Matthew Williamson has been having one of those seasons that all harness racing drivers have every now and again.
The winners for a driver of his ability had slowed to a trickle and although he has been getting reasonable sized books, the quality has been missing a lot of the time.
The main source of drives for Matty is usually the Knight team from Roxburgh but they have had a disrupted season as well with health issues with their team which has added to Matty's woes.
Not that you would know that Matty has been doing it hard with his positive attitude always there when you talk to him.
When discussing his drives yesterday at Oamaru Raceway for this weeks Harnesslink ringaround, Matty thought Boomer Bailey on the dropback would be hard to beat but gave several other runners he was driving a plug as being good each way chances on the day.
By the meetings end, Matty had driven four winners, mostly at big odds and well and truly got his 2016 season back on track.
His first winner was the maiden trotter Stylish Duke at the juicy odds of $6:50 for a horse with a reputation.
"He is a really nice trotter in the making but still has a lot to learn."
"I thought if he trotted the whole way he would be hard to beat and so it proved," Matty said.
The second winner for Matty was more of a surprise with Gene Time from the Knight barn clearing maidens at her 20th attempt.
" Manners were the key here with her stepping quickly and being handy all the way."
" She stuck it out good in the end and may go on with it now she has won one," Matty said.
Next up was what Matty thought was his best drive of the day in Boomer Bailey and so it proved with the dropback proving decisive as he won his fifth race with some authority.
" Boomer has been going really good races in strong C2 fields without much luck so I thought the dropback to C1 grade and on grass made him hard to beat."
" I don't think he has finished winning yet either," Matty said.
Now with three on his card, Matty sprung the surprise of the day when he got the $27:90 shot Ottawa home in race 9.
" There has never been any doubt about the ability with Ottawa but he can beat himself at times."
" However he is getting better in that regard and could easily win a few more races yet," Matty said.
With his four wins yesterday Matty took his 2016 tally to 25 winners and now that he has that wee monkey off his back, it wouldn't be a surprise to see those numbers improve dramatically over the rest of the season.
Harnesslink Media