Davis leads strong line up for 2025 Youngbloods Challenge

Defending champion Brodie Davis is among a group of 10 junior drivers announced to compete in the 2025 6ty° Youngbloods Challenge in Launceston on Saturday night, 29 November.

For the third year in a row, the Youngbloods Challenge will be held alongside the Group 3 Bandbox and Globe Derby Finals, both worth $75,000 this year, up from $60,000 for the Tasbred Three-Year Olds and the $50,000 Tassie Golden Apple Final.

There will be four heats run, and the list of drivers competing in alphabetical order is below:

• Ethan Arnott
• Jordan Chibnall
• Brodie Davis
• Jacob Duggan
• Mitch Ford
• Grace Jones
• Malcom Jones
• Bronte Miller
• Liam Older
• Kayleb Williams

Brodie Davis was a comfortable winner of the Youngbloods in 2024 after a driving double across the final two heats and is keen to defend his title in 2025.

“It was very rewarding to win the Youngbloods last year. I was very happy with the book of drives I got, and the horses performed on the day,” Davis said.

“This year, I’m just hoping to get a few good horses throughout the series. It should be a great night as we have a good group of young drivers coming through, and we all like to win, so it will be very competitive.”

The series was introduced to the harness calendar in 1986 and is held for drivers aged 23 and under.

All four heats are capped at 10 runners per race, each worth a total purse of $12,000. Drives will be allocated via random draw, with a points system used in each heat to determine the overall winner.

by Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing