O'ROURKE GOES BACK TO HIS HAPPY HUNTING GROUND

WEDNESDAY: July 17, 2024: EDWARD O’Rourke gave a confident pitch to champion apprentice Zac Lloyd to book him for Twin Turbo at Grafton today.

“I told him to make sure he took the mount because I expected him to win,” the Hawkesbury trainer revealed after the pair had combined to land the Class 2 Showcase Handicap (1600m).

“Twin Turbo had run second at his last two runs at home, and he looked really well placed at Grafton.”

In O’Rourke’s words, Lloyd “gave Twin Turbo a peach of a ride” to enable the Sebring four-year-old to post his second victory for his trainer.

Lloyd got Twin Turbo ($5) home in a Hawkesbury quinella finish, narrowly defeating Terry Croft’s recent first-up Newcastle winner Gallic Fox ($7).

A $60,000 Melbourne yearling purchase in 2021, Twin Turbo had two previous trainers before joining O’Rourke, who scored first-up with him in a Provincial Maiden (1500m) at Kembla Grange in April last year.

Grafton has been a popular track to O’Rourke, who won many races during his time training on the Northern Rivers.

He won the Mother’s Gift (1400m) at the 2020 carnival with odds-on favorite Simply Sacred, and also finished fourth in the Grafton Cup (2350m) with Nemingah, and fourth with Group Think in the Grafton Guineas the same year.

“It’s been a really good track for me,” O’Rourke said. “In fact I have had more winners there than anywhere else.

“I won 10 races there whilst I was training at Murwillumbah.”

O’Rourke also had an interesting tale to relate about Twin Turbo’s successful Guineas rider.

“Zac Lloyd hasn’t had many rides for me, but has ridden a few winners,” he said.

“He was a claiming apprentice based in Queensland when he won an Open Handicap (1181m) at Grafton on Zac Attack in April 2021.

“Zac was just beaten on the mare in a Flying Handicap (1100m) at Grafton as a 3kg claimer at her first run for me.

“Then he won on her 18 days later, and I knew at that time that he was going places in his riding career.”

O’Rourke heads home on Thursday looking to strike whilst the iron’s hot with his talented four-year-old Iron Man at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

He accepted with the gelding in two races, and will star him in the Benchmark 78 Handicap (1200m) where is better drawn.

“Tyler Schiller rode Iron Man in his first-up win at Canterbury last month, and also when he trialled nicely over 900m at Rosehill last Friday, and sticks with him,” O’Rourke said.

“Provided the track isn’t heavy, I’m sure he will be okay and run well.”