Matty’s magic night at the Met

Oamaru horseman Matty Williamson had a night to remember at Addington, training three winners for the first time on a premier night.

“To do a treble on premier night, it was awesome,” he said of last night’s achievement.

Axel Rose (En Solitaire) kicked the super night off, impressively winning the first race.

“He was very slow early, was hanging and mucking around but he was very strong afterwards and got into it from the half.”

The four year old gelding was having just his tenth start, so is a relative novice in trotting terms.

“He’s starting to work it out. He’s still got a long way to go with his racing manners but he’s got raw talent and each run has brought him on. Tonight’s run I thought was terrific. Practice and patience are the two things that are going to be good for him.”

AXEL ROSE REPLAY

Axel Rose is owned by Tony Gow, Graeme Anderson, Steve Pulley, Ray Chalkin and Peter Soper.

“They’re big supports of the industry, love the game and put a bit in. So they deserve to get a bit out.”

Gow, Anderson, Pulley and Chalkin have owned a handful of good pacers and raced trotter Cody Banner but they’re entering new territory with this promising trotter.

“They came up last week, but didn’t come up this week. They’ll be over the moon.”

Master McGoogan (What The Hill) was equally impressive when winning the $50,000 Group Three Syncroflex Express New Zealand Two Year Old Trotting Stakes.

He got back early and his chances looked slim when he was checked and forced wide by the breaking Donovan.

“He did super well to keep trotting through that early piece when the Townley runner galloped back on him. A lot of horses would have jumped out of their gear. He did terrifically well there. To re-gather himself and get over the top of them – it was a great win. I was really proud of him. I thought over the back he had a bit of a task ahead of him. When I angled him out at the top of the straight I thought he was going to go close.”

MASTER MCGOOGAN REPLAY

Master McGoogan powered home to beat favourite La Venture by a length.

The two year old is owned by Craig and Tania Heyrick and Williamson’s wife Charlotte.

“He’s got nice enough ability but it’s just his tractability and he just has to learn the ropes. He’s got nice speed and a good attitude so those things will take him a wee way.”

Seeking Clarity (Ultimate Sniper) capped off the night in the last race.

Williamson pushed her off the gate to take an early lead before handing up to Tact Teva.

Tact Teva took Seeking Clarity to the top of the straight before Williamson was able to present her for what was to be the winning run.

“She over travelled a bit and up on the nickel most of the way. We got a little bit held up by the leader on the bend, but once I got into clear air she ran past the second horse (Mostert) well. It was a really fast time so that was good.”

SEEKING CLARITY REPLAY

The win was the three year old filly’s third in just ten starts.

“She went terrific. She’d had a bit of a quiet time after having no luck in the Southern Oaks. My only worry going into the race was that she wasn’t race hardened like a lot of the others. She has got a wee touch of class, so that probably carried her through.”

Seeking Clarity is owned by the Corner Shop Syndicate, the Who’s Drivin Syndicate, Steve Corps, Rusty Nevill and the Own The Moment Syndicate.

“Rusty has been a massive supporter of ours and there’s a lot of people in these syndicates, so it was nice to repay them on a nice night.”

Later in the season Williamson expects to be targeting some of the bigger three year old fillies features with Seeking Clarity.

“She just keeps stepping up. She’s just a lovely filly and to have a filly good enough to go in those top races is exciting.”

Williamson like most young trainers, started out with mainly hand me down older stock. But now he’s starting to get a young team of fresh faces.

“The team have been working away behind the scenes trying to bring some new horses through and we’ve bought a few at the sales. We’ve just tried to raise the bar and it’s starting to pay off, which is great.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink