Australasia’s greatest harness racing series, the SENTrack Inter Dominion, will for the first time have all its heats in Victoria’s regional areas, celebrating what’s long been the sport’s heartland.
The best pacers and trotters in the land will step out at Ballarat tonight and continue on to Shepparton on Tuesday and Geelong next Saturday, capturing the great community spirit harness racing shares with its districts.
This will be most apparent on Night 2 of ID22, when the carnival comes to the Goulburn Valley.
Shepparton Harness Racing Club last month stabled local horses when more than 4000 properties in the region became inundated by flood water.
It also acted as a distribution point for free horse feed to those affected, made available through a Harness Racing Victoria grant.
Club president Chris Hazelman said being awarded the chance to host an Inter Dominion heat was recognition not only of the community’s successful efforts during the floods, but its part in supporting the industry during rolling lockdowns of past years.
“Goulburn Valley is the heart of standardbred racing in Victoria so it’s important that part of ID22 is staged here,” Hazelman said.
“It’s an acknowledgement to the role the regions played throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when survival of the harness racing industry depended on stopping the movement of people between areas.
“Shepparton, like other regional clubs, was asked to hold an extra 22 race meetings during this time. Without clubs playing a part, the industry could easily have closed down.
“ID22 will give a psychological boost to not only harness racing clubs that host the heats, but the broader community. It’s such a significant event and I’m confident there will be a crowd of participants and the wider community on Tuesday night.”
Trots Club Victoria chief executive Carl Coady agreed, saying ID22 will benefit clubs and their communities.
“This is a time of year that all eyes around Australia and New Zealand are looking at the sport,” he said.
“The heats will showcase that Victorian clubs are of the highest standard in terms of infrastructure, quality of racing and the events they can deliver.
“On the back of a challenging period where tourism in regional areas has suffered because of both COVID-19 and the recent floods, ID22 heats will provide a much-needed economic boost and increase both intrastate and interstate visitors.
“Our hope is that ID22’s increased visibility of harness racing will introduce new people to the sport, who will become regular visitors to our regional harness racing clubs all year round.”
Paul Rowse, chief executive of Ballarat and District Trotting Club, which hosts tonight’s ID22 Night 1, was positive the event would bring the community together.
“ID22 is not only a major event for the City of Ballarat but also the greater western Victorian community,” Rowse said.
“Ballarat has a strong sporting tradition and the Inter Dominion provides another opportunity to put the city in the national and international spotlight.
“It’s also an opportunity for the club to showcase the best of harness racing and its first-class facilities to not only Ballarat but the wider community. It’s a thrill for the club to again be part of the Inter Dominion, as it was in 2018.”
All regions have experienced challenges of the past few years differently, including Night 3 host Geelong.
John Dunne, manager of the Geelong Harness Racing Club, said ID22 presented an opportunity for the region to showcase its booming tourism sector and be known for all codes of racing.
“Geelong is in a fortunate geographical position as tourism has remined buoyant over the last few years,” he said.
“We are ideally situated 45 minutes from the West Gate Bridge are the second largest city in Victoria, as well as being a gateway to the surf coast and Bellarine Peninsula. The working from home movement has also helped us with many people relocating here.
“Traditionally Geelong has been a strong thoroughbred racing town, so ID22 is an opportunity to raise awareness of harness racing within the local community.”
From Ballarat to Shepparton and Geelong, the Inter Dominion heats are set to be a thrilling ride and pave the way for ID22’s path to its Grand Finals night on December 10 at Tabcorp Park Melton, the sport’s metropolitan homeland.
DAN MIELICKI REVISITS THE GREAT INTER DOMINION MOMENTS:
