Noel Doyle can’t help but have nostalgic thoughts when he takes tough gelding Le Val to Toowoomba for the $150,000 Weetwood Handicap.
Doyle used Toowoomba as his base when he was a jockey and he then trained out of the Darling Downs centre during the 1960s and 1970s.
He moved to the Gold Coast and established himself as a Group One trainer with horses such as Stylish Century, Kinjite and Don’t Play.
“I rode Eye Liner who is still considered the best two-year-old to come out of Queensland,” Doyle said.
“I finished second on her in the 1967 Weetwood behind Red Shah who was one of the few horses to win the race in consecutive years.
“But I did win the race as a trainer with Brunchtime in 1991.”
The Weetwood has been good to the Doyle family as Noel’s brother Ron won it on Dwan as a jockey and another brother Alan took the race as a trainer with Vacan Lee.