On the strength of two wins and two second-place finishes in the final day of action, Angus Garrard maintained his first-day lead and prevailed to provide his team with the $100,000 AUD prize in the inaugural Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship at The Creek, Albion Park in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday, Feb. 22.
After accumulating 98 points during the opening leg, Garrard added another 82 points to conclude the 20-dash competition with 180 points to best his nine rivals. Fellow local reinsman Gary Hall Jr. tallied 155 points to finish second, with Peter McMullen (146) vaulting over Dexter Dunn (133) to round out the top three.
"It's a massive thrill. I can't explain how much it means and I can't thank everyone enough," said Garrard after the official winner's presentation. "It got pretty tense tonight through those middle few races, a lot of emotion built up by that one so it was pretty cool to go out the winner."
Racing against — and winning against — some of the harness racing's best drivers was clearly an accomplishment that was still sinking in during the interview.
"Can't speak highly enough of all of them. They're all great people and they've done a lot of things. They're great drivers. It's been a great week overall and I couldn't be happier with the result."
The Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship featured 10 drivers competing in a 20-race series over two nights on Feb. 21-22. The top three finishers were awarded $100,000 AUD, $50,000 AUD and $35,000 AUD, respectively, with the other slot holders receiving $5,000 AUD each. Slot holders selected their driver ahead of the competition as well as the horses they drove in a serpentine-style draft conducted midweek.
Here's the final leaderboard for the Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship, with drivers listed with slot holders and points:
- Angus Garrard (SEN, Garrards and 1Equine Syndicate) - 180
- Gary Hall Jr. (Gloucester Park Gurus) - 155
- Peter McMullen (The Unharnessed Hawks Syndicate) - 146
- Dexter Dunn (Ladbrokes) - 133
- Bjorn Goop (Tumby Park Syndicate) - 128
- Brad Hewitt (Triple Play Syndicate) - 121
- Yannick Gingras (ABR/Summit Bloodstock/Ron Burke/Weaver Bruscemi Syndicate) - 121
- Nathan Dawson (First Over Crush Syndicate) - 116
- Carter Dalgety (N40 Racing / Boys Get Paid Syndicate) - 96
- Kate Gath (Gath Racing Group Supporting Team Teal) - 81
The full stream from Saturday's races is available below.
(Standardbred Canada)