Fresh off winning her first Tasmanian Female Drivers premiership, Tiarna Ford is in for a busy weekend.
She will compete at the King Island and Launceston meetings on Saturday before heading to Hobart on Sunday.
“Last season, I was very lucky and grateful for the opportunities I got.
“Mum and Dad’s stable had a great year, which greatly helped. Ben Yole has always supported me and gave me a go, and it was also good to get some winners for some of the smaller stables.
“Winning a premiership was never my goal but is something I’ll be very proud of later, especially because my little sister Tay has won as well. When the premiership got very close, Dyl and my parents gave me a couple of sits and steers, so I owe them the biggest thank you,” said Ford.
Ford won the 2024 King Island Cup on Lou Lous Allgold, held a day before the year starting on 31 December.
“King Island has been something we have enjoyed as a family, and it’s a great day out. Mum and Dad utilised it with a couple of our horses who went out of form,” the driver explained.
She will fly to the Island at 9:00 on Saturday for two drives and will return to Launceston at about 18:30, where she will dash to the track to partner Grizzly Montana at each-way odds in race five.
While it is rare to have two meetings on the same day in Tasmania since a shuffle of race dates in 2004, it had been shared over the summer period in the years prior.
The last two drivers to have driven winners at two venues on the same day in Tasmania were Adrian Duggan (one win at each) and Scott Ford (a double at each) in Hobart and Devonport on Boxing Day 2001.
Tiarna will head to Hobart on Sunday with three drives, where she rates Our Ruby Rose in race two as her best winning hope.
“Our Ruby Rose has been a tad unlucky after a little freshen-up with two good runs at Burnie. She then found trouble at Scottsdale, but with the right run, she can be there about,” the driver said.
This weekends harness racing
King Island: Two harness events and five gallops. The non-tab meeting commences at 12:45 and will be streamed on King Island TV.
Launceston: Devonport Cup night with nine races from 18:16. Race one will be shown on Sky Racing 2, the remainder on Sky Racing 1. The meeting was live hosted on TasracingTV with Adrian Collins.
Hobart: Eight race program on Sky Racing 1 and TasracingTV from 18:18.
