WHEN Harness Racing Victoria moved the Victoria Cup to October four years ago I thought it was lunacy.

I was wrong.

The stars have still turned-up and all four winners in the October timeslot have been superstars: Lennytheshark (2017), Tiger Tara (2018), Bling It On (2019) and Lochinvar Art, who beat King Of Swing and others last year.

But this Pryde's EasiFeed Victoria Cup will be next level because it’s about so much more than just the Cup itself.

The change to the racing season and resultant radical revamp to the feature race schedule has been just what the Victoria Cup needed to turn it from a race into a serious carnival.

I was reminded of that last week when chatting to top WA trainer Greg Bond as he outlined his excitement at chasing a string of major races at Tabcorp Park Melton in October.

For the first time, the Victoria Derby and Oaks finals will be on Victoria Cup night. And, our Elizabeth Clarke Mares' Triple Crown features will also run through October.

As I reflected on the stunning success of the recent Queensland Constellations Carnival, it was the depth of talent across all types of feature races – pacers and trotters – which made it so special. Each night was a smorgasbord of features, not just one or two great races.

Along with all the pacing features, Victoria Cup night will also feature the Group 1 Aldebaran Park Bill Collins Trotters’ Sprint.

And the week after is the Group 1 Catanachs Victoria Trotters Oaks.

The October timeslot is a challenge to attract Kiwis, but we’ve already heard Cran Dalgety suggest he’ll skip the huge NZ Cup Week in his own backyard with his stable star Krug to chase the Victoria Derby.

You can be sure Team McCarthy will be at Melton in force, we know Team Bond’s plans and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Victoria now has two major Carnivals – Victoria Cup time in October and the Summer of Glory – headlined by the A. G. Hunter Cup, Great Southern Star, 4YO Bonanza and other majors in late January/early February.

Now we just have to hope the COVID-19 landscape improves so those of us in Victoria can get trackside to enjoy it all, because October isn’t far away.

ANOTHER big US meeting and another fantastic day at the office for Dexter Dunn.

What Dunn has achieved in less than four years in the US has been quite extraordinary.

As leviathan US-based owners Gordon Banks and Marc Hanover told me just last week: “Dexter isn’t just a star, he’s the best driver in the world now.”

Dunn drove four winners, including two of the features, at the huge Hambletonian meeting at the Meadowlands in New Jersey yesterday (Aussie time).

The features came in the Hambo Oaks on Bella Bellini and the feature open-class trot, the John Cashman Memorial, on mighty mare Manchego.

It doesn’t seem that long ago when Dunn had a long stint with Andy and Kate Gath in Australia and drove his first winner, The Ultimate One, at Geelong on September 20, 2006.

Since then he’s won nine NZ driving titles, many of the majors in Australia and NZ and been officially crowned last year’s US Driver of the Year.

But the Down Under dominance ran deeper than just Dunn at the Hambo meeting. Down Under horsemen trained and/or drove eight of the 16 winners.

Andy McCarthy, who won the Hambo itself on Ramona Hill last year, won the second event this year.

His brother, Todd, who has made a serious splash since moving to the US late last year, drove a double, including one of the majors, the Sam McKee Memorial for former Down Under horseman Brett Pelling on Allywag Hanover.

Pelling trained a double on the card, while his long-time sidekick, Richard “Nifty” Norman, had three training wins, including the Hambo Oaks.

NOTHING lasts forever.

So, it is with very mixed emotions I pen this, my final column for Sky Racing.

After 25 years at Sky, on TV, radio and writing columns, it is time to explore the next chapter, whatever that may be.

My biggest thank you goes to all the great people in harness racing who have been so available and giving of their time, whether it be for a TV or radio interview or for a chat before I have written an article.

Rest assured I won’t be lost to the game. I love it too much.

And you'll still see plenty of my articles and columns here (thetrots.com.au), harness.org.au along with News Corp Australia papers and websites.

Check out all the LIVE Harness Racing action on Sky Racing, the Sky Racing website and the Sky Racing Active and TAB apps.

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.