Amanda Fraser is definitely the novice among the eight pilots in Cal-Expo's second leg of the TVG Get Away Amateur Driver Series this Saturday night, but that didn’t keep her from two solid placings in last week’s opening round.
Fraser, who is only a few weeks removed from her first official trip to the post, finished second in one division with the 15-1 shot Tonight Is Mine for Lisa Pilcher, and checked in third at 32-1 in other race with Marinodotcomattack for conditioner Dario Solares.
“I was happily surprised with both efforts,” Fraser related when asked about last week’s first leg of the Get Away. “I was told Marinodotcomattack was kind of lazy, and here he was a nine-year-old horse with $42,000 and a 1:59 mark. We were able to work out some live cover behind the winner and he put in a good mile.”
Tonight Is Mine hadn’t hit the board in four appearances on the season coming into last week’s foray, but took the short way home for Fraser and completed the exacta behind favored Gorgeous Forever, beaten just a length and a quarter.
“I was concerned that she might be a little short, so I decided to stay in when there was a chance to come out on the backstretch. We were lucky to squeeze through in the stretch and she gave me a real nice finish for second.”
All this is much better than Amanda’s first drive, which resulted in a break behind the gate. “I had been driving this horse in qualifiers with no problems, but I tried to leave to get around a horse and I guess I got a little too excited, which got the horse too excited.
“It’s all a learning process, and I guess the most important thing is making all those decisions during the course of the race. When to move and when to sit, it’s pretty tricky. The thing is, from the outside these other drivers make it look so easy.”
By the way, as a trainer at this meeting, Fraser has returned to greet her performers in the winner’s circle following 13 of their 72 outings. Next stop, a picture with her in the sulky.
(Cal-Expo)