IT couldn't be better.
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Those were the words of driver Nathan Turnbull after he guided Hit The Track to victory in the Gold Chalice Gold Consolation (2,260 metres) at the Bathurst Gold Crown Paceway on Friday night.
Turnbull's delight not only stemmed from the fact that he had driven a winner in the Listed race, but that Hit The Track was trained by his brother Josh, was a $23 outsider and had overcome a barrier nine draw.
The brothers high-fived each other as they waited for the presentation to begin, while moments earlier Nathan Turnbull was pumping his fist in triumph as Hit The Track swooped home to snatch the win.
"It didn't work out how we thought with the one leading, we thought we'd be on the leader, but we found three fence and that might have been a blessing in disguise because he got a perfect run through and came out when he needed to," Turnbull said.
"We burnt really hard early, well the leaders did anyway, and we were just back on the fence, minding our own business.
"Couldn't be better."
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After being beaten by 51.5m when running fifth in his heat of the three-year-old colts and geldings series and having just two wins from 29 starts heading into the consolation, few punters had backed Hit The Track to feature.
But Turnbull found a nice sit three back on the pegs as Navua Star set the tempo in front. On his outside was Major Obahma, who galloped trying to take the lead but quickly got pacing again.
As they tackled the final bend Turnbull worked Hit The Track into the clear, but had to peel four wide in order to do it.
However, the Sportswriter x Tears To Mapel gelding still had enough left in his legs to unleash a brilliant sprint.
Hit The Track won by a head over $1.80 favourite Firestorm Red (Amanda Turnbull), while War Dan Delight ($2.40, Jason Lee) was 1.9m further back in third.
Hit The Track rated 1:57.6 as he notched up the third win of his 30-start career.
Meanwhile in the Gold Bracelet Gold Consolation (2,260m), Bathurst trainer-driver Michael Munro sprung the upset of the meeting when he steered $61 chance The Girls Have It to victory.
A Million Dollar Cam x Barberry Jewel filly, The Girls Have It had run last in her Gold Bracelet Heat, finishing almost 50m off the pace.
In her three other runs earlier in the month, her best performance was an 11m sixth. From 16 career starts in total she had not managed a win and Munro admitted he had considered retiring her.
He was glad he did not go through with it.
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Munro settled his outsider three back on the pegs and waited until they turned for home to peel off and give The Girls Have It a clear passage.
Miss Emilys Rose led until the final 50m and $2.90 favourite Chezmac was finishing strongly, but The Girls Have It kept coming and went on to win by 1.4m in a 1:58.5 mile rate.
"This horse always showed a ton of ability. My God she's had some problems and we were just about to give up on her, so we might just have to keep her going a bit longer," Munro said.
"It's good to grab one any night, but grand final night is as good as it gets."