THE hugely successful Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship will return to Albion Park early next year.
Some of the best harness drivers from around the world, headed by Dexter Dunn and Yannick Gingras from the US and Swedish great Bjorn Goop, headlined the inaugural series in February, this year.
The star-studded 10 driver line-up sparked record-breaking betting turnover and passionately strong crowds across the two nights and 20 races of the series.
It delivered a career highlight for top young local driver Angus Garrard, the youngest driver in the series, who upstaged his famous rivals to win the title.
Total turnover across the two meetings (February 21 and 22) this year was $6.8 million, an increase of 83 per cent against the same meetings the previous year.
“It was a no-brainer to bring it back. We’ve really landed on something special with this series,” Racing Queensland Senior Harness Racing Manager Andrew Clarke said. “The series brought together owners, trainers, drivers, punters and fans like nothing we’ve seen before.
“We were swamped with submissions for slots last year, so increased the cost from $20,000 to $30,000 and boosted the overall prize money of the series from $250,000 to $350,000.
“Given how much the slot owners enjoyed this and how many missed out, we’re confident demand will be very strong again.
“The same goes for drivers. Yes, we had an incredible line-up, but we also had drivers from across Australia, NZ, the US and Europe wishing they were part of it and saying they’d throw their hat in the ring again next time.”
Next Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship, scheduled for February 20 and 21, will carry a $125,000 prize to the winner, consisting of $110,000 cash and a $15,000 Nutrien Equine sales voucher to use at the Sunshine Stars Yearling Sale the day after the series.
“Applications for slots are open now through Racing Queensland and anyone interested will need to be quick because we’ve got a September 12 deadline,” Clarke said.
“We want to be open and say we will give added weight to applications from syndicates because the experience from the first series showed the volume of people, energy and enthusiasm the syndicates brought to the event.”
Despite the stunning depth of last year’s driver pool, Aussie stars like Luke McCarthy, Cam Hart, James Herbertson all missed out, as did Kiwi superstars like Blair Orange, Zac Butcher and Tony Herlihy.
The return of the Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship will kick-start another massive year for Queensland harness racing with the iconic Inter Dominion series slated for July in the second of its three-year cycle at Albion Park.
