Grantham To Uphold State Pride
11 December, 2017
Harness
Michael Grantham will be out to uphold state pride when he represents Western Australia in the 2017 Australasian Young Drivers Championship (AYDC) in Brisbane this week.
Grantham will go head to head against Australia’s best young talent including Jayden Brewin (SA), Chris Geary (NSW), Matt Howlett (TAS), Jason Lee (VIC), Todd McCarthy (NSW), Narissa McMullen (Qld) and New Zealand representatives, Sheree Tomlinson, Dylan Ferguson and Kimberly Butt.
Grantham heads to Redcliffe in red-hot form after posting a race to race double on the final night of the 2017 Tabtouch Inter Dominion Championship at Gloucester Park last Friday, guiding home The Bucket List in the Inter Dominion Consolation and Mister Shark in the San Simeon final.
The 22-year-old Grantham initially made his mark as jockey, commencing his apprenticeship in 2010 and riding 97 winners from 1000 rides before transitioning to harness racing when he had problems controlling his weight.
Grantham, nephew of trainer and Olympic gold medallist, Michael Brennan, who prepares The Bucket List and Mister Shark, has posted over 200 wins from his nearly 1800 drives in the sulky with prize money approaching $2.5 million.
Grantham, who scored his first win in harness racing on the Colin Brown-trained Deflector three years ago, returns to Brisbane for the second occasion after having one drive on Blacks A Fake night at Albion Parl earlier in the year.
The AYDC is a championship series to showcase the skills of the best young drivers aged under-25 from each racing jurisdiction in Australia and New Zealand.
The Albion Park Harness Racing Club and Redcliffe Harness Racing Club will play host to the nine race series, across three meetings from December 12-16.
The cream of Australia’s brightest young drivers will be involved in a range of off-track activities to connect with the wider community and ensure a cultural and developmental experience.
Julio Santarelli