On Wednesday, May 20, Standardbred Canada held a conference call with the eight drivers competing in the 2026 Western Regional Driving Championship (WRDC) to finalize the horses they will drive for the event on Saturday, May 23, at Century Downs Racetrack & Casino.

For the first time in the history of the WRDC, the draft took place after horses were assigned post positions. Also new for this year, drivers were also not required to drive from every post position. This format, adopted after consultation with competitors from previous years, allowed drivers to know their horses’ post positions before making their selections, avoiding the scenario of drivers using an early draft pick on a horse later assigned an unfavourable post.

The eight drivers will participate in eight competition races. The 2026 WRDC competitors are:

• Phil Giesbrecht
• Logan Gillis
• Mike Hennessy
• Kelly Hoerdt
• James Jungquist
• Scott Knight
• Darryl Mason
• Nathan Sobey

The WRDC drivers selected their horses in a fantasy draft format. First, a random draw determined the selection order for the opening WRDC race. A random number generator was then used to determine the draft order for the remaining seven races, ensuring each driver received a first through eighth-place selection with each driver having the opportunity to select first overall in one of the eight WRDC races. Each driver was not required to drive from each post position.

Post time for Race 1 on Saturday’s WRDC card is 12:45 p.m. MDT (2:45 p.m. EDT). The first WRDC race is scheduled for Race 3 at approximately 1:30 p.m. MDT.  The WRDC races will continue through Race 10. The top two drivers by points after the final WRDC race will be awarded their respective Golden or Silver ticket and advance to the National Driving Championship on Sunday, July 26, at Clinton Raceway, in Clinton, Ont.

Here is the order in which the WRDC drivers selected their horses.

To view Saturday’s entries, click one of the following links: Century Downs Racetrack & Casino - Saturday Entries || Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).

(Standardbred Canada Press Release)