Harness racers will have an added incentive to put their best foot forward during next month’s Champion of Champions races at Vesey Street.Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Docksiders Pub & Restaurant, drivers will compete for prize money that will be on offer.Docksiders are no strangers to the sport of harness racing having also sponsored last year’s Champion of Champions.“They supported it last year and we do a lot of things with them throughout the year so they decided to be our sponsors again this year,” said Micheal Rodrigues, Driving Horse and Pony Club (DHPC) president.Rodrigues said his association has struggled to keep the sport afloat let alone secure sponsorship in the current economic climate.“We have been trying to be very cautious all year due to it being a little bit harder to keep the sport going,” he added.“We have been having a hard time getting sponsorship this year.”Due to a limited funding there was no prize money on offer during the Boxing Day Stakes Races.“For our Boxing Day Stakes we usually have sponsorship money but this year we decided not to do sponsorship money and put everything more into the Champion of Champions instead,” Rodrigues said.The DHPC boss believes drivers will be even more inclined to compete now that prize money for the four fastest ponies in the upcoming Champion of Champions has been secured.He added: “Boxing Day Stakes races were mostly for trophies. But now these guys will actually get some money back, and so it is a little incentive for the year.”Due to a lack of trotters, this year’s Champion of Champions will only feature pacers.“This year we will only have the pacers because we only have one trotter,” Rodrigues said. “There won’t be a trotter Champion of Champions and so there will only be the pacers.”Only the fastest 12 ponies for the season will qualify for the Champion of Champions that will be held February 11-12.On the eve of the popular two-day event, DHPC will be holding the Calcutta Dinner at Docksiders on February 10, beginning at 6.30pm.Proceeds from the fund raiser are to go towards supplementing the association’s various initiatives.For further details e-mail dhpcbda[AT]gmail.com.