Dom Tourneur’s secret stretch for Adelaide Cup glory

THERE, in gate 12, poised at the top of the Morphettville Racecourse straight when the red light flashes at 4.20pm on Monday, will stand one of those improbable racing stories

DOM Tourneur reckons it’s a match made in heaven.

There, in gate 12, poised at the top of the Morphettville Racecourse straight when the red light flashes at 4.20pm on Monday, will stand one of those improbable racing stories.

A “quirky” eight-year-old gelding with a whopping 88 starts to his name — a $71 outsider the bookies have ranked the longest outsider of the 2018 Adelaide Cup’s 18 starters

And on his back, a decorated jockey with more than $25 million in prizemoney to his name who, if you believe in statistics and perceived age barriers and nothing else, might have already hit his career high-water mark.

Combined, this is a pair largely overlooked in all the pre-race conversations dominated by gun Victorian trainer Darren Weir and Master of Arts, or the Hayes stable and Fanatic.

So if it’s an underdog yarn you’re after in tomorrow’s Adelaide Cup, Tourneur and Murray Bridge-trained Flying Casino might just be your pick.

“It was only two or three years ago a 100/1 pop won the Melbourne Cup, so anything can happen in a two-mile race,” Tourneur grins.

“You’ve got to be in it to win it — and we’re in it.”

Adelaide jockey Tourneur will attempt to score his first victory in his adopted home Cup, as Flying Casino bids to join racing greats including Melbourne Cup winners Sub Zero and Rain Lover, and three-time Adelaide Cup hero Lord Reims as champions of South Australia’s 3200m feature.

Tourneur has been around the mark before, guiding an on-track rival in tomorrow’s event, Jim’s Journey, to top-five finishes twice previously.

Jockey Dom Turner. Picture: Dean Martin

Of course, the odds say it’s unlikely. But Tourneur insists Flying Casino will dictate his own chances in the dash for the line when the pack looms up at the final turn.

“He’s a quirky horse,” Tourneur says.

“He’s raced numerous times over 2500m and around that distance so he’s rock-hard fit. It’s just a case of whether he wants to turn up on the day.

“When you’re riding him, from that 600m or 700m out, he’s not really the type of horse you can drive up because he’ll resent it. You can’t force the issue with him.

“If he wants to do it, he’ll do it. If he doesn’t, then he doesn’t perform on the day.

“So hopefully on Monday he wants to get up for the big occasion.”

Tourneur, too, is no stranger when it comes to big occasions.

The Perth-born hoop who has called Adelaide home for the past 12 years shot to national stardom almost a decade ago in a fairytale pairing with South Australian horse Alcopop.

The duo started favourite in the 2009 Melbourne Cup, ultimately finishing sixth, and went on to score a second-placing at the 2012 Caulfield Cup.

Tourneur piloted four of Alcopop’s 10 career wins, before sparking another dream partnership with fellow South Australian galloper, the Phillip Stokes-trained Hucklebuck.

That partnership delivered six wins including a run of three in a row headlined by the $1 million Group 1 Emirates Stakes at Flemington in 2014.

“I’m one of those riders who, when the situation has more stakes and more pressure, I tend to thrive on that,” Tourneur says.

“Some riders can tend to handle pressure differently but I really enjoy the challenge and tend to thrive on it.

“High pressure situations or occasions never really get to me – like when I rode the favourite in the Melbourne Cup I was never really over-awed by the situation.”

Tourneur enters this year’s Adelaide Cup hoping to emerge from a sometimes luckless past 12 months that has included any jockey’s usual obstacles - injuries and suspensions.

In April last year, Tourneur was trampled by his mount in a trackwork fall, suffering four broken ribs, two fractures in his nose and injuring his shoulder.

Later, he was sidelined again when he cracked five bones in his foot. Even on Wednesday his resilience was tested in the second race at Gawler when he was thrown inside the starting gates.

“So I haven’t had a good 12 months but hopefully things start looking up coming into the Adelaide carnival,” he says

“Injuries and all that, it’s part and parcel of the game, sadly. But it’s not much fun sitting on the sidelines. I’d rather be out there, put it that way.”

Tourneur has also endured back pain – not an uncommon complaint among jockeys – but now, at 43, has discovered the benefits of Pilates sessions in managing soreness.

Those classes coupled with regular rounds of golf as a member at Flagstaff Hill Golf Club means Tourneur’s health and fitness is as sound as it has ever been.

“I’m 43 and I’m feeling as good as I ever have,” he says.

“I had my back issues but I’ve been doing Pilates and that’s really strengthened me up.”

Yet for all the wisdom and maturity that comes with experience, all jockeys are ultimately measured by their wins and strike rates.

Jockey Dom Turner at pilates class at Glenelg South. Picture: Dean Martin

Dom Tourneur wins on Alcopop.

Built on his strong association with the powerful Phillip Stokes stable, Tourneur scored 95 wins at a 15 per cent success rate during the 2012/13 season, winning SA jockey of the year in the same season Alcopop was crowned SA horse of the year.

This year, while still being aligned to Stokes, Tourneur’s numbers more than halfway through the season stand at 32 wins for a 9.6 per cent success rate.

He accepts the cyclic nature of racing, but says the failure of his hard work on and off the track to deliver results is a frustrating reality.

“I’ve probably been a bit down on numbers a bit due to the competitive nature of the riders around at the moment but we’re hoping to build back our support base again,” Tourneur says.

“I’m still riding a lot for Stokesy, he hasn’t had as many runners this season due to going through a transition to working with two and three-year-old horses. There are some nice ones among them so bringing up those younger horses makes me really excited about the future.

“I had a run there where I was shooting for about 100 wins a season. I feel like I’ve still got a lot to offer in the game and I want to get back up to those levels.

“That cycle, it can happen to every jockey. So for me I just have to ride through that. It’s head down bum up, try and get those results again.”

The two-time Group 1 winner insists that too often hidden – or ignored – in racing’s pure win-loss statistics is the quality of a jockey’s ride relative to the quality of the horse.

“I can go out there riding things that are 50/1 and they’re not impossible to win on, but they’re not highly probable,” Tourneur says.

“You might ride something that’s a long shot from an outside gate, and give it a really good ride where it has every possible chance (to win) and regardless of where it finishes no-one notices or remembers that. So that can be frustrating at times.

“It can be an injustice but you can’t let it get to you and you can’t let it wear you down. In this game, a lot of people can get shot mentally but you’ve got to stay positive and resilient because the next good opportunity could be just around the corner.”

Tourneur’s ride tomorrow on long shot Flying Casino means he must drop his weight to 53kg.

But his own improved fitness regimes and active lifestyle means the mark will be relatively easy to hit.

“I’m probably one of the lucky ones with my weight,” Tourneur says. “I walk around most of the time about 54kg so come the day I have to ride at 53kg I won’t even need to have a sweat (to shed weight).”

So while the bookies say it won’t happen tomorrow, and even Tourneur concedes a lot will hinge on Flying Casino’s own desire, the pairing is in the race and holding a chance to win the $400,000 Adelaide Cup.

He says breaking through in his adopted home city’s Cup would be a dream come true.

“Oh, it’d be huge,” Tourneur says.

“There are obviously bigger races around when you’ve got Group 1s here like The Goodwood.

“The Adelaide Cup is Group 2 but it carries so much history and weight. It’s the biggest profile race in Adelaide

“It’s a big event and for any of us out there, you’d be really proud to win it.”