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The Inter Dominion Championship is one of the world’s great harness racing series. Organised for many years under the auspices of the Inter Dominion Harness Racing Council (IDHRC), and more recently the Inter Dominion Events Committee, with representatives from both Australia and New Zealand, it is the premier harness racing event in Australasia.
Across the years, many people have participated in the administration and management of the series and associated policy work, many have been involved in the actual racing activities, and numerous standardbred horses have run the race.
In 2005, the HALL OF FAME was established, to recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions and achievements made in this Championship arena. This website features profiles of significant people, top drivers and champion horses, highlighting their participation, support and successes that have helped build the strong reputation enjoyed by the Championship series.
Introduced in 1935-36 in Perth, the series of pacing and trotting events were held on an annual roster covering Australian States and New Zealand for some seventy years, based on a protocol of three Heats and a Final. In 2008 (Melbourne), the format was changed to link with the Australasian Grand Circuit, such that Circuit winners automatically joined other heat winners in ID semi-finals, with 11 best performers contesting the Final.
Formats for 2009-11 varied, with two rounds of heats, and in 2012, Perth revived the three-heat tradition. The Trotters’ series was then discontinued, and New South Wales (NSW) took a three-year host role, 2013-2015, with a revised format for the Pacers Championship. It featured seven heats run concurrently at different tracks across Australia and New Zealand (NZ), with winners and highest-ranked placegetters staging a 14-horse final two weeks later. Subsequently, the host role transferred to Western Australia for 2015-2017, with a return to the traditional protocol. This will continue through 2018-2026, with Victoria, NSW and NZ as co-hosts, and a Trotting Championship reinstated on the programme.
Acknowledgements
Every effort has been made to credit relevant sources of
photographs and race footage included on this site, and to gain
their permission to use the images.
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