Suvaljko adds another two wins to his tally

He may be new to the harness racing driving ranks, but Aaron Suvaljko has hit his stride, with another two wins added to his tally this weekend.

Suvaljko made his way down to Bunbury on Friday for the daytime meeting, and although he was confident in his horse’s ability, it was clear punters didn’t share his view, with Ideal Whitby (American Ideal) starting at $101 odds.

Lining up from barrier 11 in the last at Bunbury over the 1609m trip, Suvaljko found himself in the one-out-four-back position soon after release point, and at the 800m mark, the 16-year-old pulled out three wide confidently, with Ideal Whitby claiming the win by 2.5m in 2:00:0.

Ideal Whitby made his way to the stables of Sarah Suvaljko earlier this year and made his debut for her in September.

Having 10 starts now for the Byford-based trainer, the five-year-old son of American Ideal USA out of Merry Mary Whitby has saluted twice for the stable, as well as three placings in his short time there.

It has been a great week for Sarah Suvaljko, with owner Ross Waddell recently making the decision to scale back on his horses and looking to move a lot of them on, Suvaljko jumped at the opportunity to purchase Ideal Whitby on Wednesday and just two days later he wins at Bunbury.

“It was a nice quick return for me, however I felt bad and offered him back to Ross, but he said ‘no, a deal is a deal’, and wished me the best of luck with him,

“Ross has been very good to me over the years, and I appreciate all that he and Rebecca Waddell have done for me.”

Originally trained by Kat Warwick in his earlier years, it was discovered that Ideal Whitby had some filling in a hind leg late last year, and although he showed no lameness, it was decided to give him a good spell.

“He (Ross Waddell) had him advertised for sale but when he didn’t sell, he offered him to me to train and I jumped at the opportunity.”

After initially struggling with him through winter with hoof abscesses, but with the weather eventually turning around, he hasn’t looked back, with Suvaljko making mention that he’s thriving in his beach work.

IDEAL WHITBY REPLAY

Just for something different, Suvaljko made his way to Ascot racecourse on Saturday morning where he found himself strapping “Flame” for young ‘jockey’ Zoe Day, the pony previously ridden by Aaron Suvaljko before his legs grew far too long for the pint-sized rocket.

Suvaljko made his way back to Mardella, where he was soon back on the road heading to Narrogin for just the one drive, but that’s all he needed, with Firefly getting the cash for favourite punters and trainer Miachael Young.

The $1.50 favourite started from barrier one in race six on the card, and after leading all the way over the 1823m trip, he was able to stave off his rivals to hold on for a narrow victory in 1:59:8.

Making it three wins from his last four starts, Firefly has had an impressive start to his WA career, with 7 starts for trainer Michael Young, he has had four wins and three placings, yet to finish out of the top three in all attempts so far.

Aaron has now had 5 driving wins from 21 starts, with his future looking bright, he heads to Albany on Friday night for the opening meeting of their season for 2023/24.

For complete race results, click here.

by Ashleigh Paikos, for RWWA