When Tom Ison drove Hidden Figure to victory in race six at the Tamworth Harness Racing Club last week, it marked a milestone moment in the 24-year-old's life.
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It was his 500th career victory, which he achieved in a little over eight years of racing. And, to cap it off, Ison reached the landmark at his home track.
"Yeah it did [make it more special]," Ison said.
And at the conclusion of the meet, he celebrated in typically understated fashion.
"We just went to the pub," he said.
Hidden Figure is a seven-year-old mare trained and driven by Ison. Together, the pair have enjoyed good success this season with three wins from 13 starts - which compares favourably to the horse's overall record of nine wins from 91 starts.
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The milestone victory at their home track last Thursday was preceded by what was arguably the biggest victory of Ison's career, particularly in terms of prize money, when he took out the $100,000 TAB Regional Championship final in Newcastle on May 19.
At the time, Ison said it was a "pretty special win", which marked the 497th of his career.
Though he knew exactly how many he needed to reach the 500 milestone, Ison was not too worried about when it would eventually happen.
"I've been looking forward to it for a while, so it was really great to get it," he said.
"I knew it'd happen, it had to happen at some stage."
Ison soon followed his 500th victory up with two more in Newcastle - one with Apache Whitesox on Friday and the other today when he saw Balboa Shannon over the line first in race eight - which leaves his current win tally at 502.
In what has so far been an unforgettable season for Ison, the young driver is pleased but knows much of his career still lies ahead.
"I've started really good, I've been pretty happy with it," he said.
"I don't know about exceeding expectations, but you try and be good and you get a bit of success."
Going forward, Ison doesn't have any grand plans or hopes of reaching further milestones in his career. Instead, he's happy to keep racing and see what comes down the line.
"I haven't got anything else in mind, I just want to keep doing well," he said.
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