On Thursday, July 23, Standardbred Canada held a conference call with the eight drivers competing in the 2026 National Driving Championship (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.
Here is the order in which drivers made their selections.
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.
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).
(Standardbred Canada Press Release)