Participants of the 2010 NSW Mini Trotting Inter Dominion final and Representatives of the 2010 Australasian Young Drivers Championships.
The weather produced a glorious day on Sunday at TABCORP Menangle Park for the running of the 2010 Interdominion Finals.
With Australian records being slashed on the huge track throughout the day, no one in attendance could complain about the lack of fine harness racing horses in Australia and New Zealand at the moment. The finishing stages of the Main Interdominion Race were a sight to be seen - and one that people in attendance will remember for many, many years to come!
Prior to the “big” horses taking to the track, NSW Mini Trotting Association had the proud honour of conducting three finals races for mini trotting participants. With capacity fields of fifteen runners in each division the action in these races was always going to be fast and exciting!
First onto the track were the midget runners, the 9 Hands and Under Division. With the field bunched closely at the start, it didn’t take long for the runners to find their running line and settle down into racing. Midnight Express, driven by McKayler Barnes, proved the goods on the day and skipped around the outside to quickly round up the field and record a good victory. The fight for second and third placings was extremely close with Ashleigh’s Honey (Ashleigh Jackson) marginally hanging to take second ahead of a late comeback from Billy Bye (Todd Prest).
The Shetland Division, for ponies of height from 9.1 hands high to 10.2 hands high, saw Queensland and Victorian Runners in the mix of the New South Wales crew vying for this years title. Defending champion, Paleface Katie from Queensland, driven by seven year old Ethan Manzelmann, showed her true style, coming from the back mark, stepping her way through the entire field to take the lead coming down the home straight. Once in the lead, victory was all Katie’s!! Hot on her heels however were fast finishers Nightmare (Ben Carroll) and Secret Mission (Samantha Moore) who fought a close battle to complete the race in second and third places respectively.
The Final Race of the day, and perhaps the most highly anticipated, was the Pony Division, for ponies of height from 10.3 hands high to 13 hands high. With ponies represented from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and even New Zealand, the race was set to be a real state showdown! With a few rough starters, some of the backmarkers had a tricky time working through the field to gain a top order position.
Once settling into a race pattern the ponies were set for a fantastic finish! Ellen Bartley, from Victoria, aboard Who’s Me Dad, came through the field, picking the runners off one by one to skip away in the home straight to record a sound win. As seen in the previous races, the fight for the placings was fierce with three ponies all head to head in those final metres before the finish line. Sabrina (Maddison Carroll) narrowly hung on to secure second place ahead of Negro Dancer (Chris Judd) who placed third in the tightest of margins in front of the fast finishing Lightning Jack (Ben Lamb).
At the completion of the mini trot racing, the drivers took part in a parade on the main track in front of the enormous crowd in attendance. The winners were presented with their rugs and trophies, and the placegetters received their trophies, in a special presentation.
Many thanks must go to HRNSW (particularly Lauren and Amber) for their continued support of mini trotting in NSW, to the NSW Harness Racing Committee for working with the mini trotters on the day, to all the participants and their families/supporters who travelled to attend the day, and to the wonderful crowd at TABCORP Menangle Park who so enthusiastically cheered home the children in all their races!
