Reigning Inter Dominion champions return

The two of harness racing’s reigning Inter Dominion champions will return from spells for first-up assignments at Saturday night’s (Jul. 16) metropolitan meeting in Ballarat.

2021 pacing victor Boncel Benjamin (Grinfromeartoear) and trotting winner Maori Law (Lawman) will both be in action after connections accepted for the Plover Security Pace and John Slack Memorial Trotters Cup respectively.

The two horses haven’t raced competitively since early in the year, with Boncel Benjamin now back in training with owner Steve Duffy and Maori Law prepared by Emmett and Richard Brosnan.

Boncel Benjamin’s last start was in the Group 1 Allied Express Sprint at Menangle on February 26, with the discovery of a third tendon injury then forcing the seven-year-old out for a long break.

Maori Law also had some injury concerns after his most recent run in the Group 2 E B Cochrane Trotters Cup in late January, but Emmett Brosnan told thetrots.com.au last month that there were no major problems with the nine-year-old.

“He came right, he just had a sore foot but we decided just to give him a let-up,” he said.

“Nothing significant came up, but we just took the cautious approach seeing as there was only one more race we were looking towards anyway.”

Maori Law won the John Slack Memorial Trotters Cup at Ballarat last year before going on to claim the Group 1 Australasian Trotting Championship, Group 3 Lenin Trotters Free For All and a heat and final of the Inter Dominion series.

The horse will be partnered by Greg Sugars on Saturday night, with a quality field of squaregaiters engaged for what is a leg of the Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship.

The Ballarat meeting is the third in a sequence of five weekend metro stops away from Tabcorp Park Melton as the venue undergoes major upgrades.

Toby McKinnon will host the night’s TrotsVision coverage, with the 10-race card to start with the opener at 5.38pm.

For complete race fields, click here.

by Tim O’Connor, for HRV