Two prominent Canadian horsemen are making headlines for appearances in Australia in advance of that country's most prestigious stakes event.
Trevor Henry has driven more than 5,000 winners in his career that has spanned twenty years and is set to drive at Leeton on Friday afternoon. Henry struck up a good friendship with Australian trainer Neil Day when the two represented their respective countries in the World Driving Championships in France last year and when Day knew Henry would be holidaying in Australia he offered him the chance to drive at a couple of meetings.
"Trevor, David Butcher and I spent a lot of time with one another in France last year and I knew he was coming out to Australia with his family for a holiday so I thought it would be good to let him have a drive at some of the Australian tracks," Day told Harness Racing New South Wales.
"When I found out the dates that he would be finished his tour that he was doing here in Australia, I looked at the calendar and saw that the meeting which was closest for us on Friday was Leeton and asked him if he was still keen to come on a four hour drive each way and he said sure."
Day was full of praise for the Canadian star and is hoping he can assist him pick up some drives at Goulburn on Sunday afternoon.
"He passed 5,000 winning drives recently, has had nearly 27,000 drives, and won $13 million dollars in stakes which is a good effort considering he only took out his licence in 1994," said Day.
"I was going to try and get him a drive at Menangle on Saturday night but seeing it is such a big night I thought we might just go and watch the two Inter Dominion heats at the track instead but he will be at Goulburn on Sunday too so I'm hoping he can pick up a few drives there as well."
Day confirmed that Henry had enjoyed his Australian experience so far.
"They're enjoying the trip for sure, there is even some talk of them coming back again in the future, hopefully one of my horses can do the right thing by him on Friday at Leeton."
Friday Entries - Leeton
Friday Form Chart - Leeton
Also planning on enjoying the Inter Dominions is Rick Zeron. Currently serving a six-month suspension for a positive test as the trainer of Rose Run Limo, Zeron told Harness Racing New Zealand that he was planning on heading downunder after a stop in Dubai.
“I’m going to visit friends in Perth and then we will be heading to Sydney. There is a good chance we will attend the Inter Dominion grand final.
“New Zealand is also a possibility because we know that is a very beautiful country. It would be great to see how both countries operate their racing,” said Zeron, who is making his first ever trip downunder.
“It’s been a life-time goal. My wife and I had planned to head down there in five or six years, but I said to her, ‘what the hell’, let’s do it now. We are really excited about it."