GREG Bennett and Greg Ryan were the big winners when the Moree race Club hosted Sunday’s annual Hunter and North West Racing Association Awards.
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The Scone trainer picked up two of the major awards while Dubbo-based Ryan was the leading jockey in the HNWRA in a marvellous career that sees him as second only to Robert Thompson in total Australian turf career wins.
Ryan won the just completed HNWRA season with 68 winners and now leads the new jockey’s premiership with six wins following Sunday’s success at Moree with the Dar Lunn-trained Not For Export.
Greg Ryan has many fond memories of his years riding in the HNWRA.
“Ridden at all the different tracks and clubs,” he said.
“The HNWRA has been very good to me.
“Every year is a challenge though. You have to try to keep up to those standards.”
Paul Perry was the HNWRA’s leading trainer with 49 winners and Newcastle and Cessnock committeeman Bill Moncrieff made the award for that in Paul Perry’s absence, noting how fond the outstanding Newcastle trainer was in supporting the clubs in the HNWRA.
Greg Bennett was the leading HNWRA-based trainer with 33 winners, as well as being the trainer of Horse of the Year, Clearly Innocent.
He said the Country Championship winner is well advanced in his return and trialled well at Wyong on Tuesday (this week) with a first up run in The Shorts at Randwick ticked off as his race return.
“Over the many years I’ve been training and the thousands of horses who have come through the barn to have a special horse like him is wonderful.” Bennett said.
“This is the first time I’ve won this (Horse of the Year). Over the years there have been some good horses but sometimes you lose them to the big metropolitan stables where they are supposed to be better trainers.”
Being able to keep Clearly Innocent and take him from a cast off no one wanted to winning a Country Championship is an even bigger thrill for Bennett.
The Scone horseman, renowned for breaking in triple Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva, also collected the Leading Apprentice Award for absent Samantha Clenton.
It was apt as she rode Clearly Innocent in five of his seven wins.
A native of Walcha Bennett was also delighted she rode his first Walcha Cup winner for him earlier this year.
She finished with 29 winners in the HNWRA.
The Bede Thomas Memorial Award was also awarded to Helen Sinclair and will be officially handed to her at Muswellbrook.
The HNWRA also made a special Media Recognition Award to former Northern Daily Leader sports editor Geoff Newling, who took a redundancy in mid August.
He said his coverage of racing and other sports over more than 30 years for the NDL had been an outstanding achievement.
“One I don’t think we will ever see again,” Rod Watt said.