Latest news with #DylanTurner
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
‘I almost had to have a beer to function': How jockey Dylan Turner beat the booze and scored career high
If there was a beer nearby, Dylan Turner wanted it. If it was a Monday or a Tuesday and he was at home, he would invariably be drinking. Ditto for many other days. Battling personal demons and other issues, the former Kiwi jockey used alcohol as a crutch and a coping mechanism. He doesn't know what the textbook definition of an alcoholic is, but he suspects he was on the brink of being one. Two months ago, he looked in the mirror and didn't like what he saw. He hasn't touched a drop of grog since. The proof has already been in the pudding with Turner's self-imposed booze ban. There are much bigger Cups than the Townsville Cup but it was a major moment and a sweet reward for the 31-year-old Queensland jockey when he scored the $150,000 race last Saturday. Good things are now happening. A few weeks ago, Turner's long-term partner Paige Fergusson-Smith said 'yes' when he asked her to marry him. 'I'm happy for you to tell my story, everyone close to me knows and they are all really supportive of me,' Turner told Racenet, in candid interview. 'For a fair while, I was very close to becoming an alcoholic. 'It was getting to the point where I almost had to have a beer to be able to function. 'If I wasn't riding on a Monday or Tuesday, I was probably drinking while doing something around the house. 'I don't know how bad other people are when it comes to that sort of stuff. 'But I was fighting my demons and I let myself down. 'I somehow managed to keep riding, but sweating (to lose weight) was hard when I was drinking, it takes a huge toll on your body and on your mind. 'I just became numb to it all.' • After coming across the ditch from New Zealand, Turner had a stint riding in Victoria before moving to the Sunshine State to try to escape some of his demons. But nothing changed immediately in what had become a chaotic life. A moment of rare clarity came when he looked in the mirror and told himself, with steely-eyed determination, that things must change. Turner didn't check himself into a rehab clinic, but instead found his own unique path towards sobriety. He has gone cold turkey and there is no looking back. 'I have said 'no' to drinking for almost two months now,' Turner said. 'I had to have a good, hard look at myself in the mirror and I said to myself 'you need to pull your head in'. 'I told people around me that I was going to put myself in a situation where I didn't drink and I said it would be appreciated if I wasn't invited to functions where there was going to be alcohol. 'I just isolated myself for the first month, I didn't really go out. 'My partner understood it and she was on my side, but I did feel bad for that first month she didn't get taken out for dinner just because I didn't want to have the urge to have a drink. 'She's a massive part of my success and you could probably say there were times when I probably wouldn't have been alive without her in my corner. • 'I think she's up to it': Sunrays chases crowning moment in Princess series 'I believe that now I can put myself in a situation where other people are drinking and I can have a zero alcohol beer, or a Coke Zero or a water. 'Maybe in the future if I rode a Group or Listed winner, I might sit down with the owners and have one beer. 'But to be honest I don't feel as though it's a situation I want to put myself back in. 'I can feel the difference in the clarity in my head and I don't want to do anything to jeopardise that. 'It is really starting to show in my riding and having a clear head is a major key when riding horses.' Gold Coast trainer Paul Shailer is a key support for Turner and he is a great ally to have. Shailer recently opened up to Racenet about his own journey back from the brink and how he had to go to a health retreat to sort himself out after getting his marching orders from the Chris Waller stable in the aftermath of an alcohol-fuelled stable party in 2021. You sense Shailer can be the perfect mentor for Turner who hopes his Townsville Cup win on Quothquan is just the start of a big riding season. • Comeback king set for Melbourne Group 1 spring riches 'I sat down with Paul and said I want to have a red hot crack and by the end of the season I want to be riding in town and riding big race winners,' Turner said 'I wanted to give it a final go, if I make it I make it and if I don't, I don't. 'I really want to better my best season of winners back home (in New Zealand) which was 50. 'I thought to myself that if things don't work out, I will look at working as a builder, I did three-quarters of my carpentry qualification in New Zealand during the Covid pandemic. 'It was always something for me to fall back on if I did stop riding, as I have a great love for tools and building things. 'I do some of that in my spare time, I might restore a set of drawers off Marketplace for instance. 'I've put myself in a position where I like to respect things, not only for myself but for people around me. 'If I can make something look a little bit better, I will.' After Turner won the Townsville Cup, he was thrilled to be presented with the trophy by riding legend Damien Oliver who was on course at Cluden Park representing a corporate bookmaker. QUOTHQUAN flashes down the outside to the win in the North! He's been knocking on the door this prep and finally breaks through in today's @ladbrokescomau Townsville Cup ðŸ�† #QLDisRacing ðŸ�‡ — RaceQ (@RaceQLD) August 9, 2025 Turner wants to enjoy every moment of a fresh crack at a riding career that he had thought about tossing away on several occasions. He has had a rollercoaster jockey career from the days when he kicked off in New Zealand and faced an early challenge with a speech impediment. 'When I first started race day riding as an apprentice, my boss actually got me to go to speech therapy just to help me talk on camera,' Turner said. 'I used to stutter very badly and talking to new people or saying a difficult word would trip me up. 'I would stutter and I would almost have to restart my sentence. 'I did eight months of speech therapy, twice a week.
The Australian
09-08-2025
- Sport
- The Australian
Hobby trainer John Dann savours last-to-first Townsville Cup triumph
Toowoomba hobby trainer John Dann produced a Queensland winter carnival wonder and ventured further north to be the king of Townsville on Saturday. Dann's gelding Quothquan stormed home from last to produce a monster win in the $150,000 Townsville Cup, scoring revenge after having a luckless run in the Mackay Cup a fortnight earlier. Quothquan had been trapped wide in the Mackay Cup and Dann feared the six-year-old might have his work cut out again in the Townsville Cup from a double-digit barrier. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Former Kiwi hoop Dylan Turner had Quothquan back last, but some of his rivals were speeding along up front and it gave him his chance to swoop over the top of them. Dann only has a handful of horses and he juggles that with operating a successful truck repair and services company which has 100 employees. He has enjoyed a year to remember with his horses, having fairytale mare Adiella score the $500,000 Magic Millions National Classic at Eagle Farm during the winter carnival. Adiella then had a major setback and is now recovering from a nasty staph infection and she will not be seen again at the races until next year. But Quothquan's dominant two-length Townsville Cup romp put a wide smile on Dann's face. 'It wasn't our plan to be that far back,' Dann said. 'But they were cracking along up front and going fast and when he was that far off them, it probably suited him. 'Dylan let him slide and he was doing it under his own steam and he won easily. 'I got Dylan to ride because he has the same manager as Cobi Vitler who I use a bit. 'He rode the horse really well and it was a terrific result for us.' Quothquan started $6.50 and zoomed home over Sir Grace ($8.50) and Smart Legend ($6.50) as $5 favourite Beau Rain finished a disappointing 13th in the 2000m Cup. In the Magic Millions Townsville Guineas QTIS 4YO Handicap (1609m), Smart Mission was strongly backed to be $3.40 favourite but threw it all away at the start when he tried to buck jump. Jockey Lacey Morrison was lucky to stay in the saddle and somehow managed to settle the gelding back in the field but was left with far too much work to do to be a factor in the final stages. Meanwhile, Mackay galloper Obligated ($9.50) unleashed a powerful run in the straight and won easily under jockey Ash Butler. Lyle Wright-trained Obligated had made his name winning over nippy sprint trips, but found the mile of the Guineas was no issue. In the sprint feature, the $100,000 Cleveland Bay, Speed Legend left it until the final strides to get home over the top of Cherry Rose as two of the favoured runners fought out the finish.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Yahoo
Man gets 5 years for Wichita road rage shooting
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A Wichita man was sentenced for firing a gun last summer in a road rage incident. On Friday, a judge sentenced 24-year-old Dylan Turner to 61 months (five years) in prison with 36 months post-release. The judge ordered him to pay just over $14,000 to the Kansas Crime Victims Compensation Board. Last month, Turner pled guilty to one count of discharging a firearm. Two women said they were hit with gunfire after a road rage incident with Turner in June near Central and Zoo Boulevard. The women had non-life-threatening injuries. Police identified the suspect using Flock technology that reads license plates. Remains found in crashed vehicle in Ellis County For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
