Jess Tubbs goes from one extreme to the other, on two fronts this Saturday night.
In the warmth of a Brisbane winter, Tubbs was at Albion Park last Saturday night cheering the rising star of her Myrniong stable, Fighter Command, into a fantastic fifth behind champions Captains Mistress and Leap To Fame in that epic $1 million Inter Dominion final.
Now, after two 4am starts and the long, two-day drive back from Queensland to home, Tubbs will head to Melton on Saturday night with her old warrior and stable favourite Triple Eight for Vale Brian Markovic free-for-all (1720m) at Melton.
The 11-year-old Triple Eight had been racing for almost four years by the time Fighter Command was born.
Having started his career in NZ, Triple Eight moved to Tubbs stable in early 2021.
The gelding has thrived and taken his record to 190 starts for 32 wins, 54 placings and tantalisingly close to the magical $1 million in prize money at $956,981.
But he’s running out of time to reach the milestone.
“Retirement isn’t far away,” Tubbs said. “To be fair though, every time I’ve thought about retiring him so far, he’s then come out and run a belter and changed my mind.
“He’s just a marvel and such a beautiful horse to have around the place.
“It looks tricky for him this week from the draw (gate five), but he’ll just drop out and run on again, he’ll probably run another belter, knowing him.”
Tubbs had plenty of time to reflect on Fighter Command’s first Inter Dominion campaign on the long drive home. It netted a heat win, a frustrating gallop on night two, and then that booming fifth in the final.
“I could have done without night two, but that just shows he’s still learning and he didn’t handle the Albion Park track overly well,” she said.
“I tossed up whether to take him, but I’m so glad I did. He exceeded my expectations because I went to try and learn where he was at as far as these big races go.
“He’s not up with those very best two (Captains Mistress and Leap To Fame), but he’s shown he won’t be out of place in the big races.”
The $250,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton on October 17 is the next big target.
“It’s nice and close to home, it will suit him, it’s a Bucket List race of mine and hopefully a couple of the big guns won’t come to it,” Tubbs said.
As it stands, the Victoria Cup is not on the radar for Leap To Fame or Captains Mistress.
“I was just so proud of him in the (Inter Dominion) final. His run was unreal,” Tubbs said.
Tubbs will go back to the drawing board with her other young star, four-year-old trotting mare Tracy The Jet, after she tied-up and didn’t run to her best in Queensland in the Group 1 Great Square.
“I’m just not 100 per cent happy with her at the moment, so we’ll go over a few things when we get home,” she said. “There’s the Vicbred in a month or two, but we’ll play that by ear.
“The upside is she played her role on the trip because she and Fighter Command became best mates and she really helped settle him.”
