JACK HUDSON & JESSE NEILL

MURRAY Bridge-based trainer Grant Young has battled with his health this year, but had reason to celebrate on Wednesday as he took out the Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club Trainers premiership following a count back.

Young spent three months in hospital during 2018/19, and said he nearly died from the illness, with his staff taking over his training duties while he recovered.

Following last week’s win, he paid tribute to his team for keeping things running smoothly in his absence.

“They’ve done a fantastic job, and I’d really like to recognise them and I owe them lots…I’m really proud of them,” Young said.

He had 11 wins for the season, two more than second-placed Ryan Balfour, which earned him the title despite the duo being placed on 68 points to conclude the year.

Young has been a full-time trainer for eight years and, after five premierships in Murray Bridge, finally took home the Gawler title.

“It’s great to get acknowledged for something like this,” he said.

“It’s not something that I set out to do…I just had horses in the right place at the right time, and they got the job done for me.

“I’ve had a really frustrating season because I’ve been ill, but to my staff’s credit they’ve managed to get enough wins at Gawler.

“It’s been a really big thing for my staff.

“Gawler’s a lovely layout, a nice place to go racing, and that’s part of it too.”

Young added he was hopeful of snaring the title entering Wednesday’s race meeting, due to having plenty of runners at the track.

“I thought we might give it a bit of a push for that last race meeting and fortunately I was able to win a race, and that did the job for me,” he said.

Meanwhile, Todd Pannell was named the Champion Jockey for 2018/19 after also winning on a countback.

Pannell had six more wins than second-placed Jason Holder, with the pair tied on 103 points – 11 in front of Jamie Kah.

Furthermore, Nicole Bruggemann’s Maxsamia was named the Gawler  Champion Horse of the Year.

The six-year-old gelding had a terrific season at Gawler, starting eight times and winning four of those races and also placing third once.