Everything falling into place at the right time

She has worked with some top horses in her short time in harness racing and now the hard work is paying off for Ashleigh Delosa.

The Queensland 23-year-old native made the decision to move to Menangle Park last year and it has paid dividends, particularly on Tuesday when Delosa drove her first winner.

The milestone was with her pacer Parked In Heaven at Tabcorp Park Menangle and despite having only had eight drives prior to that, Delosa was confident in her Rock N Roll Heaven filly.

“I wasn’t too surprised with the win because she’s a really nice filly and thought she would be too good for them,” said Delosa.

“But it was a nice feeling to get that winner.”

Delosa’s confidence shown through in her drive where from barrier six she urged Parked In Heaven to the lead, where they remained throughout the 1609m event.

Parked In Heaven also broke her maiden and clocked 1:55.6 in the process.

The three-year-old is one of five horses Delosa has in her team where she works alongside her partner, freelance reinsman Chris Geary.

He too has also been in form and recently drove his 700^th winner.

“We are both pretty competitive and Chris actually wanted to drive her today but I put my foot down,” joked Delosa.

“I made the move to Sydney to be with Chris.

“I’m originally from Hervey Bay (Queensland) and never had anything to do with the sport but have always had horses doing eventing and cross country.

“I moved to Brisbane in 2017 and got a job working for Grant Dixon and was there for three years and worked with some nice horses like Colt Thirty One, Governor Jujon, and Leos Best to name a few.

“Grant was great to work for and I even worked with Ian Gurney for a little bit.

“I never intended on getting my trainers or drivers licence but everything just fell into place.

“Once I started driving horses I fell in love with it but didn’t want to start race driving until I felt ready.

“I’m pretty happy with how it has all worked out and although I miss Queensland, there are some great opportunities in New South Wales.”

Delosa began training last year and has 12 winners to her credit.

By Amanda Rando for Harnesslink