• Home
•  »  The Inter Dominion
•  » Melbourne Inter Dominion Carnivals

Melbourne Inter Dominion Carnivals

OVER the past two decades, Melbourne has also hosted the Inter Dominion trotting championship in 1989, 1996, 2004 and 2006 when the designated host state elected to conduct the pacing championship only due to their lack of trotting stock.

1950 – The Inter Dominion came to Melbourne for the first time in 1950 when the Royal Showgrounds hosted the series.

Victoria’s Trotting Control Board, the governing body of harness racing in the host state, threw its weight behind the series, offering total prize money of 28,500 pounds and a final worth 10,000 pounds.

That attracted a stellar list of competitors from both Australia and New Zealand and it was the Kiwis who gained bragging right over their trans-Tasman rivals in what was a thrilling grand final.

Captain Sandy etched his name into the record books when he came with a barnstorming run to get up and defeat compatriots Globe Direct and Sprayman in front of what was a record Showgrounds crowd of 36,055.

Two-time Inter Dominon Champion Captain Sandy (1950 and 1953)

Globe Direct was hailed the winner rounding the home turn, but was grabbed in the shadows of the post by Captain Sandy, who powered home from third-last after starting off a 24-yard handicap.

It was a remarkable victory by Captain Sandy, who only scraped into the final field after failing to fill a top-three placing in any of his heats due to encountering his share of tough luck in the preliminary rounds.

In one of the heats he was lucky to stay on his feet after meeting with severe interference, while in his other two heats the men that were driving Captain Sandy both fell foul of stewards and were suspended, rendering them ineligible to take the drive in the final.

This paved the way for J.D. Watts to take the drive and forever remain a part of Inter Dominion history.

1959 – Melbourne harness racing fans had a bit of a wait before getting their next taste of the Inter Dominion, but the series returned to the Showgrounds in 1959.

And while many of the 30,153 there that night braved the cold and wet conditions in the hope of seeing the great Caduceus win in his fifth attempt at the race, it was history of a different kind that they got to see.

Young Pedro became the first four-year-old to take out an Inter Dominion final when he scored an upset win in the final.

He provided 57-year-old owner-trainer-driver Leo Hunt with the biggest win of his career when he overcame sitting three-wide for the last lap to score victory as a 33-1 shot.

His three-yard win denied Dusty Miller the honour of becoming the first hometown horse to win a Victorian Inter Dominion final, while New South Wales charge Billabong Scott finished third.

The wet conditions and 36-yard handicap combined to bring about the demise of Caduceus, who was sent out a hot 6-4 favourite after winning his three heats.

Young Pedro’s was a win that confirmed South Australia’s standing as the dominant force in Australasian harness racing’s showpiece event.

It was the third year in a row that the ‘Croweaters’ had scored Inter Dominion success, following on from Radiant Venture’s Perth success in 1957 and Free Hall’s home-state win in 1958.

1964 – This time Victoria’s harness racing fraternity didn’t have to wait long for its next taste of Inter Dominion action, with the carnival returning to town just five years after Young Pedro’s success.

And proving their love of the concept, a record crowd of 45,805 turned out to the Royal Showgrounds on grand final night to see Minuteman score one of the most remarkable wins in Inter Dominion history.

Incredibly, Minuteman looked an unlikely runner in the final just hours before the race.

It was not until 6.30pm on the day of the final – which was to be run at 9.45pm – that vets provided Minuteman’s owner-trainer-driver Eric Hurley with the certificate he needed to start the four-year-old.

The South Australian was denied his place in the third round of heats after being stood down by vets when it was discovered he had developed an arthritic affliction in his near foreleg fetlock.

But plenty of attention from Hurley in the week of the big race enabled Minuteman to get up for the final, for which he was considered one of the leading chances once being given the go-ahead to run by stewards.

A convincing winner of his second-round heat, Minuteman was sent out the 9-2 third favourite behind the great Cardigan Bay, who was a well-fancied 11-4 top pick.

Justifying the faith of punters, stewards and Hurley, Minuteman went on to beat the Gordon Rothacker-driven Angelique by two yards, with Tactile four yards back in third spot.

1970 – Rarely has Inter Dominion grand final night been privy to the scenes at the Royal Showgrounds in 1970 when Bold David was successful.

The Alf Simons-owned-trained-and-driven pacer became the first Victorian horse to win an Inter Dominion final in Melbourne when he sped to victory.

The patriotic crowd of 38,467 cared little that Bold David was relatively unfancied at 15-1. All they wanted was a hometown victory and they got it in Bold David’s all-the-way win.

Although he started from wide on the track (barrier six), Bold David was one of few horses that made a clean getaway from the standing start, which enabled him to steal a march on his rivals.

He went on to claim the $40,000 final by two lengths from Bylaw, with Bon Adios a further length-and-a-quarter back in third spot.

In a quirky move designed to offer self-belief, Simons used a photo of Bold David winning a heat of the 1969 series as inspiration for the 1970 carnival.

He placed it on his desk so that whenever any self-doubts might have crept into his head, he didn’t have to look too far for reassurance that Bold David was in fact up to Inter Dominion class.

It worked and Simons and Bold David were greeted to one of the most rousing receptions seen at the Royal Showgrounds, which was somewhat fitting given it was to be the last Inter Dominion the venue would host.

1978 – The Inter Dominion came to Moonee Valley for the first time in 1978.

Signalling a trend that was to become common with Inter Dominion championships held in Victoria, the Trotting Control Board broke with tradition and dispensed with the handicaps, making the series a genuine championship event.

While the move was met with scepticism in some ranks, those that criticised were forced to eat humble pie with the series setting all kinds of betting and attendance records.

Total turnover on the night of the final was $2,957,448, which was easily a record for one night’s racing at the time, while the total attendance over the four nights of the series was 99,607.

More than 34,000 turned out for the final on Saturday, March 18, where they saw Brian Gath claim his first Inter Dominion when Markovina held off all comers to claim the $100,000 final.

Gath and Markovina’s connections had a delayed start to their celebrations, however, when Peter Norrgard, driver of runner-up Hermosa Star, lodged an ultimately unsuccessful protest for interference in the home straight.

The shock of the pacers series was the failure of pre-series favourite Pure Steel to qualify for the final.

The Western Australian champion battled injury all the way through the series, but still only missed a place in the 10-horse final by one point.

That wasn’t the only shock of the series, however, with champion squaregaiter Maori’s Idol upstaged in the trotters final – the first ever held in Melbourne.

The Ric Healy-trained superstar had his then record-equalling 24 race winning streak snapped in the $25,000 showdown much to the dismay of punters who sent him out a 4-9 favourite.

Healy’s son Bryan was in the sulky and earned the wrath of punters for making his run at the leaders too late as 50-1 shot Derby Royale raced away with the coveted title.

1985 – The Inter Dominion returned to Moonee Valley in 1985, when Victoria was celebrating his 150th anniversary.

And there was dual cause for celebration with the series providing Melbourne’s harness racing fans with the chance to reognise one of the greatest pacers Australia has seen.

Western Australian superstar Preux Chevalier secured the Inter Dominion crown that ensured he would forever be remembered as an all-time great.

But the victory didn’t come without controversy for the son of Lumber Dream.

From the time Preux Chevalier performed a 23-metre demolition job on his rivals in the Hunter Cup in the lead-up to the final he was always at the top of Inter Dominion final betting charts.

But what was expected to be a walk in the park for “The Frog”, instead became one of the most dramatic days in Inter Dominion history.

Word swept Moonee Valley on the night of the final that Preux Chevalier was suffering from colic and was in danger of missing the race.

Despite assurances from trainer-driver Barry Perkins that Preux Chevalier was fine, vets made him work a lap of the track before clearing him to start and the rest, as they say, is history.

Preux Chevalier confirmed his greatness with a memorable win over Village Kid, who went on to also become one of Australian harness racing’s greats of the modern era.

In the trotting division, locally-trained glamour girl Scotch Notch became the first squaregaiter to win the Inter Dominion for a second time after triumphing in Auckland two years earlier.

Scotch Notch had to be content with second placing behind arch-rival Sir Castleton in Adelaide 12 months prior, but turned the tables on the Kiwi star in Melbourne with a barnstorming finish.

The Graeme Lang-trained and driven mare went on to race with success in North America winning 19 races and finishing third in the US Breeders Crown.

1992 – Few Inter Dominion finals have produced as an emotional result as the 1992 edition.

Not only did the winner – Westburn Grant – bounce back from life-threatening injury to claim Australasian harness racing’s holy grail, but veteran trainer-driver Vic Frost overcome immense personal loss to score the biggest win of his career.

Just a couple of months before that memorable final at Moonee Valley, Frost and his wife Margaret suffered the heartbreak of losing 24-year-old son Garry, who bled to death after a freak accident.

The New South Wales-based Frosts learned of their son’s death on the day they landed in Perth, where their star charge was to contest the Benson and Hedges Cup.

That was the same race Frost was targeting with Westburn Grant when the stallion suffered the leg injury that not only looked to have ended his racing career but also threatened to take his life.

But not to be outdone, the son of Land Grant showcased his championship qualities with victory over what many considered at the time to be one of the strongest fields ever assembled for an Inter Dominion final.

Franco Tiger, Blossom Lady, Christopher Vance, Impressionist, Master Musician and the previous two Inter Dominion champions Thorate and Mark Hanover were among those Westburn Grant left in his wake in the $400,000 final.

And he did so after failing to win any of his three heats.

The 1992 series saw a slight tinkering of the points system with heat winners allocated 15 points, where in past years 13 points had been the reward for a heat victory.

In the trotting division, William Dee scored at odds of 10-1 to provide New Zealand trainer-driver John Langdon with his third Inter Dominion title after winning both the pacers and trotters’ divisions in 1975.

Unplaced in both heats, the seven-year-old led home a Kiwi quinella in the $110,000 final which was marred by early interference when heat winners Game Paul and Lyn’s Choice both galloped out of the mobile.

2000 – The tinkering of the points system in 1992 was nothing compared to the sweeping changes Harness Racing Victoria introduced for the 2000 series at Moonee Valley.

While an injection of funds that presented harness racing with its first $1 million race was applauded by all and sundry, the restructuring of the series’ preliminary rounds created slightly more controversy.

For more than 50 years the Inter Dominion had seen little change to the three-rounds-of-heats-and-a-final format that had served the series so well.

But in 2000, HRV took the audacious step of including its two annual Grand Circuit events – the Victoria Cup and A.G. Hunter Cup – into the series which was extended from the traditional three weeks to five.

Horses that contested those two events would receive double points towards a start in the final, with the horses who didn’t contest those races to qualify via three rounds of heats.

HRV made no secret that this was a formula designed to attract the best final field possible and with the exception of injured superstar Christian Cullen and Holmes D G, who just didn’t come up during the series, the remainder of Australasia’s premier pacing talent were all there.

Former champion juvenile Courage Under Fire, United States import Slug Of Jin, Hunter Cup winner Yulestar, boom four-year-old Shakamaker and his Australian Pacing Championship-winning stablemate Safe And Sound and Victoria Cup winner Breenys Fella were among the final’s headline acts.

In the end, it was an adopted local who provided the fitting finale to Melbourne month-long extravaganza.

Former South Australian John Justice, who had set up base at Toolern Vale, 35km from Melbourne, scored the biggest win of his career when Shakamaker produced a withering finish to claim the richest race to have ever been run on Australian soil.

Completing a good final for the hosts was the Ted Demmler-trained Breenys Fella, who grabbed second at 25-1, while the Tim Butt-trained Happy Asset grabbed third prize money for New Zealand.

One of the unlucky runners of the final was Courage Under Fire, who hit his head on the mobile barrier a split second before the release point to see his chances go out the window.

Courage Under Fire’s final misfortune completed a forgettable series for the headline horse, which suffered the first defeat of his illustrious career at start number 26 when he finished second behind Kyema Kid in the opening round of heats.

The trotting series proved a one-act affair with emerging New Zealand superstar Lyell Creek racing to victory in the $500,000 final on February 5 – one week prior to the pacing final.

One of eight Kiwis in the 14 horse field, Lyell Creek was sent out a prohibitive $1.40 favourite and had little trouble recording his 13th straight win despite facing a 10-metre handicap.

Included amongst the beaten brigade was French raider Euro Ringeat who started off a 35-metre backmark, but ruined his chances of becoming the first European-trained Inter Dominion winner after galloping mid-race.

Like the pacing series, the trotting division carried a unique format in 2000 with Group 1 classics, the Dullard Cup and Australasian Trotting Championship - both won by Lyell Creek - included as qualifying races.

2008 – The 2008 Watpac Inter Dominion will be remembered as the year that Blacks A Fake equalled Our Sir Vancelot's record of three-straight Inter Dominion grand final wins.

What could be the final Trans-Tasman championship decided at the venue that has been Victorian harness racing's home for more than 30 years could go down as the most historically-significant Inter Dominion final run in Victoria.

A “Blackie” win was what the bumper crowd that turned out for the first Melbourne Inter Dominion since 2000 went to Moonee Valley to see and that was what they got.

The Natalie Rasmussen-trained-and-driven champ followed up initial wins in Tasmania in 2006 and Adelaide in 2007 with the best win of the lot in 2008.

As he has been for most of his career, the seven-year-old son of Fake Left was unstoppable in the premier event on the Australasian harness racing calendar.

As the recipient of one of the semi final ballot exemptions allotted to the winners of certain races, “Blackie” wasn't required to contest the heat round at Geelong but he was there when the semi finals were conducted at the Valley on February 23.

And he booked his grand final spot with a soft victory. He didn't smash the clock like Safari did in his 1:56.3 win in the other semi, but he never looked like being beaten.

It was a similar story once Rasmussen was allowed to stroll to the front aboard the gelding 1800m from home in the final.

After that he was never headed, going home to beat unlucky New South Wales raider Divisive and local stars Smoken Up and Safari and consolidate his place as the highest-earning pacer in Australasian harness racing history.

The $438,750 he pocketed for his grand final win lifted his earnings to $2,831,814 â?? more than half-a-million dollars more than the $2,229,634 previous record holder Shakamaker earned during his glittering career.

Watpac ID08 wasn't just about the pacers, however, with the trotters again sharing centre stage and that series was a triumph for Australia's undisputed king of the squaregaiters, Chris Lang.

The Nagambie horseman joined his legendary father Graeme and equally recognisable brother Gavin as Inter Dominion winners when he trained former Kiwi gelding Galleons Sunset to victory in the $250,000 Seelite Windows and Doors-sponsored final.

The six-year-old, who just two months earlier won the Bill Collins Trotters Mile while in the care of original trainer Derek Balle (who maintained the drive for the Inter Dominion series), made it a Group 1 double with his win over Will Trapper and My Rhythm Of The Night.

 

 

Melbourne Inter Dominion Carnivals | Brisbane Inter Dominion Carnivals | Sydney Inter Dominion Carnivals