The King and Ego ready to be unleashed

Not only do he and his wife, Belinda, have the two favourites in King Of Swing and Expensive Ego, but McCarthy insists both are primed for the start of harness racing’s marquee event on Saturday week at Menangle.

Just for good measure, they also have a couple of well-credentialed “floaters” in Spirit Of St Louis and Alta Orlando.

The quartet sharpened up for the series with a trial together at Menangle on Wednesday where Expensive Ego went the best, narrowly defeating Alta Orlando with Spirit Of St Louis a close third and King Of Swing basically following them around.

“Not only do we have a great hand, but I couldn’t be happier with all of them going into it,” McCarthy said.

“The big two, especially, are right where we want them.

“Expensive Ego is right back to his Chariots Of Fire form, which was his career-peak so far. His last win was fantastic and he’s come on again since. Chris Geary drove him and said he felt great.”

Expensive Ego came from three pegs to win Wednesday’s trial narrowly but impressively in a 1:54.9 mile rate for 2300m.

“Now we’ve got him right back to his best, there’s not a lot between he and King (Of Swing) as our best chance,” McCarthy said.

“King was a bit soft today, but that was by design. He’ll really start to tighten up from now and build through the three heats into the final.

“Spirit Of St Louis and Alta Orlando are a bit behind the other pair, but they will still be very competitive. Spirit Of St Louis is dangerous off a perfect run, so he’s not without a hope if he gets through to the final.

“I’d lean slightly to King Of Swing still as our best hope. He’s so seasoned and experienced and his record at Menangle is just so good.”

The Inter Dominion starts at Menangle on Saturday week, moves to Bathurst on December 1 and then Newcastle on December 5 before the pacing and trotting Grand Finals back at Menangle on December 11.

By Adam Hamilton