There are just two heats left before it’s determined who will make the $30,000 Seddon Shields Trotting Championships Final at Addington on March 21.
The series, targeting R51-70 trotters, kicked off at Kaikoura last November and so far there have been eight heats around the top half of the South Island. The last two heats were at Blenheim in mid January.
The final two heats will be at Westport on March 7 and then at Reefton two days later.
A capacity field of 16 trotters will make the final. To qualify for the final trotters must have started four or more times during the series. If they win a heat, and have also had four or more starts, they will automatically qualify for the final if nominated.
So far three heat winners (Masterly, Regal Sierra and Helloveamoment) have sealed their places in the field having met both qualifying criteria, and three others (Tu Tangata, El Conqueror and Eurokash) have also had four or more starts and have already accrued enough points during the series to be guaranteed a start. All horses, including automatic qualifiers, will of course need to be nominated for the final.
Ready Set Jet, who won at Nelson on January 10, will qualify as long as he starts at both Westport and Reefton as he has had just two starts in the series so far.
Three other heat winners High Step, Premium Player and Knowing Me have only had the only one start in the series so far.
The qualification criteria for the Final has required clarification, as many connections believed they only had to win a heat to automatically be in the field at Addington. This is not the case.
To see the latest points table click here
