Grimson's Two Chances To Join Inter Dominion Legends

I Cast No Shadow - 2022 Inter Dominion Presentation. Photo by Stuart McCormick.

MENANGLE trainer Jason Grimson has two chances to do what only harness racing royalty have done in the Inter Dominion.

Grimson, just 29, is chasing his third Inter Dominion pacing final in the space of four years when he lines up Curly James and Nerano in Saturday night’s $500,000 feature at his home track.

If successful, Grimson will join Hall of Famers Mark Purdon and Brian Hancock as the only trainers to win Inter Dominion pacing finals with three different horses.

Grimson won with Boncel Benjamin at Menangle in 2021 and I Cast No Shadow at Melton in 2022.

Hancock’s first win came with Thorate in Adelaide (1990), followed by Weona Warrior at Harold Park (1994) and then his greatest pacer, Our Sir Vancelot created history with three successive final wins (1997 Adelaide, 1998 Hobart and 1999 Auckland).

Purdon won back-to-back Perth finals with Smolda (2016) and Lazarus (2017) and then trained Ultimate Sniper in partnership with Natalie Rasmussen to win the 2019 Auckland final.

The odds say Grimson has a huge task ahead with Curly James ($12) and Nerano ($26) both outsiders, but that hasn’t worried him in the past.

Boncel Benjamin was a $41 outsider when won on protest and I Cast No Shadow caused an upset at $17.

Interestingly, Grimson could win a third title with a third driver, too. Josh Gallagher partnered Boncel Benjamin and Cam Hart was aboard I Cast No Shadow.

Hart will team-up again with Grimson, but which runner he drives remains in limbo. The other will be driven by Jack Callaghan, who has first choice.

"It's a tough call. There's not much between them. I'm going to wait and see how they both work on Thursday morning," Callaghan said. 

This will be Callaghan’s fourth pacing final drive. He finished third on Alta Orlando in 2021 then 12th and 4th on Spirit Of St Louis in 2022 and ’23 respectively.

Callaghan, who now works for Grimson, will also drive $41 outsider Royal Dan in the trotting final for Grimson.

Gallagher will get the chance to repeat his Menangle final win from 2021 when he teams up with another outsider, the Darren Binskin-trained $81 shot, Terry. His only other drive in a final was seventh on Kanena Provlima in Brisbane last year.

Binskin’s only previous Inter Dominion starter was Rainbow Knight, who was desperately unlucky when second to Our Sir Vancelot in the 1997 Adelaide pacing final.

His late father, John Binskin, drove in one Inter Dominion final as catch driver for the late Bob and Vin Knight when he won the 1988 Harold Park final on Our Maestro.

Remarkably, another Menangle horseman, Robbie Morris, will be having his third Inter Dominion pacing final drive, all on the same pacer, Petes Said So.

The eight-year-old gelding will be having his 190th start. He ran sixth in the 2022 final, eighth last year and is a $151 outsider from an awful draw (gate 12) on Saturday