by Kathy Wade Vlaar, manager of industry marketing, Standardbred Canada

Mississauga, ON — Standardbred Canada has announced that Fraser Downs in Surrey, British Columbia will be the host track for the 2009 National Driving Championship.

The NDC will take place on Saturday, March 21, and the winner will represent Canada in the World Driving Championship, hosted in concert with the World Trotting Conference in Norway. The WDC is scheduled for May 14–20.

The top two drivers from four regional championships will make up the field of eight finalists for the National Driving Championship. The Ontario Regional Driving Championship will be hosted at Grand River Raceway on Monday, October 20. Trois Rivieres will be the site of the Quebec Regional event on Tuesday, October 28. Charlottetown Driving Park will host the Atlantic Regional on Saturday, November 8, and the Regionals will wind up with the Western event at Fraser Downs on Saturday, December 13.

“We are very excited to have been selected to host the National Driving Championship and it will be one of the marquee events on our racing calendar,” said Scott Sinclair, general manager of Fraser Downs. “We have the full support of the British Columbia Standardbred Association and we’ve already established a very enthusiastic volunteer committee to work with us.”

Charlottetown Driving Park hosted the inaugural National Driving Championship in 2007 where Gilles Barrieau was crowned champion and represented Canada at the worlds in New Zealand last November where Christophe Martens of Belgium won the title.

The inaugural events were very well received across the country and each regional event was a major event of the racing season for the host track. The participation and co-operation of the racetracks and horsemen’s groups were a critical element to the success of the ’07 edition.