Reagan shines with a special winning double

Victorian concession reinswoman Reagan Clarke was set a tough assignment at the recent Maryborough harness racing meeting (Feb 5) – but the 17-year-old rose to the challenge, coming home with the second driving double of her career.

Trotter Love Who (Love You) arrived at her dad Steve’s Ballarat barn late last year as a maiden from 33 starts, with quite a reputation as a cranky conveyance.

But the young reinswoman handled the burly seven-year-old to perfection, with a confident front-running drive to score by three metres in the AB Paint Concession Drivers’ Trot.

“My Pa (Jim Clarke) owns him, and he hasn’t had a winner as an owner for around a decade, so it was a special win,” Clarke said.

She followed up with victory on six-year-old mare Lollipop (Somebeachsomewhere), a first-starter for the stable, sitting outside the leader, and finishing too strongly for her rivals in the McPherson’s Printing Group Concession Drivers’ Pace.

Clarke, who is studying Year 12, has her sights set on a career in harness racing.  Now with 14 wins to her name, she’s focused on continuing to develop her skills with plenty of advice on hand from her dad, Pa, and 21-year-old brother Connor, who is closing in on 200 wins as a driver.

Despite her study load, she works before and after school for her dad and is set to start assisting Bacchus Marsh trainer Terry Sinclair with his small stable a couple of days a week.

“We’re working seven at the moment. I’m at school and dad works full time as well, so it’s pretty busy for all of us,” Reagan said.

“Pa’s there every day picking up manure, making up feeds and going to the races when he needs to,” she said.

Jim Clarke trained and drove some handy trotters in the 1990s, including Move On Sparky (nine wins and 16 placings from 98 starts), Key Everest, which contested the 2000 Inter Dominion (driven by Steve) and Hilda Ellen (12 wins).

“He’s bred quite a few trotters, but just over the past few years he hasn’t really been getting the right horses,” Clarke said.

“Pa has made me his main driver.  That means I’ve got to just keep Love You happy or at least ‘happyish’, and just get him to behave!” she laughed.

“The horse can be very temperamental – at home he’s fine, I can lead horses off him and I often have to tap him up to keep him going. It’s just at the races he gets hot-headed and once he gallops you can’t stop him, and the Clerk of the Course has to pull him up.

“When the gate goes and he trots away, he won’t break once he’s in his stride. It’s just keeping him calm before the race.  At Maryborough I followed a helmet around in the warm up, which he seems to like, and got the Clerk to lead him around before the start.

“Pa said he was nervous before they went, but once I got out of the gates safely and led he was pretty confident. I was just so glad to be able to get the win for him.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink