Inter Dominion Pacing Championship

The Inter Dominion is a harness racing competition that has been contested since 1936 in Australia and New Zealand.

The Inter Dominion was the brain child of Western Australian Trotting Association Chairman Mr. J P Stratton, with the first series held at Gloucester Park.

The host of the series is rotated between the six harness racing states of Australia and the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The rotation of the Championships is fixed annually at a meeting of the Council. It is fixed five years in advance. It is held in New Zealand once in each four years.

The traditional format is a series of heats held over a two-week period, with the final held in a third. Competitors earn points based on their finishing order in each heat, the 14 horses that accrue the most points over the series go into the Grand Final.

The winner is determined by the finishing order in the Grand Final. There is also a Consolation race.

The scheduling of the distances is usually at the discretion of the host club. The usual distance is a longer distance in excess of 2400 metres.

Blacks A Fake made history in 2010, by winning his fourth Inter Dominion title by becoming the only horse to win four Inter Dominion races.

Front cover of the 1952 Harold Park Inter-Dominion Final racebook.

Inside cover showing race night officials.

Racebook showing starters & conditions.

Racebook showing starters & the winner, Avian Derby.

Note: Smoken Up was first past the post in 2011, but was disqualified for a positive drugs test. A court challenge to the disqualification was not successful.

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Wikipedia