Wheres The Gold in surprise Bathurst Oberon Cup success

Much travelled local pacer Wheres The Gold (Somebeachsomewhere) caused a boilover when he narrowly edged out his harness racing rivals in the Oberon Quarries and Oberon Trash-Pak Oberon Cup at Bathurst on Friday evening.

Confidently driven by young ace Jett Turnbull, Wheres The Gold who was friendless in the betting flew out of the gate to lead, before eventually giving away the lead to second favourite Fashion Icon.

Favourite Ripp was sent around the field by Bernie Hewitt to eventually sit outside the Fashion Icon with Shez Sweet Louise three back on the rails behind Wheres The Gold.

Helluva was sent around the field with a lap to go from mid position to race outside the leader. The in form Fashion Icon still looked to be travelling comfortably in the final lap with both Helluva and Ripp struggling to keep in contention.

Wheres The Gold pulled out from behind the leader while Shez Sweet Louise was sneaking up along the rails. Shez Sweet Louise looked likely to snatch victory in the shadows of the post but Wheres The Gold found plenty to record a narrow but emphatic win over Shez Sweet Louise by just over a metre with Fashion Icon in third place.

Wheres The Gold rated 1.55.5 for the 2260 metre trip.

WHERES THE GOLD 9 JAN REPLAY

Raced by Alan Field and trained by Nathan Turnbull Wheres The Gold has had a chequered career having done his early racing in New Zealand where he was no slouch winning three races before arriving in Victoria in October 2022.

Under trainer Emma Stewart Wheres The Gold won seven of his first eight Australian appearances including the 2023 Group 1 Tasmanian Pacing Cup and a Heat of the Easter Cup at Launceston. Later that year he won the South Australian Pacing Cup before going to the Bain and Hill stables.

He then had a short stint with Jackson Painting in the Riverina before joining the Turnbull team at The Lagoon.

Wheres The Gold is the only progeny of the Bettors Delight mare Gold Elite who won six races running 1.57.3.

The win completed a treble for Jett Turnbull as he had previously scored on Duffy Hollow ( A RockNRoll Dance) and Beancounter (Art Major) and both trained by Nathan Turnbull.

The meeting is a community event organised by Oberon a town around 50km south of Bathurst. The Oberon meeting has been part of trotting fraternity for long time so it is steeped in history. The main emphasis is to raise funds for Ronald Mc Donald House at Orange with a variety of auctions and raffles throughout the meeting. All indications were that last night’s meeting was highly successful.

For complete race results, click here.

by Tony Milanese, for Harnesslink