Mother's Day for the Tomlinsons

Mother's Day is of course an opportunity to say thank you to those nearest and dearest to us all. Harness racing has many mothers who are involved in the sport in many different capacities.

Today we look at one of those Mums whose own daughters are carrying on the family tradition.

Team Tomlinson (and the Fords) - "we are all close"

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk

2025 marks the first Mother's Day when Amanda Tomlinson hasn't actually had any children living at home.

"We are empty-nesters," she says.

Tomlinson is part of a multi-generational harness racing family.

Her father Ken Ford's had over 200 winners since the early 1990s including training back-to-back Dominion winners Marcoola and Amaretto Sun.

Amanda has been around horses most of her life and officially joined her father in partnership in 2021. She has also had 65 wins as a driver since her first with Midnight Invasion at Motukarara in 2006.

Amanda and husband Mark Tomlinson have three children, with Sheree and Kerryn well-known in the sport while their youngest Zane has "gone in a different direction".

He has a master's degree in climate change and sustainability and works for ANZCO Foods in Christchurch.
 
"When Zane moved out around Christmas that was the first time that Mark and I have actually ever lived in a house just by ourselves," says Amanda.

When the couple got married in the late 1990s they moved in with Amanda's parents Ken and Dianne Ford. By the time they'd completed their own house a few minutes down the road at West Melton near Christchurch Sheree had already been born.

Sheree (above) is now 26, and was followed by Kerryn (25) and Zane (23).

Sheree (307 driving wins) lives just down the road from "the Ford farm". Both Amanda and her are there every day while trainer-driver Kerryn (145 driving wins) works for Brad Williamson in Oamaru. Sheree made history when Amaretto Sun won the Dominion - at 19, she was the youngest ever driver and first female to win New Zealand's most prestigious trotting feature.

"They are all great kids. The girls are strong minded, Zane is more like his dad, pretty laid back," says Amanda.

"We are all close and you'd struggle to get into an argument with Zane, he's very placid," says Sheree.

"We had a great upbringing ... Mum was very invested whether it was ponies or coaching school sports or dance and netball."

"Plus she ran Kidz Kartz just about entirely by herself."

"She was very competitive. She was competitive then and she is competitive now."

In saying that Sheree reckons her mum has changed a bit over the years.

"She was strict enough when we were kids, I'd say she's probably a little more relaxed now."

So now that the kids have gone, what changes?

"The house is a lot easier to keep tidy!" says Amanda.

In terms of Mother's Day Sheree says traditionally it's fallen on race days and it's usually celebrated with "a box of chocolates and a lotto ticket".

Today though Amanda is not heading to the races at Ashburton and has plans with her own Mum.

"She makes morning tea for us (at the stables) every day and not just for one or two - sometimes there a dozen people there."

"So I'll be taking my mum out for tea."