John Morrison will be out to break his hometown duck tomorrow at the Ashburton Races. Photo supplied.One of the locals, who just so happens to be kicking a few goals at the moment, is hoping to break his hometown duck at Ashburton tomorrow but knows if he does it will come as a bit a shock.

Young junior driver John Morrison is riding the crest of a wave currently having driven six winners over the last six weeks – but he’s yet to get that elusive win on the track which borders the town where he was born and raised, Ashburton.

“It’d be nice to get one there, seeing as it’s home,” Morrison said.

“But you can’t push for things too much, that’s usually when they start going wrong so I’m just taking the it will happen when it happens approach.”

Morrison has four drives on the Ashburton track at tomorrow’s Ashburton Trotting Club meeting, the last for the racing season, and while they’re all probably outside chances, a top three placing, or better, is quite possible for each.

Two of his chances, Clifden Clowers and Paul’s Verdict will come down to the races in the float with their driver as he is currently holding the role of caretaker trainer for Blenheim based horsewoman, Sandra Mounce.

Both raced at Forbury on Thursday night and both finished fifth, exceeding the expectations of Morrison.

“I was pretty happy with both of them considering I knew they would need the run.

“They’ve both bounced back from the trip down to Dunedin too so hopefully they take another step on Sunday.”

Morrison will also drive Eja Patron for Warren Stapleton in the last of the day and warned that the season-campaigner’s latest runs might not be as bad as what the formline would make out.

“There hasn’t been a lot in the luck department looking back at some of the videos, so hopefully we can get some this week.”

Of the four drives though, Morrison is most excited about the prospects of Rosinupthebow early on in the day.

The Malcolm Shinn trained pacer is yet to win a race but has shown plenty of potential.

“She’s a really nice horse and she’s fresh up which is usually a good thing with anything that Malcolm trains.

“She seems to have a lot of high speed too, so hopefully we get a chance to use it.”

With his recent run of form, Morrison has elevated himself to fifth on the national junior drivers premiership and while he won’t rundown those in front of him, he can toast to a good season with 17 winners in the bank heading into racing at Addington last night.

The most recent of those 17 came on Thursday night at Forbury when he was victorious on Magic Blaze for local trainer Raewyn Low at a double figure price.

By Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 14 July 2018

Kelsey Ashworth in action for Mainland in their win over Waikato/Bay of Plenty in Ashburton last month. Photo supplied.When Kelsey Ashworth missed out on the Mainland team for the 2018 Beko Netball League, she considered packing netball in for a while.

But then the former Ashburton woman got a call that changed everything.

“I trialled for the team but was unsuccessful, and I think I played maybe two club games and they contacted me asking if I would come along to a training one night, then they asked Stacey (Peters) and I to be squad members from there on in,” Ashworth said.

She’s gone on to become an integral part of the Mainland team, known for her feisty, body-on-the-line type style which makes her a formidable opponent in the midcourt.

It is a style Ashburton netball fans are hoping they will see again tomorrow, when Ashburton’s EA Networks Centre hosts the side’s final game of the round robin – a must-win match against South if Mainland are to stand a chance of making the grand final.

Ashworth played a key role in Mainland’s first game in Ashburton earlier this season – a win over the side topping the table heading into the defining final round, Waikato/Bay of Plenty.

Ashworth is fit. When she isn’t playing netball, she is a multisporter who completed her first Coast to Coast in 2016 and while on her OE in the UK, represented New Zealand at the World Duathlon Championships.

“After I missed out (on the Beko squad) I thought I’d maybe have a break from netball and focus on multisport again, but I decided to play club, and it’s turned out to be pretty full on. It’s funny how things turn out sometimes,” Ashworth said.

While she was living in the UK, the 25-year-old found keeping up her multisport training wasn’t easy, so she put it aside for a while, turning her attention back to netball and ended up being a training partner for the Wasps Super League team. The Wasps won the title that season, and the next.

Back in New Zealand, it is back to netball for Ashworth, and making the Beko team was one of her goals. Now she’s achieved that, she doesn’t know what will come next.

“I’d love to get an ANZ contract at some point, but realistically age-wise that might be a barrier, but I’ll just keep playing for as long as I can, and as hard as I can,” Ashworth said.

Growing up in Ashburton, Ashworth played for Ashburton College at the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Netball Championships, and when she played for the Mid Canterbury Under-17 team she was coached by Andrea Cousins, who today is assistant coach of the Mainland side. The head coach, Ronelle van Dongen, is also a former Ashburton woman, so when the Beko team arrives at Ashburton’s EA Networks Centre on Sunday there will be a real Ashburton flavour to the side.

Ashworth has been a key player this season, but how much she’ll feature on Sunday is unknown.

“I’ve got quite a lot of game time which has been really good because when I first came into the squad I was almost expecting to be a training partner type role, but it’s been really good getting out on court and getting some game time,” Ashworth said.

She was in the 10 last weekend when Mainland lost to Central in Lincoln, a loss which saw them drop from the top of the table and out of the top two, but Ashworth only got five minutes on court.

That loss meant Mainland has to beat South this weekend and rely on other results to go their way if they are to finish in the top two and progress to the final.

Ashworth said Mainland’s season came down to this one game, so there was no room for error, and she hoped Ashburton netball fans would get out and support them, as they did last month.

Sunday’s game at the EA Networks Centre starts at 1.10pm, and entry is $5 for adults while under-16s are free.

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 14 July 2018

Tony Stewart takes an interpretive look at a storm at dusk on Castle Hill. Photo supplied.“It’s mind-blowing,” says Ashburton born and bred photographer Tony Stewart.

He has just returned from the prestigious 2018 Iris Awards, organised by the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP).

The awards were judged in a public forum over a three-day period by panels of national and international judges and announced at a gala black-tie dinner in Wellington on Monday night.

The best images receive gold, silver and bronze at the annual awards and a select few photographers, this year just four, receive the penultimate honour of Grand Master.

Stewart was among them, making him the first to ever achieve the honour in the NZIPP Canterbury and Westland region.

It is something which takes years to do, as entrants need to build up a suite of the gold, silver and bronze accolades.

For Stewart, the 48-year-old dad of two who established his Photoshots business in Christchurch 19 years ago, it was a goal which began to come into focus about five years ago.

“When you first start off you think it’s [Grand Master award] so far away, you kind of have this idea when you start, that’s for someone else.”

His final elusive gold had been something he was aiming for over the past two to three years.

The image which earned him this year’s gold also won the landscape category. It was a triptych of images he took from a boat at Breaksea Sound in Fiordland.

“It is a very special place that many Kiwis don’t get to visit,” Stewart said.

That meant it deserved special treatment and he transformed his images of the natural landscape, cropping them, converting them to black and white variants, turning them 90 degrees and arranging them as a narrative of three.

Stewart first fell in love with photography at the age of 21 while studying at university. It was a hobby which he continued with as he taught in secondary schools and then travelled.

Upon returning from overseas he decided to take a leap of faith and go into photography fulltime, and do a one-year course.

“It was just the allure of something creative. Every day I wake up and don’t know what I am going to be doing that day,” he said.

“It’s not particularly easy, it sounds glamorous but there’s a lot of computer work.”

Daily variety, along with the attraction of getting the next great image, has continued to keep him inspired.

He may be capturing a three-year-old for a child portrait one day and the prime minister at a high-flying function the next.

When he established his photography business he began with mainly weddings, whereas today he mostly does commercial work. Bookings each year include some at his old school of Ashburton College, where he shoots school photos and the annual school ball.

By Susan Sandys © The Ashburton Guardian - 14 July 2018