Maiden victory for teenage driver

Enthusiastic Ballarat teenager Brent Murphy was probably always going to find his way into harness racing – and recently he got the perfect kick start to his career.

Murphy is the son of respected trainer and driver David and his wife Erin and landed his first-ever winner when successful with Madeeba at Maryborough last Thursday afternoon.

"It was pretty exciting. I've only had about a dozen drives so it was awesome to get my first winner. I won quite comfortably, but dad told me I may have gone for home a bit early!" Murphy said.

The youngster, who celebrated his 18th birthday yesterday, is now full-time in the industry, working for his parents, who prepare a team of about 20 horses at their Dunnstown property, just 15 minutes east of Ballarat.

"I finished Year 11 last year with a certificate two in agriculture. But I was always going to be doing the horses because I've been around them for as long as I can remember," Murphy said.

"There will be mum, dad and myself doing them, although my younger brother Declan is keen too and recently started trackwork, so it won't be too long before he joins us as well," he said.

"We have an older brother in Aidan, but he's not into them much at all."

Murphy said while he was pleased to post his first winner, he was elated to get success for John and Maree Caldow, of Melton.

"They are just great and whenever I bump into John, we always have a bit of a joke. He's a fantastic fella," Murphy said.

After starting two off the inside of the back row with the beautifully-bred Madeeba (Courage Under Fire-Mesmerizing (Our Sir Vancelot), Murphy showed a cool head to bide his time and landed nicely in the one-out line and three back.

"The horse felt great in the run and when the tempo picked up in the final half, he was always travelling on the bit," he said.

Murphy angled out three wide into the home corner and Madeeba knuckled down nicely. He scored by five metres from Australian Bite with Raptover A Rainbow a further two metres away in third spot. The time was a respectable 1.58-5 on a rain affected track.

To watch the video replay click here.

"The track attendants were obviously aware it was my first winner and they clapped and cheered me off the track. It was a nice bit of fun and I had a few beers to celebrate later with dad on our way home," he said.

"Then there were more celebrations with mum and the rest of the family because we went out that night."

Murphy said he decided to give up on tennis a few years ago to make way for the horses.

"But I'm hoping to be able to stick with football. My two brothers play, but we'll have to see how it goes. For the moment I've got to just aim at getting another winner at the trots!"

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura