Top horseman looking to honour late mother

CHAMPION horseman Steve Turnbull is hoping to break a drought from the winners’ circle of a very special race on Boxing Day.

Although the feature has been part of the Bathurst calendar since 1954, it was renamed in honour of Turnbull’s mother, Shirley, in 1988.

Since then a member of the famous clan has won the event on 12 occasions.

Turnbull captured the inaugural edition with Cocky Brother, before Tony, Greg, Craig, Jason and Amanda etched their names onto the honour roll.

Turnbull registered the last family win when triumphant with Slick Bromac in 2009.

“It is a race I aim to have a runner in each year,” Turnbull said. “It’s not an easy race to win though as they come from everywhere for the good prizemoney.

“It’s been a while since we had a win it, so hopefully that will change this year, but we will need a lot of luck given the class of the field.”

Turnbull will be represented by Atomic Red, which has drawn awkwardly in barrier seven.

The son of Rocknroll Hanover slots into five with the removal of the emergencies.

“He went well last start, bit more like his old self,” Turnbull said. “It’s not a good draw, but it’s over 2790 metres so there is plenty of time to circumnavigate the field.

“He’s never been a good beginner, so we’ll just have to see where he settles in the run.”

Amanda has two runners in the field, with Ellmers Image drawn barrier eight – the outside of the front row.

Bundoran will begin from the inside of the back line.

Amanda is poised to drive Bundoran, with Isobel Ross to take the reins behind Ellmers Image.

“Obviously I’d like to win, but if I don’t hopefully Amanda does,” Turnbull said. “It’s a special race to us and it’s always nice to see the Turnbull name on the honour roll again.”