IN 2002 when Amanda Turnbull drove Freddy Under Fire to victory in the Ballarat Mini Trotting Cup, she would have had little idea that she would go on to be one of Australia's leading drivers.
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But if you had asked her father Steve - himself a driver of great repute - if he saw a future in the gig for his daughter, he would have had no qualms in replying 'Yes'.
Still, when The Lagoon's Amanda Turnbull drove a winning at Shepparton on Wednesday night to crack 2,000 career victories in the gig, her father marvelled at her success.
"That's unreal for the amount of time, I think she's only been driving 13 years. To get that many is unreal, it's pretty amazing," he said.
"She's always loved horses. She just eat, breathed and lived with them, she loved them. Even when, I think she was about 11 or 12, horses just ran for her, she's always been gifted that way.
"She's dedicated and she works hard at it, that's all she thinks about."
Turnbull, now 30, started in mini trotting as a 10-year-old and when she was 16, obtained her full licence.
In June 2014, she hit 1000 career wins and at the time was the youngest driver to ever reach that milestone at 24 years, four months and 16 days. It was a horse trained by her brother Josh - Forever Texas - that brought up the milestone at Peak Hill.
Three years later, in June 2017, Turnbulll reached 1,500 and on Wednesday at Shepparton thanks to wins aboard To Sir With Love ($1.10 favourite), Didnt I ($1.50 favourite) and Carlo Gambino ($1.04 favourite), she cracked 2,000.
There have been more winners than she could name, but her father Steve still remembers where it started.
"She had a little bloke called Freddy Under Fire. Freddy is where it began," he said.
"Freddy went down to Melbourne once, I had Smooth Satin in the Ballarat Cup and they had a Ballarat Cup for mini trotters. I think I ran second and Freddy won the mini trotting Ballarat Cup, so she was pretty stoked about that."
Almost half of Amanda Turnbull's career winners have come driving for her father, she's steered victors for her brothers Josh and Nathan and enjoyed success with her own team too.
Amongst the owners who have benefited from her skills is her mother Jenny.
"Her and Jenny my wife, they've been buying horses through New Zealand and they've got a fair bit of stock together now. They've had a terrific run doing that," Steve Turnbull said.
While Steve Turnbull has produced some remarkable drives during his career, he admits he is still in awe of what his daughter can do.
"I try to do things she does on horses, like sit them in the death seat, hang on - but she just seems to sit on, sit until that last turn there, then ask them to go at the top of the straight and they drop and go," he said.
"I can't get horses to do the things she can."
For the time being Turnbull will remain in Victoria as she works members of her team through their grades.
