Delosa closing in on metropolitan licence

Best friends often become bitter rivals when they take to the track to compete in a race.

And young harness racing driver Ashleigh Delosa is no exception as she closes in on attaining a metropolitan licence which would enable her to compete at the Saturday night Menangle meetings.

Delosa’s partner Chris Geary is one of Sydney most accomplished young reinsman but he might find himself watching from the sidelines when Delosa earns that coveted metro licence.

She showed her talent in the sulky with an impressive win for the Rickie Alchin stable at Penrith last week, scoring with four-year-old gelding Rosberg (A Rocknroll Dance).

It was almost a winning double too when her own horse, Geraldton Wax, was beaten just a head by Ideal Redemption in an earlier race.

Yet her confidence is growing and she heads for Menangle today with high hopes when he hops into the sulky to drive six-year-old gelding Brookessmartdancer (A Rocknroll Dance), one of the favoured runners in Race 5, the Ainsworth Pace.

Being drawn wide in gate nine appears to be of no concern to Delosa, who is fast learning the nuances of the talented pacer.

“He’s a bit of a strange horse,” she told National Trotguide’s Mike Ko’cass.

“He seems to go better when he goes back and chases them.

“If he just potters along he is quite happy to do that but if he’s chasing them he seems to do a lot better.

“Frankly, I think he just prefers chasing them and switches off a bit when he’s in the pack.

“So, I’ll be going back today and I’ll try to bring him with one run.”

Delosa admitted she was getting excited about the prospect of earning her metro licence.

“I have about 30 winners now and have about 40 more drives until I can get my metro licence,” she said.

“Yeah, I might have to take a few drives off Chris [Geary].

“I might just kick him off a few so I can use my claim.”

Delosa is quite content with the way her Sydney stable is shaping up now.

“Chris and I have about 13 in work,” she said.

“We’d probably like a couple more, so a stable of about 15 would be ideal for two people to work with.

“But we do have a few different owners now and the stable is going well.

“Obviously a few new owners would be ideal.”

For complete race entries, click here.

by Michael Court, for HRNSW