Ellen Tormey’s star continues to rise after winning the Kiel Tiling Blue Pearl Classic at Swan Hill.
The Classic is a special race featuring only female drivers, with Tormey partnering the Julie Douglas-trained Triple Rock Saint to a dominant 15.1m victory last night.
“I’m happy I got to win for Julie and Noel,” Tormey said. “They have been long-time supporters of mine. Noel Watson is the owner and also the president of the Swan Hill Trotting Club.”
Tormey also received a blue pearl necklace for her achievements.
“I don’t know where I will wear it because I don’t get to go to many nice places,” she said.
The race gives the next generation of female harness racing stars a platform to raise the bar.
“I think it’s a great initiative. It gives a lot of the young girls a go on horses they probably wouldn’t get to drive,” she said.
The 33-year-old reinswoman is humbled by that fact that some of the younger drivers look up to her.
“I’ve had a couple of people come up and tell me I’m their favourite driver and to be honest it’s very weird,” she said.
“Kerryn (Manning), Jodi (Quinlan) and Kate (Gath) are still racing and I don’t put my achievements alongside them. I don’t put myself in any kind of bracket near them.”
The Junortoun driver is excited by the wave of young reinswomen making a name in harness racing.
“I love watching them come through. There’s a lot of young girls coming through like Ewa (Justice) and Abby (Sanderson) who have a promising future in the sport. Even young Lauren White,” she said.
“I hope that girls will continue to come through and we keep having female drivers.”
Tormey is booked to drive the Sam Barker-trained Ultimate Vinnie in Saturday night’s $100,000 Decoglaze Ballarat Pacing Cup.
Picture: Swan Hill Trots Facebook
