Veteran Drivers challenge is a big hit

1 November 2012 - Longlea reinsman Brian Gath and Bridgewater’s Colin Redwood could engage in an early leader’s stoush in Saturday night’s Qantas Holidays Veteran Drivers Challenge  at Bendigo’s Lord’s Raceway. 
Both drivers have drawn front runners in the 2150m mobile Trot with Redwood, who started his career the same year that Lord’s Raceway opened, having a distinct advantage starting from the pole on promising Kilmore four-year-old Wortherly. Gath, who has more than 3000 wins to his credit is aboard Ballarat seven-year-old Dee Two Hundred which races best in the lead and the 1978 Inter Dominion winning driver will  have to choose whether to make an early surge from the outside of the front line. Eleven veterans including the state’s most senior driver 85-years-young Eric Hurley will drive in the Challenge. Gath, Redwood, Hurley, Peter Wells, Jim Barker, Keith Pratt, Cliff Powell, Russell Thompson, Peter Manning, Graeme Dalton and Jim O’Sullivan will contest the Challenge. Hurley is the only driver in the Veteran’s field that will drive in another race on the night. Hurley who won his first race in 1952 and was the driver of the 1964 Inter Dominion winner Minuteman will partner his own pacer Steaming in the Win TV Pace, race seven on the program. If he is successful driving Arctic Wolf in the Veteran Driver’s Challenge, Hurley has a real chance of getting a feature night double. Steaming finished second at Cranbourne on 21st October and before that dragged a blown tyre for the last 600 metres of his Bendigo race on 13th October. Hurley won his last race on Steaming back in January. Saturday night’s feature races include the $10,000 Major In Art Alabar Anniversary Cup, the Travel Centre Bendigo Victorian Monte Champion saddle Trot and the Ken Pocock Memorial Pace. The first of 10 races commences at 6:20pm.