The Inter Dominion Pacing Series has been around since 1936.
First staged at the spiritual home of harness racing Gloucester Park, Perth, the inaugural series winner was Logan Derby for trainer Harry Barnes and driver Jim Agnew.
Starting from scratch, the talented pacer made a clean sweep of the series and comfortably scored in the Grand Final over 2400m (or 12 furlongs) claiming the $6000 prize money.
Gloucester Park has played host to an Inter Dominion series more than any other venue, the Perth track has staged 15 Grand Finals.
Times have changed. The series has changed, and in many ways, radically. But the concept remains the same.
The 2025 series features the best of the best, heat/final set up and survival of the fittest across three consecutive Saturday nights. It will be a great test for trainers, drivers and most importantly, horses, and the Grand Final staged over the marathon distance of 3157m.
The series has returned to Queensland on a somewhat permanent basis, finding a home for the next three years (2025-2027) after Racing Queensland jumped at the opportunity to host the prized harness racing event in the Sunshine State following the success of the 2023 series.
Having the event staged at a single location over a number of years is nothing new. Menangle staged the event for three straight years (2013-2015) while Gloucester Park did the same (2015-2017).
In 2015, the Menangle series was staged in March while the Gloucester Park series was held in December.
From 2018 to 2024, the series was back on a rotational format before being locked away by Racing Queensland.
In 2020, the Inter Dominion series was not held due to Covid 19.
The Inter Dominion has bounced around the southern hemisphere with grand finals hosted in all states and major cities plus both islands of New Zealand.
From Gloucester Park to Dunedin, Wayville to Auckland and Elwick to the Gold Coast, there’s been plenty of different venues hosting the Grand Final.
Albion Park, the famed Breakfast Creek oval, has hosted six Grand Finals while the now defunct Parklands on the Gold Coast jumped in to host the 2009 series after the Russ Hinze Grandstand at Albion Park was condemned the year prior.
The first time the series was held in Brisbane was 1972 and Riverina star Welcome Advice for George and Alan Harpley stormed to victory in the Grand Final after starting from a 12-yard mark.
The 1972 Grand Final featured names like Fred Kersley, Alf Simons, Don Dove, Neville Welsh, Rex Hocking, John Binskin, Joe Webster and Sam Zammit among others.
It wasn’t long before the series returned to Brisbane and, in 1977, all of the stars of harness racing once again descended upon the Sunshine State.
New Zealand ace Stanley Rio, for George and John Noble claimed the Grand Final defeating Master Findlay and Sporting Son.
It would be the last time an Inter Dominion raced on the old right-handed track.
The next time Albion Park played host to an Inter Dominion series would be 1986, and following a major redevelopment in 1983, the track became a left-handed 1000m oval and was simply known as the ‘Speed Pacing Capital of Australia’.
Under the bright new lights West Australian wonder horse Village Kid totally dominated - he swept the entire series.
In 1993, another West Australian took all before him when Jack Morris stamped his authority with an easy Grand Final victory over Warrior Khan and Blossom Lady.
The only Queensland-trained pacer to qualify for the Grand Final was Rustic Lad (Graeme and Janine Bowyer), raced by Kevin and Kay Seymour, finished an excellent fifth.
Expectations for the 2001 series were huge. Stars aplenty amongst massive nominations coinciding with the Trotters series for the first time in Queensland, the stage was set for an exhilarating carnival.
Again, the locals plus plenty of interstate and New Zealand visitors crammed into Albion Park to witness an epic Grand Final won by Yulestar who triumphed over Atitagain, Pocket Me and Courage Under Fire.
History was created in 2009 when former North American Mr Feelgood, a winner of the famed Little Brown Jug, caused a boil over, defeating champion Blacks A Fake and Karloo Mick.
Blacks A Fake was chasing history by winning his fourth straight Inter Dominion Grand Final after scoring previously at Hobart, Globe Derby and Moonee Valley.
As history proves, Blacks A Fake returned the following year to claim the Grand Final at Menangle.
And in the most recent series, in 2023, recently inducted Queensland Harness Hall of Famer Leap To Fame made a clean sweep of the series, his Grand Final domination is still fresh in the minds of many.
“The first Inter Dominion staged in Brisbane had great significance for the industry at the time,” former Albion Park Chairman and broadcaster David Fowler said.
“Night trotting, as it was termed then, had only begun four years earlier in 1968.
To be able to host such a prestige event so soon gave Albion Park the esteem needed to rub shoulders with the likes of Harold Park and the Melbourne Showgrounds.
Six more Inter Dominions have been hosted since Welcome Advice won in 1972 and few would argue that those have been some of the most popular in the long life of the series with the generally wonderful weather and various tourist attractions serving as powerful magnets.
To be able to host three consecutive Inter Dominions with the renewed interest of the New Zealanders is another significant moment in the sport’s history,” Fowler added.
The current metropolitan thoroughbred broadcaster has called more Inter Dominion Grand Finals at Albion Park than anyone else having covered the 1993, 2001 (Pacing and Trotting) and 2009 series.
Local hero Leap To Fame is aiming to become a multiple Grand Final winner joining the likes of Hondo Grattan, Gammalite, Our Sir Vanceloet (x 3), Blacks A Fake (x 4), Im Themightyquinn (x 3) and Beautide.
Only Blacks A Fake has won a Grand Final across split years. Leap To Fame did not contest last year’s series, which was won by Don Hugo.
The 2025 series will carry prize money of $1 million. It becomes the second time Queensland has staged a pacing series of $1 million (2009).
The richest ever Inter Dominion series was 2007 (Blacks A Fake) in Tasmania, which carried total prize money of $2,050,000.
The first million-dollar series staged for an Inter Dominion was 2000 (Shakamaker) at Moonee Valley.
If Leap To Fame proves successful in the Grand Final, he will surpass Blacks A Fake as the richest Australian pacer of all-time.
The Grant and Trista Dixon-trained champion is the only horse in history to have earned more than $1 million at Albion Park alone.
His Albion Park earnings are just shy of $1.5 million, close to double that of his nearest rival (Colt Thirty One).
Leap To Fame is now a six-year-old - in the prime of his career - and here’s another sobering stat: since 2000, nine six-year-olds have won the Grand Final, the most recent being I Cast No Shadow in 2022.
Interestingly, Blacks A Fake, Im Themightyquinn and Our Sir Vancelot all claimed a Grand Final as a six-year-old.
Yulestar was a six-year-old when successful in 2001 at Albion Park while Mr Feelgood was also a six-year-old when triumphant in 2009.
The 2025 Inter Dominion Pacing series, a year of records to be broken perhaps.
