By Matt Markham
Friday night’s Addington meeting became all about the milestone as three drivers ticked off notable achievements in their driving careers.
Jimmy Curtin reached 1500 wins in the sulky when he partnered Westy Boyz to success earlier in the night.
Nathan Williamson had a few hours earlier raised his bat as he became the first Southland based driver to reach 100 wins in a season and then Sam Ottley ticked off career win 200 later in the night.
Williamson has be chasing the 100 win mark hard over the past month and has received a lot of support.
Even his brothers, Matty and Brad have stepped aside to help their eldest sibling out.
It was Matty’s generosity that led to win 100, with a catch drive on Luisanabelle Midfrew in a heat of the Australasian Breeders Crown – to which she duly obliged by winning.
“I’ve been lucky to have been given some great support,” Williamson said.
“When it became a possibility to reach 100 I really wanted to get there, but I wouldn’t have been able to without that support.”
Williamson trains a big team of horses as well as driving and with 31 training wins on the board for the season it’s been a good 12 months all round.
Ottley reached the 200th win of her career in style with an impressive debut win by the highly regarded Whittaker.
Formerly known as Tadpole’s Legacy prior to being purchased by a big spending Australian owner, Greg Brodie, Whittaker had impressed in workouts and trials and delivered on debut after a confident drive by Ottley.
In winning her 200th race before the end of the season, Ottley can now lay claim to being the fastest female driver to reach 200 wins – with the record taking almost eight seasons on the track.
Nicky Chilcott reached her 200th win a few months into her 9th season of driving.
Jimmy Curtin’s victory early in the night with Westy Boyz might have been in a maiden trot, but it was by far the most enjoyed success of the night.
The popular horseman was the 13th reinsman to drive 1000 winners we he reined Johnny Burton home at Nelson in 2005, and on Friday night reached the 1500 win mark.
The 1500 comes nearly 40 years after his first win where he drove Westburn Vue, the dam of the brilliant Westburn Grant, to success at Nelson in 1977.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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