Brad Williamson looking to bookend Southern Surge Finals
Garrick Knight - Raceform • August 23rd, 2025 11:00 AM
Southland’s winter blues were cured nice and early this year with the inaugural Southern Surge Series taking centre stage in August.
The three-meeting bonanza terminates at Gore this Sunday with eight $25,000 finals on an 11-race card.
“It’s brought plenty of enthusiasm to those that race in the deep south,” said Brad Williamson, who will feature heavily as a trainer and driver at Gore.
“There are plenty of us who have been happy to go to the races at a time of year when we usually wouldn’t be. It’s been a long time coming and there are a lot of smiles around Otago and Southland.
“It’s been a great initiative and not long after the Winter Rewards Series, so things have been really positive down here lately.”
Williamson will pilot his father Phil’s promising three-year-old trotter Rangitata in the day’s first final, the Judy Norman Memorial for trotters that were maidens at the start of the month. She did all the work to impressively win her debut on August 3 at Winton and, crucially, starts off the front tapes against the same horses this week.
“She looks the one to beat in her race. Her first 300 metres was a little hairy on debut, but she did win it with a bit of authority, so I would say she just needs to be mistake-free this week.”
Williamson drives another Winton heat winner, He’s Tough, in the Mowbray and Armour Racing Final for R35-43 pacers.
The horse is officially trained in Canterbury by Brad Mowbray but has been on secondment with Williamson’s brother Matty in Oamaru for a number of weeks.
“He has been severely hurt by the draw this week. Gate speed is the key to his chances. Drawing four on the second line around Gore, he’ll need a lot of luck.”
Gore is the least used Southland circuit and being handy is so important.
“It’s leader-dominated because it’s very, very tight. Certainly, if you have a bad draw, you need a crazy amount of early pressure to bring you into the race.”
Williamson will feature as a trainer in the Phoebe Stud Grassroots Breeding Final for R35-45 trotters, and he has a trio of chances.
He’ll drive the lightly raced but prodigiously talented To The Moon And Back while Penelope Lane (Craig Ferguson) and Muscle Mist (Kerryn Tomlinson) also give him a strong hand.
“To The Moon And Back is a nice horse, but he hasn’t really had to measure up to a field this good yet.
“It’s a big step up in company and Dad’s couple (Tarragindi and Have A Little Faith) are pretty classy horses. They’re off the 10 metres but I’m on the unruly, so I don’t really get much of an advantage.
“He’ll need a bit of luck in the running to win, but he has the ability and is definitely a top-three chance.
“Penelope Lane has been making mistakes and both her and Muscle Mist are in with runners’ chances. They would need to step very well and trot all the way to figure in the finish.”
The stable has Mixed Faith (Williamson) and Domination’s Call (Tomlinson) in the Baynes Family Final for R46-71 trotters, and he believes the former is a winning prospect.
“If Mixed Faith got to the markers early and settled handy, she’d definitely be a top-three chance.
“Domination’s Call is a bit of an opportunist and being off 20 metres isn’t going to help his chances around Gore.”
Tabasco gives the stable a good chance of rounding out the day with another winner in the Macca Lodge Final for R51-65 pacers. He’s super consistent and ran second in both rounds of heats.
“You’d love a stable full of horses like him. He just keeps getting better and better and right now he’s in really good form.
“Obviously Always Dreaming is the class horse of the field but our guy can win, we will just need a bit of luck to go our way.
“He’s very honest and genuine and has fitness on his side, plus you can do a bit of work on him, which will be key this week.”
Earlier in the day, Williamson will line up Aint No Angel in an $11,500 ‘overflow’ race for pacers that did not qualify for their surge finals. Under the race conditions, she will start from the back row and Williamson thinks she’s ill-suited to the shorter race distance (1700m).
“I may have been a little light on her through the week before that fifth at Oamaru, because she had a good blow afterwards.
“This race doesn’t suit her, because typically she’s more of a staying type of mare. From the second line this week, it’s almost mission impossible.”
Williamson has four other outside drives on the card – Libbie Qwanterros, Mind Philly, Rightazz and Sky Patrol. He feels that Rightazz is clearly the best of them, in the Bid Now On Gavelhouse Final for R40-53 pacers.
“Both of his heat placings were good runs, and with a front-line draw, he should be able to settle in a forward position.”
Williamson rated Tabasco the best chance from his stable on the day and Rangitata his best chance of winning as a driver.
