Jamieson stoked to be back winning again

It’s been 3,376 days since Craig Jamieson drove his last winner and wow was he rapt to be back in the winner’s circle last Friday night at Cambridge Raceway.

Not only did he rein home BK Superstar to win the fifth event, but he also trained his first career winner with his younger brother Tony. The Putaruru-based brothers have now had five starters to the races for a win and three placings.

“It was an awesome feeling to do it in front of my family because BK Superstar is a family-owned horse. Tony does all the work with her. I just sat in the sulky tonight and she did the rest.

“All the credit must go to Tony. It’s easy to win when you have a horse set for a race in the mint condition this girl was in. Tony reminds me a lot of Dad (Kevin) – a real masterclass when it comes to horsemanship,” Jamieson said.

Jamieson is the oldest of four brothers – and all four and their partners have shares in BK Superstar, as do as parents Kevin and Cheryl.

“I’m the oldest, then there’s Carl and his partner Cindy; then Tony and Becky; and then Lance and Katie. I’m so pleased we all had a win. The victory was also for our family members who couldn’t be there tonight like both sets of grandparents who are no longer with us.

“We have always been into harness racing. Mum’s late brother was another big influence. It’s just a great feeling to be back winning again,” Jamieson said.

The last time Jamieson drove a winner was behind the Gareth Dixon trained Whistler at Alexandra Park on December 16, 2008. All up he's driven 42 winners from 312 starters since 2000, bu he hasn't always been in New Zealand to drive.

“I lived in Australia for more than five years driving for a transport company. We bought a house over there and I never drove at the races. The plan was to buy over there and then come home and buy some land for the horses with our house money.

“Ideally Tony and I would like to have six to eight horses in work. We only have one racehorse at the moment but we are building up towards that goal,” Jamieson said.

The Jamieson brothers trained BK Superstar started cautiously from barrier one in the $7,000 St Patrick's Day Handicap for the Up to R48 and R47 trotters.

Jamieson had her parked down the back straight the first time and then went to the lead on the far corner. They then ran their 10 opponents of their feet, trotting the 2200m stand in 2;54.2 (mile rate 2:07.4) and home in 61.1 and 30.7.

The Majestic Son mare bolted in by five-and-a-half lengths. It was her first win in nine starts. The 5-year-old bay was the $1.90 favourite.

“It’s just nice to have the family’s purple, white and blue colours in the winner’s circle. Going by how well she did it, I don’t think this will be her last win,” Jamieson said.

The brothers have been a training partnership for a couple of months now.

"We bought her off the 'Horse Trader' website and lease the horse off her breeder Brent Smith. She comes from Greg and Nina Hope's stable in Canterbury and has really thrived since she got here.

"I think she is enjoying the one-to-one care compared to the big stable where she started out," Jamieson (Tony) said.

“It’s just so cool to have a family-owned horse and to train your first winner with the bro. The driving was just a bonus, but I must say it was great to be out there again and get that winning feeling back,” big brother Craig added.

BK Superstar is owned by the 'White Diamond Racing Syndicate' and was bred by Brent Smith.

Duane Ranger