New Zealand harness racing amateur driver, Gavin Cook, has finished seventh at the World Amateur Drivers Championship in Hungary.
The Championship was won by Italy’s Mirko Mariniis, who won the two day series in Hungary’s capital city, Budapest over the weekend.
The Montegiorgio reinsman nailed three wins in six races for 61 points – one more than American
The bronze medal went to Denmark’s Bitten Jensen (one win) with 45 points.
Cook was a further 13 points back in the Eurpean Trotting Amateur Drivers Federation (FEGAT) run event.
“I had a horror day on day one with some tough driving horses to handle. Day two saw me get behind nicer horses to drive but tough draws to overcome. I finished the second day with a third, a strong finishing eighth and then got disqualified in the final race for galloping for more than 20 metres,” said Cook, the 2008 World Amateur Driving Champion.
He said he ended up a “mixed bag” of drives and barrier draws, with two second line draws and apart from Cook’s first drive he said there wasn’t too much form among the rest.
Cook said Kincsem Park was a unique 1200m track.
“On the Friday night we race three races right-handed and then on Saturday afternoon we race three times left-handed. Yes, you read that right, we race in both directions at the same track,” Cook said.
Cook also said the whip rules were a challenge to adapt to initially but then seemed to work well once he familiarised himself with them.
“When the day arrives when New Zealand is forced to consider a softer perceived option then this
European model is worthy of consideration.
“A driver is required to keep their hands on the reins at all times and may only use the whip a maximum of three times only in the final 200m with the whip being raised no higher than shoulder height. Prior to the 200m mark the whip can only be used to tap and niggle at the horse to correct them.
“Resisting the urge to whip one handed took some conscious thought on my part to avoid the severe penalties or potential disqualification,” he said.
Cook also thought the Hungarians multiple use of their race track facilities on the same day was
interesting.
“On day one we had dogs, gallops, sprints and harness racing plus the Food Truck Show. Whilst day two only had trotting the Food Truck Show it definitely bought in a lot of people for a pleasant and relaxing day in the sun.”
The Canterbury horseman said New Zealand’s place in the international community of harness racing nations had been nurtured once again.
“The welcome return to the international arena of Australia is fortuitous for New Zealand. Their
representative Barbara Barry is enthused to get Amateur racing up and running in Australia which she is confident she can achieve in her home state of Queensland.
“It will be nice to have a nation in our own hemisphere that we can introduce a wider range of drivers to international competition.”
The next stage in FEGAT championships will be the Gentlemen European Championship in Holland from September 16-19.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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