The year will end with the beginning of the next gen’s coming out party at St Arnaud, which will host the first day of heats of the Harness Racing Training Centre Central Victorian Concession Drivers Championship.
The five-raceday series will again provide an opportunity for Victoria’s up-and-coming concession drivers to enhance their careers and refine their skills.
Run with the support of the five Central Victorian Harness Clubs, the series is open to concession drivers with less than 25 lifetime wins and will be run across five heats for various classes of horses.
Heats will be conducted at St Arnaud (December 31), Boort (January 7), Maryborough (January 17), Wedderburn (January 20) and Charlton at Maryborough (January 31).
The Charlton at Maryborough meeting will also coincide with the running of the Group 3 Central Victorian Pacing and Trotting Championship Finals.
As well as the opportunities to enhance their driving experiences, the additional rewards for drivers participating in the series are considerable.
The concession driver who accumulates the most points across the five-race series will win the Central Victorian Concession Drivers Championship trophy as well as a $500 cash prize from the series sponsor, the Harness Racing Training Centre Bendigo. This will be presented on the Central Victorian Championships Finals Day at the Charlton at Maryborough meeting on January 31.
And as an encouragement to owners and trainers to make their horses available to concession drivers across the series, the centre has put up a further $1500 in random cash prizes for trainers who provide horses for the five-race series. This will be drawn on the Central Victorian Championships Finals Day at the Charlton at Maryborough meeting on January 31.
And if these enticements were not sufficient, this series will also form part of the larger 24-race Concession Drivers Series sponsored by the Harness Racing Training Centre Bendigo and Trots Clubs Victoria, which culminates in June 2019.
As such, all drivers in this series will also be eligible for the Trots Clubs Victoria Professional Development Award, which will be presented at Breeders Crown Finals on Saturday, August 24.
The trainer of every starter in this series will also enter a random draw for a $2000 cash prize, which will be drawn at the Bendigo race meeting on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. A further $100 gift card will be awarded to each winning heat driver across the 24-race series, making the Central Vic Series and the overall series even more attractive to concession drivers, owners and trainers.
For full series details and conditions, please refer to the harness racing programs for each venue at www.harness.org.au
