:''for winners of the Inter Dominion see: Inter Dominion Pacing Championship and Inter Dominion Trotting Championship'' The Inter Dominion is a

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

competition that has been contested since 1936 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is often referred to as the Inter Dominions or Interdoms for short as it generally encompasses two series: * the Inter Dominion Pacing Championship for pacers and * the Inter Dominion Trotting Championship for trotters. The host of the series was rotated between the six harness racing states of Australia and the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

s of New Zealand. The first Inter Dominion was held at Gloucester Park in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia in 1936. The 2011 series was held at Alexandra Park in Auckland, with the original venue of Addington in Christchurch deemed unsuitable due to the February

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

. The 2013, 2014 and 2015 series were held at the new Menangle Park Paceway at Menangle a village in the Macarthur region of New South Wales, Australia near Sydney. This was the first time a venue has hosted the event in three consecutive years.

Traditional programming of the series

Traditionally the series was held over a two-week period with three heats held in the first week, over a sprint distance (1,600 metres - 1,900 m), a middle distance (2,100 m - 2,300 m) and a staying distance (over 2,400 m). The trotters series usually had two heats. The scheduling of the distances is usually at the discretion of the host club. At each round of heats there are three races to accommodate the number of horses in the series. The final and consolation are held usually around a week after the final round of heats. The usual distance is a longer distance in excess of 2,400 metres.

Programming of the 2008 Melbourne Series

Harness Racing Victoria proposed a new system for the 2008 series that was accepted by the Interdominion Racing Council that rewards Grand Circuit race winners. Each winner of a Grand Circuit race and the Grand Circuit Champion from the time period from the last Inter Dominion all gain an automatic start in two minimum $70,000 semi finals with the balance to be made up from horse that qualify through heats of at least $25,000 held a week previous. The first five horses in each heat along with the sixth horse in the fastest heat qualify for a minimum $750,000 final. The prizemoney had been originally put to $1,000,000, but due to the dire effects of the equine influenza that crippled the industry the final prizemoney was reduced to $750,000. The trotters series consisted of two semi-finals and a final. The trotting series was reduced to a simple semi and finals series raced over seven days. The semi finals were of $40,000 and the final was $250,000 which was comparable with previous series.

Programming of the 2009-2017 series

The system used in Melbourne received much criticism and therefore wasn't chosen to be used in the 2009 series on the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast series had two rounds of heats and bonus points for winning major races. The bonus points races are not only include Grand Circuit races in Australia and New Zealand, but also The Graduate at The Meadowlands and the Canadian Pacing Derby, both open age races in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The prizemoney was also raised to $1,000,000 for the final. The trotters series remained as a two semi-final series held in Melbourne. The 2010 series in New South Wales kept a similar format with no bonus points. The trotters series was again held in Melbourne. The 2011 series at Alexandra Park featured two rounds of heats for both pacers and trotters. A change to the points system saw points awarded only to the top eight placegetters - previously all heat runners earned points. The 2012 series in Perth returned to the traditional three-heat format, while the trotters series was held in Melbourne, and was discontinued after 2012. A new tender process replaced the rotation format and New South Wales won the tender to host the series from 2013 to 2015. However, a new structure saw seven heats run at different racetracks across Australia and New Zealand, with the winners and highest-ranked placegetters contesting a 14-horse final at Menangle. The 2015-17 Championships were awarded to Gloucester Park, Perth, Western Australia. Gloucester Park planned to run the series over the traditional four night format in December for each of the three years.

Programming of the 2018-2026 series

In late 2017 Harness Racing Australia (HRA) confirmed it had endorsed a proposal from Harness Racing Victoria (HRV), Harness Racing New Zealand (HRNZ), and Club Menangle/Harness Racing NSW (HRNSW) to rotate the series between those organisations, starting in Victoria in 2018. The 2018 series commences with Heat 1 at Melton on 1 December, Heat 2 at Ballarat on 4 December, Heat 3 at Cranbourne on 8 December, culminating in the Grand Final at Melton Entertainment Park on 15 December.

Date and time of rotating championships

The rotation of the Championships is fixed annually at a meeting of the council. It is fixed five years in advance. Historically, it was held in New Zealand once in each four years, but that pattern has been recently broken. The Championships are held once in each racing year at a time and venue approved by the council by the completion of the Championships in the preceding year. The Grand Circuit race is not held at the same time as the Championships.

Venues

*1936 - Gloucester Park *1937 - Wayville Showgrounds *1938 - Addington Raceway (NZ) *1939 - Elphin Paceway *1940 - Gloucester Park *1947 - Gloucester Park *1948 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *1949 - Wayville Showgrounds *1950 - Melbourne Showgrounds *1951 - Addington Raceway (NZ) *1952 - Harold Park Paceway *1953 - Gloucester Park *1954 - Wayville Showgrounds *1955 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *1956 - Harold Park Paceway *1957 - Gloucester Park *1958 - Wayville Showgrounds *1959 - Melbourne Showgrounds *1960 - Harold Park Paceway *1961 - Addington Raceway (NZ) *1962 - Gloucester Park *1963 - Wayville Showgrounds *1964 - Melbourne Showgrounds *1965 -

Forbury Park Raceway Forbury Park Raceway was a horseracing venue in the New Zealand city of Dunedin until its closure in 2021. It was located close to the Pacific Ocean coast in the suburb of Saint Kilda, New Zealand, Saint Kilda. The raceway was initially devel ...

(NZ) *1966 - Harold Park Paceway *1967 - Gloucester Park *1968 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *1969 - Wayville Showgrounds *1970 - Melbourne Showgrounds *1971 - Addington Raceway (NZ) *1972 - Albion Park Paceway *1973 - Harold Park Paceway *1974 - Gloucester Park *1975 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *1976 - Globe Derby Park *1977 - Albion Park Paceway *1978 -

Moonee Valley Racecourse Moonee Valley Racecourse, currently marketed as The Valley, is a horse-racing track in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. History Moonee Valley Racecourse was established in 1883 by William Samuel (W.S.) Cox, who purchased a far ...

*1979 - Addington Raceway (NZ) *1980 - Harold Park Paceway *1981 - Royal Hobart Showground *1982 - Gloucester Park *1983 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *1984 - Globe Derby Park *1985 -

*1986 - Albion Park Paceway *1987 - Addington Raceway (NZ) *1988 - Harold Park Paceway *1989 - Gloucester Park *1990 - Globe Derby Park *1991 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *1992 -

*1993 - Albion Park Paceway *1994 - Harold Park Paceway *1995 - Addington Raceway (NZ) *1996 - Gloucester Park *1997 - Globe Derby Park *1998 - Tattersalls Park *1999 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *2000 -

*2001 - Albion Park Paceway *2002 - Harold Park Paceway *2003 - Addington Raceway (NZ) *2004 - Gloucester Park *2005 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *2006 - Tattersalls Park *2007 - Globe Derby Park *2008 -

*2009 - Gold Coast Parklands *2010 - Menangle Park Paceway *2011 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *2012 - Gloucester Park *2013 - Menangle Park Paceway *2014 - Menangle Park Paceway *2015 - Menangle Park Paceway *2015 - Gloucester Park *2016 - Gloucester Park *2017 - Gloucester Park *2018 - Melton Entertainment Park *2019 - Alexandra Park (NZ) *2020 - not held *2021 - Menangle Park Paceway *2022 - Victoria: heats at Ballarat, Shepparton & Geelong, the finals held at Melton *2023 - Albion Park *2024 - New South Wales: heats at Newcastle, Bathurst & Menangle, the finals at Menangle

Eligibility

A horse shall not start in a race outside the Championships except in a race held after the completion of all qualifying races. The Controlling Body of the State or New Zealand in which the Championships are to be conducted or the council may request a

veterinary surgeon Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on non-human animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/u ...

to inspect and provide a report on any horse scratched after final acceptances are declared.

Trophy

A perpetual trophy is competed for. The conducting Club of the State or New Zealand in which the winning owner resides holds the trophy for a period until three months before the start of the next Inter Dominion Championship. The winner of the Inter Dominion Championship Final is presented with a trophy.

Previous winners

Pacers

:''for a complete list of winners please see: Inter Dominion Pacing Championship''

Trotters

:''for a complete list of winners please see: Inter Dominion Trotting Championship''

1952 Inter-Dominion racebook

File:1952 Harold Park Inter-Dominion Championship Final Racebook P1.jpg, Front cover of the 1952 Harold Park Inter-Dominion Final racebook File:1952 Harold Park Inter-Dominion Championship Final Racebook P2.jpg, Inside cover showing race night officials File:1952 Harold Park Inter-Dominion Championship Final Racebook P3.jpg, Racebook showing starters & conditions File:1952 Harold Park Inter-Dominion Championship Final Racebook P4.jpg, Racebook showing starters & the winner, Avian Derby

References

{{Reflist

External links

2009 Watpac Inter Dominion Official Site

Rotation Program - Inter Dominion Championship Series

Queensland Harness Racing Homepage
- Host state for 2009 Inter Dominion