Popular family having double the fun

You would have to go a long way to find a more passionate harness racing family than the Ainsworth clan-and they are enjoying every minute of it at the moment.

"We are ticking along pretty well just now. We have a nice team and this is without doubt shaping as one of our best seasons, if not the very best, that we've had," co-trainer and driver Ashley said.

"The majority of our stable is made up of square gaiters and they are nearly all doing a job," he said.

Ashley works with his father Barry in the training partnership. They are based in the small central Victorian rural township of Moyreisk, halfway between St Arnaud and Avoca.

And the father-son combination came up trumps this week at Terang, one of two tracks (the other being Stawell) where they can race under Harness Racing Victoria's regional racing zone model.

They landed a winning double on Monday night with grey mare Asharah (Jet Laag-Nareece Beware (Armbro Intercept) and five-year-old gelding Namoscar (Ready Cash-Heavens Above (Like A Prayer) being successful.

"It was only the second time that I've landed a winning double-my first one was a good while ago at a Swan Hill meeting," Ashley said.

"Asharah is raced by my mum Katrina along with dad and we only narrowly got the money with her. The other one, Namoscar is owned by mum, and he's going well at last, after taking quite a lot of patience to get going," he said.

"We thought they both had strong chances. The two of them have been knocking on the door so it was great to land the wins."

Ashley said Asharah was one of only three pacers they had in work.

"The other dozen are trotters. We started having a bit of success with them, and then we'd get another one and the numbers just kept increasing," he said.

"I don't do a great deal of driving, but I prefer the trotters."

Ashley also wears the cap of stable farrier, a job that occasionally requires some lateral thinking.

He said while he tries to keep things basic, there's sometimes "a bit of welding involved with adding bars, heels or toe to the shoes".

"They are really no harder than shoeing a pacer that may have a few problems. I worked at Yabby Dam farms at Ballarat with head trainer Anton Golino who has so much knowledge when it comes to square gaiters," Ashley said.

"There's possibly no-one more skilled to learn from than Anton. He's worked with the best in a number of countries overseas and it was a valuable seven or eight months that I was there."

Ashley said while he worked with his parents at their 50-acre property, sister Kira-Nareece also helps out when they need a hand.

"One of my brothers Jason, is at Armstrong, and is getting some winners, while my other brother, Toby works for Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin," he said.

Ashley and his partner Emily have two children, Chloe, 10, and Beau, one.

"We call Beau the stable foreman-and one day he will hopefully grow into that position!"

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura