Ford and Van Dongen set to represent Tas at AFDC

24 March 2023 | Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing
Logo

Tarn Ford and Hannah Van Dongen have both been selected to represent Tasmania at the upcoming Australian Female Drivers Championship at Brisbane’s Albion Park.

The six-race series will be held on 1 April.

It will be the first time Ford has represented the state. She has driven 23 winners in her career, with 10 of these coming this season, where she has a winning strike rate of 11% so far in 2023.

It will be the fourth time Van Dongen will represent the state. She is closing in on 100 career winners and finished fifth on last season’s leading female drivers’ premiership after winning the title in the 2019/20 and 2017/18 seasons.

Other drivers competing include:

  • Queensland: Narissa and Taleah McMullen
  • New South Wales: Amanda Turnbull and Jemma Coney
  • Western Australia: Emily Suvaljko and Demi Roberts
  • Victoria: Michelle Phillips and Ellen Tormey
  • South Australia: Samantha Pascoe and Dani Hill.

The series winner is determined by points accumulated over the six heats of the championship.

Ford and Van Dongen will warm up for the series with several drives on the eight-race Hobart card on Friday night, which commences at 17:24 and can be seen on TasracingTV and Sky Racing 2.

 

Related News

16 January 2026
LISTEN: Shepparton Cup night on the Friday Form Panel
Friday Form Panel with Gareth Hall, Tim O’Connor and Darren Carroll breaking down the Shepparton Gold Cup on the eve of night two of the Summer of Glory. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN AT THETROTS.COM.AU
16 January 2026
Abbey Turnbull set for a big night at Shepparton
Abbey Turnbull is a familiar and friendly face in harness racing, balancing her role as Social Media Manager at the Shepparton Harness Racing Club with life in the sulky. On Shepparton Gold Cup night, she’ll be busy both on and off the track, going behind the scenes on the club’s social channels...
16 January 2026
GOODFORM – TOC's thoughts on Shepparton's 10-race cup card
Tim O’Connor has drilled deep into the form for night two of the Summer of Glory carnival. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ANALYSIS
16 January 2026
TOC'S TAKEAWAYS: Boy, he's a bloody ripper!
Tim O'Connor picks his favourite bits from the harness racing week that was and the one ahead... CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL COLUMN AT THETROTS.COM.AU
16 January 2026
Pebble Beach poised to make impact with first yearlings at APG Melbourne sale
When it comes to the ranks of first season sires at this year’s Australian Pacing Gold Melbourne sale, there’s one stallion that stands above all others. It is the Alabar Bloodstock import Pebble Beach. It’s hardly surprising, given Pebble Beach won eight races at the elite level at...
Click for more