Day is inaugural women’s driving champion

Harness racing driver Natasha Day hoisted the inaugural OLG Ontario Women’s Driving Championship (OWDC) trophy after a back-and-forth final day on Sunday at Dresden Raceway.

Day, who led after the first leg at Hanover Raceway of the two-day driving contest, started the Sunday round with a sixth and a fifth place finish and ceded the lead to Marie Claude Auger. Day fought back though, winning two straight races and securing the championship with a score of 58.

Julie Walker fired herself into winning contention at the start of day two with an authoritative drive aboard Tilly Dreamcatcher. Walker pointed the mare to the front early, capitalizing on trouble for the two inside starters behind the gate. Tilly Dreamcatcher held the lead through an actionless first two panels of :30.4 and 1:01.2. Cimeron Pat tailed the leader as they streaked away from their six opponents going to three-quarters in 1:33, but she could do no more than chase as Tilly Dreamcatcher finished strongly to break her maiden in 2:03. The win was Walker’s second of the contest and fifth lifetime in 75 starts.

Auger struck back in the second race, reversing positions with Walker and taking the championship lead.

She hustled Miss Read to the top from post three, stepping around Walker and Write About Laura on the first turn. Miss Read cut out :29.0, 1:00.1, and 1:31.1 speed through the first three respective panels and never faced a true challenge as she cruised to a 2:01.3 victory. Write About Laura enjoyed the pocket and finished second.

Day returned fire on the new title leader immediately, crushing her rivals in the third and fourth and placing one hand on the trophy.

She claimed an early lead with Dreaming Out Loud but was content to keep the gelding bottled in the pocket as Pam Forgie urged Insincerity to the lead and threw down :28.4, :58.4, and 1:28.3 fractions. Day pounced on a tired Insincerity entering the far turn, and Dreaming Out Loud needed only light asking to blow by and extend his winning margin to seven and a quarter lengths in a 1:58.1 victory.

Day then drove a similarly dominant April Bandit in the fourth. She elicited early speed from the mare to take point, rated her to a :29.2 quarter and :59.3 half, brushed aside a looming Sports Bandit (Forgie) at three-quarters in 1:29.2, and saw her home to complete a 1:59.1 romp.

Day was on top entering the last round and needed to finish sixth or better to lock up the title. Auger and Walker, six and seven points back respectively, required a victory and a poor final outing from the leader.

Leon broke her contest maiden aboard Mister X, leading through the quarter in :28, half in :58, the three-quarters in 1:28 while turning away a challenging Go Mud (Marielle Enberg), and making a strong charge to the line in 1:58.4. The contending three all missed the board.

Auger led the trio home with Skippysmisbehaven finishing fifth, but Day teamed with Lady Natasha to secure the trophy with a sixth-place effort and a total of 58 points. Fading Shadow and Walker were seventh.

The OWDC was a two-day driving challenge in which eight female drivers competed for points in 10 races. The points were awarded based on the order of finish on an 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. The first five-race leg was contested on Saturday, Jul. 17 at Hanover Raceway.

The drivers donated their purse earnings from the second round to Harness the Hope, a harness racing charity focused on breast cancer research, awareness, and support for survivors. Day one winnings went to the Canadian Cancer Society for Cervical Cancer.

The final standings are:

1 – Natasha Day – 58
2 – Marie Claude Auger -53
3 – Julie Walker – 50
T4 – Marielle Enberg, Pam Forgie – 46
6 – Britt Kennedy – 37
7 – Maggie Jones – 36
8 – Andrea Leon – 34

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink