Dates for three Junior Drivers competitions confirmed

The dates for three key Junior Drivers’ harness racing competitions have been confirmed.

Between October 2023 and February 2024 there will be the New Zealand Junior Drivers’ Championships, the Australasian Young Drivers’ Championship and the Hygain Revell Douglas Memorial Series.

NZ Junior Drivers’ Championship :

The 2023 New Zealand Junior Drivers’ Championship will be held over an action-packed three days in October.

The races will be held at Addington (Thursday, October 5), followed by Ascot Park in Invercargill the following day and then the finale at Methven on Sunday, October 8.

Twelve drivers will be involved in the championship and they will be selected depending on the number of points they have accrued between January 1 – September 17, 2023.

The 12 will include the top four junior drivers from Canterbury, the top three from the North Island, the top two from the southern region plus the next two top-scorers and a wildcard selected by Harness Racing New Zealand.

Sarah O’Reilly has won three of the last four NZ Junior Drivers’ Championships, with Sam Thornley and Carter Dalgety finishing second and third in 2022.

For more about the NZ Junior Drivers’ Championship click here

For the points see click here

Australasian Young Drivers Championship (AYDC) :

Three junior drivers will be selected for the Australasian Young Drivers Championship.

They will be the leading junior drivers in the North Island and South Island as of October 30, 2023 and the winner of the New Zealand Junior Driver Championship.

If the winner of the NZ Junior Driver Championship is already selected as either the leading North Island or leading South Island the position will be given to the next eligible qualifying driver from the NZ Junior Driver Champs – (2nd placegetter etc).

Last year Sam Thornley was the top-placed Kiwi at the AYDC, finishing second.

The AYDC will be held in Brisbane from Monday 11th December to Sunday 17 December with the ID23 Finals on Saturday 16th December.

For more about the AYDC qualifying see click here:

Hygain Revell Douglas Memorial Series :

The annual Revell Douglas Memorial Series will be held over six races early next year. It’s proposed they will start in Cambridge on January 29, 2024 followed by Hawera (Feb 2 and 4), Methven (Feb 11), Rangiora (Feb 17) and finish at Cromwell on February 23 and 25.

The points will be graduated from 17 for the winner of each race down to one point for finishing between 12th and 16th.

Junior drivers can drive in any of the six races throughout the series.

Last year’s winner was Leah Hibell.

To view more about the Hygain Revell Douglas Memorial Series click here

From Harness Racing New Zealand