Young driver ready to rock in Group 1

Jayden Barker will go in search of a special victory in harness racing’s time-honoured Aldebaran Park Redwood Classic this Sunday (Oct. 30) in Maryborough.

The 26-year-old reinsman has been driving since season 2016-17, and while he’s competed in over 500 races to date, has never managed to claim Group 1 glory.

He gets a serious chance in the prestigious two-year-old classic with a trotter he’s nurtured right from the start of her racing journey.

That horse is the David Miles-trained Rockinwithattitude, a talented daughter of Aldebaran Eagle that will start as one of the fancied runners for the $50,000 standing start feature.

Barker has driven the filly in each of her eight career starts, which have returned five wins and two placings.

The last of those triumphs came at Tabcorp Park Melton on October 15 when Rockinwithattitude won the IRT Australia Tatlow Stakes for two-year-old trotters.

“I’ve been driving her since she’s come from the breakers, they always said she was really nice,” Barker, who works for Miles at his Monegeetta stables, said.

“I was very lucky to start with David Miles.

“Mum (Sharon) works in the raceday office (at Melton), so she’s obviously talking to all the trainers and drivers and owners. I was in between school and a plumbing apprenticeship … but I always wanted to be outdoors.

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, as long as I was outdoors on a farm I was happy. David took me on, I did a couple of days a week for three months, I did the Bendigo training centre to get more confidence with the harness and all that sort of stuff. Got a job out of it and fell in love with it from there.”

Miles knows what it takes to prepare a Redwood Classic winner, having done so with Emerald Stride back in 2018.

Other well fancied runners in the market for the Redwood Classic include Emma Stewart-trained Susan Is Her Name, multiple Group 1 winner The Locomotive and Rickie Alchin’s NSW raider Watts Up Partytime.

The Redwood Classic is race six on Sunday’s blockbuster all-trotting card at the Maryborough Harness Racing Club.

For complete race fields, click here.

by Tim O’Connor, for HRV