A pair of top North American drivers are among the field set to face off in the Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship, a new slot racing series announced earlier this year that will take place in February 2025 at The Creek, Albion Park in Brisbane, Australia.

The Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship will feature 10 drivers, selected by the 10 slot owners, competing in a 20-race series over two nights on Feb. 21-22, 2025, with more than $250,000 AUD in prize money offered.

New Zealand native Dexter Dunn and Canadian-born Yannick Gingras, North America's top money-earning reinsmen this year, have been selected to compete in the challenge.

Title sponsor Ladbrokes secured Dunn, who set a Breeders Crown driving record by winning six championships this year, for its slot. The 35-year-old reinsman, now based in New Jersey, will make the trip from the United States to Australia for the first time since he won the 2018 Blacks A Fake Championship behind Let It Ride. The 2015 World Driving Champion earned close to 2,300 wins in New Zealand and Australia before making the move to the United States where he's won more than 2,200 races and been named Dan Patch Driver of the Year four times. 

Gingras, who added the prestigious Hambletonian this year to his list of career achievements, will compete for a group of slot owners that include ABR, Summit Bloodstock, Ron Burke and Weaver Bruscemi Syndicate. The 45-year-old Quebec native, who moved to the United States in 2001, is a two-time Dan Patch Driver of the Year and was inducted into the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2022. He's won more than 9,100 races with his $244 million USD in career purse earnings ranking fourth-best all-time in North America.

The Ultimate Driver Championship participants also include Swedish driving star Bjorn Goop along with Australasian stars Carter Dalgety, Nathan Dawson, Angus Garrard, Kate Gath, Gary Hall Jr., Brad Hewitt and Pete McMullen.

The unique event was revealed earlier this year and puts a major spin on the slot race concept seen across all racing jurisdictions. Slot holders paid $20,000 AUD to be involved in the series and then were required to select a driver and the horses they will partner in the two-night, 20-race contest.

Slot holders will receive points throughout the 20 races based on finishing position, with the slot holder/driver who accrues the most points declared the winner. The overall Ultimate Driver and their slot holder will receive $100,000 AUD, with the winner of each race to receive $1,000 AUD per race victory.

Race fields for the series will be collated in the same as any other driver series (where trainers nominate their horses without a driver assigned), while all races will be penalty free. The draft to partner drivers with horses will be conducted as a 'snake order draft,' with slot holders able to choose any of the available horses left across the 20 races until all drivers/slot holders are assigned to a horse in each race.

The Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship drivers (with slot holders) are listed below:

• Carter Dalgety (N40 Racing / Boys Get Paid Syndicate)
• Nathan Dawson (First Over Crush Syndicate)
• Dexter Dunn (Ladbrokes)
• Angus Garrard (SEN, Garrards and 1Equine Syndicate)
• Kate Gath (Gath Racing Group supporting Team Teal)
• Yannick Gingras (ABR/Summit Bloodstock/Ron Burke/Weaver Bruscemi Syndicate)
• Bjorn Goop (Tumby Park Syndicate)
• Gary Hall Jr. (Gloucester Park Gurus)
• Brad Hewitt (Triple Play Syndicate)
• Peter McMullen (The Unharnessed Hawks Syndicate)

(With files from Racing Queensland)