WA reinswoman creates history

It was a night for the girls, with five of the eight races on offer at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night taken out by female drivers.

Emily Suvaljko took honours on the night with a driving treble as well as claiming her 100^th winning drive at Gloucester Park, making her the first woman in Western Australia to achieve this feat.

“I definitely didn’t expect the success. I just started it as a hobby as I was going through high school and then wasn’t sure what I wanted to do once I graduated, so it became a full-time thing,”

Becoming one of the best female drivers WA has seen doesn’t come without hard work and its sacrifices, with the 21-year-old putting the horses first on more than one occasion.

“The hardest part is definitely the long hours. I’ve always put driving first which means I don’t have as much of a social life outside of the trots and I miss out on certain events with family and friends,” Suvaljko said

“Although you have to do the hard yards early, its just always in the back of my mind.”

The first of Suvaljko’s winning treble came up in race three on board the Josh Dunn-trained Rocky The Outlaw, with Dunn getting the race quinella with his runner Star Of Willoughby taking second place over the 2130m.

Working to the breeze in the early stages, the seven-year-old settled outside the leader throughout to claim the win in 1:59:0, rewarding punters with $6 odds.

Watch the replay below:

Suvaljko continued her winning ways into race four on board Baltic Ace NZ for Pinjarra based Tracy Reay.

The five-year-old is yet to be out of the money since making the move to WA in just a few months ago, bringing up his second win in Perth in just nine starts.

Coming off a last start second, he settled behind the leader from barrier 10 over the 2130m, making his move three-wide at the top of the turn to claim the front with 50m to go, winning by 2.2m in 1:57:1.

Watch the replay below:

The final installment of Suvaljko’s driving treble came up in the last on the card, with Shellna getting the job done for trainer Shane Quadrio.

The three-year-old recorded her third career victory and her second win at just her ninth start for the stable, leading all the way over the 2130m to win by 4.4m in 2:01:0.

Watch the replay below:

Meanwhile, the other lady winners included trainer and driver Jocelyn Young flew the flag in the fifth on the card with her runner Pontevivo bringing up his fifth career win in just 17 starts.

The $3 favourite started from barrier two, with Young restraining early to settle three back on the pegs in the early stages, she moved off the rail to settle in the breeze with over two laps to go, proving too strong for his rivals over the 2536m staying trip to win by 1.8m in 1:59:2.

Team Bond and Deni Roberts teamed up in race seven with Be My Rock, with the Bond stable claiming the race trifecta in the second last on the card. Making it two in a row after 11 months away from the track, the four-year-old managed to run down his stablemates to claim bragging rights in a time of 1:58:8 over the 2130m trip.

By Ashleigh Paikos for RWWA