Wie niet waagt, die niet wint – who does not dare, does not win.
Reinsman Jaap van Rijn put the Dutch proverb into action when winning three of four heats at the World Driving Championship at Winton yesterday.
Van Rijn chanced his arm in all four series heats by pushing forward early with each of his drives.
Those tactics proved pinpoint as the star reinsman put all of his charges either in the trail, the lead, or in the one-one.
Outstanding results followed as van Rijn scored with Shezza Vinny, Jordan Anne, and Mouton Cadet, with his only miss being a creditable fifth with outsider of the field Haley Robyn.
Mouton Cadet completed van Rijn’s hat-trick when dashing along the inner to score, prompting the Dutch flag to fly proudly in the Winton birdcage for the third time.
"It was a very nice day, the trainers told me before the races that the horses were in good shape and it was up to me to give them a good trip, and everything worked out perfectly."
Van Rijn had not much luck earlier in the championship, and came into the Winton heats in eighth place.
But by the time he finished his masterclass in the sulky at Central Southland Raceway, he was in third position behind Canadian James MacDonald and Australian representative Gary Hall Jnr.
The Dutchman was immediately in winning form when linking up with Shezza Vinny in yesterday’s first heat.
The mare scored a deserved win for trainer Matt Brinsdon, who earlier took out a heat of the series with Always A Menace at Addington on Friday night.
French representative Pierre Vercruysse was the only other contender in winning form at Winton.
The reinsman scored with the 10yr-old veteran pacer Airwaves, who dashed along the inner to score for trainer Craig Laurenson.
With trotting the only harness racing gait in France, Vercruysse had not linked up with a 10yr-old pacer for decades.
"It would go back to the 1980s when I was racing in New Jersey." Vercruysse said.
Despite being unable to clinch a win at Winton, James MacDonald kept his championship lead going into its final heats on New Zealand Cup Day.
