by Garrick Knight
Two vastly-contrasting days at Manawatu Raceway saw a change of leader in the Australasian Young Drivers’ Championship on Tuesday.
New South Welshman, Cameron Hart, had been perfect through the first three races of the series, going unbeaten.
But the wheels fell off in a big way when Hart’s first two drives took no part in their races and were pulled up, giving him the least possible points yield.
In contrast, Canterbury’s Sarah O’Reilly had a near-perfect day, recording two wins and a second placing to leapfrog to the top of the table with three heats to go.
“I was lucky to drive some nice horses today,” said O’Reilly.
One of them was Auckland visitor Ace Strike, who was too good in the last on the card despite sitting parked.
“He had good gate speed but Rake wasn’t going to hand up to me.
“So, I just let him do his own thing out parked and he was nice and relaxed.
“I thought rounding the last bend that we could pick the one in front up because he just kept responding.”
The tour was only originally supposed to have two heats at the meeting, but an excess of nominations meant the juniors were treated to three heats.
“I would like to thank the trainers who put their horses in the champs,” said O’Reilly.
“I’m having a great time so far and it is great to meet new people on the trip.”
O’Reilly sits on 65 points, seven clear of Hart, who managed a fifth behind Scelta Uno in the final heat of the day, while kiwis Benjamin Butcher (45) and Sheree Tomlinson (39) are next best, then Perth’s Corey Peterson (36).