By Duane Ranger
Queensland and Australian harness racing have been bolstered with the return of 24-times Group winning driver, Ricky Thurlow.
And the 47-year-old has wasted no time adding to his 470 career wins.
In November Thurlow returned from a seven-month absence in the sulky to drive for the Craig Cross stable where Cross works his 12-strong team at Thurlow’s Logan Village stable.
On Tuesday (November 19) at Albion Park Thurlow drove the Cross trained Ice Pick Angie to a half-a-head victory from the ace draw.
That came three days after he reined the Cross trained Carla Clare (1) to victory at REDCLIFFE PACEWAY. For good measure the former New South Welshman also steered the Cross trained duo of Mach’s Mareta (8) and Donald (10) at ‘The Creek’ last Friday.
“I’ve been fortunate to land some nice drives with a very strong stable, where I’m helping Matt Coffey. The stable is temporally based here in Logan Village at my place until March when they are likely to set up their own stable in Brisbane.
“I’ve known Craig since I was 10. He was David Aiken’s farrier when I used to go there in the weekends. I think Leonard Cain is returning here to carry on working for him. We will see what Craig has in mind then.
“It’s a great opportunity to be back driving for a good stable again and doing some shoeing. I purposely stayed away from the sport for the last seven months, because I needed a change and family and cricket gave me that,” Thurlow told Redcliffe Paceway.
He said he had been kept busy with his two sons Ben (17) and Cameron (14), who were both representative State cricketers since the Under-12s.
“I’ve loved cricket since I was at school and coached a few teams to championship titles. I’m a better coach than I was a player. Your kids are only young once and I have absolutely no regrets with my decision making. I’ve really loved watching them both grow up and play top level and club cricket. Harness racing wouldn’t have allowed that because the weekends are so full on.
“Family is my life and Sharon and I have enjoyed watching them develop both on and off the cricket field,” said Thurlow, who coaches the Canterbury College First XI at Waterford.
“Yes, you could call me a ‘cricket tragic’,” he admitted.
His youngest son has a stablehand licence, and although Thurlow isn’t pushing that career on him, he’s happy that Cameron is enjoying a sport that put his father on the map.
“Like my kids, I was raised around horses. I was born in Parramatta and raised in Rosehill where my Dad trained horses. He was later the track manager at Bankstown for 25 years, so horses played a big part in my life from an early age.
“We were more of a galloping family early on. My grandfather, Jack Locke, was a jockey and rode over 1,000 winners in rural New South Wales. I actually wanted to be a jockey as well, but when I was 17, I was 51kg and that was considered too heavy, so I looked elsewhere,” the former Macquarie Boys High School student said.
He said his Uncle Jim (Locke) owned the odd standardbred or two and it was through him that he got to know his life-time mate, David Aiken.
“David had had an Overtrick mare named Pleasant Evening, who won five races. I remember that horse vividly because I used to help David with his team in weekends and in the school holidays.
“That’s where my fascination for the light harness sport started. I worked for David for about nine years. When David moved to Victoria, I then worked a team of my own out of Sydney for a couple of years before we came to Queensland. I must have been here for almost 20 years now,” said Thurlow.
“We have been located in Logan Village for the last five years after having lived Jimboomba,” he added.
He worked on his own for a couple of years before hooking up with Peter Walsh for just over three years.
“I was his stable driver before he went to the United States. I’ve been lucky over the years to drive some really nice horses. Probably too many to mention but Attitagain, Late Bid, Insutcha, Franco Glen, Joshua Tree, Ultra Jet, Seelster Sam, Flubber, and Tibet.
“Actually Tibet (1:51.6) provided me with my first Group One victory back in the late 1990s, but Sushi Sushi was probably the best I’ve driven. He provided me with many great memories. I trained and drove him up here as 2-year-old,” Thurlow said.
Sushi Sushi (1:54.1) won 27 of his 47 starts and $1.1m for trainer, Freddy Taiba. Thurlow’s biggest wins behind the Art Major gelding came in the Group One Kevin Seymour 2yo Nursery Pace at Albion Park, and the Group One NSW Breeders 2yo Final at Tabcorp Park Menangle. Both were in 2010.
“It’s good to be back driving again, especially for a top horsemen and long-time friend like Craig. I’ve known Craig for years and I know how good a horseman he is. You just have to see his results to realise that,” Thurlow said.
Thurlow is also available to drive freelance.
