It is often said that champion horses bring people to the track.

That’s hard to argue with, but an even better people-puller is great rivalries, in harness racing as much as any sport.

Two of the best that spring to mind during my time covering the sport have been Popular Alm and Gammalite through the early to mid-1980s and about 15 years later, Courage Under Fire and Shakamaker from 1999 to 2002.

Yes, there are so many others, but those two have really stuck with me.

The stats say the Poppy/Gammalite rivalry was one-sided given Poppy finished with a 17-2 advantage … but Gammalite did deny Popular Alm the sport’s ultimate prize by beating him in a vintage 1983 Auckland Inter Dominion final.

Courage Under Fire “owned” Shakamaker at their first two clashes as three-year-olds, but then the tide turned in open-class with Shakamaker winning and beating the pint-sized Kiwi in the 2000 Inter Dominion and 2001 Victoria Cup amongst others.

Rarely through history have we had so many tantalising rivalries at one time as we do right now.

Think about them, all three of them.

They are all still quite new, but delicious in their own rights.

Let’s start with the most relevant this week, and the newest – Just Believe V Callmethebreeze.

Hardly a rivalry after just two clashes you might say, but I beg to differ.

Callmethebreeze turned plenty of heads with there for the experience as much as his team thinking they could actually beat Just Believe when a late closing second in the Group 2 Knight Pistol at Ballarat on January 20.

In the words of trainer Anton Golino before the race: “This will be as much a race to learn from as much anything else.”

And learn they did with the French-bred European import, who then turned the tables on Just Believe in that epic and blistering Great Southern Star final at Melton on Hunter Cup night (February 3).

It will take some topping for the race of the year and it is still only February.

They lock hooves again on Saturday night in what should be a fantastic Group 1 Australian Trotting Grand Prix at Melton.

Then, all going well, they will meet again but in another country in the inaugural $NZ575,000 TAB Trot slot race at Cambridge on April 12.

Let’s hope there are many more clashes after that, too.

On the pacing front, Leap To Fame and Swayzee are the two best pacers in Australia and their rivalry has the extra “sting” of them being siblings.

They too have met just twice and, like Just Believe V Callmethebreeze, the scoreline is 1-1.

Swayzee drew first blood over his younger half-brother when he caused an upset in last July’s Group 1 Blacks A Fake.

But it was payback time on an even bigger stage, but at the same Albion Park track, when Leap To Fame turned the tables in last December’s Inter Dominion final.

It’s a rivalry we get to stew on a little longer with Swayzee having a break and probably not back racing in the big league until mid-year.

Round three will surely be worth the wait.

But, as the Demtel man said in those prolific and unbearable TV ads of the mid-2000s, “wait, there’s more.”

And in this year of epic rivalries, there is actually more.

Those two brilliant young Kiwi four-year-olds, Dont Stop Dreaming and Merlin.

They’ve been stoushing for about 18 months back in NZ and the honours have been shared 3-3, but with Merlin winning the past two.

Against that, Dont Stop Dreaming has come to Australia and looked every bit a superstar in the making.

His Hunter Cup second to Leap To Fame was something to behold and then he seemed to cruise to victory in the Hondo Grattan last Saturday week at Menangle.

The ball is back in Merlin’s court to make his statement when he makes his Aussie debut in the Paleface Adios at Menangle on Saturday night.

Dont Stop Dreaming will race at the same meeting, but in a different race.

Their next clash, and their “decider” at least for now, will come a week after that in Australia’s biggest four-year-old feature the $250,000 Group 1 Chariots Of Fire at Menangle.

Like Leap To Fame and Swayzee, there is a sibling factor to the Dont Stop Dreaming v Merlin rivalry.

It’s not the horses, though. It’s their trainers, who happen to be champion brothers Mark and Barry Purdon.

What a great few weeks we have ahead of us and, more broadly, what a year of stunning racing 2024 promises to deliver.

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.