Im Themightyquinn - winner of the 2012 Perth Inter Dominion
Harness racing in Western Australia will receive a tremendous boost when the cream of Australasia’s pacers will clash in the richest harness race in the world, the $1.3 million final of the Inter Dominion championship at Gloucester Park on December 11, 2015.
Racing and Wagering Western Australia and Gloucester Park Harness Racing have successfully bid for the right to conduct the Inter Dominion championship series for three years, starting with a four-night series in November and December next year, with total prizemoney of a staggering $1.8 million.
The news that the iconic carnival will return to its ancestral home in Perth has been greeted with unbridled enthusiasm by sports lovers at large and all sections of the industry.
The rich series will attract the best horses, trainers and drivers from Australia and New Zealand and Perth will bask in the spotlight of unprecedented interest from the United States and European and Scandinavian harness racing countries, including France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
Perth is the birthplace of the Inter Dominion championship, with the first carnival being held at Gloucester Park in February 1936 when Logan Derby was unbeaten in three heats and started from the front mark when he won the $3000 final by two lengths from another Tasmanian pacer Evicus (off 24 yards), rating 2.12 over 12 furlongs.
Under a complicated points system Evicus was declared grand champion.
In the past two years the interdominion championship final has been run at Menangle in New South Wales after qualifying heats were run in all Australian States and New Zealand. The next series will be run at Menangle next March.
The original and traditional format of three heats and a final at one Australian State capital or Auckland or Christchurch will return for the series in Perth in 2015, 20016 and 2017, with TABtouch the naming rights sponsor.
Gloucester Park has hosted the interdominion championship carnival 13 times, more than any other track. Fresh ground in WA will be broken when the first set of qualifying heats over a sprint journey will be decided under lights on the 1000m Pinjarra track on Tuesday December 1, 2015.
RWWA will spend $8.1 million in the promotion and support of the 2015 series and RWWA CEO Richard Burt said that the carnival would revitalise the interest in harness racing in this State.
“The prizemoney on offer will showcase the best of harness racing, not only here but in Australia and throughout the world,” he said. “To attract the best horses, drivers and trainers to WA is a major boost for our industry and a golden opportunity to highlight our sport to a wider audience. Perth has a proud heritage with the Inter Dominion championships and we look forward to promoting our broader racing industry on an international stage.”
The carnival in November and December will be run in conjunction with feature events on the thoroughbred and greyhound racing industries and will make WA the focal point in Australia of the three codes.
GPHR president John Burt is excited at the prospect of the Inter Dominion championship returning to Perth, saying: “Harness racing in this State has a long and proud history and has had some significant moments. A $1.3 million Inter Dominion final for three years is the equal of any of them.
“The Inter Dominion was created in WA for the betterment of harness racing in Australasia and for the series to return home where it all began at such a level will honour the legacy of James Brennan and J. P. Stratton, who created the series in 1936.
“Moving the championships to before Christmas will allow Gloucester Park to capitalise on our already well-established feature events for four-year-olds and mares, with Group1 races, the Golden Nugget and the Mares Classic, to be on the program on the night of the Inter Dominion final.
“The TABtouch Inter Dominion is not just about Gloucester Park hosting a big event, but rather a three years series that will give the industry confidence to invest and I’m sure we will see positive effects throughout the broader harness racing industry.”
Ace New Zealand trainer Cran Dalgety was a special guest at the launch of the championship series over the next three years and he said that a $1.3 million final was a “pretty serious carrot” for New Zealand owners and trainers.
“I’d like to think that I will be one of the main contenders with Christen me and Bit of a Legend,” he said.
