Harness Racing New South Wales released the first round of rankings for the 2024 Inter Dominion earlier this week.
To be staged across three venues over a two-week period, the Grand Circuit series has attracted 90 nominations for the Inter Dominion Pacing Championship and 63 nominations for the Inter Dominion Trotting Championship.
The two top-ranked pacers, Leap To Fame and Catch A Wave, will go head-to-head at Melton this Saturday night in what is set to be a mouthwatering clash in the Group 3 Smoken Up Sprint.
The last time this pair met was in the A.G Hunter Cup last February where Leap To Fame was victorious and Catch A Wave finished last.
Classy Victorian pacer Better Eclipse is ranked third while the New South Wales-trained pacers Don Hugo and Major Moth climbed the rankings with recent wins in ‘Golden Ticket’ features.
Don Hugo was the victor in last month’s TAB Eureka while Major Moth was boosted amongst the rankings after taking out the Kilmore Cup.
In the trotting ranks, Just Believe is looking to create history as he chases his third Inter Dominion success.
Having won the last two editions, the Jess Tubbs-trained trotter is ranked number one ahead of Callmethebreeze who won last week’s ‘Golden Ticket’ feature, the Kilmore Trotters Cup.
Callmethebreeze is one of two trotters trainer Andy Gath has nominated for the series, with Im Ready Jet also in the top rankings in fourth.
Gath will be looking to add another win next to Im Ready Jet’s name in this Saturday night’s Trotters Free-For-All at Melton.
The 60-time Group 1 winning trainer is chasing his second success in the Inter Dominion Trotting Championship having won the 2018 edition with Tornado Valley.
See the full list of first rankings for ID24 below. The second round of rankings will be released on October 16.
