AYDC gets underway on Tuesday

The Kiwi challenge to win the Australasian Young Drivers Championships (AYDC) starts at Menangle in Sydney tomorrow (Tuesday).

Crystal Hackett (above), Sam Thornley (below) and Kerryn Tomlinson will compete against Australia’s top harness racing talent over nine heats, with the opening two heats both over a mile, at 5.12pm and 6.22pm.

All three will debut brand new driving suits for the occasion.

For Hackett it’s her third AYDC while Thornley’s last appearance was in 2022 when he was leading for much of the championships, only to finish second.

This will be Tomlinson’s first championships, though she did qualify in 2020 only for the event to be cancelled because of the pandemic. She is vying to follow in the footsteps of her sister Sheree, who won the AYDC in 2018.

Representing New South Wales, Joshua Gallagher is the defending champion after winning last year’s championships in Queensland.

The drivers competing in the 2024 Australasian Young Drivers Championship (in alphabetical order) :

Corey Johnson (South Australia)
Crystal Hackett (New Zealand)
Ewa Justice (Victoria)
Jacob Duggan  (Tasmania)
Josh Gallagher (New South Wales)
Kerryn Tomlinson (New Zealand)
Kyle Symington (Western Australia)
Sam Thornley (New Zealand)
Taleah McMullen (Queensland)
Will Rixon (New South Wales)

Tuesday night drives :

Race 4 (Heat 1) – 5.12pm  1609m

2 Double Said – Sam Thornley
4 Specialize Lou – Crystal Hackett
11 Fiftyshades Cresco  – Kerryn Tomlinson

Race 6 (Heat 2) – 6.22pm 1609m

1 Silver Mystique – Kerryn Tomlinson
7 Cabana – Crystal Hackett
9 Our Chiquitita – Sam Thornley

Schedule :

Tuesday (Dec 10) – Menangle (2 Heats)
Wednesday (Dec 11) – Bathurst (2 Heats)
Thursday (Dec 12) – Penrith (2 Heats)
Friday (Dec 13) – Newcastle (2 Heats)
Saturday (Dec 14) – Menangle (1 Heat) – ID24 Finals night.

We will have regular updates on hrnz.co.nz and across our social media channels.

From Harness Racing New Zealand