The 2026 National Driving Championship, presented by Standardbred Canada, is set to reach the largest audience in the event's history this Sunday, July 26 with live streaming available through the SC website and PrimeTime Racing presenting a three-hour live national broadcast on Game+ Network.

The eight NDC drivers will compete in eight races, with each race featuring a full field of eight horses. Drivers include Tyler Borth, Nick Boyd, Stéphane Brosseau, Marc Campbell, Phil Giesbrecht, Kelly Hoerdt, Jody Jamieson and Keith Legge.

Post time for the first race on Sunday’s NDC card is 1:30 p.m. (EDT). The first NDC race is scheduled for Race 2 at approximately 2 p.m. and will continue through Race 10, with a break for the seventh-race Legends Day Invitational Trot. To view Sunday’s entries, click one of the following links: Clinton Raceway - Sunday Entries || Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).

Festivities begin at 11:30 a.m. (EDT) with the Cowbell Brewery Patio Party, featuring live music and opportunities for fans to meet the National Driving Championship competitors before racing gets underway.

Legends Day drivers Doug Brown, Chris Christoforou, Steve Condren, Wally Hennessey, Carl Jamieson, Paul MacDonell and Mike Saftic will be available for autographs from 2-3 p.m. before taking to the track for the Legends Day Trot. They will be joined by fellow harness racing greats John Campbell, Bill O'Donnell, Trevor Ritchie, Dave Wall and Ron Waples, who will also be available to meet fans and sign autographs.

On Thursday, July 23, Standardbred Canada held a conference call with the eight drivers competing in the 2026 NDC to finalize the horses they will drive for the event on Sunday, July 26 at Clinton Raceway in Clinton, Ont.

For the first time in the history of the NDC, the draft took place after horses were assigned post positions. 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, preventing the pitfall of a driver using an early draft pick on a horse that later draws an unfavourable post.

The NDC drivers selected their horses in a fantasy draft format. First, a random draw determined the selection order for the opening NDC race. A random number generator was then used to determine the draft order for the remaining seven legs, ensuring each driver selected once in each position (first through eighth). Every driver had the opportunity to select first in one of the eight NDC races.

The eight drivers will participate in eight competition races and earn points based on their finishing positions using the World Driving Championship scoring system (15-10-7-5-4-3-2-1). The driver with the highest point total after the final race will be crowned Canada's National Driving Champion and advance to represent Canada at the 2027 World Driving Championship.

National Driving Championship Set For Largest Audience In Event History

Beginning live at 2 p.m. (EDT) PrimeTime Racing will deliver three hours of championship coverage, featuring every race, expert commentary, driver interviews, and behind-the-scenes features from Clinton Raceway.

Hosts Greg Blanchard and Mark McKelvie will be joined by two-time World Driving Champion James MacDonald, Canada's leading driver and the defending World Driving Champion after earning the title in New Zealand in 2025.

The PrimeTime Racing show will be available here as well as on Game+ Network.

Last Call For NDC Online Contest!

Standardbred Canada has launched an online contest for the 2026 National Driving Championship. The contest features an assortment of questions based on the NDC races. Each question is worth a predetermined number of points. The contestant with the highest point total out of a possible 20 points will be declared the winner.

The winner will receive a $50 HPIbet credit and 125 TrackIT credits. 

Bet Ontario Handicapping Contest At Clinton Sunday

The third leg of the Bet Ontario Handicapping Contest, an in-person wagering contest featuring total prizes of $10,000, is available for fans on-track at Clinton this Sunday.

Conducted by Ontario Racing, HPIbet and the Central Ontario Standardbred Association, the contest features six total legs and a championship event. At each leg, participants will sign up, in person, and exchange $100 for a tournament-specific HPIbet wagering card. That card will be used to wager on the host track's races only. Participants keep all winnings. At the end of the card of racing, the top three participants ranked by total winnings, most to least, will receive the following prizes:

1st place - $500
2nd plce - $300
3rd place - $200

The top three handicappers at each leg, plus the top 10 overall counting all the events combined (in addition to those that already finished in the top three at one or more of the legs), will qualify to participate in the Bet Ontario Handicapping Contest championship night ($100 entry fee does apply for the championship event), where the prizes will be as follows:

1st place - $2,000
2nd place - $1,000
3rd place - $500
4th place - $300
5th place - $200

(Standardbred Canada)