The Mount Gambier Pony Trot Season 2009/10
The 2009/10 pony trotting season at the Greenwald Paceway in Mt Gambier was a resounding success. It saw the emergence of new ponies and drivers giving us eight competitors, the largest number we have had for many seasons.
We saw the re-appearance of Abbey Gull on her new pony Willow. He was a complete surprise package, being the smallest pony of the contingent but still able to upstage his competitors to win the Mount Gambier Gold Cup and the Glencoe cup. A great achievement for Abbey!
Our newest member, Joshua Micallef, drove his very smart pony, Pamela, for his first season. When in her stride Pamela was fiercely competitive and will be a danger for the coming season. Watch out everyone!
The Barker sisters, Jackie and Stacey returned with their highly successful ponies, Marmalade and Slim Dusty. These ponies race in Mt Gambier and throughout Victoria and have done very well.
Marmalade, driven by Jackie, had numerous placings throughout the season and could easily have won the title of Most Consistent. Jackie presents her pony beautifully each week and thus won our Best Presented Pony Award on our Presentation Night. A well deserved effort.
The combination of Stacey Barker and Slim Dusty had a fantastic start to the season. They were frequently in the winner’s circle and fast accumulating points for Pony of the Year but were unable to maintain the momentum for the whole season.
The old trotting legend, Frankie Under Fire, driven by Matthew Shepherd, is the pony who has been around the track for the longest with various drivers and a past ‘Gold Cup’ title. He’s a good consistent pony with Matthew pushing him along for a number of placings.
Matthew’s sister, Kylie Shepherd, drove a much improved Snoopy. Kylie’s hard work at the beginning of the season paid off with her pony racing very competitively and successfully winning the Young Drivers of the Future Handicap and pony rug.
Our largest pony and backmarker, Pumpkin, driven by Emma Greenfield had another great season grinding down her opponents for many wins and placings. She produced a huge run to win the Heyward Cup and fought hard to maintain her Pony of the Year title but missed out narrowly to stablemate and sister, Minty and Hayley Greenfield.
Minty and Hayley had a fantastic season winning the Naracoorte Cup in spectacular fashion and the acclaimed ‘Pony of the Year Award’. This was Hayley’s final year of pony racing in Mt Gambier so to her credit she has finished at the pinnacle.
We give thanks to all our sponsors who provided the trophies, pony rugs and awards. We also thank our discretionary handicapper Barry Carraill, our steward and starter Lou Gardener and all the wonderful families with their ponies and drivers.