By Tayler Strong
Charlotte Purvis has qualified to apply for a junior drivers licence but she will delay her application until the beginning of next season on August 1.
Purvis (23) works alongside her partner, Matthew Williamson and his brother, Brad at the Oamaru stable of father Phil Williamson.
She has qualified for her licence after 28 drives at trials in the past eight months.
“I will wait until the next season to apply for a licence to ensure I can have the full five seasons as a junior,” she said.
She has been with the stable full time for 12 months after meeting Matt and visiting at weekends from Christchurch.
“I got addicted to working with the horses and gave up my job as a beauty therapist,” she said.
Her father, John Purvis raced horses and her brother Matt is a junior driver with 33 wins on the board.
He has been employed by trainer Nathan Williamson at Ryal Bush the past eight months after four years with Robert and John Dunn and two years each with Paul Nairn and Greg and Nina Hope.
Charlotte has had success as an owner with Elusive Flight, whom she bought last year from Steve Allen, also an employee of the Oamaru stable. Elusive Flight won two races when sent for beach training with Graeme Anderson. The 8-year-old won at Forbury Park in March when back at Oamaru.
“I bought him (Elusive Flight) for a bit of fun and Matt has taught me the finer points of training a pacer in a stable of trotters,” said Charlotte.
Her favourites in the stable are Pyramid Magic and Springbank Eden whom she has driven in trials.
“The locals have been right behind me giving me drives as well,” she said.
Matthew Williamson reached 600 wins as a reinsman on Dream Big at Forbury Park on April 20. He is first driver for the stable of Roxburgh trainers Geoff and Jude Knight and drove four winners for the stable at an Oamaru meeting in March.
He and Charlotte and the Knights leased the broodmare VC Windermere this season. Charlotte is also breeding from Jasmyn Rules with her father.
Jasmyn Rules, who is in foal to Muscle Mass, is an unraced daughter of Monarchy and Jasmyn’s Gift, winner of a New Zealand Free-For-All and NZ Trotting Championship when trained by Phil Williamson.
She is the dam of Zoey’s Gift, winner of two races and third in the NZ Trotting Oaks this season.
Charlotte is in accomplished company with the Williamson clan. Matthew was the leading junior driver in 2012-13 with 113 wins and Brad led that premiership last season with 70 wins. Brother Nathan, a prominent junior, recorded 100 wins as open horseman last season and he has driven the winners of 666 races in NZ and trained 172. Phil Williamson is the all-time great NZ trainer of trotters with 513 wins in this country.
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