‘‘They get the acknowledgement when it is due - not because they are female, but because they have done a good job.’’

McDermott shifted to Bendigo about 12 years ago after meeting her future husband, local trainer Graham McDermott, with whom she has a daughter, Morgan, seven.

She worked for a PR company before taking on a position created specially for her with Harness Racing Victoria.

Working from home as HRV’s country marketing executive for 10 years, she promoted the sport across regional Victoria, helped clubs plan and market meetings, provided media coverage and hosted trackside events.

Although she resigned in late 2006, she remains contracted to HRV as a media consultant and is editor of its monthly industry journal, as well as writing for the National Harness Racing Weekly.

But there is so much more to McDermott than just an impressive resume.

In December, 2003, she gave birth to a boy named Will eight weeks prematurely at The Women’s Hospital after a difficult pregnancy.

Will suffered heart problems and, despite all efforts, he passed away two weeks later.

The following year, McDermott marked Will’s anniversary by raising about $1000 for the hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit.

‘‘I wanted to turn it into a positive if I could,’’ she says.

‘‘I just didn’t want to be miserable and sad around Christmas time, so I thought the best way would be to give me something to keep me busy.

‘‘I really wanted to be able to help (the hospital’s neo-natal ICU) and perhaps, down the track, they might be able to help a baby born with Will’s problems.’’

She did the same in 2005 and 2006, reaching a total of about $6500, before last year joining forces with another harness racing family, Todd Matthews and Donna Forte, whose son has autism.

Their month-long Driving For Charity campaign raised more than $12,000, to be split between the hospital’s neo-natal ICU and Autism Victoria.

McDermott says she has been overwhelmed, but not surprised, by the support given to the cause and plans are under way to make this year’s campaign bigger and better.

McDermott works part-time for the Otis Foundation, which provides retreats for women with breast cancer.

She helps manage the foundation’s properties and provides a friendly face for the women who use the units in central Victoria for a welcome getaway.

On the home front, McDermott takes a keen interest in the horses trained by husband Graham, which has given her first-hand experience of the flip side of the industry.

‘‘I don’t for one minute proclaim to be out at the stables mucking out boxes or anything like that,’’ she stresses.

‘‘I don’t do that - it’s not my thing.

‘‘I have cleaned a bit of gear and driven a little bit of trackwork: not for a long time though, I’m not very good at it.

‘‘But I do love going to the races and I love being involved in that part of it.’’

Her biggest highlight has been the ride she and her family have shared with talented pacer Romeo Castle, trained by Graham and part-owned by Tanya’s parents, daughter, sister and aunt.

The five-year-old gelding won the 2008 Ararat Pacing Cup, and McDermott says she has been thrilled to watch her husband efforts rewarded.

‘‘To see him be recognised as an accomplished horseman has been really pleasing for me, because I know how many hours he puts into it and how dedicated he is.

‘‘The nicest thing about Romeo is that my whole family is involved.

‘‘We live all over the place, but we all converge whenever he races - it becomes our meeting place and our catch-up time.’’

Receiving the Pearl Kelly Award was another highlight, particularly as McDermott’s mentor, the late Kaye Matthews from Ararat, was a previous winner.

As for future projects, it is no surprise that horses and harness racing feature heavily in two long-held dreams.

McDermott says she wants to write a book, though finding the time could be a challenge.

‘‘Everybody in harness racing has a story, or two or three or 300,’’ she says.

‘‘There are lots of really quirky tales I would love to collate them and put them into a book.’’

She is also finally learning to actually ride a horse.

She has a retired racehorse, known as Frank, that she is ‘‘re-educating’’.

It is impossible not to admire someone like McDermott - dedicated at work, playful around her daughter and her horses, and generous with praise for her husband and family, whose support she says she could not do without.

But it is her modesty that speaks louder than words.

Even when talking - somewhat reluctantly - about her hectic but successful professional and private life, she plucks out a negative from among so many positives.

‘‘Something has to give - I can’t cook and I am a terrible housewife, so I drop the ball there a bit.’’