GEMMA Rue has come a long way since she first started training horses, so much so that she can now call herself Menangle's first lady.
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Rue was announced as the victor of the Menangle First Lady Award on Saturday as Harness Racing New South Wales held its annual awards evening.
It was a title Rue earned for the consistently strong performances of her runners at Menangle during season 2018-19.
"It is an award based on how many starters I had at Menangle throughout the season and the strike rate, so like the amount of first, second and thirds I got," Rue explained.
"There were also some conditions like a minimum amount of starters that you had to have to be eligible for the award."
Rue feels the award was not just a special honour for her on a personal level, but reflects the standing of women with the harness racing industry.
Last season the leading trainer in New South Wales was KerryAnn Turner, who is based at Menagle but a regular Bathurst visitor.
The Lagoon's Amanda Turnbull ranked second in the state drivers' premiership and fifth in the trainers' premiership.
"In Australia, and in particular New South Wales, the females seem to be just as competitive as the males and quite successful," Rue said.
"And it's great that women are being recognised for our achievements with these awards."
For the season just gone, Rue had 316 starters and from those amassed 53 winners - seven of which were at metropolitan tracks - 62 runner-up finishes and another 36 third placings.
It was her most successful season as a trainer thus far and took her tally of career wins to 114.
It also highlighted just how far Rue has come since season 2012-13 when she had 13 starters and three winners for the season.
"We were aiming for 50 winners, so we were thrilled," Rue, who works in partnership with her driver-husband Mat, said.
"We had 51 winners in New South Wales and also had two in Queensland, so we had 53 all up.
"We have started this season off nicely with six winners already and have a larger number of two-year-olds to work with this year, so that's the plan to keep aiming higher."
On Wednesday night at the Bathurst Paceway, Rue will have two runners in action - Cobbity Conquest and Ichiba Newy.
Art Major x Cobbity Cairn gelding Cobbity Conquest shapes as the better prospect of the pair and will contest the opening race of the meeting, the TAB Odds and Evens Pace (1,730 metres).
He was an impressive 14.7m winner over the longer 2,260m trip at Bathurst last Wednesday.
That race jumps at 5.30pm.
