There may have been a little bit of trepidation for Jemma Coney in making her driving debut at last Thursday's Tamworth harness meeting but there was certainly no disappointment.
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In her first race, the young reinswoman drove her first winner, piloting Queens Angel to the win in the Hazells Farm & Fertilizer Services Ladyship Pace with a well-executed drive.
"I did feel a bit nervous going out on the track but when I was in the actual race, I was fine - I was just thinking what I would do next in the race," Coney said.
Queens Angel is trained at Tamworth by her father Greg Coney, and after drawing barrier 10 commenced off the second line of running to be placed at the tail of the field in running.
"I was thinking would I be able to sprint past them but I knew she had the ability to do that," Jemma added.
With the Mackayla Mitchell trained Sands Safari, driven by Jamie Donovan, leading the field in the 1980 metre event, Coney was ready to commence her race move at the 400m mark.
"She (Queens Angel) felt good - I have never had to pull a horse out like that so it was a good feeling," she said.
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Queens Angel made a four-wide run around the final turn to come away with a 12.5m winning margin over Whereyagoinbabe (Stuart Glasby) with Sand Safari another 10m away third.
"Going past the grandstand I could hear the locals yelling - it felt nice," Coney said.
Making the transition from the mini trot ranks, where she represented NSW at the mini trot championships in New Zealand, won a Miracle Mile and Inter Dominion, as well as the Champion of Champions race back in 2016 with her pony Secret Mission, to the big league of harness racing the 17-year old was excited about her first drive in competition and is now very pleased with the end result.
"I definitely didn't think I could do that (win)- especially with the draw that she had," Coney said.
"Dad has always had the horses so I think I was always going to do it (driving) and I am grateful that dad stuck by me and has a nice team of horses to drive. I think he would be proud."
She added that "there is a lot less pressure now" with her first drive and first win in a race now accomplished as she headed back to her studies as a Year 11 student at Oxley High School.
