News Article

Let The Battle Begin

04 February 2009

Tony Herlihy and One Over Kenny are favoured to take out Saturday night's Inter Dominion Trotting Final

Tony Herlihy and One Over Kenny are favoured to take out Saturday night's Inter Dominion Trotting Final

Australia versus New Zealand is what the Inter Dominion is all about and that's why harness racing fans are licking their lips in anticipation of Saturday night's trotting championship decider at Moonee Valley.

Leading the charge from the green and gold corner is reigning Australian Trotting of the Year Sundons Gift, while carrying the bulk of the hopes from the black corner is superstar mare One Over Kenny.
The pair, which has dominated betting on the $250,000 decider since it opened months ago, both booked their spot in the final with comfortable semi final wins at Ballarat last weekend.
And yesterday's barrier draw only served to intensify the rivalry aspect of the race. One Over Kenny eased slightly to $1.90 after drawing gate six, while Sundons Gift remains rock solid at $3.40 after landing barrier two.
Kiwi trainer-driver Tony Herlihy is excited about trying to extend his country's domination of Australasian trotting's showcase event. Australian trainers have won the past two crowns, but Kiwis oversaw 17 of the previous 18 victories.
"When you're in Australia it's always New Zealand against Australia," he said. "It's great rivalry and great competition and hopefully we can win this one."
The only other Kiwi in the 2575m mobile event at 8.30pm is the Kevin Fairbairn-trained Whatsundermykilt.
One Over Kenny fans will be delighted by Herlihy's report that the mare came through last week's run in fine fettle.
Despite being cautiously handled by the man who has tasted Inter Dominion trotting success on a record four occasions, she pulled out a 58.8-second last half to stroll home by more than four metres.
"She hadn't had a race for about a month and she does thrive on racing when she's right. She seems to have come through the run well," he said. "That's the main thing and we're happy going into the race.
"I'm happy with the draw, there's a bit of speed inside her, and while she hasn't got high gate speed, she can hold her own out of the gate and hopefully we can just keep inching forward and see what happens after that."
Herlihy is also represented in the night's feature event, the $400,000 Group 1 BIG6 Hunter Cup, with millionaire five-year-old Gotta Go Cullen to start from the 10-metre line in the 3065-metre marathon.
The entire was one of the runs of the race in last week's PETstock Ballarat Cup, when he finished fourth after racing three-wide without cover for the last lap and Herlihy is confident he will be in the firing line with a clean getaway.