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.

It’s such an open final, but I’m with Pink Galahs. She’s had to sit outside her comfort zone in “the death” in all three heats and ran extra well in them all. Give her a sit and watch that trademark high-speed of hers at the end of 3009m.

But The Penny Drops keeps getting betting, would run 6000m, let alone relish the 3009m of the final and will be awfully hard to beat.

Maori Law has also peaked right on song, is versatile, has a dash of class and will also love the long trip.

Lotasmuscle has run superbly without much luck through the heats and is also in with some chance.

Matty Craven confirmed he will drive Pink Galahs with Sofia Arvidsson aboard Lotamuscle in the final.

Our hopes of winning the pacing series were always slim with the intimidating presence of Team McCarthy’s big guns.

But David Aiken’s pair Malcolms Rhythm and Max Delight have been terrific through the heats, as has Jess Tubb’s Triple Eight after some soft trips and lovely Greg Sugars drives.

Can any of them win it? I don’t think so.

There’s not much between them and you have to see the draw before even trying to set a pecking order of our contenders.

So, who wins the final? It will be either King Of Swing or Expensive Ego, who are a level above the rest.

It’s easy to say King Of Swing has the experience and class, but gee Expensive Ego is airborne.

Let me digest the barrier draw before pinning me down for a top pick, but I don’t think there’s much at all between King and Ego pre-draw.

IF Tornado Valley was a person, he would be mighty proud of his achievements.

It’s because he is not the most talented trotter we’ve seen, far from it, but his manners, gate speed, will-to-win and durability have all combined to make him one of the greatest we’ve seen.

In AFL terms, think Michael Tuck, Ian Nankervis, Tony Shaw, Paul Kelly, Dale Morris and maybe even a Glenn Archer. All champions in their own right, but more due to a sum of parts rather than sheer natural talent.

Never was that more evident than when he defied the odds, overcame his ageing body and fended-off in-form younger rivals to win a heat and final of Victoria’s biggest trotting race, the Great Southern Star, earlier this year. It gave him back-to-back wins in the race as an eight and nine-year-old.

Now here he is, technically 10, becoming just the third Aussie-trained trotter (Sundons Gift and Keystone Del the others) to top $1 million in career earnings.

You could see the relief on the faces of Andy and Kate Gath when Tornado Valley reached the milestone with a win, and an easy one, too. He’s family to them, not just another horse.

Tornado Valley deserved that moment.

The old boy will race on, maybe even for another tilt at the Great Southern Star, but everything from now is a bonus.

He is a champion, a millionaire, a 10-time Group 1 winner, an Inter Dominion hero and a dual Great Southern Star victor.

And he’s done it as much through grit and determination as he has the talent he was born with.

LEVIATHAN owners Merv and Meg Butterworth have sponsored the Cranbourne Cup for a decade, now they want to win it.

And they’ve got just the horse to do it in recently crowned NZ Cup hero Copy That.

The superstar pacer lifted off the canvas to win a sprint race from a seemingly hopeless spot at Alexandra Park in Auckland last Friday night and now trainer Ray Green is preparing him to fly to Melbourne on December 15.

Copy That and trainer Ray Green will stay at Chris Svanosio’s stables and, as we revealed last week, Svanosio will also drive him in the $75,000 Decron Cranbourne Gold Cup (2555m) on December 18.

Then it’s onto the $70,000 Bendigo Cup on January 8, Group 1 Ballarat Cup on January 22 and the $500,000 Hunter Cup on February 5.

* Pictures courtesy of Club Menangle

The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.