Milestone calls Trudy
Tauranga looks the likely location for Trudy Thornton’s anticipated career milestone with several trainers vying for the honour of saddling the horse to carry her to victory.
The popular jockey is looking to some long-time acquaintances to help her claim her 1000th winner.
Currently sitting on 999 wins in New Zealand, Thornton has seven rides at Saturday’s meeting.
She has a long association with Te Awamutu trainers Peter and Darrell Hollinshead and has three chances to reach the elusive 1000 on one of their horses.
Similarly she has ridden many a race for Cambridge trainer Lee Somervell and she rides two for him on Saturday.
Her remaining rides are one apiece for a couple of veteran Te Aroha trainers in Ernie Griffiths and John Revell who have seen their share of race meetings and legged Thornton aboard a good many times.
She rides Cruiseo and Gangster’s Lass respectively for them and both are outside chances.
Peter Hollinshead has in recent years handed the training duties to his son Darrell and he could be the man to saddle Thornton’s milestone win, but she might have to wait until the last race on the card.
Thornton won on his Mastercraftsman mare Moderation last start at Tauranga and the talented galloper is capable of a repeat in the Bayleys Rating 65 over 1400m.
She led from on the speed and was too strong in that race, and from barrier one this week she should be thereabouts and tough to run down.
‘‘It would be nice to be the ones to train the winner for Trudy,’’ Hollinshead said. ‘‘She’s ridden a lot for us in recent years and we’ve had plenty of success.
‘‘But it’s not just on race days when she helps us out, she will hop on them whenever we ask her to ride at the trials - she’s a hard worker and a great rider.
‘‘Mind you I think Lee [Somervell] would also like to be the one to give her the win - she’s ridden a lot for Lee as well and they’ve had some great success.’’
Hayley Grace and Stacey Ann are Thornton’s other rides for Hollinshead while she kicks her day off aboard Somervells’ filly Miss Catherine in the first race and then combines with Civique Rose in the third.
‘‘In my humble opinion she’s got two really good winning chances on them,’’ Somervell said. ‘‘Wouldn’t it be unbelievable - it would be marvellous if she could get her 1000th on one of them.
‘‘I don’t like to put too much pressure on but I think they both have the ability to win - I’ve waited with both of them to get decent ground and if the weather holds they should get it.
‘‘Whether I train the winner or someone else it doesn’t matter, the thing is no-one deserves to reach the milestone more than Trudy.
‘‘I won a race on Monday with Stradivarius which Trudy usually rides and that could have been the one but I decided to use an apprentice claim.’’
Somervell remembers with fondness and pride the day at Ellerslie in 1986 when, riding under her maiden name of Archer, she rode his horse Saci to beat the mighty Bonecrusher.
‘‘It was only her wonderful ride that brought about that memorable win,’’ he said. ‘‘We returned to the birdcage to stunned silence.’’
If Thornton brings up her milestone at Tauranga there will no such stunned silence.
She will be greeted with cheers and applause from industry participants far and wide in acknowledgement of a career which began in 1982 and continues to flourish.