She might have had to defy the orders of her mum to do it, but young Parkes driver Laura Rusten produced an 'absolute gem of ride' to win aboard Harley James in Parkes on Friday night.
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Trained in Forbes by popular horseman Terry Robb - who doubles as the clerk of the course - the nine-year-old gelding got the chocolates at an eye-watering $61, and despite the price the result was never in doubt as soon as the arms folded back.
It's the fourth career win in 72 starts for Robb's runner, whose first race was way back on June 18 in 2017.
From gate five, Rusten shot straight to the front on the gelding, and despite a challenge on the back straight from Bridge Coin ($2.15f), Harley James was able to hold on to win by 2.7 metres in 2:00.8 ahead of Well Said Harps ($4.80).
The front-running ride from Rusten was in direct defiance of her mum, who told the Parkes Champion Post after the race that she'd better not lead.
"You know what, I said to her before the race 'there's too much speed on the inside of you, you're not gonna lead, don't bust him,'" she said.
"And what does she do? She ignores mum!"
Given the end result, the softly-spoken, cheeky Rusten could be forgiven for ignoring her mother's advice; and she was pretty happy with how the gelding ran out the race.
"I knew he had it, I was just letting them get their hopes up (on the back straight) and I knew I had a whole lot of horse, so I was pretty confident in the straight."
Rusten wasn't given any overly specific instructions from Robb before the race, for the gelding she described as 'always giving it everything.'
"He gave me a bit of instruction but it was really 'just do what you gotta do.'
"He was pretty happy after the race, though," said Rusten.
READ MORE ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT'S MEETING IN PARKES:
The punters that were on-course on Friday night might have heard a bit of commotion when Harley James got over the line - and that was the sound of Robb cheering one of his favourites home from the other end of the track.
"I got a canter right around and could hardly see, but when I saw my colours (black and red with a white maltese cross) in front I thought ohhh geez - it was unbelievable," said Robb.
"I was very happy, you could hear me whooping from the other end of the course!"
Robb, respected as one of the top horseman in the entire Central West, was also full of praise for Rusten, who is starting to build a really nice riding career despite her youthful (17) age.
"She's getting real good, Laura - it was an absolute gem of a drive," Robb said.
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