The 2022 edition of the Nova Scotia Amateur Driving Championship was a hotly contested event on Saturday, Sept. 3 at Northside Downs in North Sydney, N.S.
The three Nova Scotia tracks each sent representatives for the second annual edition of the Championship final.
The final in 2021 at Truro Raceway created a buzz for the future of the series with all three tracks holding preliminary legs again this season to determine the finalists throughout June, July and August. The top two winning drivers from each leg advanced on to the Championship finals held Saturday in North Sydney.
The Saturday afternoon card got underway at 1 p.m. for live racing at Northside Downs and the scheduled Silver division took place after the sixth race and it was a nail bitter as all three drivers contested every inch of the mile. When the dust settled, Keith Legge of Truro Raceway handled Crafty Xample to a 2:03.1 win over Inverness Raceway's Keith MacDonell driving D Ws Hidden Star. Third went to Aidan Dicks of Northside Downs driving Lotus Sena.
The Gold division, with the top three fastest horses, was held during the break between pari-mutuel races eight and nine, and Jeremy Baker of Northside scored the fastest amateur win in Nova Scotia harness racing history with Q Ts Charlie in 1:57.4. Monica Sutherland of Inverness, the lone female in the competition, kept it interesting as she sat the pocket with Eastcoast Invader and fell just short for second ahead of Truro’s Todd Hardy with Well Lets See.
“It was incredible to see the turnout of horsepeople and fans coming from all over the province to cheer on these talented amateur drivers,” said chief organizer Kaitlyn Wesley. “Makes us very optimistic for the future of this event for years to come.”
(Nova Scotia Amateur Driving Championship)