Young harness racing participant Phoebe Betts is off to a great start in her career and it's all thanks to a special horse named Snoop.
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After 314 races and 30 victories, race horse Snoop Stride has recently been retired and Ms Betts said everything she has now is because of him.
At the age of 12, Ms Betts was working on weekends and school holidays for one of Bathurst's leading trainers Steve Turnbull.
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Only a few years away from going for her licence, Ms Betts was on the lookout for a quiet horse to learn the ropes on.
Mr Turnbull had three for sale and Snoop Stride had the nicest nature, so that was the beginning of a great ride for Ms Betts.
"The plan was to put him in the paddock and get him in when I was ready to start trial driving," she said.
"But that never happened, he just went to the races and didn't stop."
Right from the start Ms Betts did everything with Snoop Stride, with her parents lending a helping hand when needed.
The pair built up a great relationship with Snoop winning 11 races - a number of those with Dubbo's Tom Pay in the gig - before Ms Betts secured her licence.
In fact, she planed to retire him around three years before she began competing in races, but Snoop had other ideas.
"He used to still come in every night and get fed then go back out the next day, so I decided to bring him back into work," Ms Betts said.
"I always did want to have a drive on him at the races and see what it was like to drive him.
"So he came back and has probably earnt $40,000 or more since."
One of the young driver's favourite memories and career highlights is winning the Ray and Olive McCarthy Memorial at the Bathurst Harness Racing Club's Boxing Night meeting in 2020.
It's one of the club's biggest nights each year and Ms Betts said it was such a thrill, not only to drive a winner at the meeting, but also for it to be on her favourite horse.
"The Boxing Night win was definitely a highlight, especially to have everyone there and they all came out for the photo," she said.
"It's probably one of my favourite meetings besides the Gold Crown, so it was good to get a win on him that night."
After winning 22 races while in the care of Ms Betts, and 10 of those with the young driver aboard herself, the time came to officially retire the gelding while he was still happy and healthy.
Snoop will live the rest of his life out in the paddock with Ms Betts continuing to spoil him everyday.
She plans to take him for rides down at the river that goes through her parents' property in the summer and make sure he enjoys his time in retirement.
"He was the perfect horse ... definitely one you won't forget."
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