Trainer Steve Turnbull has seven horses nominated at today's Carnival of Cups meeting at Forbes. Photo by Amanda Rando
It is rare that Steve Turnbull ever misses a Carnival of Cups meeting anywhere west of the Great Dividing Range.
His record at these feature meetings and that of his daughter Amanda is impressive and this afternoon at Forbes the talented duo is likely to uphold that reputation as they head to the historic town with seven well-performed pacers.
Last Sunday Steve sent his daughter out to Forbes for Anzac Day and she bagged three winners and a second placing, qualifying the quartet for their respective finals.
“I was happy with the way the team performed last weekend but felt Saint Julien was the best of them,” said Steve.
“I was quite surprised with the ease in which Mach Daddy won his heat.
“His form has been solid but to clear out and win by 30 metres was not what I would have expected from him.
“Ring The Till is a real trier and got home well, coming from near last and I think Amanda gets the best out of him when she takes the drive.”
All three will contest the $12,000 Forbes Diggers Harness Racing Club Series Final this afternoon and Turnbull feels that Saint Julien is the pick of them.
“Amanda will take the drive on Saint Julien and should be able to get across to lead from gate four,” he said.
“He is a noted front runner so he if he does lead, he will be hard to run down.”
Drive To The Beach also impressed Steve by the way in which he won his heat of the Jack Honan Memorial last week.
“This bloke is one of the real improvers in my stable, he just keeps getting better with every start,” he said.
“Amanda will try and work forward with him from gate four and if things go his way, he will be prominent in the finish.”
Turnbull’s two-year-old filly, Smooth Bon Bon will take on the older horses in the Forbes Shire Council David Mason Appreciation Pace.
She won on debut at Bathurst and ran a handy second at Tabcorp Park Menangle two starts back.
“We own this filly ourselves so hopefully she can win another race before I send her for a spell,” said the champion horseman.
While Steve will not take the reins on any of his runners this afternoon, he is looking forward to heading out to Forbes to bag some winners.
