Ellen putting her best foot forward for invitational

It takes plenty to keep Victoria’s leading reinswoman Ellen Tormey down – and, not surprisingly, she’s back off the canvas to defend her title in one of the best Horsham Invitational Harness Racing Driver’s Championships ever assembled today (June 17).

The Western Victorian club received huge nominations and 105 acceptors – enough for a record six events in the Decron Horse Care Noel Smith Memorial Invitational this afternoon.

Tormey looked almost certain to miss defending the title, and for an extended stint on the sidelines, when she received a kick to the ankle at last Tuesday night’s (June 11) Bendigo meeting.

“We were just finishing the warmup when it happened.  The horse tends to bolt a bit in the prelim, so I’d let him bowl along and I was just easing up when he let fly with just one quick jab,” Tormey said.

“It should have hit the footrest, but it got my ankle, and I just didn’t see it coming.  I had thick socks and boots on, but the horseshoe still cut my leg,” she said.

Tormey was replaced for the drive by her partner Jack Laugher and was cleared of any fractures in an x-ray the next day.

“The doctor thinks it’s probably ligament damage with the amount of bruising there is. The pain was terrible and even the green whistle the first-aid crew gave me at the time didn’t help.

“But I was probably in panic mode a bit, because I really don’t have time for a broken ankle!”

Tormey, Laugher and freelance reinsman Liam Older combine to work a team of around 20 horses at Bendigo.

“I was on crutches for the first day, but they held me back a bit, so I started moving on it and the more I moved the better I felt.  It’s a bit sore in the mornings, but the more I move through the day the better it is,” Tormey said.

Currently enjoying an outstanding season in which she is the leading Victorian reinswoman, Tormey got a medical clearance to return to the sulky for engagements at Mildura on Friday, and again at Melton on Saturday night.

She will take the reins in all six events of the Horsham Invitational today.

“It’s just a bit uncomfortable if the cart’s vibrating or bumping, but other than that I’m getting along okay now,” she said.

All is in readiness for a great day of racing at Horsham with a nine-event card for the 14th Industry Participants Appreciation Day, headlined by the 34^th running of the Invitational Drivers Championship.

“Meetings just can’t happen without the ongoing commitment of our trainers, owners, drivers, breeders, stable hands and their families,” club president Terry Lewis said.

“It’s terrific that so many of our sponsors have put their hands up to recognise their efforts.

“We have loads of product, merchandise and voucher giveaways thanks to Decron Horse Care, Carbine Chemicals, World’s Best Hoof Oil, Hygain, Hyland Racing Colours, Zilco, Oringi Protection Wear, Mustad Australia, Flyveils by Design, Grafx-inc Helmet Artwork, Cellarbrations Horsham, Virbac Australia, Claire Weston Photography, Norton Estate Wines and Melton Entertainment Park and Mantra Hotels.

“Stables big and small have really backed the meeting with 105 acceptors, full fields and a record six ratings-exempt heats of our Drivers Invitational.”

The 2024 Invitational field is: Ellen Tormey, Greg Sugars, Chris Alford, Nathan Jack, James Herbertson, David Moran, Chris Svanosio, Jack Laugher, Jason Lee and Glen Craven.

Chris Alford first competed in the 1993 series. It was an inauspicious debut by the then 21-year-old with a fourth, a fall and a seventh in the three heats. But he returned to take the crown in ’94 and again in 2011 and 2017.

Along with Tormey, other past winners in the line-up are Sugars (2015), Lee (2021) and Laugher (2022).  But the late Gavin Lang, with four titles (1991, 1992, 1996 and 2024), is still the one they have to catch.

by Terry Gange, for Harnessslink