Tyler Borth retained his Ontario Regional Driving Championship (ORDC) crown as he won the 2026 edition of the contest on Tuesday, May 5 at The Raceway at Western Fair District.
Borth, now two-for-two in ORDCs, took key victories in contest rounds two and six and finished on 62 points, enough to repeat as champion. Jody Jamieson won two of the last three event races, including a dramatic closing victory in the finale, to take second with 55 points. Borth and Jamieson will represent Ontario in the 2026 National Driving Championship (NDC) at Clinton Raceway on Sunday, July 26. The winner of that tournament will earn a berth to the 2027 World Driving Championship (WDC).
Borth battled early with Austin Sorrie as the two former Future Star Award winners each won two of the first six races. Borth took the second contest dash with Royalty Girl ($13.40), who cut the mile in a 1:58.2 victory, and rallied Writeline ($3.70) off cover to take the sixth head by a head in 1:57.4. Combined with a show finish in the opener and a second in the fourth round, the latter victory gave Borth a lead he would not relinquish. After another solid haul with a show finish in the seventh leg, he had a 12-point lead heading into the final and held on.
The former two-time leading driver at Western Fair said he was happy to get the job done in London.
“It was a fabulous day, and I love being a part of this thing, especially at this racetrack,” he said. “I love this racetrack, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Borth, Canada’s 2014 Future Star Award winner, has become a Woodbine Mohawk Park regular in recent seasons and notched his highest single-year earnings total in 2025 with $4.69 million. So far this year, the reinsman is 69-for-568.
A winner in his first ORDC appearance in 2024, he finished second in the subsequent NDC by 13 points to James MacDonald, who went on to win the World Driving Championship and received a bye to that contest’s 2027 renewal. Borth will now have a chance to trade his orange-and-brown colours for the red and white and compete alongside the five-time Driver of the Year in the 2027 WDC on home soil.
“I would love to [win the NDC], that would be awesome, and I’m excited to go to Clinton,” he said. “I’ve driven a lot at Clinton; I know that track well, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Joining Borth in the NDC will be Jody Jamieson, who made a late dash to get up for second over Bob McClure and Austin Sorrie. Sitting sixth after leg six, the two-time World Driving Champion scored twice in the final three heats to earn his ticket to Clinton in July.
“I knew I had 40 [going into the last race], I knew I had to beat Bob [McClure] at least, because Austin [Sorrie] wasn’t in it and they had 48 each, so I needed to have a little space between Bob and I,” said Jamieson. “It was pretty awesome, [trainer] Cam McQueen thought he had a good horse and thought if I give him one run, he’ll really respond. It’s awesome to be here and to get a chance for the Canadian nationals again. I couldn’t be happier.”
(Left to right: Standardbred Canada President & CEO Darryl Kaplan, Tyler Borth, Standardbred Canada Chair Mark Horner and Jody Jamieson)
Below is the race-by-race coverage of the contest.
ORDC Leg 1:
Austin Sorrie made the decisive move with Whiskey Friday down the backstretch to win an action-packed opening leg of the Ontario Regional Driving Championship. Sitting second-over behind a parked-out and labouring Beachofanera (Louis-Philippe Roy) past the half, Sorrie sent Whiskey Friday three-wide and had the 3-5 favourite past leader Mad Man Hill (Jody Jamieson) and pulling clear with a rush to three-quarters. It was never in doubt down the lane as Whiskey Friday cruised home to win in 1:58.1. Mad Man Hill held on for second as Acefortyfour Jack (Tyler Borth) closed up the pylons for third. Sorrie picked up 15 points for the win and leads into round two.
ORDC Leg 2:
Defending ORDC champion Tyler Borth took the lead in the second dash with a confident steer behind 5-1 shot Royalty Girl. Away from post five, the 2023 London leading driver placed the mare on the point coming off the first turn and kept her to task through :29.4, 1:00 and 1:29 fractions, and Royalty Girl had a :29.2 kicker left to prevail over pocket-sitter Shady Memories (Doug McNair). Beethreepo (Daryl Thiessen) rallied from third-over for third.
ORDC Leg 3:
A four-across finish in the third round ended with Bob McClure in the winner's circle as Livin Large produced a game stretch effort. Gapped out in the four-hole going past the stands, McClure tipped Livin Large onto cover and took the tow down the backstretch before launching a three-wide attack approaching three-quarters. Livin Large circled his cover to match strides with leader No Plan Intended (Doug McNair) turning for home, and Modern Writer (Samuel Fillion) stacked up three-high while Daryl Thiessen waited for the passing lane with Dapper Fella. With those four across the track, Livin Large finished best to deny Dapper Fella by a nose in 1:57.4. No Plan Intended finished third. Tyler Borth retained the lead as the field condensed, with the top five separated by six points.
ORDC Leg 4:
Austin Sorrie retook the contest lead as Sweetview rocketed out of the pocket on the backstretch and left his rivals behind in the final quarter to score in 1:57. Tyler Borth sent Its Tricky out of third nearing the far turn, and the gelding came up second-best. Diesel Dali (Jody Jamieson) rallied for third.
ORDC Leg 5:
Captain Butler charged from the backfield to give 2024 Western Fair driving champion Garrett Rooney his first win of the competition. Rooney got away seventh with the gelding from post five and waited with him through the half, sending him out uncovered turning for the backstretch. Captain Butler flew through three-quarters to join battling leaders Odds On Kickoff (Louis-Philippe Roy) and Dan Speed (Samuel Fillion) three-wide as they turned for home, and the 7-1 shot sprinted away from those rivals down the lane to a 1:57 tally. Docdor Mickey (Bob McClure) shifted widest in the stretch and closed for place over the pylon-shooting Kevndan Fraudsters (Doug McNair). Austin Sorrie retained the lead over Tyler Borth, who had a bye.
ORDC Leg 6:
Odds-on favourite Writeline latched onto live cover from fifth, shifted three-wide turning for home, and caught game pacesetter Red Hot Powerplay (Daryl Thiessen) to win in 1:57.4 and push driver Tyler Borth back into the lead. The first-over Lookup At The Sky (Bob McClure) proved tough but had to settle for third.
ORDC Leg 7:
Speed was the key for Jody Jamieson with 2-5 chalk Muchtooyoungforyou in the seventh round to earn his first win of the night. Jamieson, the 2001 and 2011 World Driving Champion, had the mare in front as the wings folded, then allowed Bargain Bid (Louis-Philippe Roy) a brief turn at the helm before re-taking command past the quarter in :28. Mighty Mary then mounted a first-over assault for Daryl Thiessen to a :58.3 half, forcing Muchtooyoungforyou to sprint to three-quarters in 1:27.4 to parry the threat. With that rival bowing out on the backstretch, Muchtooyoungforyou closed the door on her opponents and came home a 1:58.1 winner for her fourth straight victory. Bargain Bid finished second off the pocket ride, with Heres The Thing third for leader Tyler Borth.
ORDC Leg 8:
Louis-Philippe Roy pulled in some much-needed points as he rallied Atlas Hanover from well back to victory in leg eight. Away seventh from the second-tier post eight, Roy sent the 9-2 chance out into the flow past the half but got no help from the cover as the second-over Crankys Boy (Jody Jamieson) tired coming onto the backstretch. Atlas Hanover went around that foe and rumbled onto the scene as Nosportpunintended (Samuel Fillion) snuck out of the pocket to go after leader Sportsline (Tyler Borth) on the last turn, creating a three-wide clash. It came down to Nosportpunintended and Atlas Hanover in deep-stretch, and the latter had the late edge to prevail in 1:56.3. Jimsun, locked in third turning for home, took the pylon path to close for third. Tyler Borth finished fifth and remained on top of the standings.
ORDC Leg 9:
Jody Jamieson orchestrated a scintillating late-closing score at the lines of 8-1 shot Summer Dancer in the last race of the night to reach up for second in the ORDC and nab the other spot in the National Driving Championship. Going third-over down the backstretch and into the homeward turn, Summer Dancer spread four wide coming off the bend and surged to nail Hound On The Beach (Louis-Philippe Roy) on the wire in 1:55.3. Hound On The Beach was second after popping the pocket on the backside, with pacesetter Rose Run Vortex (Garrett Rooney) hanging on for third. Tyler Borth, piloting a headstrong Thatmomentinlife, finished seventh and locked up the title.
The final ORDC leaderboard is as follows:
Tyler Borth - 62
Jody Jamieson - 55
Bob McClure - 52
Austin Sorrie - 48
Louis-Philippe Roy - 46
Doug McNair - 42
Garrett Rooney - 40
Daryl Thiessen - 38
Samuel Fillion - 37
The live stream replay from Western Fair is below.
The next RDC will take place on Saturday, May 23 with the Western Regional hosted by Century Downs in Calgary, Alta. The Quebec / Eastern Ontario Regional will be contested on Sunday, June 14 at Hippodrome 3R in Trois-Rivières, Que., followed by the Atlantic Regional on Tuesday, June 23 at Red Shores Summerside in Summerside, P.E.I.
The top two point earners from each RDC will advance to the 2026 National Driving Championship (NDC) on Sunday, July 26 at Clinton Raceway in Clinton, Ont. The winner of the NDC will represent Canada at the 2027 World Driving Championship (WDC), which will be hosted by Standardbred Canada. Canada's James MacDonald received an automatic bye into the 2027 WDC as the the reigning World Driving Champion.
To view Tuesday's harness racing results, click the following link: Tuesday Results - Western Fair Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)