Teenage leader Luke Thirgood is inspired by his heroes Nathan Rothwell, Nathan Dawson and Brendan Barnes as he looks to make his own mark on Queensland’s riding ranks.
Thirgood only recently turned 16 years old and made his race day debut last month. He has since completed four professional rides since coming through the junior ranks.
Thirgood’s best race finish to date was his first racing appearance when he finished third behind Rolling Bonus for his boss Greg Franklin at Redcliffe in late September.
“It was a great start,” Thirgood said.
“I haven’t had much luck since then, but I’ll keep going and hopefully I’ll get the monkey off my back soon enough. I have one in Marburg on Sunday.”
The Sunshine State youngster is a product of the minitrotters concept and previously represented the Queensland Junior Harness Racing Association at the Inter Dominion in Victoria as well as other events in his teenage years.
Thirgood follows in the footsteps of other young Queensland drivers such as Layne Dwyer and Angus Garrard, among others, who have progressed from mini-trotters to seniors in recent years.
With a few years left of his secondary studies, the rising Thirgood regularly speaks to top riders such as Rothwell, Dawson and Barnes for advice in the sulky.
“It’s definitely tighter and faster than you expect when you come out of testing and start doing races,” Thirgood said of driving in races.
“It’s definitely faster and things move a little faster. But it’s really good.”
Thirgood has tried to educate himself in the industry in recent years, spending his school holidays at the stables of champion rider Grant Dixon, while also helping out at Donny Smith and Franklin’s stables in Redcliffe.
Hobby trainer Franklin prepares a handful of pacers these days and says Thirgood is a diligent worker.
“He’s very enthusiastic, he comes to school every day and has been doing so for about two and a half years,” Franklin said.
“He is very skilled. If I ask him to ride a horse over a certain distance in a certain time, he can judge them perfectly, which for someone his age is quite smart – he is very good at it.
“He’s a pretty intelligent guy.”
Franklin’s Rolling Bonus started as a $10 outsider in Thirgood’s first race day appearance and the teenager moved him into third place from a front row tie over 1780 metres.
“He is skilled and handles himself well,” Franklin said.
“He sits well on a horse.
“He can judge one, he knows how fast they go.”
Thirgood describes Franklin as his “number one mentor” and says he helps him a lot with his honest feedback.
Once Thirgood graduates high school, he would like to pursue an electrical engineering degree while remaining involved in the harness industry.
The rising youngster believes his early years in mini trotting have prepared him perfectly to compete against seniors.
“It definitely helps you, especially when it comes to the little things,” he said.
“It helps you prepare for everything with the equipment and everything.
“There are plenty of people around the mini trotters, they help you too. It’s great.”
Through Jordaan Gerrans for Racing Queensland
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