David Gilbert
ARE we about to have our first locally owned Inter Dominion winner in the lower South East?
To my knowledge, no local pacer (either owned or trained here) has ever won an Inter Dominion final but there is a possibility that could all change at Melton next weekend.
Majestic Cruiser, owned here in Mount Gambier by Des and Heather Glynn, will be one of the leading chances for the $500,000 final on the proviso he makes the final cut.
The heats of the 2022 Inter Dominion series are in full swing with Ballarat and Shepparton hosting the first two nights of heats in the past week.
Majestic Cruiser ran third in the opening heat but poor barrier draws have since hindered his chances of making the final field.
At Shepparton, he ran sixth, beaten 2.5 metres from barrier 10 and he has drawn the same barrier for the final round of heats tomorrow night at Geelong.
Back in July, Majestic Cruiser had major success as the winner of the Group 1 Blacks A Fake at Albion Park in Brisbane.
The seven year old is trained for the Glynns by Jason Grimson in NSW and Cameron Hart is the regular driver.
Alas, the Inter Dominion series these days is a mere shadow from its heyday when it was the pinnacle of the harness racing year in both New Zealand and Australia.
While the Inter Dominion final was always Australasia’s richest race, that is no longer the case with the Miracle Mile (Sydney) and the New Zealand Cup (Christchurch) offering far better stakemoney.
STILL MAKING OUR PRESENCE FELT
THE number of harness racing horses in the South East may be low but it is not stopping us getting the results, either in Adelaide or in western Victoria.
Proof of that is the results of the past nine days where locally owned and trained pacers have won six races.
At Globe Derby Park last Saturday night, the heats of the annual Southern Cross series were conducted and we chalked up two winners in the lead up to the finals in Adelaide tonight.
As expected, the Greg Scholefield trained Jawsoflincoln ($1.00 fav.) was untroubled to win his heat of the series for three-year-old colts and geldings, winning by 32 metres for driver Gaita Pullicino.
The $3.30 chance Sadie Jayne, a newcomer to the Alyce Finnis stable, then led most of the way for driver Jayson Finnis to take out the heat for three-year-old filles.
In three of the $30,000 finals tonight at Globe Derby Park, the South East have a total of seven runners.
At Hamilton last week, it was a red letter day for the locals winning four of the eight races.
The Kevin Von Duve trained Springfield Affair ($2.60) drew first blood to win the NR 46-55 pace, then Rocking Lee ($6) won half an hour later for the Steve Fennell stable in the NR 50 pace.
It was then three wins in successive races for the locals when the David Drury trained and driven Hanging Fire ($1.60 fav.) atoned for an unlucky third at the previous Hamilton meeting to win the three-year-old pace.
To wrap up a good day, Terror The Christian ($15) made it two wins from his past three starts with a narow victory for trainer/driver Bill Drury in the final event.
LATE START FOR LOCAL RACES
PERFECT weather and good fields should be the ideal recipe for a great day’s racing out at Glenburnie this afternoon.
It is the final meeting of the year for the Mount Gambier club and a good crowd is expected for the twilight meeting with the first race at 3.20pm and the last event at 6.53pm.
A Good 4 rating was posted for the track on Wednesday and Victorian runners make up a quarter of the 88 final acceptors for the seven-race card.
Local apprentice Jacob Opperman has a full book of rides as he attempts to break a run of outs on Limestone Coast tracks this current season.
Looking for some value, may we suggest Maracourt (race 3) and Goliotus (race 5) as each way chances on what appears a tough program for punters.
DOGS ON A BIG WINNER
MY recent travels through eastern Victoria included an overnight stay in Sale where it was suggested to me one of the best eating spots in town was at the local greyhound track.
The local information, as usual, was spot on and the excellent, modern set up is an absolute credit to all concerned at the Sale Greyhound Club.
It has to be the best appointed greyhound venue in country Australia.
The well named Graze function centre is hugely popular, open seven days a week for meals and is well staffed with table service.
There was no racing the night I was there but that did not stop the restaurant being almost filled.
In a separate area there are also gaming machines and TAB facilities at a complex the Sale community can be well and truly proud of.
ODDS JUST GOT BETTER
PUNTERS who showed patience and waited until the last minute to back the locally-owned stayer Sebonna last Saturday were on a winner in more ways than one.
Sebonna was regarded as one of the main chances in the 2500-metre BM 82 handicap at Morphettville, but punters did not want anything to do with the Peter Hardacre trained gelding in the final half hour of betting.
From an opening quote of $4.40, Sebonna’s odds ballooned out to $7 at starting time which is often not a good sign as to a horse’s winning chance.
A cool, patient ride from apprentice Logan McNeil saw Sebonna steadily make ground from the home turn to claim the major prize by a long head.
The seven-year-old gelding has really struck good form in the past five weeks with two wins and two placings and the win last Saturday took his career earnings to over $223,000.
LEADING THE WAY
WHEN it comes to racing, the Warrnambool club has to be one of the leading clubs in rural Australia.
The club is always improving amenities for both the members and general public, as was witnessed by more than 5,000 people who attended the Jericho Cup meeting there last Sunday.
It was only the fifth running of the Jericho Cup, the longest flat race in Australia at 4600 metres and it has grown in status enormously to be one of the feature days of the year for Victorian country racing.
The day is dedicated to honour World War 1 Light Horsemen and their horses and Australia’s greatest fast bowler Dennis Lillee was in attendance last Sunday to assist with the Jericho Cup presentation.
Horses from New Zealand and the eastern states of Australia made up the final field and it was a Kiwi quinella when Bastida defeated Botti.
There were no winners on the day from the Limestone Coast although the weight of money for two locals suggested confidence levels were high.
Money stayed with the bookies after punters unloaded on Private Jet ($10-$6) and Tahnee Tradition ($6-$3.80) who ran sixth and eighth in their respective races.
