The toughness, durability and resilience of the standardbred is often lauded right across the racing landscape, and those key attributes are again on show in Saturday night's Group 1 features at Cranbourne.

The wonderfully successful yet highly demanding Inter Dominion series is now in the rear-view mirror, with harness racing’s biggest stars putting forward their best through three rounds of heats and – for some –  a grand final in the space of two weeks.

It was mentioned many times - by participants and those in the media – that ID22 was a gruelling series and epic test of both horse and conditioner.

And it’s spot on.

By the end of it all, the 24 warriors that competed in last weekend’s pacing and trotting deciders had covered more than 9000m in races at Ballarat, Shepparton, Geelong and Melton.

It’s a quite remarkable workload that would shock some of our thoroughbred racing friends.

And despite these feats, some are backing up for more.

The Cranbourne Pacing Cup has this year returned to its status of a Group 1 event and will feature three horses – Bundoran, Torrid Saint and Mach Dan – that battled it out in the ID22 final. While they didn’t qualify for the decider, Bulletproof Boy, Jilliby Sylvester and Like A Wildfire also competed through the heats and raced in last Saturday night’s consolation. That trio, as well as ID22 contender A Gs White Socks, form part of the star-studded field that includes Victoria Cup champ Rock N Roll Doo, who is first-up from a recent New Zealand campaign.

The Cranbourne Trotters Cup has also had a prizemoney increase in 2022, and it too will be run at Group 1 level.

Majestuoso, who led until the shadows of the post before being pipped in last weekend’s ID22 Trotting Championship Grand Final, heads a group of four horses backing up from that race, with another three lining up that competed through the series. Sundons Courage and Powderkeg didn’t reach the Inter Dom final, but raced on the Melton card on December 10 and will take their place at Cranbourne.

Anyway, you get the drift.

These horses are as tough as nails and it’s a real treat for owners and punters alike that we get to see them race so often at the peak of their powers.