by Jonny Turner
Drivers rallied to support their colleague Katie Cox in her battle with cancer before going on to racetrack success at Winton yesterday.
Kirstin Green recently put the call out for her fellow drivers to offer their financial support to a fundraising campaign for Canterbury trainer driver Cox, who has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer.
A charitable trust set up to contribute to paying Cox’s medical expenses, which are set to go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, hit $55,000 in the days leading into the meeting.
That figure will continue to rise after several leading drivers committed to answering Green’s challenge to donate a driving fee each month during November.
Green said she was thrilled with the response to her challenge to her colleagues.
“It has been amazing; pretty much every driver that I’ve spoken to is keen to get on board.”
“The response has been absolutely amazing, I am just thrilled that people are going to jump on board with it.”
Among those to commit to the scheme are Blair Orange, Mark Hurrell, Sam Thornley, Sarah O’Reilly, Kerryn Tomlinson, and Nathan, Matthew, and Brad Williamson.
Green was in winning action at Winton yesterday when producing He’s A Meister for a tough victory in the meeting’s feature pace.
The pacer was left without cover in the parked position for much of his 2400m assignment. But He’s A Meister brushed off that extra work when rallying strongly to win race 8.
Brad Williamson was also in the winner’s circle, taking out yesterday’s feature trot with a positive drive behind Missile.
Williamson kept pushing forward early in the race with the Phil Williamson trained trotter, and after finding the front, Missile proved too tough for his rivals to catch.
Mark Hurrell was another of the drivers backing the campaign to support Cox in winning form yesterday.
The reinsman produced a winning double in the sulky with the Craig Ferguson trained duo of Rustenburg and Louie’s Girl.
Rustenburg backed up his sensational maiden win at Wyndham recently, while Louie’s Girl ran to a big win in her debut for the Ferguson stable.
“Rustenburg was pretty good today; he did everything right and won pretty easily, on what was a bit of a testing track,” Hurrell said.
“Louie’s Girl had been going well at the workouts, but she really stepped up at the races.”
“On that run, you would think she would have a good future.”
Blair Orange (Coaster) and Sarah O’Reilly were also in the winner’s circle at Winton yesterday, with O’Reilly winning three times with Ellz Angel, Kohli Trouble and Mamma Mia.