Last chances for Junior Drivers

It’s just over a fortnight till the qualification period closes for the New Zealand Junior Drivers’ Championships.

The championships, featuring 12 of the country’s best harness racing juniors, will be held at Cambridge on Tuesday, October 15 and at Addington the next day (Wednesday, October 15) and then again on Friday, October 18.

The junior drivers will be selected after qualifying finishes on September 15.

Since January 1, 2024 they have earned points for every race they have competed in.

The 12 drivers for the championships will be :

The top four points-scorers in Canterbury for the year
The top three in the North island
The top two South of the Waitaki
The next two top points-scorers
and a wildcard to be selected by HRNZ Chief Executive

As of now the top 12 would be :

Canterbury :

Sam Thornley 599 points
Wilson House 596
Carter Dalgety 538
Olivia Thornley 163

North Island :

Crystal Hackett 381
Zev Meredith 275
Monika Ranger 187

South of the Waitaki :

Kerryn Tomlinson 420
Max Hill 111

Next top two :

Seth Hill 146
Riley Harrison 146

Wildcard : To be confirmed

Sarah O’Reilly, who’s since graduated to the open driving ranks, won the championships four of five years, including three in a row from 2021-23, while Kerryn Tomlinson was the winner in 2020.

From Harness Racing New Zealand