4000 wins for champion trainer

Champion horseman Steve Turnbull etched his name in the harness racing history books training his 4000^th winner at a low-key meeting at Parkes on Saturday.

The milestone happened with the Betting Line pacer You Cannot Hide.

There was some pressure on this two-year-old gelding making his debut as Turnbull had been sitting on 3999 winners since last Sunday.

However, You Cannot Hide delivered not one but two milestones for the Turnbull family.

Driven by Turnbull’s youngest son Mitch, the success gave the reinsman his 400^th winner.

It was not all smooth sailing but not even a truck breakdown on the way to the races could stop this moment from happening.

YOU CANNOT HIDE REPLAY

“It’s unreal, I’ve been busting to do it all week and we came close a couple of times and just to get the 4000 for Dad is all I cared about,” said Mitch.

“I missed the first couple of races tonight, I had two flat tyres on the truck but wanted to get here as I had a heap of drives later and this bloke (You Cannot Hide) has been working well after his trial and I just wanted to get him around tonight and he got the job done well.

“4000 for Dad is just off tap, I don’t know many others that have achieved this.”

Since electronic records have been kept, Turnbull’s first training win was with Leadon Lee at Bathurst on August 1, 1983.

The 65-year-old has won some of Australia’s most prestigious harness races including the 2002 Inter Dominion and 2001 Miracle Mile with Smooth Satin.

His children Nathan, Amanda, Josh and Mitch are following his footsteps and all have successful careers in the sport.

Mitch, 25, obtained his first winner at Bathurst on November 14, 2012 on the pacer Rainbow Thunder, who was trained by his father and owned by his mother Jenny.

For complete Saturday Parkes results, click here.

by Amanda Rando, for Harnesslink