Live coverage is underway for the first of the four 2026 Regional Driving Championships (RDC) as The Raceway at Western Fair District hosts the Ontario Regional Driving Championship (ORDC).
Post time for the first race on Tuesday’s card of harness racing is 5:50 p.m. EDT, with the ORDC beginning in Race 3.
The nine drivers participating in the ORDC are Tyler Borth, Samuel Fillion, Jody Jamieson, Bob McClure, Doug McNair, Garrett Rooney, Louis-Philippe Roy, Austin Sorrie and Daryl Thiessen.
The ORDC will be comprised of Races 3-11. Each race will have eight drivers competing, with one driver sitting out. Drivers will receive points based on their finishing position. Points for the ORDC will be awarded in each race according to the official order of finish: 15 points (1st), 10 (2nd), 7 (3rd), 5 (4th), 4 (5th), 3 (6th), 2 (7th), 1 (8th).
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.
The leaderboard after the fourth ORDC race is as follows:
Austin Sorrie - 35
Tyler Borth - 34
Doug McNair - 23
Bob McClure - 23
Jody Jamieson - 22
Daryl Thiessen - 21
Samuel Fillion - 15
Garrett Rooney - 8
Louis-Philippe Roy - 4
To view Tuesday’s harness racing entries, click one of the following links: The Raceway at Western Fair District - Tuesday Entries || Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).
Watch the live stream from Western Fair 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)