Drivers ready for battle in Canada’s National Driving Championship

This Friday afternoon, July 5, eight harness racing drivers from throughout the provinces of Canada will battle it out at the Hippodrome 3R in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec in the finals of the Canadian Driving Champion.

The winner of the eight-race competition will get to represent Canada at the World Driving Championships in New Zealand in 2025.

The competition is run by Standardbred Canada and features two representatives from the four regions in the country.  It is the first time that the Hippodrome 3R has ever hosted the finals.

Once the morning line was completed, the point system for the competition was calculated based on the morning line (which is just an estimated indicator of betting odds for the racing fans) and came up with the following possible order of finish.

Stephane Brosseau (Quebec Region) — 65***

Robert Shepherd (Quebec Region) — 54*

Tyler Borth (Ontario Region) — 52

Mike Hennessy (Western Region)– 49*

David Dowling (Atlantic Region) — 45*

James MacDonald (Ontario Region) — 44*

Phil Giesbracht (Western Region) — 41*

Redmond Doucet (Atlantic Region) — 28

* — Morning Line Favorite

H3R’s Stephane Brosseau was fortunate to have three race favorites to drive. He has been on fire as of late at H3R, scoring four winners this past Sunday. He says he is ready for the competition.

“Currently, I’m in a good place lately,” Brosseau said. “I think the win I got at Rideau in a Gold division with a Dr. Moore filly really gave me a boost, so to speak. I’m more confident, the victories are there and not a single day goes by without me thinking about the national tournament. I am looking forward to it and I am in excellent spirits. If I also feel the support of the public, who knows what could happen.”

Second in the morning line calculations is the other H3R representative, Robert Shepherd, who has a drive on one race favorite, but his other drives are also competitive.

“I didn’t do too bad with the draw for Friday,” said Robert Shepherd. “When I looked at the draw, I saw that I did not do that bad. It came out pretty good. It’s gonna be competitive, they are all good drivers. It seems that when you drive against top drivers it steps up your game. You have to be sharp because these guys will take any advantage they can get.”

Shepherd said he has never been to New Zealand and would love to win the championship.

“I was actually teasing my daughter,” Shepherd laughed. “I told her if I win, we will get to go to New Zealand and see some kangaroos.”

As for Tyler Borth, who came in third place in the morning line odds is from Ontario, and he says, “My French isn’t good at all. It stops at Bonjour Je m’appelle Tyler (Hello, my name is Tyler),” Borth laughed. “I am pretty happy with the draw. Looks like I have some decent ones early so I hope to get off to a good start.”

In his Ontario Regional Finals at Western Fair in London, Borth was very pleased to have won and best fellow finalist James MacDonald.

“It was a thrill to win the Regionals at my home track of Western Fair, Borth added. “And it’s always nice to come out ahead of King James as you know you must be doing something right.”

All of the drivers will participate in a meet and greet with racing fans at the track Friday starting at 2:00 pm. Then at 3:00 pm will be the official presentation of the eight drivers in the competition. First race post time is 4:00 pm. For free race programs, visit here.

by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club