Driving ambition sees Sofia a rising star

With all she’s achieved in a relatively short time in the sport, Swedish-born Victorian harness racing driver Sofia Arvidsson was nonetheless relieved to chalk up a milestone 50th career win last week – even if it was something of a surprise.

“It wasn’t all that long ago that I was looking up some novice drivers that I thought were going okay, and saw that they each had more than 50 wins, so that was my goal,” Arvidsson said.

“I had a really good first season (36 wins), but it’s been a bit quieter this year. I spent time in Sydney where I was running places but not winning, and we weren’t racing so many horses anyway earlier in the year,” she said.

“I did think I was stuck on 48 for a while, and after I got a win on Mynameisjeff at Terang last week I thought I was on 49.”

On Saturday night Arvidsson believed she’d come tantalisingly close to her milestone win in the $30,000 Allied Tailamade Lombo with Itzamajorsurprise, finishing a narrow second in the Group Three.

“It was getting pretty frustrating, but when we finally looked it up at the weekend, we found out that I actually was on 50 already, not 49, so it had slipped past me!” she laughed.

“I absolutely love the sport, but there’s a lot of pressure so that’s a good enough reason to celebrate all the little milestones.”

The former backpacker has gone from never having sat behind a horse in her life to driving in some of the biggest races in Australasia, since finding her way to the stables of trainer and now partner Mattie Craven four years ago.

She’s learnt the sport from the ground up by putting in the long hours alongside Craven and the team at their Ecklin South property.

“I grew up on a farm on the other side of the world and had nothing at all to do with harness racing, so this is not what I was destined to do, so to speak,” she said.

“I’ve always done things a bit differently though. I never really knew what I was going to do in my life, but I knew it would be something different!”

Arvidsson admits it’s been a tough journey at times, and a steep learning curve, but doesn’t hesitate in naming her favorite racing moment.

“No doubt, the Group Two win last year with Gus an Maori. That was a massive thrill because I just put my heart and soul into that horse,” she said.

“A lot of people didn’t believe in him, and it took me a long time to get him right, but when he won his first race, I thought maybe we could win one or two more. And then he ended up winning a Group Two and beating some really good horses, it was just a brilliant feeling.

“But the whole journey with Kowalski Analysis has been pretty special, too.”

Although a winner of only five races, the talented pacer was one of the success stories of 2020 and another of the Craven team that Sofia does much of the work with. Last year’s rapid rise culminated in a placing in the $300,000 Group One Chariots of Fire in Sydney in February.

“That trip was a huge learning curve for me and for the horse,” Arvidsson said.

“Mattie and all of us had known for a long time that he was a very fast horse, but we hadn’t really pushed him because we wanted to look after him and let him find his way.

“I have to admit that I think along the way I probably I lost a few races we should have won, just because we were trying to look after him and help him learn.

“Before we left for Sydney, we put him in the Ballarat Cup and I think people thought we were a bit crazy for doing that. But he ended up running fifth on the pegs, and in a very quick last half.

“It was from there he really started just to learn how to follow the speed. I remember sitting on the pegs and I couldn’t believe how quick we were going. I’d never gone so fast in my life, and he was just cruising, it was surreal.

“So on the face of it, he wasn’t much before we left to go to Sydney, but to do what he did up there (2nd Gr 2 Paleface Adios, 3rd Gr 1 Chariots of Fire) I was so proud of him and I was so proud of myself and how far we had come, both of us.

“I have been very lucky with owners like Bryan Healy (Gus An Maori), the Lewis-Krause team (Kowalski Analysis) and Duncan McPherson (Aldebaran Tess) who have had great faith in me, and I am really grateful for that.”

Arvidsson admits she’s crammed a lot into a short time in the sport but pays full credit to her partner for the opportunities she’s had.

“Even when Mattie had Kowalski Analysis in Queensland in the Rising Sun, and I was meant to go up and drive him. There was COVID, and a chance that I would get stuck up there, and I was supposed to be the one home on the farm.

“I said to Mattie maybe you should just drive him, maybe it’s not worth it for me to go up to there. But he was just: ‘You drive him, he’s your horse and you need to come up and drive him’.

“I have had such an opportunity that a lot of not many people do, especially not this early in your career.

And that’s all thanks to Mattie. He’s had so much faith in me, he’s been willing to let me have a go. He believed that I could do it, and he made me believe that I can.”

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink