by Alan Parker
Maddison Brown drove her 100th winner at yesterday’s Pinjarra meeting behind the Bob Mellsop trained Attack On Command.
Maddison had set herself to reach the 100 wins milestone before commencing her career as an apprentice jockey with the State’s leading thoroughbred stable of Grant and Alana Williams.
Brown has been working with the Williams team and riding in thoroughbred trials for some months as a precursor to race-riding.
Grant Williams was a successful trainer and driver (731 wins as driver and 556 wins as trainer) before becoming a thoroughbred trainer while his wife rode more than 450 winners under her maiden name of Alana Sansom.
While many jockeys have successfully switched to driving trotters after weight became an issue, including the likes of WA Racing Hall of Fame inductee Alan Woodworth and current driver Kristian Hawkins, Maddison Brown is the first to switch from being a successful driver to being a jockey.
In reaching 100 wins as a driver Maddison becomes just the 254th driver to reach the milestone in more than 100 years of trotting in this State.
She is also just the sixth woman to pass the 100 wins mark in Western Australia joining Kellie Kersley, Sue Roberts, Kate Kersley, Lauren Jones and Kiara Davies.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
