3 minute read
New to the driving ranks, 18-year-old Ajay Markham has brought up his first winning drive, with $1.70 favourite Pocket The Change NZ leading all the way on Saturday night at Northam.
Trained by Ryan Bell, it was a family affair with the proud uncle on course to not only witness the memorable win but prepare the winner, with Markham claiming that elusive first win at just his ninth race drive.
"It felt amazing.
"Once I got to the front at the start, I was pretty confident that we could go all the way." Ajay Markham said
Ryan Bell has experienced wins of the highest level in this industry, but Saturdays win was a special one for the proud uncle.
"Very proud moment for me, personally.
"Hopefully there's plenty more wins together throughout his career." Ryan Bell said.
Markham was all geared up and ready to make his driving debut some weeks ago, but an accident that led to him breaking his wrist saw him sidelined for several weeks, but the wait only made him more eager to get out there.
"It wasn't the best thing, but it's the joys of driving horses.
"I just had to be patient and hope it got better quickly, which it did, thank god."
Markham, who spent two-and-a-half years in Victoria when his parents Ash and Tamara Markham made the move over for a stint, made the move back to WA in late 2023 before his family came back home, initially working for his uncle, Ryan Bell, before ultimately settling at the astute stables of Aiden De Campo and Four Diamonds Pacing down in Capel.
"Aidens been a big help to me since I got to his stables, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be where I am now."
Ajay knew from a young age that he wanted to be a driver, and the writing was on the wall with his family heavily involved in the harness racing industry in WA, with his dad a driver and trainer, his mum a clerk at numerous tracks in WA, his uncle Ryan Bell a successful trainer and driver, as well as his grandparents having been involved in the industry previously.
"I have been around horses all of my life with mum and dad training and then when I was old enough to drive trackwork for dad one day, that's when I wanted to become a harness racing driver.
"Since that day, I loved being with horses."
Markham made his debut to race driving on the 16th of September after successfully passing his probationary period in trials and participating in Racing WA's Junior Driver Training Program.
