Mid Winter Christmas Review
William James makes impressive debut
Full suites, a good crowd, and a beautiful fine day made for a great atmosphere for the last Riccarton Park raceday of the 2017/18 season.
If there was ever a tip in a name! Wingatui’s Joanne Hillis is a greatly respected trainer and when she presented debut runner WILLIAM JAMES (see image) in the Optimise Fertilisers Two-year-old that tip was there for all to see. Her late father Bill (William James) Hillis was an outstanding horseman who was champion trainer in 1965-66 and 66-67
Ashburton trainer Bevan Wilson ensured that he didn’t have to put his hand in his pocket to shout at an All Black’s reunion when ZAWHIP and Chris Johnson took out the Sonia & Garry Thompson Open Handicap. With Bevan in Dunedin wife Robyn saddled the four-year-old mare after dealing with a blow out of a tyre on the way to the races. Robyn is also the daughter of a racing legend in Rex Cochrane so took it all in her strid
Michael Pitman needed two winners to reach a grand total of 1700 but frustratingly only SMILING ASSASSIN made it to the winners stall in the Smiths Hire Rating 65 after four stablemates filled the runner-up bert
The days feature was the Greenwood Amberley Cup and evergreen nine-year-old NASHVILLE was a decisive winner recording his sixth win form 15 starts at Riccarton Park. Nothing particularly surprising in that other than he is trained at Hunterville in the Rangitikei by Adrian and Harry Bull
Fittingly the day was rounded out by the Go Racing owned BLACK PEARL winning the Go Racing sponsored last race in front of a crowded Go Racing private suite.
