Return Of The Inter Dominion to Queensland

Leap To Fame. Photo by Dan Costello.

THE return of the Inter Dominion to Queensland continues an exciting wave of positivity for the Sunshine State.

With Friday night’s opening round of heats looming, Racing Queensland board member and passionate harness racing fan Jodie Jones said the mix of great racing and a range of social events promised to deliver a terrific 15 days.

“From the Australasian Young Drivers’ series, to the golf day, the Calcutta and barrier draw at Tangalooma Island Resort, there is so much happening off the track to compliment the stars on the track,” she said.

“It’s great for Queensland to be back in the Inter Dominion rotation. The last time we had it here was 2009 on the Gold Coast when Mr Feelgood won and before that, Albion Park’s last time hosting it was 2001 when Yulestar won the pacing final.

“That 2001 series also had the trotters when Take A Moment won and that’s another important part of this series, we’ve got the trotters back, too.

“It’s been a really strong past three years or so for harness racing in Queensland and this adds to the  momentum.”

Races like the Rising Sun and Great Square have been great additions to Queensland’s Constellations carnival during winter.

And a new slot race for two-year-olds, the Ladbrokes Protostar, will be held for the first time at Albion Park on July 27, next year. Applications for slots are open now.

Ladbrokes, the naming night partner for the Albion Park and this Inter Dominion, has furthered its support for the series by running an ownership promotion around Queensland pacing sensation Leap To Fame in consultation with his owners Kevin and Kay Seymour.

One lucky member of the Ladbrokes Racing Club will be drawn out at Albion Park on Friday night and “win” a five per cent share in Leap To Fame for the entire Inter Dominion series. Along with an ownership experience, they could pocket up to $18,000 is Leap To Fame goes through the series unbeaten.

More broadly, another exciting chapter for Queensland harness racing is looming with the move from Albion Park to a new state-of-the-art racing and training complex at Norwell in 2026.

“It’s out to consultation now and hopefully by August/September next year we’ll be turning dirt on the project,” Jones said.

“The rotation has us hosting the Inter Dominion again in 2026, so we’d like to have Norwell up and running by August/September that year to get a few months under our belt before the first Inter Dominion at the new track.”