The headlines, stories and people that made 2024 great (part two)

After focusing on the equine stars of 2024 in the first part of his 2024 review, Adam Hamilton returns with a broader look at the people, the headlines and more.

THE RACE OF THE YEAR

Now a couple of weeks has passed since that Menangle Inter Dominion final, it hasn’t changed my mind.

That was the best and most memorable race of the year.

The early burn, the cat-and-mouse early, then that epic two-horse war for about the last 700m.

There must have been four or five times I thought the old warrior would out-stay Don Hugo, but the “Don” had all the answers.

Oh, and they took 1.1sec off the track record.

It was the race the Inter Dominion needed, make that the sport in general.

And I had the bar set pretty high going into it given three other memorable races of 2024.

Callmethebreeze tipped-out Just Believe in that extraordinary Great Southern Star final, the Just Believe gaining revenge in the inaugural TAB Trot at Cambridge and leading home an Aussie dominance with the first four placegetters.

For a slightly different reason – the sheer dominance of Leap To Fame – the Blacks A Fake ranked right up there too. That moment when Swayzee loomed-up to “Larry”, but the chance gave him a “don’t argue” and blasted away to win as he liked.

TRAINING PERFORMANCE

I settled on a dead-heat here, but for different reasons.

David Aiken’s performance, while battling his own major health issues, with Max Delight through 2024 has been remarkable.

The rejuvenated gelding, with a history of injuries, raced 27 times in strong company for six wins, 11 placings and banked $338,250.

Max Delight picked-up serious points in all three Grand Circuit races he contested, including that recent third in the Inter Dominion final to finish equal fifth on the points table.

In Aiken’s own words: “We’ve never had the old boy racing better.”

In another way, Jason Grimson’s NZ Cup win with Swayzee was almost beyond belief.

As if going back-to-back in NZ’s iconic race wasn’t big enough, Swayzee did so after winning a race at Young less than four days earlier and after only arriving in Christchurch less than 30 hours before the Cup.

It was daring and astonishing as Swayzee humbled NZ’s best … again.

WHAT ABOUT THAT DRIVE

Champion driver Chris Alford channelled some serious Blake Shinn with that daring and brilliant winning drive on Cantfindabettorman in the opening round of Inter Dominion heats at Newcastle.

Shinn’s ride to cut Antino loose from well back in the middle stages of the Group 1 Toorak Handicap in October then blow his rivals away was widely regarded as the best ride of the Spring Carnival.

Alford did something very similar on Cantfindabettorman at Newcastle.

It reminded us all that Alford is still as good a big race driver as we’ve got in this part of the world.

ICE IN THEIR VEINS

Still on drivers, Greg Sugars and Grant Dixon deserve massive credit for their handling of Just Believe and Leap To Fame respectively.

Sure, they’re driving champions, but with that comes an enormous level of expectation and, surely, plenty of pressure.

But Sugars and Dixon repeatedly took it in their stride, looked after their horses as much as possible, and played a huge part in their dominance.

That cannot be underestimated.

YOUNG GUN

There’s no shortage of them in Australia’s driving ranks, but the remarkable late surge from Deni Roberts earned her top seeding.

The 29-year-old snared three Group 1 wins in November, including a WA Cup, then produced a world perfect drive on Minstrel for his huge second in the Menangle Inter Dominion final.

She’s also pushed champion Gary Hall Jr to the limit for the WA metropolitan driving crown.

BREAKTHROUGH SEASON – DRIVER

James Herbertson was right in the mix for the previous category, but just didn’t quite have the mega Group 1’s on his CV.

That said, 2024 took the rise-and-rise of Herbertson to a whole new level.

Herbie, who will obliterate his own PB, looks set to win the national premiership by almost 100 wins.

And he’ll break a three-year dominance by Queenslanders Nathan Dawson and Pete McMullen winning the premiership.

Just as importantly, Herbie won his first two Group 1 pacing races this year, too.

And what a way to finish by winning an enthralling Young Guns series at Melton on New Year’s Eve.

BREAKTHROUGH SEASON – TRAINER

Well, Brad Hewitt is a trainer and driver, but you get the point.

The highly respected and popular Hewitt hadn’t won an Inter Dominion heat before the recent NSW series, but won five of the six he contested on his own horses.

While nothing went right for Captains Knock in the pacing final, The Locomotive capped Hewitt’s fairytale series with effortless all-the-way in the trotting final.

You get the feeling it’s just a taste of things to come.

WELL DONE, MUM

What a shame Lettucereason has only had three foals make it to the races because two of them are Leap To Fame and Swayzee.

Between them, Leap To Fame and Swayzee have won 69 races and earned over $5 million – so far.

They have also been the Federer and Nadal of Australasia’s open class ranks for the past 18 months.

MAKING HEADLINES

A story in “The Age” about a possible return to Moonee Valley as Victoria’s home of harness racing understandably had everybody talking.

It would be a coup and just what the game needs.

Let’s keep everything crossed speculation becomes fact in 2025.

The other “game changer” was confirmation Brisbane’s Albion Park would host the next three Inter Dominions.

Prize money will go up, the format will be tweaked to invoke more excitement and the time slot moved to July which will fit both the Aussie and NZ calendars much better than December.

That Menangle Inter Dominion final stirred interest in the iconic event again. It couldn’t have been a better entrée to Albion Park’s stint.

And we’ve got less than seven months to wait for it.

BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME

That’s exactly what happened with the inaugural $500,000 Protostar at Albion Park in July.

A terrific field of babies assembled, the jostle for slots was spirited, they smashed the clock and local Fate Awaits (who looks every bit a star in the making) prevailed in a stirring finish.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

You really have to really feel for David Hewitt.

While his untapped pacer Extreme Sea is sidelined with injury misses some mega races, all the form around has proven amazing.

Extreme Sea toyed with Don Hugo in the Riverina Championship final at Wagga on March 31 and look what Don Hugo has done since.

Fingers crossed Extreme Sea recovers and gets the chance to deliver on his potential.

It would only be fair given Hewitt had Red Sea battle a string of nasty injuries and be cut down in his prime after winning 21 of his 24 starts in the mid-1990s.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST …

Ok, this is looking ahead, but the concept was unveiled this year.

I absolutely LOVE the Ultimate Driver Challenge concept and can’t wait for February 21 and 22 to come around at Albion Park.

Just getting a spot in it has been incredibly hard.

Dexter Dunn will be here, Yannick Gingras, too. Then there’s Swedish megastar Bjorn Goop and young Kiwi star Carter Dalgety.

Then you can throw in the Aussies Gary Hall Jr, Kate Gath, Pete McMullen, Nathan Dawson, Brad Hewitt and Angus Garrard.

This will be epic and get our industry some serious international time in the spotlight, too.

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Victoria