Williamson juveniles to the fore at headquarters

I think if you asked Phil Williamson what a dream harness racing result looked like at Addington Raceway, he would typically lean towards winning a G1 feature.

But as far as a non premier night goes, running the quinella in the first on a Friday night with the only two on the truck and having them home and in the Oamaru paddock before 10pm would be right up there as well!

That was the case tonight for New Zealand’s premiere trotting trainer, as his two juveniles, Atlantic City (Volstead) and Tarragandi (Majestic Son) took out the first on the 12 race programme having raced four and a half lengths clear of their nearest competitor in dominant fashion.

The full sister to last seasons 2YO Filly of the Year in Empire City was extremely impressive in her race day debut three weeks earlier in the G3 Aldebaran Eagle 2YO Classic on the same track where she finished second behind the leading juvenile trotter in the country.

Making her return visit tonight, Atlantic City, was sent out the punters elect and the juvenile daughter of Volstead vindicated the faith with a victory showcasing her all round game at this early stage of her career.

“She has such lovely manners and between her and the full sister, they have turned me into a big fan of Volstead,” he laughed Williamson.

“I don’t like lining two-year-olds up without thinking they would be competitive. I was thrilled that she went that good in her first race, I was hopeful because she had shown she was a very solid trotter which is the first tick in the box. She had also showed me she had a bit of speed which is another necessity to be competitive up the grades, and then with the family, I was hoping when I left home with the truck she would be a top 4 chance on debut,” he said.

In two race day starts, Atlantic City’s professionalism has been undoubtedly assisted by her ability to leave the mobile with a bit of speed and that was on full display again tonight from barrier six.

ATLANTIC CITY REPLAY

“She hadn’t shown it to us prior to race day, but then we hadn’t been pushing for it in her trial and workout at home. So it did surprise us, but then again its typical of these baby trotters, some step up and the better ones do, and it’s probably fair to say most reasonably nice horses have gate speed or need to when you want it,” said Williamson.

After Brad Williamson was able to find the lead tonight aboard Atlantic City, he handed up to the other Williamson runner in Tarrangindi, driven by his older brother, Matthew.

Tarrangindi went off stride down the back free of interference, but after finding his gait rather quickly, was able to gather himself and put in a remarkable debut performance having been forced to work four cart widths wider round the Addington bend then he may otherwise have done.

From there he gave the stablemate a serious challenge up the straight and when asked whether he felt the horse he bred and owns would have won had he brought his manners, Williamson was fairly black and white in his answer.

“I think most observers would say yes,” said Williamson mater of factly.

“He is another nicely bred horse, a Majestic Son who has been a super sire himself. He is another horse with a good gait and usually good manners. It was his first start obviously but I didn’t expect him to break. he’s a funny wee fella. He runs in and he runs out and runs all over the blimmin show,” he laughed.

“I think as he gets more experience and controls his nervousness about the racing game he will develop into a pretty good horse.”

One thing that is to be admired about Williamson and his application to his craft is his ability to see the bigger picture. You don’t get three-quarters of the way to a tonne (754) of trotting winners as a trainer without having some serious horsepower, nor serious talent for what your doing. But Williamson knows his equine athletes are just that, and isn’t afraid of playing the patient game with the long term interests of the horse at the fore front of his thinking when looking further afield.

“They are both Sires Stakes eligible but we will just see about that as we go forward. I am not that crazy keen on the idea for both of them. The stakes say push but for the wellbeing of the horses, I think Atlantic City could cope with it and will probably be pushing forward while the other fella, because i think he has a bright future if i look after him.

“I will be very careful that we don’t have too many hard runs like we had tonight. His manners weren’t quite where they needed to be for Group One racing where you have t have the game. But I think he will have the game if I let him develop a little bit so I might just back off him and perhaps trial him a couple of times and get him more comfortable with the racing caper,” he said.

Tarragindi is the first foal from Kenny’s Dream, an eight win daughter of Dream Vacation out of the vaunted Frances Jay Bee maternal family that has brought Williamson and others so much success.

As alluded too earlier, Williamson bred and owns the 2yo gelding and would have been in line for a tidy little Entain 2YO Bonus of $15k had he beat the stablemate, but Williamson was more than gracious in defeat to his good stable clients Peter and Janet Argus.

“Thats a fact but at the end of the day there is always a lot of shoulda woulda coulda in a lot of races and you know its easy to throw stones at the one that got the chocolates. But at the end of the day you will see a lot of what ifs in every race you watch and hats off to Atlantic City whose manners were to the fore. That is the utmost key in winning races when you are a juvenile trotter,” he said.

Williamson and his wife Bev have gone all in in recent years in developing a portfolio of trotting broodmares that would rival any other in the South Island. The pair are realising the fruits of their labour in the last few years at the Sales and on the track and Phil admits to be enjoying the challenge that is enhancing the bloodlines of his stock.

“The world class sires are enhancing our breed and from there you just have to train them all up as we all do. The odds are pretty good at the moment of getting a nice horse if they have the right bloodlines,” he said.

“When you have a lot of well bred mares on the books, in my view, you have to be trying to get them in foal because if they are empty, they are simply a cost. Around the breeding side of it, my philosophy and probably Bev’s is that if you breed to something that when it’s born and reared, someone will offer you more than it’s cost you, then the answer is you should breed it. We try to enhance the breed wherever we can.

“Generally speaking, I like to send the best to the best and hope for the best. We are sticking our necks out a bit breeding a few Volstead’s this season, but we have been incredibly impressed by the ones we have dealt with and the results speak for themselves.

“In saying that, I am keen to send a mare to Oscar Bonavena because he was a great horse and one we had early in his career. He is probably one that on paper isn’t as commercial as some of the others, but I just owe it to him to try one of our mares with him.”

As one of New Zealand’s greatest trotting sires himself with three champion colts doing big thing in the sport, it’s heartwarming to hear of Williamson’s support for a colonial bred stallion like Oscar.

All jokes aside, the humility of Williamson and his family is what makes them so endearing and to have achieved what they have out of their Oamaru base with all the travel incurred is just another feather in the cap.

When asked whether the three hour trip back to Oamaru from Christchurch was made that much easier having trained the quinella, he had the following to offer.

“It is I guess but my approach to the whole game is if you didn’t enjoy it, you wouldn’t do it. And if you don’t leave Oamaru to go to Christchurch, you’re never gone win in Christchurch.

“You have to take the journey to get the gold at the end of the rainbow and if you don’t dig for it, you’re never going to find it. I always look at that sort of aspect that way. It’s like going off to Invercargill on Sunday, it’s a wee way away, but you cant win the Dark Horse if you don’t go and try. I don’t mind the losing, racing is a game where you have to get used to that side of the ledger.

“It’s just a passion that we have in racing horses, if you didn’t love it you wouldn’t do it. Its a lifetime thing that I have enjoyed immensely and had a lot of success and good things happen through the horses, the family, the staff and it all adds up to a fairly successful operation and I have enjoyed the challenge of racing against the best and trying to beat them on occasion.”

For complete Addington race results, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink