Nathan Dawson favourite for Ultimate Drivers Championship following draft

By Ken Warren

Local reinsman Nathan Dawson is the early favourite for this weekend’s Ladbrokes Ultimate Drivers Championship at Albion Park following today’s draft.

The draft was billed as the day when the championship could be won or lost so tensions were high when driver and slot holders combined to select their drives for Friday and Saturday night’s meetings.

The draft gave each slot holder the chance to pick their favoured horses across the two programs using a snake-style draft to make the selection process as even as possible.

It also added plenty of interest to the contest with form analysts put to the test and different selection tactics employed across the 10 slot holders.

Friday night races proved popular early on, with the N40/BGP Syndicate choosing Waikaka Magic for their driver Carter Dalgety with their number one draft pick.

Its Electrifying was the second horse chosen, going to the First Over Crush Syndicate and Nathan Dawson while another of Friday night’s entrants Sports Bounty was the third horse locked in, selected by Ladbrokes for Dexter Dunn.

Inter Dominion participant Jimartee was another claimed in the first round of selections, going to Tumby Park Syndicate/Bjorn Goop, along with Rylee Rhayne Bow who was selected by SEN/ Garrards/1Equine Syndicate and Angus Garrard.

Others horses selected as first picks included Life Of Art (Triple Play Syndicate/Brad Hewitt), Jamaican Rock (The Unharnessed Hawks Syndicate/Pete McMullen), Thesunandthemoon (ABR, Summit, Ron Burke, Weaver Bruscemi/Yannick Gingras) and The Grogmother (Gloucester Park Gurus/Gary Hall Jnr).

Following the draft, Ladbrokes had Nathan Dawson at the top of their Ultimate Driver Championship market at $5.

Dexter Dunn is second pick at $5.50 with Gary Hall Jr and Brad Hewitt both at $6 and Pete McMullen at $6.50 in a very competitive betting market.

The Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship will be held over 20 races at Albion Park– 10 on Friday night and 10 on Saturday night.

Slot holders will receive points throughout the 20 races based on where their driver places in each event, with the slot holder/driver who accrues the most points declared the winner and snaring $100,000 in prizemoney.

There will also be a $1000 prize awarded to each race winner, giving connections even more incentive to make wise choices at the draft.

The Ultimate Driver Championship has attracted some of the biggest harness racing names from across the world including Yannick Gingras from Canada, Bjorn Goop from Sweden and New Zealand pair Dexter Dunn and Carter Dalgety.

Three Queensland drivers will take part – Pete McMullen, Nathan Dawson and Angus Garrard – with three other Australian drivers Kate Gath (Victoria), Gary Hall Jr (WA) and Brad Hewitt (NSW) rounding out the field.