Bathurst’s Turnbulls setting records again

Records are, as we are all aware, made to be broken. But the Turnbull harness racing clan from The Lagoon, near Bathurst, created something very special at the recent Miracle Mile Carnival.

Nathan Turnbull and his younger sister Amanda became the first brother and sister to drive the winners of the prestigious NSW Derby and NSW Oaks.

And it is believed that no siblings in either code of horse racing have ever achieved such a feat in the same year in any state of Australia.

The closest that any siblings have come to such an achievement occurred in Queensland over a decade ago when the Rasmussen sisters, Kylie and Natalie, won the Oaks (2011) and Derby (2012) respectively.

So there is a strong chance then that the Nathan and Amanda Turnbull record might be one that will gather cobwebs in the harness racing record books.

The two horses involved, Windy Hill Tara (Betting Line) and Better Be The Best (Shoobees Place), were purchased by their respective owners from the 2021 Bathurst Gold Crown Yearling Sale.

Windy Hill Tara was a $21,000 purchase whilst Better Be The Best was knocked down for just $17,500. Maybe this is another record – for a yearling sale to produce the winners of such prestigious Group One races in the same year.

Amanda piloted Windy Hill Tara to perfection for her dad, trainer Steve Turnbull, and the Oaks winner was her 13^th Group One success. In a relatively short career Amanda has already accumulated over 2,350 wins in the sulky.

For Nathan, the Derby was his second Group One victory as both trainer and driver – the first was with the same horse in the NSW Breeders Challenge Blue Final in November last season.

Sharing in the excitement of those magnificent victories were the immensely proud parents Steve and Jenny Turnbull as well as their other two children Josh and Mitch.

The Turnbull name first arrived in the Bathurst region over 150 years ago and has been synonymous with talented horses and major race glory for the past 50 years.

Amanda Turnbull, now 33, drove her first winner exactly 17 years ago this month – Wollomi at the Orange track on 11^th March 2006.

“I felt pretty confident about The Oaks with Windy Hill Tara because she was so relaxed in her warmup that night compared to some of the other fillies who were on their toes,” she said after the win.

Nathan, who is seven years older, drove his first winner at the old Bathurst track on 24^th September 1999 aboard an interestingly named gelding Yamytbryte for his dad Steve.

Now Nathan’s son Jett, who lives, breathes and dreams harness racing, is about to add another Turnbull name to the driving ranks in NSW.

The run of Better Be The Best in last Saturday’s Derby will probably live in Nathan’s memory for a lifetime.  The three-year-old had to do plenty of work to find the lead and fight like a lion to win – he truly was better than the best his competitors could throw at him.

The 2023 edition of the Bathurst Gold Crown Yearling Sale is on Sunday week, the 19^th March, and will be conducted by Nutrien Equine at the Bathurst track , commencing at 12 noon.

There will be 87 beautifully bred lots available (44 fillies and 43 colts) and all are eligible for the Bathurst Gold Crown Series and the $50,000 Gold Crown Graduate Sale Race to be run at Bathurst on Boxing Night 2024. There is a once-only pay up fee of $550 including GST, payable on sale day.