It is hard to see how budding superstar LOCHINVAR ART won’t win Saturday night’s $500,000 Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup.

When he drew nine last night, a little gasp when through the room, but just moments later KING OF SWING drew much worse in gate 12.

Lochinvar Art was $1.70 with TAB pre-draw, $1.50 moments after it and quickly crunched into $1.30, which underlines his dominance when you consider he does have to come from the back row to win.

Just how good could LOCHINVAR ART be? During a break in Sky Racing’s Ballarat Cup coverage, my co-host Gareth Hall declared Lochinvar Art was better than the recent Kiwi great LAZARUS.

At first I thought he was caught-up in the moment of yet another stunning Lochinvar Art win, but Gareth made a good argument.

WANTED: A driver for champion WA pacer Chicago Bull in the Del-Re National A G Hunter Cup.

The $2 million-plus earner is heading to Tabcorp Park Melton for the $500,000 feature on February 6, but his trainer and driver won’t be coming with him.

Kate Gath has got something thinking to do. The resurrection of McLovin, a little hiccup with Majestuoso and the miles on the clock for ageing champ Tornado Valley make for quite a conundrum when Gath has to choose between them.

You’d have been laughed at a few weeks back if you suggested she would drive McLovin, but he’s got his mojo back and arguably went as good as he ever has winning Saturday night’s Group 1 Aldebaran Park Maori Mile at Bendigo.

It only took one run for Luke McCarthy to add rejuvenated former Kiwi topliner Star Galleria to the Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup mix.

He’s one of three stable stars McCarthy and Craig Cross have earmarked for the Hunter Cup with defending champ King Of Swing and former winner Bling It On being the others.

What better way to put all that is 2020 behind us than by celebrating everything we have look forward to in harness racing, especially here in Victoria.

To see out this most confronting of years with 12 Group 1 races, more glimpses of the sport’s brightest stars and some serious mainstream TV exposure sets the tone for what lies ahead.

And it’s amazingly exciting.

Christmas comes early for harness fans tomorrow, when Australia’s best pacer, Lochinvar Art, headlines a ripper 12-race Alabar Vicbred Super Series semi-finals card at Tabcorp Park Melton.

And the added spice is, he meets the brilliant Hurricane Harley – who boasts two wins from his past three meetings with Lochinvar Art – in race eight.

The Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup can’t come quickly enough.

February 6 at Tabcorp Park Melton is when we’ll get to the see the return bout between King Of Swing and Lochinvar Art.

There’s a big chance you can throw in the likes of NZ Cup winner Self Assured, WA hero Chicago Bull and the emerging Hurricane Harley as well.

THIS year’s Victorian Inter Dominion needs to be a line in the sand for the sport’s marquee race.

As each year passes, less people see it as the ultimate prize in the game. That’s because it has been in limbo – with exceptions here and there – for almost a decade.

Champion driver Chris Alford has warned punters to drop off star trotting mare Queen Elida at their own peril.

Alford, who recently topped an Australasian record 8000 career wins, says Queen Elida is as good as any trotter he’s driven and getting back close to her very best just in time for Friday night’s stellar inaugural $NZ600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge

WHAT a joy it has been having a front row seat to the rise and rise of Ladies In Red.

It was almost a year ago I started to think she was the best filly (or mare) Australia had seen since Tailamade Lombo 20 years ago.

Just the way she continued to defy the odds, win from anywhere and smash the clock with sectional times.

WHAT a joy it has been having a front row seat to the rise and rise of Ladies In Red.

It was almost a year ago I started to think she was the best filly (or mare) Australia had seen since Tailamade Lombo 20 years ago.

Just the way she continued to defy the odds, win from anywhere and smash the clock with sectional times.

Change is hard. Change doesn’t always work, but those outside the harness racing bubble would argue it’s a lack of change or innovation that has seen its market share halve and relevance in the sporting landscape almost vanish.