Bourke hoping Thornton can help end metropolitan drought

By Glenn Davis

Veteran Caloundra trainer Tom Bourke is hoping to end a long absence from the metropolitan winner’s stall when Better Than Groovy starts at the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday.

Bourke has a small team of seven horses in work at Caloundra and is hopeful Better Than Groovy - a five-year-old - can return to form in the Class 5 Handicap over 1200 metres.

Better Than Groovy – a Steph Thornton mount - has started 40 times for five wins and 11 placings and was a winner three starts back on his home track in a Benchmark race in December.

He was then beaten less than one length when fourth in another Benchmark race at Doomben on Boxing Day before tailing off last in a field of five behind Fort Wayne in a 1660 metre Class Five at Doomben on January 16.

“He’s going well but he pulled up with heat stress after his last run,” Bourke said.

“It was the first time he’s ever suffered from heat stress and he had a bit of time off after that run to get over it. It’s a tough race for sure but he’s up to these horses."

Bourke can’t recall the last horse he trained to win in the metropolitan area.

“It’s been a fair while since I’ve had a city winner,” he said.

“I had a Wednesday metropolitan winner in a maiden a few years back but I can’t recall the name. Outside that one I think it might go back to Rocky King.”

The 68-year-old Bourke has been training for many years but is best remembered as the trainer of former top sprinter Rocky King.

The widely travelled Rocky King was once considered among the best short-course horses in Queensland.

At one stage of his 70-start career, Rocky King held the record for 1000 metre at the Sunshine Coast and also ran the third fastest time on record for 1000 metre at Eagle Farm.

Rocky King won 17 races and more than $600,000 in prize money and was rated highly enough for Bourke to send him to Melbourne for the spring in 2014. 

Bourke suffered a stroke in 2017 and the following year beat a bout of prostate cancer.

“I had the stroke in 2017 but I only lost the use of a few fingers so I kept training,” Bourke said.

"Then the following year I got the double with prostate cancer but I had it removed.”

With two health scares behind him, Bourke is content training a small team and is hopeful Better Than Groovy can beat a long city drought.