It has been a special year for Tayla French and there’s a very real chance it could get significantly better this Saturday night.
The 28-year-old Victorian driver welcomed her first child into the world with partner and top trainer Alex Ashwood on May 2, and is out to rewrite the Inter Dominion history books when she teams with Parisian Artiste in a mouthwatering Trotting Championship Grand Final at Albion Park.
French will become the first mother to win the sport’s coveted squaregaiting crown and only the second female behind Kate Gath to lift the title if last weekend’s impressive heat winner can repeat the dose in the $500,000 Group 1 showdown.
And the pair is well fancied to do so, with bookmakers rating the seven-year-old gelding a $9 chance to prevail in the marathon 3157m contest.
“It would just be a dream come true,” French says of a potential Inter Dominion victory. “You dream about these things, and just to be in it is enormous.
“I trust him 100 per cent and I know him inside out. He hasn’t got a nasty bone in his body.”
French shares a special relationship with Parisian Artiste, and it’s one that was strengthened during a fight for life in early 2023. “Hector”, as he’s affectionately known, spent close to four weeks in an equine hospital as a serious neurological issue started to take hold of his body. French was by his side throughout that journey, and she says it’s something that is not lost on the son of Love You.
“I practically saved his life and I think he knows that,” says French, who partnered Parisian Artiste to her sole Group 1 victory in 2021. “There was talk of putting him down and that he wasn’t going to survive, but we persisted.
“He respects me a lot and he trusts me, too. We just have that bond and that’s something that doesn’t come along naturally. You have got to build up to it and I’ll treasure it because it doesn’t come around that easily.”
French, with the support of her mother Kym and baby Levi, has guided a small team of Ashwood-trained horses through a highly fruitful northern raid. Parisian Artiste’s Inter Dominion heat success last weekend was preceded by Manhatten Chick’s long-odds South East Oaks triumph on July 5 and Williams’ dead-heat win in a $9000 race at Albion Park a few days later.
While French has been crucial in the campaign of fellow Victorian raider Arcee Phoenix – she has driven him in trackwork for trainer Chris Svanosio during the series - she will turn enemy when Parisian Artiste takes on the race favourite this Saturday night from barrier three.
“Hector will run a very good, honest race and is definitely a winning chance with the right luck,” French says.
“The start is very crucial for all the fancied runners, but in saying that, my guy thrives off the longer distances and has that in his favour.”
Saturday night’s Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Grand Final is scheduled as race seven on the blockbuster Albion Park card.