“Instant” driving success for Boyd

by Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk

After deciding to give race day driving “another crack” it didn’t take Stephen Boyd long to salute the judge – in fact it was just one race.

On Sunday at Addington Boyd was having his first drive in more than a decade, his last being at Forbury Park in 2009.

He promptly steered Instant Delight (Bettor’s Delight – Lis Lady) to victory in Race 2, the Mt Hutt Trotting Club Trot. It was his first win since 2000, when he drove Smokey Range to win at Hokitika.

Despite being a Bettor’s Delight the filly had always showed an inclination to trot rather than pace.

“She’d been playing up so I thought I’d give it another crack to see if she’d step away and it worked out good,” Boyd told Harness Racing Unhinged’s Nigel Armstrong post race, “though she was a bit rough early.”

Paying $8 and $1.90 she looped the field with a lap remaining, then held on to win by three quarters of a length. It was her first win in six starts, though she had twice placed third.

Boyd had a second drive later in the day, finishing fifth with Spark It Up in race 6, won by Apatchofgold.

Boyd, who is well-known for his breaking in, pre-training and educating of juveniles, also trains his own team – “we’ve got four or five to step out – a nice team coming through”. He’s had recent training success with the likes of Total Eclipse and Whole Lotta Rosie.

Before getting back into training in recent years he’d spent time away from racing involved in trucking, courier runs, even a pest control business.

And it appears Boyd’s race day appearances are about to become more frequent.

“I’ll stick to driving for a bit, seeing as we have a lot of young ones coming through just for their first lot of drives, educating them that sort of thing.”

His win at Addington means he now has 17 driving successes since his junior driving days in the early 1990s, while he’s had 29 training successes, with his most successful season being the 11 winners he had in 2019.