A unique competition comes to Century Downs in late June. It is the national drivers qualifier, one of four to be staged across Canada. And four worthy competitors will represent Century Downs in the competition.
Leading driver, Travis Cullen, will headline Team Century. He’ll be joined by Phil Giesbrecht, Mike Hennessy, and David Kelly. Don Howlett from Manitoba, along with Jim Marino, Paul Davies and Brandon Campbell, representing BC harness racing, will be the other competitors.
Cullen finished qualifying by winning four races on deadline day, May 15th. The 23 year old Manitoba native, who now calls Airdrie AB home, already has 111 wins on the season. He’s demonstrated strength and consistency across his 30-horse stable and isn’t sitting on his laurels. A recent add-on, Broadview Bridge, was bought from eastern interests and is already two for three at Century Downs. His second win was Cullen’s 100th driving victory of the season.
“I didn’t have much luck the only other time I drove in the regional challenge,” Cullen told me. “There’s eight races and I think I won a couple. But as with any sport, you have to be consistent and I had a couple of horses that finished well back. I didn’t get any points for how they raced and that kept me from winning the qualifier.”
The format has each of the eight drivers racing from each of the eight post positions on June 26th. The driver draw will be random so that drivers aren’t competing right beside another driver in back to back races. They’ll drive what they draw from the normal post position draw to be held on the Thursday, June 23rd. Even the local drivers may be matched with horses they do not normally drive. So there’s liable to be a lot of hurried conversations with trainers in the paddock before heading out for each race. Points are compiled for performance based on a 5-3-1 basis for top three finishes. The top two drivers from the Century Downs event will advance to the national finals to be held in London on Friday evening, October 14th.
The other three regionals are at Grand River Raceway on June 24th, Hippodrome 3R in Trois Rivieres on July 12th and Red Shores in Charlottetown on June 25th. Two drivers come from each of the four qualifiers and the same format will be used for the national final. The winner of that event will represent Canada in the world driving championships which Canada will host next year. The 2017 event will coincide with celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of horse racing in Canada and the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
In 2017, the world driving championship will be staged in five legs beginning with the first leg at Century Downs on Saturday, August 12th. Other stops next year will be at Mohawk August 14th, Georgian Downs August 15th, and Hippodrome 3R August 16th. The champion will be crowned on Friday August 18th at Red Shores in Charlottetown, where the World Trotting Congress is taking place. So, it’s not just another day of racing this year on June 26th. There are some major prizes to be won.
Meanwhile, a break in the stakes action at Century Downs until the weekend of June 11th and 12 when the Wild Rose and Gord Rumpel stakes for the 3 year old class are set to be run. The girls will go Saturday, the boys on Sunday. In both cases, they’ll be run in divisions if more than eight horses draw into each event. Both stakes carry purses of $42,000 apiece. Both are open events, meaning the best of the homebreds will have to contend with some very worthy challengers.
And there will be some worthy Alberta-breds judging by performances in the Bev Sears and the As Promised events in mid May. Monstrous came from the back of the pack to beat a field of 3 and 4 year old fillies in a great stretch run and finish to the Bev Sears. Divas Dragonfly and Senga Naptha are both coming off extended breaks but both qualified smartly on May 15th. Divas Dragonfly has made steady progress since undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from her hocks in early March.
On the boys’ side, Eh Senor (4th) and Archie Bunker (5th), made the final of the As Promised Stakes, racing against 4 year olds. They are bound to be a little stronger racing against their own age group. Thirty-one fillies are nominated for the Wild Rose. Twenty colts and geldings are nominated for the Gordon Rumpel.
Leading driver, Travis Cullen, will headline Team Century. He’ll be joined by Phil Giesbrecht, Mike Hennessy, and David Kelly. Don Howlett from Manitoba, along with Jim Marino, Paul Davies and Brandon Campbell, representing BC harness racing, will be the other competitors.
Cullen finished qualifying by winning four races on deadline day, May 15th. The 23 year old Manitoba native, who now calls Airdrie AB home, already has 111 wins on the season. He’s demonstrated strength and consistency across his 30-horse stable and isn’t sitting on his laurels. A recent add-on, Broadview Bridge, was bought from eastern interests and is already two for three at Century Downs. His second win was Cullen’s 100th driving victory of the season.
“I didn’t have much luck the only other time I drove in the regional challenge,” Cullen told me. “There’s eight races and I think I won a couple. But as with any sport, you have to be consistent and I had a couple of horses that finished well back. I didn’t get any points for how they raced and that kept me from winning the qualifier.”
The format has each of the eight drivers racing from each of the eight post positions on June 26th. The driver draw will be random so that drivers aren’t competing right beside another driver in back to back races. They’ll drive what they draw from the normal post position draw to be held on the Thursday, June 23rd. Even the local drivers may be matched with horses they do not normally drive. So there’s liable to be a lot of hurried conversations with trainers in the paddock before heading out for each race. Points are compiled for performance based on a 5-3-1 basis for top three finishes. The top two drivers from the Century Downs event will advance to the national finals to be held in London on Friday evening, October 14th.
The other three regionals are at Grand River Raceway on June 24th, Hippodrome 3R in Trois Rivieres on July 12th and Red Shores in Charlottetown on June 25th. Two drivers come from each of the four qualifiers and the same format will be used for the national final. The winner of that event will represent Canada in the world driving championships which Canada will host next year. The 2017 event will coincide with celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of horse racing in Canada and the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
In 2017, the world driving championship will be staged in five legs beginning with the first leg at Century Downs on Saturday, August 12th. Other stops next year will be at Mohawk August 14th, Georgian Downs August 15th, and Hippodrome 3R August 16th. The champion will be crowned on Friday August 18th at Red Shores in Charlottetown, where the World Trotting Congress is taking place. So, it’s not just another day of racing this year on June 26th. There are some major prizes to be won.
Meanwhile, a break in the stakes action at Century Downs until the weekend of June 11th and 12 when the Wild Rose and Gord Rumpel stakes for the 3 year old class are set to be run. The girls will go Saturday, the boys on Sunday. In both cases, they’ll be run in divisions if more than eight horses draw into each event. Both stakes carry purses of $42,000 apiece. Both are open events, meaning the best of the homebreds will have to contend with some very worthy challengers.
And there will be some worthy Alberta-breds judging by performances in the Bev Sears and the As Promised events in mid May. Monstrous came from the back of the pack to beat a field of 3 and 4 year old fillies in a great stretch run and finish to the Bev Sears. Divas Dragonfly and Senga Naptha are both coming off extended breaks but both qualified smartly on May 15th. Divas Dragonfly has made steady progress since undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from her hocks in early March.
On the boys’ side, Eh Senor (4th) and Archie Bunker (5th), made the final of the As Promised Stakes, racing against 4 year olds. They are bound to be a little stronger racing against their own age group. Thirty-one fillies are nominated for the Wild Rose. Twenty colts and geldings are nominated for the Gordon Rumpel.
RSS Feed
