In Brief
- Jones notches up maiden win.
- King Island season comes to a close.
- Keeley, Collins and Ruffalo have a big season.
Sixteen-year-old Malcom Jones continued a strong family tradition when he drove his first winner on Saturday afternoon on King Island.
The win came aboard Mi Ju Dan fittingly trained by his father Mark, in the Greenham Stakes over 1735 metres.
“He stepped alright off the 20-metre handicap, we tact on near the crossing before getting forced three-wide at the 600m and he sprinted home nicely to score by a narrow margin,” Malcom said about the win.
“I wasn’t exactly sure if I had won or not, but it was pretty satisfying to win one though,” said the driver.
The 16-year-old had recorded many placings before his win including a second placing in a heat of the 6ty Youngbloods before he ventured off to King Island with a couple of horses where he was based with his aunty Janine Jones.
Malcom’s grandmother is Vonda Peck, the sister of successful trainer-drivers Don and Graham Peck.
The winning driver spent a lot of his early childhood on King Island before moving to mainland Tasmania with his father several years ago.
In that time, he has helped his father with his small team of horses and received plenty of advice and mentoring off trainers Ben Yole and Rohan Hillier as well as their stable staff.
The young driver has been on King Island for the racing season but will return to his Sidmouth home on Monday where he will be back to commence his Year 11 studies at Launceston College, and he intends to pick up a few drives in the state with his five-point concession claim.
The King Island season concluded on Saturday and it was dominated by trainer Graeme Keeley and driver Adrian Collins with both recording nine wins for the season.
Ruffalo was crowned the horse of the year, including being the first horse to win six races in a row on the island.
Watch Malcom Jones drive Mi Ju Dan to victory on Saturday afternoon: