A strong connection between two famous families was further cemented when they each took the honours in the other’s memorial race at Bathurst’s Carnival of Cups meeting on Boxing Night.
Bling It On, for Luke and Belinda McCarthy, dominated in the feature Group 2 Shirley Turnbull Memorial, an hour or so after Nathan Turnbull had been successful in the Ray and Olive McCarthy Memorial, with promising three-year-old Sams The Master.
The Turnbull and McCarthy families have been strong racetrack rivals but firm friends for three generations now, from Tony and Ray, and then sons Steve and John, through to the current generation of Nathan, Josh, Amanda and Mitch, and Luke, Andrew and Todd.
How fitting that the races named for such well-loved figures, responsible for these modern dynasties, should be won by their grandchildren.
Bling It On, as a $2.10 favourite, was expected to win the Shirley Turnbull Memorial, but the manner of the victory – by 16 metres, in near-record time of 1:56.3 for the 2260 metres – drew spontaneous applause from the bumper crowd.
Much of that was for Luke McCarthy’s drive, which was an absolute masterclass.
Confronted with a tricky inside draw on the second line, he negotiated a passage off the markers going into the first turn, and then launched a blistering sprint in the back straight the first time to seize the lead, leaving main rival Keayang Steamer no option but to work to the death seat to stay in touch with him. He opened the field up down the back straight the final time, and closed out with a 28.1 quarter, with seemingly something in reserve.
It was a superlative performance, from horse and driver, and took the five-year-old’s earnings to $975K, with a number of rich plums such as the Victoria Cup and the Miracle Mile on his agenda over the next eight weeks.
Sams The Master mightn’t occupy such dizzy heights – so far, at least – but his performance to lead all the way in a very strong Ray and Olive McCarthy Memorial for three-year-olds, was highly impressive.
Turnbull took him straight to the front, parking Luke McCarthy on odds-on favourite Born To Rocknroll, a move that proved decisive, when he held on strongly in a last half of 56.6 seconds to hold that combination at bay by almost three metres.
The win was quite a thrill for owner and Board member Rod Smith, whose Kriden Park establishment was the sponsor of the subsequent Shirley Turnbull Memorial, in yet another link between the two races, and families.
At the presentation, unfortunately conducted in driving rain which saw a large contingent of McCarthy family members sheltering under brollies and race rugs, Nathan Turnbull recounted a story of an earlier “race” between himself and Luke.
On their annual winter holidays racing horses in Queensland, Steve Turnbull and John McCarthy allowed their boys, then barely teenagers, to drive fast work around the Tweed Heads track.
They held no concerns, because the horses weren’t very good, and they figured the boys would be a little bit frightened anyway. But the further the workout went, the faster they went, to the point where both dads were too scared to look, turning away as their boys raced into a tight home turn. From which they emerged safely.
Nathan remembers the story with evident pleasure, and it’s one that Steve and John have both told over the years, but it surely marks the moment when both of them knew, if they’d ever had any doubts that their boys would be following in their footsteps.
Getting back to Bathurst on Boxing Night, for that annual reunion, is important for the McCarthy’s, and to win the feature race (for the third year in succession) as well as several others, made this year quite special.
Luke and Belinda achieved a treble, their other winners All Eyes On Us ($3.80, in a C4 Turnbull Memorial consolation) and Downunder Stride ($1.20 favourite, in C0 grade ) delivering a double to Emilio Rosati, and several co-owners in that first-named winner.
John McCarthy scored with Cyclone Kate NZ ($1.30 favourite, in C1/C2 class), first up in Australia and headed towards a possible Ladyship Mile campaign, which doesn’t look beyond her judging by her easy 1:54.1 effort, on a night where curator Tony Hagney produced a brilliant race strip despite sometimes appalling conditions.
And Todd McCarthy was in on the act as well, with Webb Ellis NZ ($5.50, for Kevin Pizzuto, in C2/C3 grade ), the fifth successive win for the four-year-old, taking advantage of the sprint lane to nab Amanda Turnbull on Happy To Go.
Revenge came for Amanda in the sixth, the second C4 Turnbull consolation, when she dashed Intransit ($5.50, for Steve ) into the trailing spot vacated by Todd just before straightening, to use the sprint lane to overhaul his runner Epaulette very close to the line.
Another Turnbull/McCarthy result, five out of the first six races, and the Bling It On display in the following race capped off a special night for these iconic Bathurst clans.
Hewitt is another name familiar to everyone who follows the sport, and brothers David and Mark grabbed a Carnival of Cups win.
Our Nero Star NZ (4.90 ) sat in the death seat before running away with a C1 sprint, at just her second Australian run, to maintain David Hewitt as the leading strike rate trainer at Bathurst this season. It was a nice consolation for losing Sweet Molly OShea NZ, through injury, from the feature race.
Mark Hewitt was able to put the frustration of assorted injuries which have restricted Sport Report’s career to date, when the $5.80 chance came with a strong run to take out a C0 Ladyship sprint, recording her fourth win from just five starts. Mark plays down his success, achieved with just a small team, and is especially successful at getting juveniles up and going.
Another of the smaller stables to get among the spoils on a big night was the Portland (near Lithgow ) team of Ray and Brett Field, with $69 outsider Jimmy Jasper, in C1 company. Brett sprinted home out wide to plenty of loud support from the crowd, which at that late stage unfortunately didn’t include his family who’d been dispatched home earlier because of the wet conditions. Hopefully they caught the win on Sky.
So it was a night that had just about everything: outstanding fields; some brilliant training and driving performances; unkind weather but a top racing surface and consistently fast times; and a massive crowd that got right into the action.
And above all else, confirmation of the view that harness racing is the ultimate family sport.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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