Michael House prevails in NZ Amateur Driving Championship
Harness Racing New Zealand • June 16th, 2025 11:00 AM • 3 min read
After a close run series, Michael House is New Zealand's champion amateur driver.
The series concluded at Addington yesterday with House and Bruce Hadley both tied on 16 points.
A countback then couldn't separate the pair as both drivers had one win, one second and a third over the four races at Cambridge (Thursday) and Addington (Friday and Sunday).
According to the conditions of the Championship "should no winner be identified at the end of the initial count back then the winner shall be the driver who drove the most recent winner in the championship."
And that was House as he won Heat 3 at Addington yesterday with the Bruce Negus-trained Gliding High. Hadley's only winner came at Cambridge with Billy The Kid on Thursday night. The fourth and final heat was taken out by Craig Sharpe with favourite Stephs Boy while Cheree Wigg won the second heat with Almighty Clever.
For House, who is second in the trainers premiership with 72 wins in 2025, it is his first win in the NZ Amateur Driving Championship.
Results for House and Hadley for the four races were:
Michael House:
8th in Heat 1 (Maria Kirilenko)
2nd Heat 2 (Betterwithbling)
1st Heat 3 (Gliding High)
3rd Heat 4 (Pure Courage)
2nd Heat 2 (Betterwithbling)
1st Heat 3 (Gliding High)
3rd Heat 4 (Pure Courage)
Bruce Hadley:
1st in Heat 1 (Billy The Kid)
10th in Heat 2 (Hope For Love)
3rd in Heat 3 (Waterholes Road)
2nd in Heat 4 (Timbimboo)
10th in Heat 2 (Hope For Love)
3rd in Heat 3 (Waterholes Road)
2nd in Heat 4 (Timbimboo)
Final Leaderboard:
Michael House 16
Bruce Hadley 16
Frank Phelan 14
Craig Sharpe 10
Cheree Wigg 10
Andrew Sharpe 6
Neil Munro 6
Alan Edge 6
John Kriechbaumer 5
Colleen Negus 1
Bruce Hadley 16
Frank Phelan 14
Craig Sharpe 10
Cheree Wigg 10
Andrew Sharpe 6
Neil Munro 6
Alan Edge 6
John Kriechbaumer 5
Colleen Negus 1
