Only two years after taking out a training license, former real estate agent Craig Burns is looking to ‘close the deal’ on a fairy tale Group 1 victory in Saturday night’s $160,500 KCR Pet Transport Maturity Classic (525m) at The Meadows.

Burns, 49, and wife Jennifer are living a racing dream this week courtesy of their proudly homegrown finalist Tinker Norm (box 2), which sits prominently on the third line of Sportsbet’s Maturity market at $6.

“Wow!” Burns quipped.

“He’s just so special, this bloke.

“We’re absolutely over the moon. It’s a little bit surreal, but it’s bloody exciting!

“I’ve called 2500 auctions, so I’m never short of a word, but I was speechless after his heat win.”

“I think the most satisfying part is that ‘Normie Boy’ was born on the property, reared on the property and we pre-trained him too.

“I’ve only been training for two years. Tinker Warrior was my first winner on May 25, 2021. We came into it knowing nothing, but we’re seemingly doing okay!

“For 27 years I wore a suit to work, but I haven’t put one on for the last four years.”

Tinker Norm, a January ’21 son of 2018 Maturity runner-up Orson Allen, will be making his first appearance in a Group final, having been a reserve for both the G1 Silver Chief and G2 Shepparton Cup finals.

He also finished runner-up to prodigious talent Rejuvenate in track record time in the Shepparton Classic.

Tinker Norm has spent the majority of his 32-start career on provincial tracks, with the Maturity heat only his fourth appearance (and second victory) at The Meadows, while he’s had two runs without hitting the podium at Sandown.

WATCH: “Tinker Norm’s a big threat!” TINKER NORM (B5) arrived in the
“last hop” to claim an upset 29.85sec G1 Maturity Classic heat victory over $1.40 favourite TRANSPONDER (B7).

Drawn in box five, Tinker Norm was one of only two runners at single figures at $9, in a market dominated by $1.40 favourite Transponder.

In the tightest finish of the eight ‘must win’ heats, Tinker Norm stormed home to claim a thrilling upset over Transponder, scoring by a head in 29.85sec.

It was his 13^th win, while his consistency is underlined by the fact he’s only missed a place once in his last 15 appearances (fourth).

“I’ve called 2500 auctions, so I’m never short of a word, but I was speechless after his heat win,” said Burns.

“I rate Transponder very highly. He won the Pink Diamond (Champion Sprinter) and has run 29.12sec at Sandown. You don’t expect to run down a dog that’s gone 29.12sec at Sandown, especially when you’re spotting them four lengths.

“I thought we were in strife down the back, but the boy proved me wrong.

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“The way he ran home and the way he hit the line impressed me the most.”

Tinker Norm will exit box two for the first time in the $100,000 to-the-winner Maturity decider (race 8, 9.03pm), with Burns daring to dream.

“If he gets up on Saturday, you’ll probably hear me from Darwin,” he laughed.

“I think in Group finals at The Meadows, you want to be drawn down low.

“Inside draws are an advantage if you come out good, but not so good if you don’t! He came out beautifully last week, so I’m hoping he can do that again.

“There wasn’t much between most of the heat winners. Tinker Norm checked off Dutch Riot on the first turn and lost maybe two to two-and-a-half lengths, so you can make a case that his 29.85sec could’ve been around 29.75sec.

“But just being in a Group 1 race is a dream for us. If you weren’t nervous, you wouldn’t be human, and if you’re not excited, you’re a fool!”

Burns explained that Tinker Norm is named after Norm Hetherington, who was the voice behind popular children’s TV show character Mr. Squiggle, as a result of a “squiggly” marking on the Maturity aspirant.

While the rest of his littermates have names related to the movie Topgun – (Tinker) ‘Cruise’, ‘Goose’, ‘Mav’ ‘Pete’ and ‘Tom’ – it will be Tinker Norm feeling “the need for speed” on Saturday night as he enters the Group 1 “danger zone”.