by Adam Hamilton

The biggest names are missing, but the power of the Inter Dominion to churn out great stories is as strong as ever.

The doubters said a series missing champions Leap To Fame and Just Believe, along with dual New Zealand Cup hero Swayzee, would likely slide by without much attention… like a tennis “major” a few years back if it was missing Nadal and Federer.

Wrong.

Of course, we’d all love to see the very best lock horns in Down Under’s most iconic series, but the racing has been spirited and the lovely story angles have been plentiful.

That’s the great thing about the Inter Dominion, is its ability to produce stories, many through the demanding nature where the horses — pacers and trotters — have to race in three rounds of qualifying heats and the final within 15 days.

Let’s have a look at some of them.

MAX DELIGHT AND DAVID AIKEN

This is the emotion-charged story of the entire series, not just the pacing division.

This marvelous old pacer (he turns 9 next month) has fittingly fought his way through the final after three races where not a lot went right, but he found a way.

His trainer David Aiken, who won the pacing final with Lennytheshark in 2015, has been fighting prostate cancer for two-and-a-half years.

“I had surgery at the start, but my PSA levels were still high after it, which meant they didn’t get it all out, but it took them more than two years to pinpoint where it was,” Aiken said. “They found two spots and I had seven weeks of radiation to zap them, which only finished about a week before this series started.

“Now, I’ve got to wait for blood tests in January to see if it works. My PSA levels need to be zero then.”

Aiken admits Max Delight’s on-track renaissance through his own health battle has been “a real crutch, not to me, but those around me, too.”

But it runs deeper. Max Delight has overcome a career-threatening tendon injury himself more than four years ago, and his Tasmanian based owner, Mick Maxfield, is also struggling with his health.

“Yes, there’s a few layers to the story, isn’t there?” Aiken said. “We’ve all had or have our battles. In Mick’s case, he’s coming to Menangle this week and admits it might be the last time he gets to see the horse race in person.”

So, can he land a fairytale win?

“Yes, he can,” Aiken said. “He’s racing better than ever, but he’ll need the race run to suit and to be able to do it his way, stalk them and get the last crack at them in a field like this.”

CAPTAINS KNOCK AND JARROD CROKER

One of the golden tickets for racing is when a high-profile sports star gets actively involved in a big race.

In the case of this final, it doesn’t get much bigger then rugby league legend Jarrod Croker in a final run in the rugby league-mad western suburbs of Sydney.

Croker played 307 games for the Canberra Raiders and was their long-time captain before retiring at the end of the 2023 season.

At the height of his career, he joined some mates from his old home town of Goulburn, including top horseman Brad Hewitt, to create a syndicate of friends and family called the “Triple Play Syndicate.” It was named after one of the first horses they raced together, Our Triple Play, who won 17 races and almost $300,000.

One of the first purchases by the syndicate was a Captaintreacherous colt, now known as Captains Knock (and yes, named after Croker).

The 4-year-old has already won 18 of his 41 starts and over $530,000 and he’s one of the favorites for this pacing final.

“I didn’t really get emotional much during my footy days, but I did when I was at the track to see this guy with the middle [3YO] of his three NSW Breeders Challenge finals and I’m sure I will if he runs a big race or even wins on Saturday,” Croker said.

“I love the sport, especially being able to share the success and fun of it all with a group of friends and family like we have involved.”

Throw in the fact it’s the first Inter Dominion series where Hewitt will have drives in the final and it will be a special night, indeed.

Hewitt hasn’t mucked around this year. He not only drives Captains Knock in the pacing final, but also trains and drives hot favorite The Locomotive in the trotting final.

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

Harness racing, especially Down Under, has always been a strong family game.

This Inter Dominion certainly underlines that.

Across the pacing and trotting finals, we have a remarkable five horses trained by a parent and driven by one of their children.

In the pacing final: Peter and Will Rixon combine with Jilliby Nitro and Shane and Ryan Sanderson have Dangerous.

Switch to the trotting final where Marg Lee (mother) trains Keayang Chucky, son Paddy co-trains and another son, Jason, does the driving.

In the same race, John Justice and daughter, Ewa, combined with last year’s runner-up Mufasa Metro, while it’s the same with Plymouth Chubb where father Peter Manning trains and daughter Kerryn takes the reins.

THE DOMINATOR

Can 29-year-old trainer Jason Grimson do it again?

Grimson first burst into the big league when he won the 2021 Menangle Inter Dominion pacing final with $41 (for $1 bet) outsider Boncel Benjamin on protest.

He did it again a year later with I Cast No Shadow in Melbourne, then had Swayzee run third last year.

Grimson has two of the 12 pacing finalists, Curly James and Nerano, along with Royal Dan in the trotting final.

THE YOUNG GUNS

The health of any sport can usually be measured by the young talent coming through and there is an abundance of that in Australia.

Pleasingly, many of the top young drivers will be part of the Inter Dominion finals.

There is no hotter young driver in Australia than Cam Hart. He will have his sixth and seventh Inter Dominion finals drives on Nerano (pacing) and Toro Stride (trotting).

Hart won the 2022 pacing final on I Cast No Shadow and was third with Swayzee last year.

His great mate, Jack Callaghan, has driven in three finals for a best result of third on Alta Orlando in the 2021 pacing final. He drives Curly James (pacer) and Royal Dan (trotter) on Saturday night.

Then there is WA starlet Deni Roberts, who is contesting her first Inter Dominion and has the drive on big hope Minstrel in the pacing final.

That’s without delving further in Will Rixon, Ryan Sanderson, Seaton Grima, Josh Gallagher (who won the 2021 pacing final and drives Terry this time), Jason Lee, Ewa Justice and Tayla French.

WHEN YOU’RE HOT, YOU’RE HOT

What about the past couple of months Victorian country trainer Marg Lee and her boys, Jason and Paddy, have enjoyed?

Their freakish 3-year-old Keayang Zahara went to New Zealand and thrashed their best in three feature races to stretch her unbeaten record to 14 wins.

Now they haven’t just qualified their first Inter Dominion trotting finalist, but they’ve got a quarter of the field — three of the 12 starters — with Keayang Chucky, Keayang Stuka and Aldebaran Vera.

“All credit to Paddy for that,” Marg said. “He’s done all the work with the Sydney team, while we’ve been focused in New Zealand and with the stable back home [in Victoria].”

MILLIONAIRE-ESS?

Top mare Queen Elida is racing for a special place in Down Under history on Saturday night.

Victory would take her to $1,005,345 in earnings and make her only the second Australasian trotting mare to top $1 million in prize money. The other is One Over Kenny, and she’s not that far ahead at $1,060,394.

Queen Elida has finished third in the past two finals behind the great Just Believe and doesn’t have him to contend with this time.

But she’s drawn outside her two main dangers, Keayang Chucky (3) and The Locomotive (4).