Driver and trotter both fighting fit | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

Top driver Mark Jones is used to slugging it out on the racetrack at Addington.

But next month the 30-year-old, who is also now making a reputation as a trainer, will show aggression of a different sort there.

He'll step into the boxing ring for the first time in the Riverside tournament at the raceway on April 15 - the first boxing tournament to be staged at Addington.

Before he swaps the whip for mitts, he has plenty to keep him busy at the Easter carnival, starting with the NZ Trotting Derby on Friday night when his promising three-year-old filly Shezoneoftheboyz bids to extend her unbeaten record.

The horse has been the jewel for Jones, who has trained 41 winners so far from 175 starts in his first full season as a trainer.

He got his public trainer's licence partway through last season after starting it working with Bruce Negus, and is now leasing Negus's Burnham stables after the latter re-established at Waikouaiti.

Of his impressive record this season, he said he'd "been lucky to have some pretty nice horses."

He's training more than 25, but trotter Shezoneoftheboyz looks the standout, with an unbeaten record (four from four) which will get its biggest test in Friday's $80,000 Derby at Addington.

He bought the horse for Jakarta-based Aussie owner Peter Chambers, who will be there on Friday.

"She's got all the makings of a top horse," he said.

"On Friday she's going to meet the best, but she's definitely good enough to beat them. She's one of the more exciting horses I've had."

OK Courage, a four-year-old pacer set to return to the track in three weeks or so after breaking a hip last year, is another Jones' horse to watch.

Training and driving went hand in hand, he said, and he would still look to drive as much as he could. With 76 wins, he's third in the drivers' premiership.

As well as winning the world driving championship in Ottawa in 2003, he was the youngest driver to reach 1000 wins in New Zealand.

His fight night appearance next month where he will meet Mike Darby stems from attending Phil Shatford's Riverside gym for fitness, and for the last month he's stepped up his training to four or five nights a week.

"It definitely helps with racing, with the travelling and early morning starts," he said. "It makes you feel a lot better."

Shatford is confident Jones will make his usual strong showing at Addington: "If he boxes as well as he drives, he'll do OK!"