All Star ladies duke it out at Albion Park
WORLD- B E A T E R K e r r y n Manning heads an all- star cast at Albion Park on Saturday night for the Seymour Group Lady Drivers Invitation Series.
Australian harness racing history will be made, with female drivers taking the reins for the entire nine- race meeting, which is part of this year’s Queensland Summer Racing Carnival.
Melbourne- born Manning – who in September broke the world record for winners driv- en or ridden by a woman – has won more than $ 25 million in stakes during her stellar career.
She will be joined at Albion Park by fellow leading female drivers Narissa McMullen, Kelli Dawson, Lola Weidemann, Chantal Turpin, Brittany Graham, Danielle McMullen and Trista Dixon ( all Queensland), Amanda Turnbull ( New South Wales), Danielle Hill ( South Australia) and Kate Gath ( Victoria).
“This is a historic occasion for harness racing in Queensland, and to secure the services of Kerryn Manning will help ensure the event is watched across the country,” Racing Queensland chief executive Dr Eliot Forbes said.
“The night will be a key component of the 2017 Queensland Summer Harness Racing Carnival, which this year offers more than $ 200,000 in feature race prize money across five metropolitan race nights.
“Female drivers are at the forefront of this sport, and four of the top- 10 metropolitan drivers in the 2016- 17 Queensland season were female.”
McMullen said the female driver meet was a great idea.
“I’m really excited to be involved,” McMullen said.
“Obviously it’s going to be different because there are no males driving but I’m sure it’s going to be competitive and it’s great to get to drive against the interstate drivers as well.”
VR