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By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk
Alicia Harrison enjoyed being back doing what she loves at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday – driving winners.
The local horsewoman was involved in a horrific car accident in January when she was on her way to the Karaka Million race meeting at Ellerslie, which left her bed-ridden for several weeks after suffering a broken sternum and ankle.
“It was extremely scary,” Harrison said.
“We were driving up to the Karaka Million and there was a guy in a ute on the wrong side of the road coming straight at us. We came over a hill and the car in front of us got out of the way and we had no option to get out of the way.”
Also travelling in the car with Harrison was Danielle Green, who like Harrison works for Cambridge trainer Arna Donnelly.
“Dani, her boyfriend, and another friend were in the car as well and thankfully we have all come out the other side of it now,” Harrison said. “It could have been a lot worse if you look at the car.”
It has been a frustratingly long recovery period for Harrison who has missed her vocation.
“In the first few weeks everyone was telling me I was so lucky, but I didn’t really feel that lucky,” she said.
“But now I can appreciate how much worse it could have been.
“It was six weeks of bed rest because I had a broken ankle and sternum. Since then, I have been trying to get my fitness and strength back with a bit of physio, weights, and swimming.
“I have been driving as many as I can at home over the last six weeks and then the last couple of weeks at the workouts.”
Harrison made a perfect return to raceday driving when reining home the Steve and Amanda Telfer-trained Enjoy Me to victory in the Hidden Lake Hotel Mobile Pace (2200m) at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better result in my first race back,” Harrison said.
“She is just a lovely mare. She was good enough and once we had a handy run on the outer, she was always going to have too much speed for them.
“A big thanks to Stonewall Stud who have always supported me. You can’t beat getting on a nice horse like that knowing you have the horsepower behind you to drive it right.”
