Tatura Cup winner ready to strike at The Valley

Mornington trainer David Brideoake joked that a statue should be built at Tatura racecourse of his young co-trainer Matt Jenkins.

Since Jenkins, who was raised in Tatura, joined Brideoake, firstly as an assistant trainer and then earlier this year as a co-trainer, the Tatura Cup has become a go-to race for the pair.

Turbeau won back-to-back Tatura Cups in 2021 and 2022 while stablemate Soaring Eagle took out this year’s event on November 25.

Forced to miss a third attempt at the Tatura Cup, Turbeau will be running second-up in the Sharp EIT Solutions Handicap (1600m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

“I had him in at Tatura, but I thought the other one was a better chance,” Brideoake said.

“He was going for three straight but he wasn’t quite ready. Anyway, Soaring Eagle did the job and got the money for us, so they need to build a statue of Matt Jenkins there.”

Brideoake explained Turbeau had gained a lot of improvement from his first-up outing at Morphettville on December 2 when narrowly beaten.

Turbeau lumped 64kg in that contest when just touched out with Brideoake saying everything that could go wrong, went wrong that day.

Brideoake and Jenkins had booked Rhys Mcleod for the ride, but Samuel Payne took to the saddle when McLeod was delayed with transport difficulties.

Then in the small field, Turbeau was held-up for a run at a crucial time.

Brideokae is hoping Luke Currie, who has recently returned from a stint in Hong Kong, won’t have those difficulties on Saturday.

“The trip over to Adelaide did him (Turbeau) well,” Brideoake said.

“He came out of the race well and I think he’s got a shot on Saturday.

“There’s a few claiming around me and maybe I should have claimed as well, but I’ve had a great association with Luke over a number of years and it would be good to get one up for him following his return from Hong Kong.”