Vicious driving battle brewing in Keystone Province

The second season of harness racing is about to kick off at The Loop located just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

With all the excitement of another season coming to the new track, one cannot overlook the potential huge driver battle that is incoming. 11 drivers will jump in the sulky behind the 39 horses that draw into the six-race card. In recent years, it was easy to predict who might be the top driver at the end of the season but due to some shake ups and a couple of drivers making a comeback, the 2024 title seems to be wide open.

Blake Piwniuk

The back-to-back top driver in Manitoba, Blake Piwniuk is itching to add more hardware to his shelf. He finished 2023 with a career-high 56 wins and collected 37 of them at The Loop. Piwniuk has a Udrs of 0.492 which was his second best behind the 0.601 Udrs performance he orchestrated in 2022. Piwniuk has 218 career wins and has earned over $690,000 in the bike. He isn’t hard to miss in his yellow and purple silks, but he also has made himself noticeable with a career Udrs of 0.319.

The Macnutt, Saskatchewan resident has already made 130 starts this year in Alberta but is surely excited to be back at his old stomping grounds in Winnipeg.  Some of those starts in Alberta included being the Manitoba representative in the Western Regional Driving Championship. Piwniuk has been at the top of his game lately, but a pair of veteran drivers are set to return who could easily rain on his parade.

Glenn Le Drew

Fellow Saskatchewan boy, Glenn Le Drew returns to the sulky after taking 2023 off.  Le Drew was the 2021 Top Driver in the province with 45 wins and a Udrs of 0.582. He started off his 2022 year off well before taking some time off. Le Drew started driving in 2001and he has amassed 383 career wins. He has also earned excess of $620,000 in prize money while wearing the white, green and red silks.

Donald Howlett

Don Howlett is another driver returning to the track after taking 2023 off but his time away was due to an injury caused by a racing accident. The longtime horseman has been driving since the mid-80s on the East Coast and has made 554 trips to the winner’s circle. He too has earned over $664,000 in prize money and has been one of the top drivers over the years in Manitoba. Before his untimely injury in 2022, Howlett had 25 wins during the season and a Udrs of 0.607. During qualifiers, it looked like Howlett had barely missed a beat since being away from the track.

Richard Remillard

Richard Remillard returned to Manitoba last year and he quickly rose back up the ranks. He finished with the second most driving wins only behind Piwniuk with 13. He also picked up $71,357 in prize money and had a Udrs of 0.381. Remillard has won over $1.7 million in prize money over his five-decade-long career. He is 41 wins away from hitting the 1000 mark but will need a few good years more to hit it. Remillard will continue to sport the Red, white and black silks.

Meet the rest of the drivers & 2023 stats:

Michel Rey: 78-11-21-17, $86,554, Udrs 0.363

Marc Fillion: 74-10-14-17, $58,582, Udrs 0.316

Darryl Mason: 56-8-9-12, $44,006, Udrs 0.303

Paula Mason: 35-6-2-5, $24,556, Udrs 0.260

Clayton Braybrook: 72-7-12-15, $52,870, Udrs 0.259

Tyler Grundy: 48-5-13-5, $40,301, Udrs 0.289

Dean Rey: 59-10-8-11, $47,767, Udrs 0.306

Stay tuned for an upcoming edition of Harness News Update: Picks & Analysis for betting advice on the opening day of racing at The Loop.

The first day of racing is on June 29 and post time is at 1:00 p.m. Central.

For complete race results, click here.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink