Paul Fitzpatrick, when he was based at Condell Park near Bankstown.
Fitzpatrick also had another two-year-old filly named Temperama, who was also Bathurst bound.
About three weeks before the Bathurst Gold Crown Carnival, Fitzpatrick rang Thurlow to ask him to drive Terricherry in the final should both his fillies qualify for the rich decider.
Well history shows that both fillies did qualify, albeit not impressively.
“I wasn’t confident going into the final with Terricherry, even though she drew the one hole,” Thurlow said.
“However I thought I would take the back of the likely leader Skips Daughter and drive for luck”.
His plan worked as she was able to come off the back of the favourite Skips Daughter and record a two metre win.
Needless to say that Thurlow went home a happy man.
No other reinsperson since has been able to drive to Crown and Tiara glory in the same year.
Both Flubber and Terricherry were sired by the Brooklyn Lodge based stallion Troublemaker.
Besides those two winners in Flubber and Terricherry, Troublemaker has sired three other Crown or Tiara winners – Tromos in 2000, Lombo La Fe Fe in 2002 and Distant Memory in 2013 – to be the leading sire of winners in the 30 year history of the carnival to date.
Art Major and Bettors Delight have sired three and two winners respectively and both have a chance to add to those totals this year. Art Major has 40 of his progeny eligible for the 2017 series.