Clarrie Porter did not have far to go to see yet another breeding success from his mare, Iris Pointer.
Porter, who lives in Palmerston with his wife, Leckie, watched their Sundon mare, Dwindle Mist, win on debut at Waikouaiti yesterday, and even got a whip flourish from trainer-driver Phil Williamson - a part-owner along with his wife, Bev, and the Porters - as an unexpected bonus.
Williamson said the flourish came about as he does not get into the sulky much on race day now sons Nathan, Matthew and Brad have progressed through the ranks.
''`It's been a long time since I've been in the winner's circle. I haven't driven much,'' Williamson said.
''I will probably go back into retirement. It was just a one-off drive. We own a bit of the horse, it was here at Waikouaiti and I had been working her right through, so I had a bit of faith in her.''
Williamson had to survive an inquiry after it was alleged he illegally pushed out coming into the home straight on the first occasion. However, the Judicial Control Authority's deliberations after the hearing were brief and the inquiry was dismissed.
The Porters have been breeding from the Pointer Hanover mare since 2001, producing the likes of Rhythmic Sun (11 wins) and Sun Of Iris (five wins), while Iris Pointer also produced Young Pointer who won the group 2 Challenge Stakes (now the Lyell Creek Stakes) at Alexandra Park in 2001 and 2003.
''We've been very lucky,'' Porter said.
''We always thought she [Dwindle Mist] would be all right, but it's just taken a while. Phil thought if she trotted the first 200m, she'd be OK.''
Monnay's form reversal for the Williamsons continued with an easy win in the feature trot yesterday. The Monarchy gelding got things wrong at Addington on February 1 but, prior to that, he had recorded two wins from the Williamson stables since owners Megan Irvine and Ivan Gutsell sent him north from their Wyndham base.
''I think there was a little bit of frustration - Megan thought he was a better horse than he was going,'' Williamson said.
''I was only too pleased to see if I could do anything. All their hard work was the doing of it - I had the easy job of fronting up with him.''
