Virtual awards ceremony a hit

Faces familiar and fresh were lauded as part of the Gordon Rothacker Medal celebrations last night.

In addition to the announcement of dual winners of the headline award, with Keith Pratt and Paul James both awarded Gordon Rothacker Medals, the virtual awards ceremony also celebrated star participants and valued servants of the sport.

Among those was Lorraine Barnes, who was announced as the winner of the Pearl Kelly Award, the Angelique Club’s honour that recognises her five decades of service to the industry.

A trailblazing breeder who’s owned winners at more than 23 Victorian tracks, Barnes has volunteered with Traralgon, Echuca and Kilmore trots clubs for more than 40 years, sat on the Victorian Breeders’ Association committee and served as Victorian Studmasters’ Association secretary.

Another headline honour is the Distinguished Services Award, which was presented to Mark Hayes to recognise his long-time training, driving and volunteering in harness racing.

Lauded for his willingness to support young people starting out in harness racing, Hayes was recognised as a hard worker, having been a Maryborough club committee member and helping promote the sport on local radio.

The night also saw the awarding of the country cup stars from the 2019-20 season, with Emma Stewart trained Phoenix Prince awarded the Trots Country Cups Champion and Chris Svanosio trained Kyvalley Finn the Maori’s Idol Trotting Champion.

Marg Lee won the Victorian Harness Racing Club Owner of the Year Award, having amassed 100 winners for the season. Among her winners were Jilliby Chevy, Jilliby Sylvester, Keayang Ebonyrose, Keayang Ignite, Code Bailey, Jilliby Nitro, Keayang Livana and Keayang Ninja.

And then there were the participant honours.

Emma Stewart (pictured) clean swept the training awards, winning both the state and metropolitan premierships for a staggering sixth successive year. It’s the most consecutive wins a trainer has ever achieved in the metropolitan category, eclipsing Bob Knight’s five straight wins from 1981-82 to 1985-86.

Her sixth consecutive state titles match the record set by Noel Alexander from 1993-94 to 1998-99.

It was also a familiar winner of the State Drivers’ Premiership, with Chris Alford claiming the title for an extraordinary 15^th time. In 2019-20 he amassed 382 wins from 1879 starts, including winning Vicbred Super Series titles with Our Princess Tiffany and Majestical Belle.

But it was a new face who emerged in the Metropolitan Drivers’ Premiership, with Kate Gath becoming only the second female winner of the title and breaking Alford’s six-year hold on the title (including tying with Gavin Lang in 2014-15).

Gath drove 68 metropolitan winners in 2019-20 to take title by 13 from Alford, with the reinswoman bringing them up in only 313 starts. Among her shining moments were Tornado Valley’s Great Southern Star triumph and Tough Tilly and Pacifico Dream winning Vicbred Super Series crowns.

HEAR FROM KATE GATH ON GORDON ROTHACKER MEDAL NIGHT

There was also a new winner of the Concession Driver of the Year award, with James Herbertson taking the honour after an outstanding season.

Following on from five consecutive wins by Jason Lee and then the previous season’s victory by Darby McGuigan, Herbertson recorded 184 wins in the 2019-20 season to claim the honour, almost twice as many as second-placed Ryan Duffy (94) and next best Jack Laugher (89).

HEAR FROM JAMES HERBERTSON ON GORDON ROTHACKER MEDAL NIGHT