Mitch Turnbull has a strong connection with the Dubbo Harness Racing Club and on Wednesday night he recorded his second ever treble at the track.
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Turnbull, whose only other career treble came at Dubbo in 2014, had five drives on Wednesday and recorded three wins, a second and a third, making it one of his best ever nights out.
“It was a great night,” he said.
“I was thinking on the drive there that if I got good trips in the five drives then I’d be a good chance and might get a couple so three wins, a second and a third was great.
“I’ve had a couple of nice drives there and a lot of drives around the track so I’ve got some confidence and I got a couple of winners there in the last meeting a week ago too.”
In far from perfect conditions, Turnbull’s night started with a bang as he drove $44.40 chance Merry Jasper to victory in the TAB Rewards Pace (2120m) and he admitted after that win he felt it would be a good night.
Next up was Casino Tommy in one of the meeting’s features, a $10,000 heat of the Menangle Where Horses Fly Country Series (2120m).
It was one of the more impressive wins of the night as Turnbull overcame a tricky draw from gate nine to cruise to a 11.6m win over pre-race favourite Allnight Mlady ($2.30).
“He’s Dubbo owned so that was good for them and he’d been racing well,” Turnbull said.
“I just had to go back and wait for it to slow down and then I put my bloke into it and he kept rolling on.
“I thought she (Allnight Mlady) was that hardest to beat and once I got on the outside he kept going and showed he was the stronger one.”
The final lap was a race between two as Casino Tommy ($2.40) and Allnight Mlady, driven by Mat Rue, went head-to-head but at the apex of the bend Turnbull made his move.
He powered to the lead and once in front the result was never in doubt as he went on to score a convincing victory, the seventh of the gelding’s 37-start career, in a mile rate of 1:59:8.
The back-to-back wins were followed by a second and a third with Gentleman Red ($4.90) and Smithstars Lexus ($4.20) respectively before Turnbull was first past the post again in the gig of the Josh Turnbull-trained Keep On Moving ($4.50).
Starting from gate four in the Mister Jogalong Horse Of The Year Pace (2120m), Turnbull came from deep in the field during the final lap to power to a 4.9m victory with the gelding.
“He went really well and my brother trains him and he just really raced his way into it in the final lap,” Turnbull said.
Nathan Hurst was the other big winner on the night as he took out the second Country Series heat with Tulhurst Ace ($11.90).