Ottley and Morrison dominate card

Burnham based driver Sam Ottley and Ashburton harness racing horseman John Morrison dominated the card at the Waimate Trotting Club meeting on the grass at Oamaru today, winning seven of the eleven races.

It’s the second time this month that Ottley and Morrison have reined multiple winners in a day. Ottley drove five at Reefton on the 10^th while Morrison drove three at the Westport meeting on the 8^th.

“It was one of those days when everything fell into place, and we got the right runs at the right time. Yeah, it was a super day at Reefton and a good trip for me,” Ottley said.

Samantha’s four winners on the eleven race card were Interpol (He’s Watching) for Gavin Cook, Igetakickoutofyou (Sweet Lou) for Matt Purvis, Helloveamoment (Andover Hall) for Mark Jones and Raging Whitebait (Raging Bull) for Anne-Maree and Jack Best.

Ottley certainly earned her driving fees with three of her wins being tight finishes.

In Race Four Interpol trailed the leader before getting a run up the passing lane to win by a length.

“I drove him at his previous start. He sat parked that trip and just got beat. I thought he’d be a good show today. He shot through the gap and won quite comfortably in the end.”

Igetakickoutofyou led in Race Nine holding on to beat outsider Justin Fun by a head with a nose back to Razor’s Edge.

“It was a good effort by him. It was a massive jump in grade because he’d only just won his maiden at his previous start. He stuck on and put his nose out at the right time.”

In Race Ten Helloveamoment came from off the pace and got up to beat Dominations Call in another tight finish. The winning margin was half a head.

“He stepped clean and got a nice run which he capitalised on. He never wins by too much that boy, but again he knew where the line was.”

The five year old is owned by Bob and Maxine Garters.

“Andrew their son trains a couple, but we’ve had Helloveamoment all the way through. They love watching them race and get a real kick out of it so it was good to get another win on the board for them.”

Ottley completed her day with a win in the last race with Raging Whitebait who led and beat Lord Fantasy by half a neck. The win didn’t surprise Ottley.

“He won fairly convincingly at Reefton. I was confident of another forward showing especially after a couple of scratchings. He’s a funny horse and he just does what he has to.”

Morrison’s winning run began in Race Five when he drove the Fred Scott trained trotter Take After Me (Holmes Hanover) to win. It was the thirteen year old’s 21^st win from 360 starts. His first was as a pacer at Addington in October 2014. Morrison has now won nine races driving the gelding.

In the next race, Smart I Am (American Ideal) continued Morrison’s good form. This was the gelding’s third win in a row, and he’s now won four races on the grass.

Morrison completed his winning run with Nubliah Chamay (Love You) in the next race.

The six year old mare enjoyed a drop back in class. She proved too strong over the final stages and beat Wudabubbit by half a neck.

The win by Nubliah Chamay capped off a good day for her co-trainer Neil Edge who trained and drove the winner of the first race, Onwardsandupwards (Art Major).

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink