Proud dad moment as son breaks maiden

THERE are certain moments as a father which fill you with so much pride it makes you tight in the throat.

The kind of tightness a man gets when his baby takes his first step or his first baby shaves and makes his first sound as a man.

Other milestone moments include his first baby breaking his maiden status as a reinsman, which was the case with astute horseman Darren Pace last night.

Watching nervously from the sidelines, Pace was overwhelmed with pride as his son Blake registered his initial win at Tabcorp Park Melton.

“I couldn’t be filled with more pride than I am now,” Pace said. “To see Blake out there and being rewarded for all the hard work he does with horses is what harness racing, and more importantly, being a father is all about.

“I think I held my breath the whole way up the straight hoping he’ll get there.”

Rapt that his drive – Schnappshot – did hold on, Blake has a different recollection of Darren’s reaction.

“A lot of my family was there and as soon as I turned into the straight I could hear them yelling,” Blake said.

“There was a high pitched scream which may have broken glass which was the loudest, so I think it was Dad!”

Caught in the ‘death seat’ from barrier five, Schnappshot outstayed her rivals to score by three metres from Gotta Go Gladys, with Rolling Along a metre away third.

Trained by Darren, the daughter of Roll With Joe rated 2:01.9 over 1720 metres.

“I’m rapt…over the moon,” Blake said. “To get my first winner is amazing and for it to be with a horse trained by Dad makes it all the more special.

“She was first-up for a few months so being in ‘death seat’ wasn’t ideal, but I just sat there quietly.

“I was hoping something would come around but it didn’t and thankfully it still worked out.”

Studying Year 12 when not helping around the stable the well-spoken 17-year-old hopes to forge a career within an animal field, preferably horses.

“I want to do something which allows me to work with animals,” Pace said. “Horses would be my preference, but I love all animals and would be thrilled if that’s an area I could build a career in.

“I’m studying agriculture at school and hopefully that can help lead me in the right direction.”