TALENTED teenage harness racing reinsman Dylan Ford notched his first winner with a daring drive aboard Left Loaded in the Berkley Cox Appreciation Pace over 2200 metres at he TOTE Racing Centre in Launceston on Sunday night.
The talented teenager made his driving debut only three weeks ago and this was his eighth drive.
Ford, 16, is the son of former leading trainer Phillip Ford and cousin of Nathan Ford for whom he works full time at Nathan’s Brighton training complex.
It was a masterful drive and one that belied that of someone with such little experience.
Left Loaded stumbled when the tapes were released of the standing start race but Ford was able to quickly get him pack in to a pace and immediately sent his charge forward to eventually fond the lead.
It was the winning move as the five-year-old gelded son of Fully Loaded left his rivals in his wake turning for home and went on to score by nine metres from the heavily backed favourite Grand Passion ($3.60) with Bonfirenite over two metres away third.
“This is as good a feeling as everybody told me it would be,” Ford said.
“I’ve wanted to be a reinsman for as long as I can remember and to get a winner after only three weeks of getting my licence is fantastic.”
“I want to thank my Dad (Phillip) for encouraging me and I learned so much from him as well as my uncle Scott (Ford) and my cousin Nathan (Ford),” he said