Competition was fierce, with a record number of ponies in attendance.

Day one was serious business, with the state champion titles up for grabs. Each pony contests three heats to determine rankings for the finals held later in the afternoon.

Little Midget from the Smith stables was the first Leeton contender to go around. Nana Smoke driven by Ryan Pitt had a good day, finishing up with a second and two thirds in the heats. Unfortunately, Ryan couldn’t convince her to repeat the performance in the finals.

Little Secret, also trained at the Pitt stables, managed a second and a third, but saved some steam for the consolation final, finishing with the second place trophy, much to the delight of driver Danika Stevens from Wagga.

Nikkita Smith drove her little pony Seven with gusto all day, but despite trying hard wasn’t able to get the results. The Leeton club had two “big” ponies in the pony division. Demascus (Dylan Smith) and Willie Wagtail (Siarne Deeves) competed well in this classy division, but never made it to the front before the winning post with so much hot competition. Day two of racing is called the fun day. Handicaps for the day are calculated on each pony’s times from the previous day.

Dylan Smith aboard Little Midget proved to be the star of the show, starting the day with in a win in their first race and finishing up with an incredible first in the midget final. Aside from a massive trophy, Little Midget found herself with a new champion rug to wear home. 

This was undoubtedly the biggest success of Dylan’s mini trotting career. Also having a big day was Nanna Smoke driven by Ryan Pitt in the Shetland division. Her heats had her with a first and third place with times fast enough to secure a place in the major final. Ryan showed his skill as a reinsman and managed second place. Willie Wagtail drew two tough draws in his heats of the pony division, but managed to finish a creditable mid-field in both races.

This had him and driver Siarne qualify for the Graham Bourke Memorial Consolation Final. However, unfortunately she wasn’t able to bring it home. All Leeton ponies competed strongly all weekend and the club was proud to see the level of sportsmanship shown by Leeton’s drivers.

Although all were exhausted by the time we returned home, a successful weekend was had by all. All Leeton drivers, family and supporters would like to publicly thank both the president and treasurer Barry and Fay Pitt for all their hard work and dedication before, during and after the championships to ensure a successful weekend. A great deal of organisation and preparation is required to get competitors to this stage.