BENDIGO'S Tony Vlaeminck has successfully ticked off another box in his comeback to harness racing driving.
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Vlaeminck, who last month notched up his first race win as a driver since 1999 aboard Polly Peachum at Kilmore, scored his first double with a pair of wins at Lord's Raceway on Wednesday night.
The hobby-driver scored the first leg of his double aboard the highly-promising two-year-old filly Sweet Appeal, before adding a second win in three starts aboard the filly, who provided him with his first winner back in the sulky, Polly Peachum.
Both horses are trained at Junortoun by his great friend ad 2015 Gordon Rothacker Medal recipient Bruce Morgan.
Vlaeminck admitted a fair degree of confidence in Sweet Appeal's ability to get the job done on Wednesday night, while success for Polly Peachum was more of a bonus.
"After her last start (at Bendigo on May 14) she got a bit of a cold and we gave her a bit of a break. We brought her back and she had been working well, so we knew she would be very competitive," he said.
"Things fell into place for her, she had a very nice run. She's a very nice filly and tries hard.
"Polly Peachum ... well you never know what you're going to get with her.
"The thing about her though is she can always put herself in the race because she has good gate speed.
"She fires out. We got away with a cheap first half and luckily she hung on and just won."
Sweet Appeal now boasts a win and a third in just two career starts, while the three-year-old Polly Peachum improved her record to two wins and three placings from 22 stats.
It was a christening of sorts, with Vlaeminck revealing Bruce and Val Morgan had this week purchased a new sulky, which was used for the first time on Wednesday night on Sweet Appeal and Polly Peachum.
"The sulky turned up Tuesday, so it's basically had two cracks for two wins," he said.
"It's a beautiful cart, and we've christened it now.
"It was a good morning (Thursday) out at Bruce and Val's - you have to make the most of the wins. You can soon go a long time without one."
Vlaeminck, who won a Bendigo junior drivers' premiership during phase one of his career from the late 1980s to the end of 1999 before giving the game away due to family and work commitments, is continuing to relish being back in the sulky.
"I'm enjoying it, especially helping Bruce and Val out. They are only training three horses at the minute. He's also got a nice yearling there at the minute," he said.
"I go out there early every morning and do a little bit with them and go to work (at Ellis Nuttall and Company).
"I haven't had any outside drives, but I don't really put myself out there much, as I don't go to the trials looking for drives.
"I'm pretty busy with my job and work is very good with it all. It's a good interest for me."
I'm enjoying it, especially helping Bruce and Val (Morgan) out.
- Tony Vlaeminck
Vlaemnick praised Harness Racing Victoria's decision to revert back to regional racing in response to the tightening of COVID-19 restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire from midnight Wednesday.
The decision means Bendigo region trainers and drivers will only be able to compete at Lord's Raceway, Ballarat, Shepparton, Stawell and Terang for a period of six weeks.
"I think HRV have been the leader in the field. Right from the word go they put in place those measures straight away and everything went fantastic," Vlaeminck said.
"There have been no (COVID-19) cases and everyone's kept racing.
"We went back to normal and unfortunately we've had to do it again, but they have been very proactive.
"It just makes sense if we want to keep racing."
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