Win, lose or draw, you will almost always find a beaming smile on the face of popular Echuca harness racing identity Ros Rolfe.
And that radiant grin was on show bigger and brighter at her home track last Tuesday night, thanks to an impressive win by six-year-old gelding Franks Very Much (Grinfromeartoear-Cisstar (Safely Kept) in the $7000 Moama Bowling Club Pace.
The meeting was a display of domination by the female gender – women trained five of the eight winners, with Ros Rolfe and Bec Bartley both successful as trainer/drivers.
One of Bartley's younger sisters Ellen also trained a winner, and Susan Hunter and Ruth Arthur also had victories as trainers on the night. In addition, young reinswoman Abbey Turnbull chimed in with a winning drive.
Rolfe, who has been driving for more than 25 years, said the Echuca win was her first at the track "for quite a while".
"We thought he would go okay in the race because he won a trial in good fashion at the weekend. It was just up to me to drive him properly," she laughed.
But there certainly wasn't any problem there as the experienced reinswoman couldn't have driven the winner any better.
"I was three back the fence most of the way and down the back was able to slip out into the one-out line and the horse did the rest," she said.
"It was terrific because my husband Michael was there and two of our boys.
"Our eldest, Francis, is studying law at Bundoora, near Melbourne, but it was a bit of a surprise to have Lewis and Henry there. We enjoyed a few drinks later at home and probably watched the race video 100 times!"
Rolfe, a competitive all-round sportswoman, said the win by Franks Very Much was particularly satisfying.
"Frank's a bit of a favorite with us because he's out of the broodmare Cisstar, who was raced and trained by my dad (the late Frank Farrell) back in the late 1990s and early 2000s," Rolfe said.
"Dad was a dairy farmer in the Echuca district and had horses for years on a hobby basis. He really loved them, right up to when he died eight years ago," she said.
Cisstar had 10 wins and 27 placings for $46,000-with Ros taking the reins on each occasion the mare saluted. As a broodmare, she had five live foals with Franks Very Much (11 wins so far) and El Ringo (six wins) being the best.
Franks Very Much had been off the racing scene for close to six months prior to his win this week.
"He ran 5th in the Boort Cup back in March, but we think he had a virus because he just wasn't himself. So, we tossed him out into the paddock," Rolfe said.
"It was the right thing to do because he's come back a different horse," she said.
"We've run a few placings at Melton with him in the past and now we've decided to have another crack there on Saturday week. I won't be driving though because we'll be using a junior driver with a concession lift.
"When we race in the higher classes I find it can be a bit tricky, so that's when I'm happy to step aside and give the professionals a go," she said.
Being born and bred in Echuca, Ros and Michael packed up and shifted to Mildura in 2001 and stayed sixteen and a half years before returning home.
"It's nice to be back in Echuca because it's a lovely town. Lewis is doing well at school and loving his football. It's all good," she said.
While the stable is hoping Franks Very Much can continue with his good form, they have high hopes in a youngster sired by Art Major.
And off the racetrack, Michael, who played with Richmond (122 games) and Footscray (47) during 1983-1992 is no doubt now keeping a close eye on AFL proceedings at the business end of the season!
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura