Latest Ian Daff Memorial winner announced

Harness Breeders Victoria (HBV) are pleased to announce Pat Driscoll of Haras des Trotteurs and Yabby Dam Farms as our 2024 Ian Daff Memorial Award recipient. Since 2014, this award has recognised significant and tenured contributions and service to the broader Victorian breeding industry and Pat joins such luminaries as Mick Lombardo, Graham & Helen Head and Kevin Newbound in being recognised in this way. Pat was presented with his trophy, kindly sponsored by Metro Printing, at the  opening of the Nutrien yearling sales at Oaklands Melbourne on Sunday.

This seems appropriate given one of the reasons Pat has been recognised in this way is his recent work in developing the Nutrien yearling sales from its origin in 2021 and through the attached race series which is sponsored by Haras des Trotteurs, the richest sales-linked series for square gaiters in the country. The support is just the latest in a long line of endeavours which have helped to build the strength and profile of trotting in Victoria. With a passion sparked by the Prix d’Amerique, one of Europe’s biggest trotting races, Pat established his own ‘little piece of Europe’ in Victoria through stud Haras des Trotteurs. Predominantly offering high-quality French stallions from a state-of-the-art facility near Ballarat, his choices in sire lines, with horses like Classic Connection and EL Titan, have since shaped the breed across Australia.  His importation of mares has also served to bolster the genetic pool for trotters in Australia and as an active seller of both mares and fillies, these lines have spread to new breeders too.

The committee of Harness Breeders Victoria again congratulate Pat on being presented with this prestigious award and look forward to witnessing the fruits of his efforts continue to strengthen the Victorian breeding industry. Watch Campbell’s Comment’s interview with Pat about the Ian Daff Award here: