Interstate raid a “wait and see” for top QLD stable

SATURDAY night’s huge Qbred finals night at Albion Park could shape upcoming interstate raids for Queensland’s powerhouse Turpin/McMullen harness racing barn.

It’s been a huge few years for the stable, which sits second to Grant and Trista Dixon on both the Queensland and Albion Park premierships.

And the star factor in the barn continues to grow.

Exciting four-year-old Attachment and even stablemate Dele Row remain in the mix for a slot in the $2.1mil TAB Eureka.

Beyond that, Pete McMullen said a trip to Victoria for some major races in October “remained an option.”

“This is a big weekend for us,” he said. “We’ll get through this, reset and go from there.

“The TAB Eureka is difficult. We’d have to chase hard to try and get in and with no guarantees.

“Victoria would be more likely, but that will depend on a few of our young horses being ready and racing well enough to go for the Oaks or Derby at Melton.

“If we were taking a couple for those races, we would probably take The Janitor down with them for the Victoria Cup.

“But it’s all a wait and see at the moment.”

McMullen, currently the leading state and Albion Park driver, said The Janitor was potentially the best horse he and wife, Chantal, have trained.

The Janitor boasts 13 wins and four seconds from just 23 starts, but hasn’t raced since a  runaway win in the 4YO Championship at Albion Park on July 19.

It followed booming second in the Group 1 Rising Sun and Kevin Thomas 4YO after doing all the work in those races.

“If he just developed a bit more gate speed, he’d be an all-round horse,” McMullen said.

“He’s getting better with that. He used to go rough, but he’s getting out better all the time.

“We haven’t done much with him since the last win, so we’re not in a rush to make any plans.”

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Australia