It is great to see such a strong Aussie flavour in the first harness slot race run in this part of the world.

There are four Aussie raiders – Alta Orlando, Mach Dan, Majestic Cruiser and Stylish Memphis – among the nine runners in Thursday night’s $NZ900,000 The Race at Cambridge.

WHILE all the hype is around Ladies In Red’s return, it’s just one of many things on the plate for premier trainers Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin.

Ladies In Red, and Tough Tilly for that matter, will either trial this week or next as they prepare for the Australian Gold 4YO heats at Ballarat on April 27.

The lure of a home ground Inter Dominion will keep our trotting “Queen” Im Ready Jet here for at least the rest of this year.

KING Of Swing’s retirement puts even more importance on Lochinvar Art making a successful comeback, but we are going to have to be patient when it comes to Arty?

The former Hunter and Victoria cups winner will return to work later this month, but plans to tackle the huge Queensland Constellations during winter have been shelved.

The focus is on having Lochinvar Art primed for the Victoria Cup in October and then Melbourne's Inter Dominion series in November and December.

King Of Swing’s final act was more than just his historic third Miracle Mile win.

After he ran fifth in the Inter Dominion final on December 11 – his only unplaced run in 33 starts for Team McCarthy – the jury was certainly out on where he sat with the greats of the sport.

VICTORIAN young gun Bondi Lockdown is the big winner from the Miracle Mile wash-out.

While the one-week postponement shouldn’t impact many runners negatively, an extra week to prepare is just what trainer-driver Aaron Dunn needed with Australia’s most exciting pacer.

King Of Swing lifted to the challenge.

Just a week after I posed the question whether he deserved to be talked about in the same breath as modern greats like Blacks A Fake, Lazarus, Im Themightyquinn and others, the “King” answered it emphatically.

His win in last Saturday night’s Group 1 Allied Express Sprint was something to behold.

Some will say I've got egg on my face, rather I'm thrilled. I had an itch the "King" needed to scratch for me. And he did.

Three things say Bondi Lockdown MUST get a berth in the Miracle Mile.

First, it’s your eyes. Everyone saw how astonishingly big his second in the Chariots Of Fire was. He worked hard in that record-smashing 24.3sec first quarter and was still only beaten 1.6m in the fastest Chariots ever run. 

VICTORIA is superbly placed to continue its proud and fantastic record in Australia’s marquee four-year-old race, the $250,000 Group 1 Chariots Of Fire at Menangle on Saturday night.

Six of the 10 finalists are Victorians – Bondi Lockdown, Bettor Call Me, Beyond Delight, Rock N Roll Doo, Spring In His Step and Better Eclipse - and ahead of the barrier draw at lunchtime today, four of the first five in betting are trained in Victoria.

SHOULD we build on the magic and difference of the What The Hill Great Southern Star and create a pacing equivalent?

It’s not unchartered waters, we’ve had one before with the defunct El Dorado series and one of North America’s most iconic races, the Little Brown Jug, is a heat and final series on the same day at Delaware, Ohio.

Protests almost always divide opinions and Expensive Ego being stripped of another big win certainly did that at Melton last Saturday night.

In a quick Twitter poll I ran yesterday, 42 per cent agreed with the stewards’ decision, 40 per cent disagreed and 18 per cent said it was a “50/50” call.

LET’S have the same again, please.

That was one heck of a weekend of feature race, starting with yet another stirring WA feature and rolling into a PETstock Ballarat Pacing Cup for the ages.

But what makes it even more exciting is the racing calendar paves the way for a repeat in just under two weeks.

LET’S not sell short the enormity of challenge confronting David Moran and Lochinvar Art.

In the moments after his terrific first-up second at Shepparton, it was easy to assume he will pick-up where he left off almost a year.

We all want it, but it’s not a given.

LET your mind wander ahead a little to February 26.

They are scoring up for the Group 1 Ladyship Mile at Menangle, the new girl on the scene Ladies In Red is coming up, there’s the defending champ Stylish Memphis for Jack Trainor, now Anthony Butt is getting the queen-bee Amazing Dream up to the gate, Maajida and Spellbound are just about ready as well.

AS we roll into a new year with a real buzz back around Australia’s harness racing industry, I spent some time thinking about my wish list for 2022.

Take a look and share your thoughts.

Christmas comes early for harness fans with Wednesday night’s stellar Vicbred semi-finals meeting.

It’s an epic 12-race card – all Vicbred semis – at Melton.

It’s hard to pick one standout highlight, but a couple of the marquee races are:

As New South Wales officials handed over the Inter Dominion hosting baton to Harness Racing Victoria for next year, it was fitting to reflect on what a triumph this year’s series had been for Victorians.

I don’t think many could have predicted the massive influence Victorian owned and/or trained horses had across the two weeks in NSW.

Capped, of course, by the Victorian owned, trained and driven Maori Law winning the trotting final and Victorian-owned Boncel Benjamin landing the pacing final in a huge upset and after a dramatic, history-making protest.

THE Victorian raiders can be proud of their efforts going into the Inter Dominion finals at Menangle on Saturday night.

Seven of the 12 trotting finalists are trained in Victoria, including the first four in betting ahead of tonight’s barrier draw from 7.30pm on Sky Thoroughbrd Central.

Our finalists in betting order are The Penny Drops, Pink Galahs, Maori Law, Majestic Man, Lotamuscle, Kyvalley Chief and Just Believe. The first emergency, Aldebaran Crescent, is also a Victorian.