HIS filly Tequila Tequila might be rated as a rank $201 outsider for this Friday night's Gold Tiara Final, but those odds have not quelled Mitch Turnbull's excitement.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
For Turnbull simply qualifying for the $100,000 Group 1 decider at the Gold Crown Paceway was cause for celebration.
It was not just that Tequila Tequila defied her 81-1 odds to qualify with a second placing in her heat or that Turnbull was in the gig for that drive.
It is because Tequila Tequila is the first horse Turnbull has been an owner of that has qualified for a Group 1 final.
"It's the first time one he's owned has been in a Group 1," Mitch's father and Tequila Tequila's trainer Steve Turnbull said.
"He was pretty excited, he even wanted to have a big party after the heat. So for sure he's pretty excited about it."
A Fly Like An Angle x Little Fib filly who cost $12,000 at last year's Gold Crown Yearling Sale, Tequila Tequila had two seventh placings before surprising in her Gold Tiara heat.
But Steve Turnbull explained those results were deceptive.
"She'd had a couple of runs from bad draws and caught wide in one and then got shoved wide in the start before that," he said.
"She's never been real brilliant, but she just does everything right and gets out of the gate well to try and get herself into a good position."
Tequila Tequila will go from barrier six in the decider, which also features Jo Dina driven by Mitch's sister Amanda Turnbull and Bernie Hewitt's duo Angel Shark and York Minster.
Imagine the excitement if Mitch Turnbull manages to surprise again.
