JJ Flash 2,136 Report post Posted September 16, 2019 Majestic Man was crowned Otago Horse Of The Year on Saturday night following his breakout season in the open trotting ranks. The Phil Williamson-trained squaregaiter was crowned 4yr-old male trotter of the year before claiming the top prize at the Otago Harness Racing Awards at Forbury Park. Williamson took home a boot-load of trophies, including trainer of the year. Liberty Stride, (3yr-old trotting filly), Kenny's Dream (4yr-old trotting mare), and Jen Jaccka (aged trotting mare) each won their categories for the Oamaru trainer. Williamson stables drivers and fiances, Matthew Williamson and Charlotte Purvis, won driver of the year and junior driver of the year, respectively. Williamson was denied another win by his son, Brad, when Cracker Hill edged out Ultimate Stride in the 2yr-old trotting category. What a fantastic performance. A lot of traveling involved form their Oamaru base but they seem to be always involved from Canterbury to the deep south. Greg lamour and We're Doomed 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
napier 339 Report post Posted September 17, 2019 Well done to them - totally deserved..... JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toblerone 242 Report post Posted September 17, 2019 It seems silly that a small (harness racing wise) area like Otago would have 27 awards. hsvman 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
We're Doomed 4,868 Report post Posted September 17, 2019 53 minutes ago, Toblerone said: It seems silly that a small (harness racing wise) area like Otago would have 27 awards. Define silly. JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Value Bell 253 Report post Posted September 18, 2019 Phil for many years didnt train a winner. Got Role Model and has not looked back. Deserves every award he gets. Apparently as a young lad watching the mare Thurber Frost/ Stella Grattan being trained on the beach in front of his home got Phil interested in harness racing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
We're Doomed 4,868 Report post Posted September 18, 2019 5 hours ago, Value Bell said: Phil for many years didnt train a winner. Got Role Model and has not looked back. Deserves every award he gets. Apparently as a young lad watching the mare Thurber Frost/ Stella Grattan being trained on the beach in front of his home got Phil interested in harness racing. I recall him as a very good driver in his day, great judge of pace. Drove some good horses; Enterprise was it? And something like Royal Illusion, I might be totally wrong there. Strangely enough I never really associated him with trotters as a driver. JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Value Bell 253 Report post Posted September 18, 2019 Kimrock was a reasonable trotter, trained by Stu Walker and Wee Laurel, owned by Dougie Milne were two trotters that Phil drove as a youngster. Kimrock was a country trotter running off big handicaps. JJ Flash and We're Doomed 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash 2,136 Report post Posted September 18, 2019 1 hour ago, We're Doomed said: I recall him as a very good driver in his day, great judge of pace. Drove some good horses; Enterprise was it? And something like Royal Illusion, I might be totally wrong there. Strangely enough I never really associated him with trotters as a driver. Enterprise was trained by Doug Heffernan from memory. Very good youngster who let the team down very badly one day at Waikaouiti when it swung around at the start and literally went the other way. Greg Value Bell 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thejanitor 1,228 Report post Posted September 18, 2019 5 minutes ago, JJ Flash said: Enterprise was trained by Doug Heffernan from memory. Very good youngster who let the team down very badly one day at Waikaouiti when it swung around at the start and literally went the other way. Greg Yes, Enterprise was a good Lordship stallion (another stud failure) who raced against the likes of harness legends Roydon Glen and Hands Down. I think Williamson drove him a couple of times early in the horses career but his regular driver when the horse was trained by Doug Heffernan was Peter Shand. JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Value Bell 253 Report post Posted September 18, 2019 Who drove the Vince Heffernan and Barney Tisdall horses? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stables 577 Report post Posted September 18, 2019 On 9/18/2019 at 9:39 AM, Toblerone said: It seems silly that a small (harness racing wise) area like Otago would have 27 awards. I agree, what trainers other than Phil train in that area. I don't mean to disparage Phil, he's a great trainer but it's a farce really Thejanitor 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thejanitor 1,228 Report post Posted September 18, 2019 2 hours ago, Value Bell said: Who drove the Vince Heffernan and Barney Tisdall horses? Colin de Filippi drove Tisdall's horse Value Bell 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 2 hours ago, Thejanitor said: Colin de Filippi drove Tisdall's horse Also the man himself drove a bit too.....plus some of those close to Waimate.....Cleave,Langford,RBrosnan.FKirk dove Idolmite in Auckland.There were more than one Heffernan , Doug and Vince I think were two. Enterprise was driven by Peter Shand mainly . I did a quick check on HRNZ website after a few Tisdall and Heffernan horses flashed before my eyes.......namely Idolmite ,Dannymite ,Tom Pepper ,Enterprise and Cardinal Star. Other drivers named include Phil Williamson ,John Hay and Ali Malcomson [RIP] ,and of course Colin DePhillipi mentioned earlier as main Idolmite pilot. JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash 2,136 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 5 hours ago, Stables said: I agree, what trainers other than Phil train in that area. I don't mean to disparage Phil, he's a great trainer but it's a farce really G Anderson ,A Hoffman,G Knight come to mind immediately As for the farce, its a bit like a race you only have to beat what opposition there is Greg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Value Bell 253 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 How long has the coalman, Kevin Court, been training at Forbury? Lettie Ferguson, Rodger Soroka, Brickie Robertson, Blennie Sampson were a few others. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBlackie 128 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 3 hours ago, tasman man 11 said: Also the man himself drove a bit too.....plus some of those close to Waimate.....Cleave,Langford,RBrosnan.FKirk dove Idolmite in Auckland.There were more than one Heffernan , Doug and Vince I think were two. Enterprise was driven by Peter Shand mainly . I did a quick check on HRNZ website after a few Tisdall and Heffernan horses flashed before my eyes.......namely Idolmite ,Dannymite ,Tom Pepper ,Enterprise and Cardinal Star. Other drivers named include Phil Williamson ,John Hay and Ali Malcomson [RIP] ,and of course Colin DePhillipi mentioned earlier as main Idolmite pilot. PT Wolfendon won the Auckland Cup on Enterprise with a jem of a drive(surprise) in 1984 Thejanitor and JJ Flash 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 1 hour ago, CosmicBlackie said: PT Wolfendon won the Auckland Cup on Enterprise with a jem of a drive(surprise) in 1984 Yes, possibly his only drive on horse who won $101 k of $180 k stake.Not bad for 1984 ! Later in the year and early 1985 AG Herlihy won 4 x races behind the horse at Auckland ,for a total purse of about $40 k. JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
napier 339 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 14 hours ago, JJ Flash said: Enterprise was trained by Doug Heffernan from memory. Very good youngster who let the team down very badly one day at Waikaouiti when it swung around at the start and literally went the other way. Greg Pat Heffernan - or red Pat as he was often called from Moonlight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
We're Doomed 4,868 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 16 hours ago, JJ Flash said: G Anderson ,A Hoffman,G Knight come to mind immediately As for the farce, its a bit like a race you only have to beat what opposition there is Greg You could use the same argument for saying why bother having an award for national harness trainer of the year. Stables 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash 2,136 Report post Posted September 19, 2019 43 minutes ago, We're Doomed said: You could use the same argument for saying why bother having an award for national harness trainer of the year. I'm pretty sure they have held those awards for decades and it is one way of recognising excellence and promoting Harness in the region. The good thing about awards night is that they are not compulsory Greg lamour and westview 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy1974 1 Report post Posted November 26, 2019 On 9/19/2019 at 11:08 PM, napier said: Pat Heffernan - or red Pat as he was often called from Moonlight Yes indeed it was Pat Heffernan that owned and trained Enterprise (not Doug). His son David still lives in Otago and is/was the president of the Harness Racing Club there. Pat was born in Moonlight at the family farm and started out there, but I believe Enterprise went out to stud at his farm in Morven. JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spikecity 749 Report post Posted November 26, 2019 3 hours ago, Poppy1974 said: Yes indeed it was Pat Heffernan that owned and trained Enterprise (not Doug). His son David still lives in Otago and is/was the president of the Harness Racing Club there. Pat was born in Moonlight at the family farm and started out there, but I believe Enterprise went out to stud at his farm in Morven. I remember when Enterprize won the Auckland Cup and he was staying at Bob Clark's Ruby Lodge - now AGH's property - and Bob suggested he shout a few of those who had helped him out to dinner. Although reticent he did agree but said Peter Wolfenden (who drove the horse to win) would not be one of those invited, because "he got enough out of the drivers fee" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iraklis 2,231 Report post Posted November 26, 2019 Hey guys isnt Majestic Man, GlobeDerby's horse? he'll be bloody chuffed as with that, good one Globe Cheers Iraklis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...