Tahlia Fenlon notches up double at her second day at the races

By Tony McMahon

Rookie Rockhampton teenage apprentice jockey Tahlia Fenlon certainly isn’t an advocate of doing things by half measures.

That was apparent at the Gladstone Turf Club races last Saturday, when the 18-year-old rode a winning double at just her second day of race riding.

Better still, Tahlia’s first winner - the Kevin Miller-trained Absolute Bonza - smashed the course record when running 58.40 seconds in the Trademark Benchmark 65 over 1000 metres.

What’s more, Absolute Bonza lumped 65.5kg which included Tahlia’s four-kilogram allowance.

No wonder the lightly framed lass struggled to carry the large saddle with lead aplenty in the bags up the stairs to the scales to weigh-in.

“It was so good as he just ran all the way from out of the barriers and didn’t stop,” Fenlon said post-race.

Her version of the race was spot on as Absolute Bonza ($1.70) led by more than 10 lengths in the middle stages before winning by nine-and-a-half lengths in race Tahlia will long cherish.

Just 80 minutes later, Tahlia’s day got even better, as much to the delight from the large crowd on course, she brought up her winning double aboard $2.60 favourite Arjacee.

There were even more reasons for Tahlia to be delighted as Arjaycee is raced by a syndicate which includes her father Tony, mother Jodie and grandmother Dawn.

The resultant family photo taken in the first placegetters stall which included grandfather Ray Fenlon will become a family heirloom so to speak.

It was a picture perfect as the family and another part-owner of Arjaycee in David Dwyer (red cap) crowed around Tahlia to celebrate the occasion with utter jubilation dressed and expressed with smiles and pride.

Momentarily lost for words and quite understandably so, all Tahlia could say was “this is great.”

Tahlia’s father is the highly respected and passionate Rockhampton Jockey Club CEO Tony Fenlon, who through his motivation and backing of the RJC committee, has racing running on a high in the city.

Tahlia Fenlon, indentured to Rockhampton’s Fred Smith only commenced race riding the previous Saturday at Emerald where she rode two second placegetters.

She certainly went two better at Gladstone’s Ferguson Park racecourse at the weekend.