Good vibes all round for Tara

Brand new horse owner Tara Winston has found new friends, a new interest and a whole lot of support from an unexpected quarter in South Australia’s harness racing industry.

The 18-year-old is undergoing treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma and had no previous involvement with the sport.  But after being gifted a share in two-times winner Fireball (Mach Three) recently, she finally met the pacer at his Gawler stable, this week.

To watch the video tape, click here.

“I can’t wait to get out there again…think I’m getting addicted,” Tara joked after the two-hour visit.

“My cancer journey so far has felt like a relentless survival game, treatment gets harder to face every time.  People love to tell me how strong I am, and I appreciate it, I’ve been working hard.  But it’s the team behind me that get me through every round,” she said on social media.

“They’re the people who have shown me the side of the world that’s worth fighting to stay in.  Thank you to everyone for your generosity and kind words, your support has given me so much hope.”

As well, Tara was a special guest with her dad Paul at Aaron Bain Racing’s Gala Ball in Adelaide last Friday night (Aug 26). What they didn’t know was that the Winston family would be the beneficiary from the final item up for bids at a Charity Auction on the night.

But it didn’t take the 230 guests long to pick up on the significance ­­– and a spirited bidding war ensued for an ABR firepit.

“It was pretty amazing how it took off – everyone on the night just wanted to support Tara in her journey in any way they could, and all of the bidders were just wanting to give the family some support at a very practical level,” Bain said.

“The bidding shot up to $3,700, which was amazing – but then when the successful bidders Brad and Monica Fitzgerald came to pay up at the end of the night, they rounded up their contribution to $4000, which was a great gesture,” he said.

“And on top of that, there were some very substantial contributions from a couple of the under- bidders, too, after the auction – so it was a good feeling all round.

“Tara and her dad were blown away by the generosity – I spoke with them the next day and they were still a bit overwhelmed.”

The Gala Ball featured multiple Melbourne Cup winning jockey Glen Boss and marked one year of dual-code racing for the ABR group, which now has 190 horses and 1200 owners.

Tara had undergone a fourth round of chemotherapy just the day before attending, and both of her parents have given up work to support her in her cancer journey.

“Tara’s a lovely young woman and I think everyone there was touched by how tough she was in even being able to attend, after undergoing more chemo just 24 hours earlier.  But she wasn’t going to miss it for anything,” Bain said.

Tara became a part owner of Fireball courtesy of enthusiastic harness racing owners the Green family, Graeme and Keyona, and their daughters Sharna and Shanice.  The Greens’ contribution was then matched by Aaron Bain, giving Tara a 10 percent share in the pacer.

“We were hoping that getting her to join forces with us to race the horse would keep her spirits up and be a distraction for her and her family – something else to focus on,” Graeme Green said.

Bain has completed paperwork to add Tara’s name officially to the owners’ list, into the racebooks, and, all going well, onto winning photographs.  He’s also applied to HRSA for a special set of “Tara’s Journey” racing colors for Fireball.

The harness racing community is encouraged to follow the Facebook page “Tara’s Journey”.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink