Breakthrough Melton win for young reinswoman

Young Terang horsewoman Codi Rauchenberger has built up an impressive highlight reel during a busy few years in harness racing, but a recent Melton victory is sure to take centre stage for quite a while.

The 22-year-old showed aplomb to land bay gelding Jilliby Sylvester in the $20,000 TAB Long May We Play Pace last Saturday night.

“It was so exciting because that was my first Melton winner and it was also the first time I’d driven Sylvester at the races,” Rauchenberger said.

“He’s a pretty cool character. I’ve always loved him-he’s probably my favorite now!,” she said.

Jilliby Sylvester (Roll With Joe-Jilliby Opal (Artsplace) is prepared by Ecklin South trainer Marg Lee and the horse has established himself as one of the stable’s most consistent performers with seven wins and six placings ($62,000) from 16 outings.

Rauchenberger still claims a five-point concession and has been working as a stablehand for the astute Lee stable for the past 18 months.

“Apart from Marg, there’s also Paddy and Jason and they are a great family to work with. My season started off a bit slow, but it’s starting to pick up now,” she said.

Rauchenberger made it known in the early stages of Saturday’s race that she wanted the top with Jilliby Sylvester and flew out of the gate to ping to the lead.

They enjoyed a bit of a breather in the second quarter (31.6), before cranking up over the latter stages with splits of 28.3 and 26.7.

After being well-rated by Rauchenberger, the pacer packed too many guns for Monsieur Delacour (Connor Clarke) and Jemsoms Pet (Abbey Turnbull) to give the youngster her 67th career win.

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Rauchenberger grew up in the NSW Boorowa region, near Yass.

“My mother Maxine was in the sport for a bit as a trainer and driver, but my dad Helmut was never involved. They’ve been right behind me all the way, though, starting off in the mini trots,” she said.

Rauchenberger spent a number of years on the mini trots circuit, and represented her State in the Kidz Kartz series in New Zealand.

“When I was growing up I spent a lot of time over at Cathy and Peter Carson’s place at Nowra. They taught me a lot and later on when I got my licence, I drove a few trotters for them and got some winners,” she said.

“I prefer trotters over pacers, probably because I’ve done a lot with them. My first Menangle winner was on a trotter trained by James Rattray.”

After some encouragement from the Lees, Rauchenberger obtained her own B Grade trainer’s licence late last year.

She’s enjoyed good success with the only horse she has in work at the moment – a trotter, of course, Honey Bourbon, who won three in a row for the novice trainer in May, and won again during the recent Redwood Carnival at Maryborough. The three-year-old filly will contest a heat of the Cobbitty Equine Farm Breeders Crown series at Maryborough this afternoon.

Rauchenberger worked with some well-known names in the industry before finding her way down to south-west Victoria including Amy Day, Amanda Turnbull, James Rattray and Dennis Picker.

After winning at her first race drive at Canberra in May, 2017 (on an unhoppled pacer Boobalaga Road, prepared by Daniel Rowell) the talented driver has gone on to land a number of winning doubles, including one at a Brisbane Albion Park metro meeting.

However it was in the Sunshine State where a racing mishap derailed what was shaping to be a bright career. Competing at a Redcliffe meeting in 2020 Rauchenberger was involved in a racefall and sustained severe fractures to her wrist and collarbone, needing surgery.

A move to Victoria to re-ignite her career has certainly paid dividends and her confident handling of recent winner Jilliby Sylvester would not have gone unnoticed.

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink