Entain Awards winners to be announced Sunday

The finalists for the inaugural Industry Excellence Awards powered by Entain have been named with 29 finalists across the nine award categories.

The award categories are Leadership, Equine Handling (Stud or Stable), Greyhound Excellence, Dedication to Breeding, Dedication to Racing, Administrative and Ancillary Services, Care and Welfare, Newcomer and National Racing Woman of the Year.

The finalists and winner for the tenth category, the Entain Excellence Award, will be announced at the awards evening this Sunday in Auckland.

Category winners will receive $10,000 with finalists in each category receiving $2,000.

The overall winner (the Entain Excellence Award) will receive an extra $5,000 on top of their $10,000 category win, and a $5,000 educational package.

IRT, Windsor Park Stud, Waikato Stud and Breckon Farms are also valued supporters of the awards and the awards function.

The Harness Racing Finalists and categories are:

Jo Stevens Administration and Ancillary Services:

Jo wears many hats. She is a Group 3-winning harness trainer, but she is also very well known for her Facebook page Track Chat where she captures pre-and-post race thoughts from the North Island harness trainers and drivers. She has rehomed “a few hundred” horses over the years, and also set up the first ever Dorothy Cutts Challenge for trans-Tasman female drivers at this year’s Night of Champions.

Chanelle Dickie – Care and Welfare:

Universally known as “the pink lady”, Chanelle Dickie has re-educated and re-homed dozens of standardbreds, and such is her expertise that she is currently an educator with Harness Racing New Zealand’s Hero programme for re-education and re-homing. She has achieved success at the Horse Of The Year, is a barrel racer, and runs her own equestrian facility in Canterbury.

Jamie Bartlett – Dedicated to Breeding:

At just 22 years of age, Jamie Bartlett has risen through the ranks to be the Bloodstock Manager at Alabar New Zealand, a standardbred breeding operation. This role encompasses foaling, breeding and weaning the mares as well as the welfare of all horses on the farm, on top of her role of preparing Alabar’s young stock for sale, and she is well respected by leading trainers. She has also played a part in rehoming Alabar’s broodmares when they retire.

Sarah O’Reilly – Dedicated to Racing:

The past season has been one of milestones for Sarah, and she’s still just 24. The harness driver won the NZ Junior Championship last year for the fourth time, and also won the junior drivers’ premiership for the third time in her final year as a junior. She tasted her maiden Group 1 success with American Me in last years Invercargill Cup – a great moment for Sarah and her employers Brent and Tim White. Sarah brought up 300 lifetime winners in June, and there are sure to be many more to come.

Nathan Williamson – Equine Handling (Stud and Stable):

Nathan comes from the harness racing famous Williamson family, but has well and truly forged his own path, creating an undeniable legacy in Southland harness racing. Nathan won his first Southland Drivers Premiership in 2009 and won it for the next 15 years. He has doubled up with the Southland Trainers Premiership seven times too. He is also bringing through the next generation, having mentored junior drivers at his stables and he is also a valued volunteer administrator in the Southland region.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink