Junior driver ready

It’s no surprise that Sheree Tomlinson isn’t bothered by nerves ahead of the Inter Dominion Trotters series, which starts in Auckland tonight.

The Christchurch 21-year-old is the only junior driver taking part in the time-honoured series and she’s driving the $3.20 series favourite, Marcoola so you could forgive her for being overawed. But Tomlinson isn’t your ordinary junior driver.

She’s already an Australasian champion amongst her junior peers and she won arguably the country’s biggest trotting race, the Dominion, aged just 19, two years ago.

So, despite having taking on the country’s elite drivers like Tony Herlihy, Blair Orange, David Butcher, Anthony Butt and Mark Purdon tonight, she’s pretty chill.

In fact, when HRNZ spoke to her, she was tired after driving to Dunedin yesterday and was more focused on her two drives at Forbury Park last night.

‘‘The nerves are pretty good actually; not too bad at all. It might be different on the night before I go out there though.’’

Don’t confuse that approach with apathy though – Tomlinson is acutely aware of the occasion and the privileged position she is in.

‘‘You can’t take drives like this for granted. Most drivers dream their whole lives about driving in open class races and for many it doesn’t happen.’’

It’s been an interesting partnership between Tomlinson and Marcoola so far.

They first combined at Addington when running a close second to Oscar Bonavena at Addington in early October before smashing Marcoola’s own New Zealand mile record with a demolition job in the Ashburton Flying Stakes. Next it was the Dominion where both horse and driver sought their second race win, but first together.

Marcoola was second favourite behind Oscar Bonavena but ended up fourth after setting up the second-fastest time in history. Tomlinson defends the drive, pointing out that to beat the favourite, they would have had to go that quick.

‘‘I feel like if Oscar Bonavena hadn’t galloped, we would have run that time anyway. But I didn’t know he was out of the race.’’

Sheree Tomlinson