In Brief
- Williams back on track after health scare.
- Debt Till We Part performed well in recent trials.
- Ryley Major chasing 11 wins in a row.
It has been a rough ten months for Bagdad based trainer-driver Paul Williams who will have his first start as a trainer and driver back from his health battles when Debt Till We Part lines up in race seven at Ladbrokes Park Hobart tonight.
Williams has faced plenty of battles over the past ten months but after getting the tick of approval by the medical experts he is looking forward to his return.
“I had a heart attack in April and then had another one in November,” said Williams.
“I went in and got a bit of extra plumbing and away we go,” added the trainer-driver.
Admitting that he almost walked away from the sport he loves; Williams admits if it wasn’t for the support of owners Mark and Karen Kaye, he and his partner Maree Blake may not have made a return to the industry.
“Mark and Karen have been a huge help over that time, without them we would have been buggered … if it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have worried about getting back into the horses,” explained Williams.
It’s fitting that Kaye’s own his first starter back tonight in Debt Till We Part who is first-up since finishing midfield on 12 April.
The gelded son of Santastics Pan has had two trials where he has finished runner up to Real Diamond in Hobart on 27 January before being defeated half a metre by The Shallows on 3 February.
“He has had a couple of trials and has been ok, in his second trial he finished second to The Shallows, that’s not much of an indication though as he was only there for a run that night,” said Williams who also said the pacer has been in work for a while.
“He was almost ready to go in November,” he said.
Drawn barrier four tonight Williams is in two minds of what to do early.
“It’s a bugger of a draw, I’m scratching my head whether to go forward or back,” explained the trainer in a race that he said was “an even field.”
Tonight’s eight-race card in Hobart commences at 18:27 with the feature race being the Triple M Hobart Metropolitan Cup where Ryley Major will go around as a short price favourite yet again as the Rohan Hillier trained and driven pacer searches for his eleventh win in a row.
Watch Ryley Major score in the Triple M Hobart Pacing Cup last start below: