A coveted prize for Outstanding Contribution to harness racing at the national awards on Thursday came as a complete surprise to humble Oamaru couple Phil and Bev Williamson.
"We are a normal family and there are many other racing families out there, a lot of good racing families," Phil saidahead of today's local Oamaru meeting.
"I guess with our [trainer-driver] boys having done a damn good job, that probably pushed it along a bit more.
"We had no wind of what was going to happen [at the awards] and it came a real surprise."
Hugely popular in the sport, Phil, with a lot of help from Bev and the family, has trained 545 winners (525 trotting) for $5.3 million in stakes, and also driven 325 winners (153 trotting), since first donning the silks in 1978.
Phil and Bev are parents to four children and three of them are quality harness horsemen - Nathan, Matthew, and Brad - all leading the way in their field.
Daughter Jasmine has taken a different path and works in accountancy, a move Phil mildly suggested was the way to go.
The stable has three well-favoured runners, Alderbeck (to be driven by Brad), Sam Galleon (Nathan) and Pyramid Monarch (Charlotte Purvis), in the feature trot at Oamaru, with Matthew driving Stylish Duke for Timaru trainer Murray Tapper.
