Bronco is up to pace at trots
JAKE Turpin’s fledgling rugby league career has been a game of patience, sitting and waiting in the shadows of giants.
When your path to first grade is blocked by Cameron Smith then Andrew McCullough, you know nothing is going to be handed to you on a silver platter.
If you spend your time fretting over a first grade start you might just go mad.
It’s where a youngster can do with an outside interest that becomes a welcome distraction and Brisbane NRL player Turpin has found one of the best – owning horses that win races.
The Broncos hooker owns three trotters including smart duo Mattgregor and Watch Pulp Fiction who have won 32 races between them.
They are trained by his older sister Chantelle.
With her husband Pete McMullen, who drives the horses, they are one of Queensland’s most successful harness racing couples.
“I love going out to my sisters place and watching my horses train then going to Albion Park on a Saturday night to watch them race,’’ Jake said.
Turpin, 21, played his second first grade game for the Broncos with a lively performance against Manly on Sunday.
With McCullough returning to the side, he drops back to play for Redcliffe in this weekend’s Intrust Super Cup preliminary final against the Burleigh Bears.
Turpin left for the Melbourne Storm two days after finishing school at Ipswich’s St Edmund’s College.
Despite not playing a first grade game in his four years in Melbourne he got to captain the Storm’s under-20s team and rub shoulders with the likes of Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater.
Turpin’s fondness for his horses gave him an instant connection with Slater, a former trackwork jockey who remains a devoted track follower.
“Billy loves his horses,”
Turpin said.
“We had a really good relationship and we used to talk horses.
“Even up here the boys love knowing when my horses are in and they follow my sister as a trainer.’’