Team Teal ambassador Emma Turnbull.
IT’S an initiative our women harness drivers and trainers look forward to every year.
And the ‘Team Teal’ program, in conjunction with WomenCan, will again be undertaken by women drivers within harness racing throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Run over a six-week period and kicking off this month, Team Teal raises awareness and much needed funds to battle ovarian cancer in both countries.
The campaign sees all female drivers competing in teal pants, along with selected female ambassadors wearing a set of uniquely-designed teal and white silks.
Bathurst Harness Racing Club has the distinction of kicking off this season’s fundraiser and cousins Emma and Amanda Turnbull have been chosen to be the ambassadors for the western area.
The pair will do battle, along with five other female drivers, sporting the teal pants.
Harness Racing New South Wales has pledged to donate $200 towards WomenCan each time a female driver or trainer wins a race throughout that period.
Equally as generous, Tabcorp will match the pledge, which is certain to bolster the coffers of the fundraiser.
Emma (with two drives) and Amanda, (four) have a relatively quiet night in the gig at Bathurst but each appear to be aboard winning chances heading into a strong eight-race program.
Emma will take the reins behind Fays Delight in the opening race tonight and although the mare has drawn off the back row in gate 10, this could play into her hands given that she follows out Weona Sir Vivor, who can come off the arm fast.
Turnbull will no doubt drive the five-year-old patiently over the longer 2260m trip.
Amanda will be pinning her winning hopes on the short-priced Windy Hill Tara in Race 3.
Trained by her father Steve, Windy Hill Tara is first up from a 10-month break but will have benefitted from two solid trials in preparation for her return to racing.
Last preparation, the filly won and was placed twice in her three outings and from her soft gate two draw, should be hard to beat.
Amanda’s next best winning hope is with My Buzz Lightning in Race 2, a horse that she combined with to win two starts back for Sydney trainer Miller Youkhana.
With plenty of speed drawn inside them, Turnbull is likely to allow My Buzz Lightning to drop back from his gate six draw and come with one run at the end.
