Known for its lightning speed, Turn It Up has been working hard to reach the rich prize money level in recent months.
The 11-year-old finally did just that on Saturday when he wasted no time in beating the Grant Dixon-prepared and ridden Who’s Delight in the Junior Free For All event over 1660 metres.
The popular pacer joins an esteemed list of racehorses from the Sunshine State who have earned $1 million or more in stakes during their careers.
Turn It Up was welcomed into the ‘millionaires club’ alongside the likes of Leap To Fame, Blacks A Fake, Colt Thirty One, Flashing Red, Be Good Johnny, Slipnslide, Fleur De Lil, Washakie and For A Reason.
Trainer and driver Graham has been considering retirement for his evergreen gelding in recent times, hoping to reach the prize money milestone with a win and then retire.
“For a split second it looked like this would be the case on Saturday evening, but the other horse was too good for us,” he said.
“You don’t get that many opportunities to train a pacer who has made one million dollars.
“I’ve had the horse for so long, it was quite amazing to get it. He’s been at that level for so long now, he keeps showing up year in and year out.
“He races the best and he’s always faced with the new guy coming up.
“He can still compete with them a little bit, which is great. It shows how good of a horse he is.”
“It’s thanks to all his abilities that it worked out. I was just lucky to have had him all this time and he made a huge effort.”
Retirement is likely still on the cards for Turn It Up, but the 43-year-old rider will likely wait until he scores another win before officially calling an end to his glittering career.
After his run on Saturday evening, Graham says his stable warrior has done well and there is no doubt about his eagerness or soundness to continue racing.
Turn It Up last won over 2138 meters in mid-December last year during a standing start on a Tuesday afternoon at Albion Park.
It was an unusual occurrence to even see the gelding at a midweek race meeting, as he has raced mainly on the city’s Saturday evening program since lobbed in the Sunshine State.
He has 39 wins on his resume from 125 attempts along the way, along with 50 other minor placings.
Turn It Up is approaching retirement with superstar credits including Leap To Fame, Blacks A Fake and Colt Thirty One.
But he doesn’t have a signature win on his resume like his contemporaries.
That could only add to Turn It Up’s folklore that he was able to make over $1 million in stakes earnings without winning a major race.
He was competitive in several Sunshine Sprints.
He raced through several Inter Dominion series, reaching the decider in 2023.
“I would love to have another one like him, but I don’t think that will happen,” Graham said.
“It would have been good if we could have made a big Group 1 with him.
“But because of his injuries and other things, he probably wasn’t as good as he looked when he was racing in New Zealand.
“He still put a lot of effort into doing what he did. I got a kick out of every race he won.”
Turn It Up has competed in multiple group level events throughout his career, including the Group 2 Queensland Cup in 2021 and 2022, the Blacks A Fake in 2022, the Be Good Johnny Sprint on several occasions and a Flashing Red Discretionary Handicap in 2022 and 2023.
Although he doesn’t have a major Group 1 crown on his CV, Graham says he is certainly proud of the fact that Turn It Up stopped the clock with a 1.49.8 kilometer pace in a race at Brisbane headquarters midway through last year.
It is an exclusive club to break the 1.50 barrier at Albion Park and he is happy to be part of it with his old warhorse.
The son of Courage Under Fire arrived in Queensland in mid-2020 as a Group 1 winner with his career at the crossroads with ongoing injury problems.
The former New Zealand pacer has been struggling with arthritis and bad feet, with Graham having to manage his workload throughout the week and spread out his runs.
Graham has managed to maintain a healthy and happy horse in subsequent seasons.
“Probably the most recognizable thing about him was his gate speed, I think,” he said.
‘It didn’t matter which state you came from in Australia, I’m pretty sure people from most states knew about the gate speed and how fast it was.
“That’s probably what he’s best known for, I think.
“As long as he played one through seven, he would always be the leader and that doesn’t happen very often these days.”
Graham returns to Albion Park on Tuesday with four pacers he is training himself, as well as a few rides for other trainers.
Through Jordan Gerransfor Racing Queensland
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