Interdominion Series 2015
The IHRA and BHRC have been offered the fantastic opportunity of competing in the Inter Dominion in 2015 in Perth, Australia. The Inter Dominion is an iconic carnival of Harness Racing, with total prize money of a staggering $1.8 million, which is returning to its ancestral home Gloucester Park, Perth for 2015, 2016 and 2017. The series will be resuming its traditional format of three heats and a Grand Final, with an invitation open for a horse from Ireland or the UK.
The outline for the qualifying race series to fulfill the invitation is for fourx heats (2 in Ireland and 2 in the UK) with a points based system; the horse on the most points at the end of the series being the winner. This horse will travel then to compete in the Inter Dominion series.
The series will be invitational for horses currently Grade 6 and above. There will be a requirement for the owner and trainer of the horse to make a contractual commitment to travel to Australia and compete should their horse win the Irish or UK series. From the IHRA and BHRC perspective there must be a horse that travels to Australia to compete as a lot of time and effort has been put into securing this opportunity. Provisional plans are:
- Horse will be quarantined in Newmarket from end of August
- Horse will travel to Sydney, Australia on 20th September
- Horse will be in quarantine for three weeks
- Horse will travel to Melbourne, then on to Perth
- Inter Dominion series starts 27th November 2015
The expenses relating to the travel of the horse (both ways) will be covered by a generous sponsorship deal, which will also include partial subsidized expenses for owner, trainer, and driver to travel. Any incidental expenses incurred by the connections will not be covered by the sponsorship package.
Provisional dates for the heats are:
- York – 27th June 2015
- York – 1st August 2015
- Portmarnock – 26th July 2015
- Portmarnock – 9th August 2015
Each heat will have a purse of circa €2000. Entry Fee will be €50 per race.
Points:- 1st – 8, 2nd – 6, 3rd – 4, 4th – 2, 5th to 10th – 1
If you are interested in your horse competing in the Irish & UK Inter Dominion series for a chance to travel to Australia and represent Harness Racing and contest the Inter Dominion series, please contact Mark Flanagan 086-2698399 before Wednesday 13th May
