Cranbourne Harness Racing Club Driver of the Year Chris Alford.A NAIL-BITING climax saw Cranbourne Harness Racing Club’s Concession Driver of the Year Award decided on the final race of the 2005/06 season.
A mere two points separated Shane McGuiness and Greg Sugars going into the 29 August event. But both failed to add to their tally, handing the award to McGuiness who notched 15 wins and 11 placings from 88 drives at his home track over the course of the racing year.
The McGuiness family also claimed the Horse of the Year trophy courtesy of much-improved mare Dancing Withalbert.
An outstanding four-year-old season saw the daughter of Albert Albert win six of her nine starts at Cranbourne and seven of 11 runs in total.
The John McGuiness-trained pacer was a two-point winner over Arapal who finished second after his victory at the final meeting of the season.
History was perpetuated in the Trainer of the Year Award with leading local horsewoman Jayne Davies securing another title. Davies finished with 28 wins and 181 points, an astonishing 119 points clear of her nearest rival, Ted Demmler.
She had 148 starters at Cranbourne during the 2005/06 season, more than the second, third and fourth-placed trainers combined.
Demmler’s effort was also commendable. The Carrum Downs trainer notched 10 wins and 12 placings from just 36 starters.
The Driver of the Year Award also produced no surprises, with Chris Alford victorious. The stable driver for the Jayne Davies team, Alford took the title after repelling a spirited challenge from Jodi Quinlan.
He finished with 23 wins and 166 points while Quinlan had an excellent season at Cranbourne, notching 21 wins and 144 points.
The annual awards will be presented at Cranbourne’s next feature meeting on Saturday night, 23 September.
