Phil Coulson formed famous partnerships with some of the biggest names in Australian pacing. Pure Steel, Gammalite and Village Kid…Coulson drove them all to become the WA Pacing Cup king.
No one has come close to Coulson's record in the Cup.
He trained five winners and drove seven between 1964 and 1985.
Coulson was another who learned his art from the legendary Frank Kersley, although he soon decided that the Kersley style wasn't for him.
Coulson is widely credited with changing the style of harness race driving in Western Australian with his tactics of being prepared to race outside the leader and to dictate the pace in races.
Coulson became renowned as a superb conditioner of horses and the fitness of his horses enabled him to drive them aggressively.
His success with this new style of driving saw others copy Coulson although few enjoyed the same levels of success.
Coulson won a total of 13 Group One races including the 1967 Inter Dominion with Binshaw. He topped the Perth Driver's Premiership five times and only Fred and Frank Kersley have won more.
Likewise his six Perth Trainer's Premierships has only ever been surpassed by the Kersleys. A man who set his goals high and achieved all at a young age, Phil Coulson has a record that few will ever equal let alone better.