Punters Info<\/a><\/p>\nCanada’s James MacDonald has just a nine point lead heading into Sunday’s four heats of the World Driving Championship at Winton.<\/p>\n
After 15 of a total 20 heats, he has 130 points, with Australia’s Gary Hall junior next on 121.<\/p>\n
New Zealand’s Blair Orange is fourth on 107 and still very much in contention.<\/p>\n
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Strong southern connection for Gary Hall junior at Winton\u00a0<\/p>\n
By Jonny Turner\u00a0<\/p>\n
Southland trainers will have a foot in two camps when the World Driving Championship comes to Winton on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The southern harness racing fraternity would love to see Blair Orange score plenty of points in the four heats in Southland, especially considering the important impact the star New Zealand reinsman makes in the region.<\/p>\n
But at the same time, seeing Australian Gary Hall Jnr in the winner\u2019s circle will also be a welcome sight.<\/p>\n
Southern-bred horses have been an important part of Hall\u2019s incredible success in Australia, none more so than the champion pacer Im Themightyquinn.<\/p>\n
Hall will be out to add to his long list of wins with southern performers when he links up with a strong book of championship drives including the Brett Gray trained Jaccka Evan.<\/p>\n
The reinsman is no stranger to driving horses developed by Gray, with the Hall camp purchasing and racing one of the trainer\u2019s best performers in You\u2019re So Fine.<\/p>\n
Jaccka Evan looks well placed with the early toe he has to take advantage of a nice draw in barrier 3.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks quite a suitable race for him, he likes to go forward and he\u2019s won over the mile before,\u201d Gray said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis run last week was good fresh up and he has definitely improved with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Durrant looks another key hope for Hall on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The pacer has been racing honestly without luck and now drops back into what looks like a very winnable grade.<\/p>\n
Hall also links up with veteran trotter Andy Hall at Winton.<\/p>\n
The nine-year-old rematches with Jordan Anne after their one-two finish at the same track last week.<\/p>\n
Barrier 8 is no help to the Lyndon Bond trained square-gaiter, but it hardly extinguishes his chances.<\/p>\n
Rakero Lightning looks one of Hall\u2019s rougher chances in Sunday\u2019s heats. After a series of consistent efforts, the mare looks well capable of filling a top-four spot.<\/p>\n
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WDC leader James MacDonald back to mile racing at Winton \u00a0<\/p>\n
By Jonny Turner\u00a0<\/p>\n
Winton could turn out to be one of the most important places on earth for Canadian reinsman James McDonald.<\/p>\n
The star driver admits he hadn\u2019t heard of the Southland town or its Central Southland Raceway before he was confirmed to compete in the 2025 World Driving Championship.<\/p>\n
But he is eager to get there and maintain the lead he has established over a star-studded line-up of international horsemen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am really looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful country and another of its racetracks,\u201d McDonald said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know a lot about the horses I am driving but I have seen some replays and they are at pretty good odds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully I can put them in good spots and they can race as well as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be doing my best because there are a lot of great drivers right on my heels.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDonald should feel right at home at Winton \u2013 compared to previous tracks like Cambridge and Kaikoura \u2013 with the championship heats run over a mile on the bigger circuit, just like back home in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mile racing should be really good,\u201d McDonald said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have raced in Australia once before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a little bit different here, but also in the series you have guys from all over the world bringing their styles to the races.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the heats are not like the normal New Zealand races.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been great so far, the racing is close and you are competing with a great bunch of guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably the one thing that is different from back home is the circling they do here before the start.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDonald links up with Trendy Van Gogh, Sherwood Maggie, Xerion and Insarchatwist at Winton on Sunday.<\/p>\n
None of his charges have drawn inside barrier 6, which means the Canadian may have to decide whether to press forward and attack early to find a handy position.<\/p>\n
Sherwood Maggie hinted she was ready to return to form with a solid last-start third at Winton.<\/p>\n
The mare has plenty of gate speed, which McDonald could call on.<\/p>\n
The reinsman\u2019s phone has been running hot during his New Zealand trip, and if he is able to keep his winning momentum going, he is sure to get plenty more messages.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been getting lots of messages. We are racing during the night over there, so when I am sleeping they are messaging, and when they\u2019re sleeping I am messaging them back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jonny Turner’s four runners to watch at Winton\u00a0<\/p>\n
Side Hustle – Race 2 (1.15pm)<\/p>\n
This youngster lines up for start number two after an excellent debut at Oamaru last month. After sitting parked in what looked a slightly stronger field, Side Hustle fought on bravely for fourth.
The winner, Utah Blaze, will go on to compete in the Group One Sires Stakes Final on New Zealand Cup Day at Addington. Keeping pace with a quality rival like that looks like outstanding form for Side Hustle to bring to his Winton assignment. From a workable draw in barrier 5, he should get his winning shot.<\/p>\n
Markthewarrior – WDC Heat No 18 – Race 7 (4.08pm)<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a little risky and by no means a standout, but Markthewarrior looks a potential value option on Sunday. The trotter has made mistakes in his past two starts, but he gets the key benefit of starting behind the mobile this time. Before his recent mistakes, Markthewarrior ran some tidy races in stronger grades than he takes on this Sunday. From barrier 4 over a mile, don\u2019t be surprised if the five-year-old rolls forward and runs a cheeky race.<\/p>\n
Jaccka Evan – WDC Heat No 19 – Race 9 \u00a0(5.02pm)<\/p>\n
This bold-striding pacer looks to have all of the attributes needed to take out his heat of the World Driving Championship. Jaccka Evan has gate speed, a nice draw, and also has the services of Gary Hall Jnr, who looks set for a big day at Winton. The four-year-old chased home Step It Up A Notch in his last start at Winton, running into second. The key factor is that he\u2019d had two months between runs, and he should strip fitter for this week\u2019s assignment. Drawing inside his key rivals, expect Jaccka Evan to take some catching.<\/p>\n
Axel Rose – Race 4 2.24pm<\/p>\n
It is probably fair to say Axel Rose is the best horse in Sunday\u2019s Gold Chip Final. Whether he shows that or not is questionable. His last start at Winton was marred by an early gallop, but he still managed to run a nice fourth. Complicating things, the trotter appeared to hit a flat spot on the home turn before powering home late. He\u2019ll be at short odds which won\u2019t be enticing considering he\u2019s a little bit risky, but Axel Rose still rates a clear top pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"8 November 2025 , WDC25 , Punters Info Canada’s James MacDonald has just a nine point lead heading…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-126357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}