McKay off the mark

By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk

There were few smiles bigger than Laura McKay’s at Addington Raceway on Friday night after the Russley horsewoman recorded her first win as a trainer with Faith No More in the Hydroflow Trot (2600m).

“It was really cool to get my first winner in my colours and great for her to get her first win as well, it was very exciting,” McKay said.

McKay was particularly impressed by Faith No More’s determined effort to win by 3-1/4 lengths after sitting parked for the majority of the journey.

“I was really happy with her,” she said. “I didn’t know if she would see it out sitting parked, but she proved me wrong.

“I am still learning about her, we are still getting to know each other, but she really impressed me tonight and hopefully I can have a bit of fun with her.”

McKay is enjoying her time in the training ranks and said she would like to add to her small team in the near future.

“I love training, probably a bit more than driving,” she said.

“She is the only one I have in work at the moment. I would love to have a small team for myself. I have only had trotters, so I would like to get a pacer and grow my team a bit more.”

Adding to the occasion, McKay brought up win 15 as a driver in the race.

“It was great to sit behind her and win, which made it even better,” McKay said.

“That was my 15th winner, which has been a big goal for me. Now I can drive on premier nights.”

Becoming a trainer has been a long held ambition for McKay who reflected it was great to turn her passion for horses into a career.

“I have always liked horses, I used to ride,” McKay said. “My grandparents (Clive and Rona McKay) owned a few racehorses and they got me a job at Cran Dalgety’s.

“I worked there for three years before going to work in Sydney for nine months for KerryAnn Turner.

“I came back here and worked for Mark Jones for a few years and now I work for Steve Dolan, and help Kevin Townley out as well.

“I have learnt a lot from all of them.”