Although the spotlight may have been on the Group 1 Fillies Final at Menangnle last Sunday with the locally-owned and trained Don't Think Twice finishing fourth, the winning double by Young local driver Nic Dewar added some exciting racing news for followers of the light harness sport.
Nic drove the Peter and Joan Schiller-owned Stonebridge Regal three-year-old filly Regal Ashes to a convincing win at Wagga last Friday afternoon defeating Road To Vegas and Rocknchaton by a lengthy margin.
Bred by Ken and Sue Smith at Mimosa Banks Stud at Tubbul, Regal Ashes has now won five races for her owners and has collected in excess of $30,500 in prize money.
The dominant duo headed for a very cold Exhibition Park in Canberra on Saturday night for the final meeting of their season and in doing so collected the major end of the purse when Elegant Heaven lead throughout in race seven.
Once again young Nic showed great skill in holding the lead from a very determined Maurice Johnson on Sunofasis in the early stages of the race before being a clear leader for the remaining part of the 2170 metre event.
Second in the race was the more fancied David Hewitt-trained and driven Big Dance with Jungle Dancer finishing third, the winner posting a 1¾ metre winning margin and in doing so recorded her first win in 29 starts for owner Peter Schiller.
Canberra Harness Racing Club completed their respective Premiership Point Scores with Modern Maestro named horse of the year, local trainer driver Michael Hawke was named trainer of the year and also local trainer of the year.
Brad Hewitt took home the leading driver of the year while local driver of the year was taken out by Melissa Hawke.
The Canberra Club will hold their presentation night on Saturday, July 23 at which a number of local followers of the sport will attend.
Young Harness Racing Club will continue racing through the winter months with meetings on Friday night, July 15 and also Friday night, July 29 followed by a meeting on Tuesday night, August 30.
