Personable 20-year-old Genevieve Crawford became the toast of Tuapeka and beyond when she made her 34th race day drive her first winning one, on the grass at Gore on Sunday.

Born in the Tuapeka town of Lawrence, Genevieve says a photo of her and her grandfather John Crawford together on a horse when she was only six months old is a clue as to when her love affair with horses began. At the time, her grandfather was training horses from his Lawrence farm.

After finishing primary school, Genevieve went to Columba College in Dunedin for her secondary education. During school holidays, she worked for Roxburgh trainers Geoff and Jude Knight.

When she left College at the age of 16, the Knights didn't have a vacancy and Genevieve spent a few months with Gavin Smith.

“I had no idea what I wanted to do, just that it was horses,” she said, “I would have loved to be a jockey but liked my food too much. Then when I saw how much time jockeys were spending in the sauna, it put me right off.”

Genevieve was toying with the idea of taking a job on a horse and cattle station in Australia when a position became available with the Knights. She chose that option, has no regrets, and neither does Geoff Knight.

“She's a hard worker, so dedicated and deserved her first win before now,” he said, “and she goes beyond what she has to, she's re-homed over 100 racehorses after converting them for riding. It was special to her doing it on Jerry Fitz. He's the stable favourite, that's his 12th win, eight-years-old and he's won every season.”

Genevieve, in just her first season of driving, experienced some relief in her first win.

“It feels like the pressure is off now,” she said, while confirming she continues to find driving rewarding and enjoyable.

Genevieve also enjoys riding and got the chance on Sunday to show her skills, riding Unique Chance to victory in the saddle pace. It was her third win in the race.

She also gets a kick out of re-homing retired racehorses, saying she started it from her grandfather's place and continued when she moved to the Knights. It grew there and Genevieve said there are times when space precludes her from taking horses. There are times also when she rejects those who offer to take horses, after checking references or just “getting a feeling”.

After her first win, it'll be back to business as usual but also the search for her second.