Reinsman Mitch Turnbull won the opening harness race at Towac Park, Orange.
TERRY NEIL
TOM Jones wasn't spotted among the very large crowd but he would have felt right at home on Sunday as the Orange HRC staged the first meeting at its new home, the spacious grass surrounds used for thoroughbred racing at Towac Park Racetrack.
Club officials might have been a little apprehensive about the response to the move from their previous facility at The Highlands Paceway but before the first race had even been run, a well-filled car park reassured them of widespread interest in the meeting - the first on a grass track in New South Wales since the days at Richmond many years ago - and the smiles on their faces grew wider and wider as the day turned into an unqualified success.
"We couldn't be happier with how things have gone today. The trainers and drivers have given us the thumbs up about the track, and the size of this crowd and the buzz around the place tells us that it's a big hit with the public, " was club president Frank McRae's summing up of their first "day on the green."
All races were run over 1609 metres, to allow the score-up and start to take place past the track crossing at the 1800 metres point, in a right-handed direction, which was a first also in a very long time.
Steve and Mitch Turnbull, who took the honours on the day with four training wins and a driving double respectively, shared in some history by taking out the first race, the Orange City Welcome to Towac Park Pace, with Adore Ruby, which set the pattern for the day by leading throughout.
Racecaller Craig Easey's description of the 2:10.2 time as " a new track record " was both witty and literally true!
Times in subsequent races came down markedly, with the fastest being Tuapeka Glory's last-stride win for Emma Turnbull in 2:01.7 and Power Of Red's 2:00.8 for Steve Turnbull, both in C1 class.
Mitch Turnbull, who completed his double with What A Curtainraiser NZ, giving his mother Jenny two wins as an owner on the day, had been undecided beforehand whether to go back, in the tactic often seen in grass track racing in N.Z. or to race on the speed. He chose the latter, and it paid off for him.
The only mis-hap of the meeting came in the C1 third taken out by Cherry Mahoney ( John O'Shea for Steve Turnbull), when Givemtheslip became unbalanced on the point of the turn and fell, dislodging driver Nathan Turnbull, who on undoing the head-check and removing the tongue-tie from his prone mare, discovered her munching on some tasty, green grass!
All was well with both driver and horse, with Nathan copping sweet the stewards' suggestion that he feed his horses a bit better, before he bounced back with a win in the following race with Nota Bad Move NZ. He led on the three- year- old, which was the right move to make.
Two wins on the day for female drivers - Ashlee Grives with Beetson ( for Peter Trevor-Jones) in a driving finish in the last, and the earlier win for Emma Turnbull - highlighted the Teal Pants Promotion, for the Women's Cancer Foundation. Emma, one of the ambassadors for the promotion this year, has rounded up $1200 in donations for each of her wins, in addition to the $400 pledged by HRNSW and the TAB.
Three heats each of the Jack Honan Memorial (C0 class) and the Watson Corporate ( for C1 grade) provide excellent fields for $14,000 finals at next Sunday's Carnival of Cups meeting at Towac Park, with the feature, the Banjo Paterson Cup, likely to draw a top field of fast-class performers.
If yesterday's highly-successful meeting is anything to go by, there'll be a huge crowd rolling up for "The Banjo", and who knows, maybe even a Welsh singer among them!
