A perfect, patient Nathan Williamson drive helped the grey trotter have the last say in race 7, handing Hanson a victory in one of the last meetings at the track which will close early next month.
Hanson produced the first victory of his training career at the Dunedin track in August 1986 when Nathan’s father Phil Williamson drove Our Choice to win.
“It is a dream come true to get another win before the track closes,” Hanson said.
“I am really looking forward to the next two weeks. It is what Forbury Park is all about.
“I always said she’s [Dem Bones Dem Bones] the best horse I’ve had, but with our training situation she has been working on her own all the time.
“She has had to go to the races to get experience.”
Hanson has been involved in harness racing for 52 years and took out his training licence after owning several horses in 1981.
He spent 20 years training at Smaills Beach at the property of former Forbury Park Trotting Club president and life member, the late Fergus Matheson.
Hanson then shifted his team to Forbury Park, where they will be stationed
until its closure as a racing venue on July 9.
Dem Bones Dem Bones is bred and raced by Hanson with longtime stable supporter Ken Campbell and Canterbury harness racing administrator Barry Dent.
“I bred her mother, her grandmother, so I have had a bit of time with the breed,” Hanson said.
Svelt ran second to the Hanson-trained mare for driver Brad Williamson on a night dominated by the Williamson brothers.
There was simply no stopping the combination of Nathan, Brad and Matthew Williamson, who went on a six-race winning streak.
Matthew started his family’s half-dozen victories by driving Count Eyre to win race 2 and scored later with Von Art and Boarding Call.
Nathan also drove three winners and while Brad did not make the winner’s circle, his third placing with Kerala Star helped the brothers fill the trifecta in race 6.
The race was won by the Nathan Williamson-trained and driven Ah Mach, who sprinted along the passing lane to beat Who’s Smokin.
Nathan also scored with the Adrian Wohlers-trained Denn Nee’s Sister in race 3.
Boarding Call completed a hat-trick of wins with victory in race 6, sealing Matthew’s first winning double as a trainer.
He gave both his horses perfect trips, Von Art trailing the leader and Boarding Call sitting in the one-one before she unleashed a powerful winning burst.
It took a stunning performance from Lucca in race 8 to end the Williamsons’ winning run.
The Brent White-trained 2yr-old shrugged off the extra work he did when caught three wide for the first lap of his 2200m debut to deliver a powerful win.
The pacer added to the long list of winners his owners, Graeme Anderson and Brian Sceats, have had at Forbury Park.
