Inter Dominion 2016

I hate to say it but I think it's a punt fest tomorrow night at GP, Fifth Edition wins the first, Cut for an ace if it runs up to it's last run is very hard to beat in the second.

Also Ohoka Squire on its last run should lead and be very hard to beat, Mr Mojito wins, as should I'm Full Of Excuses (could emerge as a WA Pacing Cup horse) and Two and Half Tigers should win the last with just average luck in the run.

This is why I don't post on here anymore Chariots as I'm on a hiding to nothing by giving my thoughts.
Of course they won they're all short, well Fifth Edition is 1.50 should be about 1.20 on its NZ form, (it's a massisve class drop) cut for an ace there is as much as 4.20 about it, Ohoka Squire as much as 2.6, Mr Mojito with odds boost takes you to 1.45, 1.5, I'm full of excuse is about 1.70 as is Two and Half tigers have had a big all up and various double and trebles as well as backing a couple of them individually.

Think Simply Susational will just about win its heat as well

I await the onslaught of knockers who will emerge from the woodwork if these get beaten and yu can just about guarantee that I 'll be criticised even if all of them or the majority of them win.

Pointless exercise but thought your thread which I was going to post myself until I thoguht don't be stupid because as I explained its an exercise in futility due to a certain cavalcade of clowns on here.

well done Lets - will have a much closer look tomorrow

and well done chariots - been a great series so far - i have liked the way The Bucket List has gone for the last two months but they have driven it cold and hardly got any points sadly

now it needs beat Hector to qualify

Nathan's the place is my tip (assuming Mohito is as good as they say and has gate speed)

Sky 2.

Lets Fifth Edition drifted like a beach ball on here and went accordingly.

Big go Australia wide on the winner, came in the "They Knew" category

Hectorjayjay nearly a mortgage on the final with Lenny's issues.

Runoneover flying and Boaz could still be the knockout horse off a soft run.

The night was looking like a wipeout Craig until I hammered Mr Mojito and I'm Full Of Excuses went from 2300 down to losing 500 on the night and that was enough for me as I put the cue back in the rack and never backed two and a half tigers which I thought would probably win but wasn't keen on backing on it at those odds, especially having just dug myself out of a substantial hole to a much more manageable figure.
The first race was a classic example of why there are no punters left at the trots and and an ever diminishing band of supporters for the sport, very, very, ordinary to say the least what went on there.
Put it this way I knew at least five minutes before the start that First Edition couldn't possibly win given the betting and  and all I'll say is that it should never have started and there were a number of people who knew that. You can draw your own conclusions from there.
I can roll with the punches even though I did 700 in multi's cold as know you'll get it back in swings and roundabouts but that would have left a disgusting taste in the mouth of the average punter.
The Karma bus got the stable though as they had a shocker Ohoka Squire went disgusting and Simply Sussational galloped  and basically every of there's went pretty average on the night.
Cut for an ace raced pretty flat and in hindsight he might have been flattened a bit by the hard run last start and the winner probably turned in close to a career best effort. When I was sitting outside Ohoka Kentucky I was pretty confident that cut for an ace would get over it and I think Hall jr was too but wasn't the same horse as the previous start, despite the stable being very confident. If he freshens it and draws to lead you can be on it in the right race perhaps but it was disappointing last night.
No idea what Purdon was doing on Piccadilly Princess, staggering tactics for GP but typical conservative NZ drivers, Mr Mojito is one of those horse who travels on a loose rein and just keeps finding every time you ask him for more apparently but on face value wasn't over impressive, not convinced that he's getting around GP all that well but Purdon's  horses invariably turn up on the big day and next week is his target so the jury's till out a bit there.
He might be very backable on the night if he draws poorly and Soho Tribeca and or Chicago Bull draw well.

well said Lets

the speculator delivered by the way - nathans the place and the bucket list over achieving

Let's hope the final is a good one.  I have a rule to not back short favourites who are going to do a lot of work in strong races and Hector surely falls into that category.  WA drivers would rather die than hand up the lead to an Eastern State horse in a race like this, if leading is even being remotely considered for Hector.  Bling It On is arguably the best sit sprinter in the country and drawn on paper to get a dream run so I'd consider backing it, but past midnight is not much of a viewing time for Easter State viewers.

Speaking of the Eastern States, as usual their horses have suffered massive carnage.  Every stable except McCarthy is surely thinking that $1.1m wasn't really enough at the moment.

I love that the WA trotting ranks are getting interesting though and the race after the Inter should be a good one.  Looks like we could even be seeing Cardigan Boko back East eventually!  Sadly he may be one of the last horses we see reap the benefit of a Chris Lang education and the 40m should make for an entertaining contest.

enjoy Khan, hopefully you and plenty can stay awake to enjoy what looks a cracking night

Well it was a great race, the quinella coming from the last and second last horses early shows sparks were flying.  Smolda is a sensational sit sprinter when things are run to suit, and was about $19 on here!  Giving Hector the cart and holding him off is very impressive.  Should have had something on but didn't, it feels like I've backed him a dozen times at short odds and he's lost when things haven't been quite run to suit.  I backed Bling It On and who knows what should have happened there, the Hall runner choked down.

If you want a laugh you have to check out the automatic closed captioning of one of Smoldas more controversial Australian wins.  http://www.harnessmediacentre.com.au/trotstv/replays/23636

'Let the white boiling fun easy on the eye and food spot on the outside as outgoing major in rice Firebird smolders bearing on the inside three pigs.  it's a trial by a Mr Brightside and make beauties lot but 11 here and then kind swaps to a long bow and the next one on the outside is cold my jet tactile eat a lot of the Blue Jackets.'

I'm not making this up.

The trot was another very exciting race, although also quite carnage affected.  Sunnys Little Whiz is a very good and honest trotter who did nothing wrong and won well.  Sammy Charles was 'trainer drivered', which means would have bolted in except for his trainer/driver.  I expect we can look forward to saying that numerous times again in the near future.  What's ironic is that Sammy Charles used to be driven by Chris Alford, who was also driving in this race!  If he was on Sammy it would have destroyed them but instead Chris came last on a 100/1 shot.

Cardigan Boko looked to be cruising in the one one behind Sunnys Little Whiz.  On a track with a sprint lane any competent driver would just ease behind the leader and cruise to certain victory but at GP you're basically forced wide to get past horses and Cardigan Boko seemed to run into Sunnys Little Whiz by going too fast.  The stewards comments say 'severely checked' which doesn't sound right when it was the one running into things but I can't really think of a better comment myself.

Boko also looked set to win for fun but it's hard to tell for sure with that horse.  It runs fast without being put under pressure but doesn't seem to find anything extra under the whip.

Overall a very enjoyable race that was worth staying up till 1am for, just a shame that driver competence and manners decided the outcome more than ability.

Good write up Khan. Smolda went super. $19 a big price in hindsight.

Especially now he has a win over Lazarus to his name as well.

Cardigan Boko has indeed gone east for the Dullard trotters cup on Saturday night and so far cashed up West Aussies have backed him from $71 into $12!!  They must be gutted he didn't draw the front but he has drawn behind probably the fastest beginner on the front K D Muscles.  Could be a cracker of a race with it being very unclear if the fave can hold the lead or not from the pole.  Three times Im Thunder Road has begun from the pole in a mobile (albeit years ago) and he didn't lead in any of them.

Tasmania live racing website has given me lot more interest in Tasmania gallops and trots and therefore perhaps a dedicated trots live streaming website would help with generating interest

Just sayin

Cardigan Boko ultimately started $10 and put in a very respectable run for 6th after settling back and coming 6 wide around the home corner.  When they run a 1:57.5 mile rate at even tempo you basically cannot be 6 wide and win so it was a very good run from an ordinary draw.

The lead time was a scorching 44.4 so you couldn't really get involved in that and win either.  The quinella going to the sprint lane and one-one underlines the importance of a good trip in these big races when the speed is guaranteed to be on.

FASCINATING draw for the great southern star at Melton Sat night and if you squint hard enough at the field you could convince yourself of anything.  Cardigan Boku has drawn 4 and has to cross the fastest beginner we've seen since I Didnt Do It, namely Maori Time.  Maori Time has absolutely only one smart thing to do which is lead and then hand up to Cardigan Boku as fast as possible over a 2760m trip but connections might not be smart enough to figure that out.  Anything else (except easing back) is suicide, probably for both horses.  Maori Time will hate this long trip.

But if it leads as it should then Cardigan Boku has a real shot this week and you'll get a very good run for your money.  If it has to do too much work then there's a barn full of talented horses ready to strike.

Speeding Spur in particular is freakish, and if it can finish like this  http://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=Ra...   running backwards off a 55m handicap then it is potentially devastating from a front row mobile.

Glenferrie Typhoon was three wide for ages in this race last year (although it was a sprint then) and came second, surely it has to be a huge chance from the pole.

I've now seen the betting markets and Cardigan Boku is 20/1 or better, which seems very generous!  The problem will be if the other drivers have enough respect to let it keep the front, or don't and think they can pressure it and take the lead for themselves.  If the latter happens and Cardigan resist handing up then the near-certain outcome is that both horses would destroy their chances in a duel.

Overall though I would expect that the people who had a crack last week to have another go this time and get a much better run for their cash.  It looks a big chance for mine.

Speeding Spur in particular is freakish,



Speeding Spur has opened a $2.10 favourite to win his second Group 1 Great Southern Star (2760m) at Melton on Saturday night.

Winning the prestigious trotting event in 2016, Speeding Spur returns to defend his title in the revamped Great Southern Star. It will no longer be two eliminations heats and final on the same night over 1720m as it is now a single race over 2760m.

Beginning from barrier five on Saturday night, Speeding Spur has warmed up for the event with a first-up second-placing off a 55m handicap at Alexandra Park over 2700m in 2:05.0.

On Thunder Road has been racing well with four wins from his past six starts. He is $4 to capture the event with bookmakers forgiving his last start 10th in the VL Dullard Trotters Cup (2240m) when having no luck in running


$2.10    Speeding Spur
$4        On Thunder Road
$7.50    Glenferrie Typhoon
$13        Great Things Happen
$13        Quite A Moment
$15        The Boss Man
$17        Cardigan Boko
$17        Heavenly Sister
$17        Sunny Ruby
$51+    Others

Boko now into $9.50 and Adam Hamilton said it was his best roughie of the night a little earlier so I don't expect it to lengthen any!  Hope you've grabbed some 20's.

Glenferrie Typhoon can fly out every now and then but my best guess about what will happen is that Maori Time leads and has to decide whether to hand up to Cardigan Boko or not.  My advice would be that they should, as they don't have any spare petrol to muck around with over this distance but they 'may' decide to hold Boko out and wait for Speeding Spur instead, assuming SS goes forward.  That would be terrible news for Boko and almost hand the race over to Speeding Spur, depending on the lead time of course.

Assuming Maori Time hands up to Cardigan Boko then it will probably cop pressure from Speeding Spur (who is VERY fast out when he wants to be) so Boko would then have to decide whether to hand up to it or not.  My advice on this issue would be HAND UP TO IT FAST!  The first two winners have come from the sprint lane position and here's a link of Speeding Spur getting easily caned by an admittedly pretty good horse using the sprint lane:  http://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=Ra... .

Getting a suck along behind Speeding Spur should be the best position possible in this race.  I've backed it and that's where I'd love to see it.  However, connections of Cardigan Boko may be convinced their horse is a super freak who goes 'best in front' and decide to try and hold it out.  That might be a sane decision if only Maori Time is on their back but seems very ambitious in all other situations.  Ultra tough horses like On Thunder Road would soon be having a crack at them too.

Glenferrie picked a good night to begin well and Cardigan Boko went within half a metre of slotting in behind him which would have made things very interesting but Maori Time found just enough energy to hold that spot and then do nothing else.  She got beat 212 metres.  It's fascinating the little things that can make such a big difference.  Lots of stuff happened and the leader stayed out of trouble to hang on.  Good win.

Cardigan seemed to have his chance but horses were bouncing around like pinballs back in the field so who knows what might have happened to it.  Will check out the stewards report but it was unimpressive at first glance.