Turnbull counting down to 500 winners

Nathan Turnbull is the eldest of Steve and Jenny Turnbull’s ‘brood’ and has been in and out of the harness racing industry over the past two decades.

But he is now firmly entrenched in the sport and is a big asset to harness racing right throughout the Western District and beyond.

Currently working 17 horses from his base at Bathurst, Turnbull is not only a prominent force on his home track, but also frequents Young to the south and Parkes and Dubbo to the west, where he is a regular in the winner’s circle.

Lingering just outside the top 10 on the New South Wales trainers’ premiership, Nathan is having a battle royale with his father Steve for the trainers’ premierships at both Dubbo and Parkes and is a commanding leader for the drivers’ title at Parkes.

“I am having a great season, for sure,” said Nathan.

“To think that with the relatively small team I train, to be sitting just behind some of the biggest and best trainers in the state is just crazy.”

Turnbull currently sits on 495 winners as a reinsman and hopes to achieve the inevitable 500 mark sooner rather than later.

“Yes, the countdown is now on for me reach that milestone,” he said.

“I have a good book of drives tonight at Bathurst and I will head to Parkes on Friday with a truckload and follow on at Young next Tuesday.

“So, I am hoping that by this time next week I will have achieved the feat, or at least have put a dent in the five wins that I need.”

On a well-balanced eight-race Bathurst program, Turnbull has five drives. See fields here.

“I feel that my best two drives tonight are Kamendable Joe, which I train myself, and Ebony Rock, which is trained by my good mate Aaron Williams,” he said.

“Joe is really consistent and although I usually drive him for luck, when he gets it he can really explode off a helmet and hit the line strongly.

“Ebony Rocks is a two-year-old taking on more-seasoned horses, but she has drawn favourably in gate one and strikes what I think is a winnable race, so I expect her to go close.

“She won on debut at Parkes in February, was spelled after the Bathurst Gold Tiara and then returned to racing last week to run a handy fifth.”

By Michael Dumesny for HRNSW