SWEDISH harness racing reinswoman Sofie Svensson notched her first winner in Australian when she partnered the John Nicholson-trained Cats And Dogs to victory in a C2 or better standing start event over 2090 metres at Tattersall’s Park in Hobart on Monday night.
Svensson sent Cats And Dogs around the field with over a lap remaining and she had the gelding humming in front entering the back stretch the last time.
While her charge was feeling the pinch 100 metres from home so were the others and Cats And Dogs held on to score from stablemate Red Blister with Billabong Bertie a closing third.
“That was great and the horse did such a fantastic job. He is very tough,” Svensson said.
It was only Svensson’s third drive since obtaining her Australian driver’s licence two weeks ago.
Svensson, who spent most of the last seven years working in the USA with various stables, met Tasmanian James Rattray while they were working at Noel Daly’s stables in New Jersey.
As their relationship grew they opted to end their stint in the US and head back to Tasmania to “see what evolves”.
“James and I cam to Tasmania via Sweden where we stayed for five weeks and James had a couple of drives there but I don’t think he appreciated the cold weather (December),”she said.
Svensson, 27, never drove in races in the US but she has two winners to her credit in Sweden.
Rattray and Svensson plan to stay in Tasmania for a year and then make a decision on whether to extend their stay or relocate to Melbourne or Sydney.
“At the moment I love working with James’ family. I am learning so much and it (Tasmania) is such nice place to live,” she said.