Neils join special band of devotees

THEY have ploughed countless hours into supporting harness racing.

And no doubt they have spent along their journey.

So it was a fitting reward for Peter and Marie Neil to be afforded the ultimate tribute by Bathurst Harness Racing Club by being named the Gold Crown honourees for 2018.

According to club President Wayne Barker, Peter and Marie’s long association is not just with the Bathurst Gold Crown, but with the industry in general.

“Peter and Marie have successfully operated a breeding establishment at Goulburn for a number of years with a band of 25 broodmares,” Barker said.

“Adding to this, Peter and Marie also run a very successful training operation of 30 horses based near Bathurst, under the watchful eye of long-time trainer Peter Bullock.”

These horses always carry the Shannon name and it is not unusual for the Neils to have multiple runners in a race on their home track at Bathurst.

“Peter and Marie would one day love to win a Gold Crown or a Gold Tiara and I am sure that win is not too far away,” Barker said. “They have been runners-up three times.

“You can only keep breeding quality horses, which Peter and Marie do to give yourself a chance.

“So you would like to think a Crown or Tiara win is just around the corner.

“The board was unanimous with their selection of Peter and Marie to be this year’s honourees, and personally, I couldn’t think of a more fitting choice.”

Peter and Marie will be welcomed into the list of Gold Crown Honourees at the Honouree Dinner on Tuesday, March 27 at the Bathurst RSL Club from 7pm.

Previous Bathurst Gold Crown Honourees

1990 – Jimmy Caffyn

1991 – Kevin Newman

1992 – George Gath

1993 – Jack Honan, Bill Wise and Noel Simpson

1994 – Tony Turnbull

1995 – Don Clough

1996 – Brian Hancock

1997 – Ken Dyer

1998 – Harry Pearce

1999 – Mick Lombardo

2000 – John Tapp

2001 – Wayne and Anne Lamb

2002 – Dennis Wilson

2003 – Ken Brown AM

2004 – Bob McArdle

2005 – The Jack family

2006 – The Manning family

2007 – The Dumesny family

2008 – Chris Gray

2009 – Steve Turnbull

2010 – The Fitzpatrick family

2011 – Jayne Davies and Noel Alexander

2012 – The Hando Family

2013 – Doug and Janet Moore

2014 – John Coffey

2015 – Chris Alford

2016 – The McCarthy family

2017 – Kevin Thompson

2018 – Peter and Marie Neil.