Australian representative Gary Hall Junior will take a 15-point lead into the second day of the World Driving Championships in Kaikoura on Monday.
On Sunday, the multiple Group 1-winning harness racing driver from Perth had a near-perfect start to the 2025 WDC with two wins and a second from the first three heats.
He has 44 points, with Italian Giampaolo Minnucci second with 29 and former world champion Pierre Vercruysse third with 21. New Zealand representative Blair Orange is tied for sixth with 17 points. His best performance was a third with Ohoka Cobra in the third heat of the day.
Hall was named outright favorite for the WDC after the fields were cleared for the opening day in Kaikoura and he did not disappoint.
“Everyone told me if you’re not in the lead after the first day there’s going to be something wrong with you – so I’m pretty happy,” Hall said after the race.
He won the first heat comfortably as the in-form Tom Bagrie-trained Hoof It Hagrid held firm after a match of Rachmaninov and Granny Rose, while hotpot Midnight Diamond was drawn in the second row in Heat 2 but found space early and was crossed by her rivals to win easily. It was the fourth victory in a row for the Ross Houghton-trained mare.
In the third and final heat of the day, Hall led with Spirit Downunder, but was chased by Scrunch (Giampaolo Minnucci), trained by Robert and Jenna Dunn.
The two wins and a second capped off a big few days for Hall after he couldn’t find his passport and was in danger of missing his flight, only to find a last-minute replacement.
“It was the most stressful day of my life, I think,” he says.
There are two more heats on Monday: Race 3, the Donegal House Heat 4 (1.20pm) and the Kaikoura ITM sponsored Race 5 at 2.16pm.
The 100th edition of the Alabar NZ Kaikoura Cup will also take place on this day at 4.40pm.
After Kaikoura’s two-day meeting, the WDC heads to Cambridge on Wednesday, where a further five heats will take place.
We then head to Addington on Friday (7 November) and Winton (9 November) for the grand final on the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup day in Addington on Tuesday 11 November.
Points (after 3 heats in Kaikoura):
Gary Hall Junior (Australia) 44
Giampaolo Minnucci (Italy) 29
Pierre Vercruysse (France) 21
Santtu Raitala (Finland) 18
Brett Beckwith (USA) 18
James MacDonald (Canada) 17
Blair Orange (New Zealand) 17
Mats Djuse (Sweden) 9
Michael Nimczyk (Germany) 7
Jaap van Rijn (Netherlands) 5
Both Vercruysse (2013) and MacDonald (2017) are both previous winners of the WDC.
For full race results, click here.
By means of Dave Di SommaHarness News Desk
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