Jess Tubbs will head to Menangle on Saturday night full of emotion and driven to honour her late husband.
It was 12 months ago when Tubbs and Greg Sugars were starting to pack their bags to head from their Myrniong stable, an hour outside Melbourne, to chase the world’s richest harness race with untapped pacer Fighter Command.
Days later, Fighter Command was struck down with a twisted bowel, scratched from the $2.1mil TAB Eureka and fighting for his life.
But much worse was to come for Tubbs.
On April 25, Tubbs’ world was turned upside down when police arrived at her home to say Sugars, who was back in Sydney and about to start Fighter Command’s comeback campaign at Menangle, was dead.
Sugars, just 40 and one of the biggest stars in Australasian harness racing, died the night before. There’s still no explanation why.
This week is the first time Tubbs has been to Sydney since.
“It certainly hit me a few times on the drive up,” Tubbs said. “All the things we used to do together, I now have to do by myself.
“Fighter Command was Greg’s project horse. It’s up to me to get him as well as I can and take to the TAB Eureka to honour Greg.”
It is only now, with the TAB Eureka just hours away, that Tubbs is allowing herself to really think about.
“With the past 12 months I’ve had, it really has been one step at a time, especially with this horse,” she said.
“First it was to win the Beautide (in Hobart on August 2) so he got the (Tasracing) back into the TAB Eureka and now it’s been keeping him in bubble wrap since after what happened last year.
“So far, everything has gone as well as I could hope. He’s had a great build up, he’s a lot more mature than he was 12 months ago and he’s drawn as well as he could given the preferential barrier draw.
“I still think he’s six to 12 months away from being the horse he will be, but this is the last chance we’ll get to race for prize money like this and he’s certainly got the ability to win it.”
Tubbs’ job will be done when she hands the reins to Australia’s premier driver James Herbertson. Sugars was his “idol and best mate.”
“Jess has done a great job with him and we’ve seen progress this campaign, but he’s still a work in progress and not quite there mentally yet,” Herbertson said.
“If he gets all those one per-centers right that he needs to, he’ll be the horse that Greg thought he could be.
“Hopefully that’s as quickly as this weekend.”
Punters think a fairytale win is a big chance, too. Fighter Command, who boasts 12 wins from just 22 starts, is $3.80 equal favourite with last year’s runner-up, Bay Of Biscay.
PHOTO: Eliza Howlett
