It just feels right to have Mark Purdon a key part of next month’s Brisbane Inter Dominion.

While the now retired Brian Hancock was dubbed the “Inter Dominion King”, it’s Purdon who really deserves that title.

Purdon stands alone with the most wins – both as a trainer and a driver – in the sport’s most iconic event.

NZ’s greatest all-time horseman has trained nine Grand Final winners, three pacers and six trotters.

That’s six clear of his one-time partner, Natalie Rasmussen, who trained Blacks A Fake to win four finals in her own right and Ultimate Sniper (2019) and Winterfell (2019) in partnership with Purdon.

Purdon’s other training wins came with champion trotting mare Pride Of Petite in 1996 and ’97, Buster Hanover (1998), I Can Doosit (2011 and ’12), Smolda (2016) and the great Lazarus in 2017.

The first of Purdon’s driving wins came as a “kid” back in 1991 when he won aboard Mark Hanover, who was trained by his late father, Roy, and brother, Barry.

He’s since added driving wins on: Pride Of Petite (1996), I Can Doosit (2011 and ’12), Smolda (2016), Lazarus (2017) and Winterfell (2019).

Purdon’s seven driving wins puts him two clear of Hancock and Rasmussen on five.

The last time Purdon chased the Inter Dominion, he won both the pacing and trotting finals with Ultimate Sniper and Winterfell respectively in the 2019 Auckland series.

On that night, six years ago, he spoke more about an emerging trotter who won a support race on the card rather than the two Grand Final winners.

That horse was Oscar Bonavena.

Injuries have cruelled Oscar’s career, but he’s still managed 33 wins and almost $1.15 million in prize money.

Now a nine-year-old and trained by Purdon and his son, Nathan, Oscar Bonavena will tackle his first Inter Dominion series, starting on July 5.

And with Victorian stars Keayang Zahara and Susan Is Her Name missing, old Oscar is vying for favouritism.

Oscar Bonavena looked sharp winning an Albion Park trial last Friday and will open his Brisbane campaign at Albion Park on Saturday night.

Former Kiwi and now Brisbane-based driver Adam Sanderson will take the reins this week, but Mark Purdon will be there when it matters.

He has shaped a return from a Canadian holiday around fine-tuning old Oscar for the opening round of Inter Dominion heats and taking the reins himself.

“He wouldn’t miss it. Dad’s got a real soft spot for this horse, he always has,” Nathan Purdon said.

“We deliberately brought him across early to settle in and get some consistent lead-up racing.

“The fact they’ve cut the series from three rounds of heats to just two is another important factor. He’s a bit ‘jointy’ at this stage of his career and three runs in a week would have been a stretch.

“He seems really well at the moment and he showed in the trial he’s still got all his speed, despite his age.”

Team Purdon also has emerging three-year-old Rubira in Brisbane as a travelling companion. His target is the Group 1 Queensland Derby.

“He’s a serious horse and has really gone to the next level over the past couple of months. I’m sure he’ll be very competitive in all his races.

“He’ll race this week in a just a normal three-year-old race, then he’s got the South-East Derby and Redcliffe Derby as build ups to the Queensland Derby.”