Barron won her first race in the sulky since January 2023, when Always On Sale ran to a strong front-running victory at Ascot Park yesterday.
The win was a family affair as Always On Sale is owned by Barron’s mother, Jackie, and trained by her father, Clark.
The junior driver returned from her OE in London just two weeks ago, after she took time out of harness racing and returned to her profession, physiotherapy.
Barron admitted that although she enjoyed her time away from the sport, harness racing was calling her home.
"I have been really struggling watching Mum and Dad’s horses go well, and I didn’t want to miss another Cup Week or New Zealand summer so I made the call to come home."
"This horse won at Ashburton so this race came up being penalty-free.
"I think I will give him the credit for today. He was in full charge."
Barron took just two drives to return to winning form after her big break from driving.
Though the reinswoman clearly has not lost her winning touch, she will not return to driving in a full-time capacity just yet.
"I will see how I am going. I plan to just drive Mum and Dad’s penalty-free ones and see how it goes from there.
"I am still working part-time as a physio, so I will just take it as it comes.
While in London, Barron was forced to have a complete break from harness racing.
Watching replays of New Zealand harness races was as good as it got.
"I was really far away from it. I was working as a physiotherapist in London and I did 10 months there.
"You can’t even watch the horses live from there. I had to watch the replays as much as I could.
"I came home and then did the Europe summer sort of thing, then I felt really ready to come home."
In just her second drive back in action, Always On Sale gave Barron a few nervous moments when pacing roughly in the score-up.
But once Barron got him settled, the pacer strode to the front and cleared out for a dominant win.
Clark Barron went on to produce a training double at Ascot Park yesterday when Raknruin scored in the hands of Brent Barclay.
