Lance Justice declared war on his fellow countrymen  in his quest for a piece of the $800,000 prize on offer.

People aren’t shrugging off his statements either with Justice all but assured of taking the early lead in the final with his intimidating mount Smoken Up.

Themightyquinn is the quickest horse in the race but the West Australian doesn’t ahve the barrier or the early speed to take up the running early.

Early speed is something Smoken Up isn’t short on and with  Justice driving it will be aggressive form the word go.

Justice didn’t stop with his verbal crusade either, instead changing his attack to Blacks A Fake which will be the other horse at the eha dof the field.

“I think I can sit outside Blacks A Fake and beat him, in fact I am sure of it,” Justice said.

“I sat outside him in the Miracle Mile and beat him and my horse is going three lengths better now, while I think Natalie’s horse isn’t quite as sharp.

“Don’t get me wrong, we all know Blackie is a champ and if I have to get beat I won’t mind it being by him but I just can’t see it happening.

“I’m not really worried about him at all.”

Despite the bravado, Justice does have the runs on the board with his times this series certainly proving his point.

Blacks A Fake is proven on the big stage though so Smoken Up will need to show a confidence similar to his driver on race night.

He’s even less forgiving for former grand final winner Mr Feelgood, barely acknowledging him as a starter.

“He has never run past me and I don’t think he can do it this week. So I am not worried about him much either.

“If I can sit outside Blacks A Fake and control the speed the question is how close can Themightyquinn get before we have to get going?

“That’s the race as I see it but quite simply my horse has never been better or handled a track better so we are the horse to beat, I’ve got no doubt about that.”

The star of the show at the moment is Victorian Smoken Up which is ready for a clean sweep of the heats in Auckland after finding even more luck in the gate draw.

Trainer-driver Lance Justice was ecstatic after his charger drew spot one for his next Alexandra Park qualifying heat.

“Everything has fallen into the place so far on the trip,” Justice said.

“He handled the travel well, seems to love racing in the opposite direction over here and we’ve drawn well in both heats.

“I couldn’t believe how easily he won and how fantastic he felt last week. There’s no reason he won’t be better again this week.

“We all know the speed he’s got, so I’ll be leading and there’s no reason he shouldn’t win again.”

His major challengers in the race will all start alongside him on the front row with Smiling Shard in two, Power Of Tara in three, Washakie in four and Blacks A Fake in five.

Natalie Rasmussen was satisfied with Blacks A Fake’s draw and said this race will be entirely different to what we saw last week.

“He needed the run last week so I drove him soft, but this week he’s ready to do it tough,” she said.

“He’s a different horse from this time last week.”

In the first of Friday’s pacing heats Mr Feelgood has every chance to win the race after grabbing position one.

His main rival Im Themightyquinn will have it all to do from spot ten.

Another Victorian, Villagem will start from gate two in that race and should qualify after running third to Smoken Up last week.

One of New Zealand’s top hopes Monkey King grabbed position nine setting himself up for the sprint lane on the home turn.

In the trotting heats Sundons Gift is another Australian which can lay claim to having the prime starting spot while stablemate Let Me Thru will need to force his way into the race from a wide gate.

Alexandra Park hasn’t been a happy place for Australian horses in the past but the top four horses in the pacing series markets with online bookmaker Luxbet are all from Australia.

It’s a similar story for the trotters with the Aussie contingent big favourites at the top with two horses.

Annoying the Kiwi’s even more is the fact three of the top six Aussie runners were in fact bred across the ditch in New Zealand.

Themightyquinn, Smoken Up and Sundon’s Gift all left New Zealand’s shores as decent runners but have been transformed into million dollar earners.

Some section of the New Zealand media argue there are some horses such as Christian Cullen and Elsu which could hold off the Aussie invasion but it’s a mute point given they are not there.

Auckland Reactor was shaping as their great hope but he may not even compete after his latest in a long series of issues.

In reality though New Zealand has a heap of horses and a heap of talented ones at that, but the Aussie contingent this year is just bigger, stronger, faster and a hell of a lot tougher.

That’s obvious to see with New Zealand still doing well in age-group races but the harder the racing gets the Aussies seem to be showing a hell of a lot more determination.

Few are more qualified to talk about it than champion New Zealand trainer Barry Purdon who has had plenty of success in Australia.

He says it’s the style of Aussie racing which is producing horses capable of sticking with it at Interdominion class.

“I think the way they race them over there makes them tougher.

“Sure, it goes in cycles but in Australia they are not scared to jump on a plane and head to Perth or put them on a float for 10 hours to go somewhere.

“And when they do race they are not scared to sit parked, like Mr Feelgood in the Auckland Cup.

“I think, eventually, that wears off on the horses and they get used to the hard work and the best ones seem to thrive on it.”

He says the extended seasons for two and three year olds in New zealand is also having a detrimental effect.

“We start earlier than they do in Australia but race too far into the season. I am a great believer in giving horses a decent spell but it is getting harder and harder to do that.

“I love the fact we have the Harness Jewels but it is too late in the season and then you even have some horses go to the Breeders Crown in Australia.

“So many of them burn out. We used to have an entourage of open-class horses, now we struggle to fill the best races. It is manageable but to do that you have to be brave and let your horse miss some big races.”

Purdon himself does have a runner in the Interdominion pacing series, Pembrook Benny which drew barrier one for tonight so is a good chance to work his way into the final on April 8th.

“I was thrilled with his run in the Auckland Cup because he worked early and was a clear third,” Purdon said.

 ”And I’d love to think he could win this series. But if he ended up parked in the final outside a horse like Mr Feelgood or Smoken Up I think I’d close my eyes and pretend it wasn’t happening.”

Nothing is certain in harness racing though and with the final still a good two weeks away Aussies shouldn’t be counting their win just yet.

One thing’s for sure though, it’s going to take a monster effort from any New Zealand horse to develop the courage and intestinal fortitude to match it with any of our best harness racers.

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From gate seven in the unanimously agreed toughest heat he’ll need to work hard if it’s going to notch up a record six appearances in Interdominion grand finals.

His trainer and driver Natalie Rasmussen said her pacer had had an ideal lead up after arriving in Auckland last Thursday.

“I would’ve loved a better draw, but he seems really well and I’m sure he’ll improve a lot on whatever he does this week,” she said.

His major rival in the race is expected to be Auckland Cup and WA Cup winner Themightyquinn.

The top Victorian horse Smoken Up had far more luck and could make the first move of the series.

The Lance Justice trained runner will tsrat form gate six but with questions rising about Auckland Reactor he’s a good chance to take up the lead.

“He handled the trip across really well and the draw is another big plus,” Justice said.

 ”It’s all falling into place, at least at this stage.”

Auckland Reactor is said to only be a 50 percent chance to start the race with a final decision expected from Mark Purdon any minute.

Smoken Up had his chances lifted even further when Mr Feelgood and Villagem drew gates 10 and 11 on the back row.

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The second rankings for the WATPAC Inter Dominion Championship were released on Wednesday with Highview Tommy, Tanabi Bromac and Scotty Mach gaining the highest lifts.

Highview Tommy moves from ranking 45 to 27 on the basis of its win in the Summer Cup in Aukland defeating the likes of Changeover (9).

Tanabi Bromac finished second in the Barastoc Grand Circuit Wrest Point Tasmania Cup behind Bettors Strike (4) and moved to ranking 22, whilst the lowly ranked Scotty Mach (78) won a $20 000 event in Auckland to move to 63.

Ohoka Dallas moved into the top 40 ranked pacers at 33 also off the back of its recent New Zealand performances against other higher ranked Inter Dominion aspirants.

Highly ranked Bold Cruiser and the former star Sting Lika Bee have already been withdrawn by the respective connections from the Championship.

Connections have until 12 noon on Monday 11^th January to withdraw from the WATPAC Inter Dominion with no Acceptance Fee penalty incurred.

Introduced by Harness Racing Australia, the new laws mean that a driver must have a rein in each hand at all times, and only a flicking motion of the whip itself is allowed.

The new rules mean that many of the country’s harness racing champions, who have been driven in aggressively throughout their entire careers, now face early retirement if they are unable to perform at their best and adjust to the new style of driving the laws require.

One example is the Barry Lew-trained Karloo Mick, the nine-year-old securing his 50^th career win last Sunday in the Young Services Club Cup. The son of Panorama has won over $1million in stakes and is being considered for this year’s illustrious Inter Dominion, however Lew has expressed concerns over the superstar’s ability to race in top form under the new laws. Lew has warned the gelding will be retired if he fails to live up to his legacy in his upcoming starts, which are likely to include the Frank and Edna Day Memorial at Goulburn on January 14.

The Cran Dalgety-trained Bettors Strike has displayed striking form recently, claiming a sensational victory in the Group 1 SEW-Eurodrive Victoria Cup ahead of a top-class field last week just after running a controversial dead-heat for first in the Group 2 Deacon Cranbourne Cup.

The five-year-old gelding is now vying for back-to-back success in the Barastoc Grand Circuit, Australasia’s premier harness racing series.

Hobart’s Tasmania Cup will be the eighth event in the 15-race series, and Bettors Strike currently sits on second place with seven points following his first place in the Victoria Cup and second place in the NZ Cup. The NZ Cup winner Monkey King is still in the lead with fifteen points, despite only placing fourth in the Victoria Cup last Friday.

Following his run in Tasmania, Bettors Strike will then begin preparation for the next big pacing feature, the $400 000 Group 1 BIG6 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley on February 6. The race will be the final harness meeting held on a Saturday night at the Moonee Valley venue.

Trainer Gary Hall has entered a record five horses in the event, Alzona (1), Dartmoor (3), Ohoka Rebel (5), Im Themightyquinn (8) and Indian Giver (9), with Hall naming five-year-old Im Themightyquinn the one to beat despite his disappointing eight length defeat at trial last weekend.

The Emma Stewart-trained Bonavista Bay, winner of last week’s Golden Nugget, will start from barrier seven. If successful on Friday night, the four-year-old will be the first Golden Nugget champion to win the Fremantle Cup.

Stewart is the second female trainer to have a runner entered in the Fremantle Cup on Friday. The other is Skye Bond, making history by pairing up with her husband and fellow trainer Greg who also has horses in the race. They are the first husband and wife to each have runners starting in the same Fremantle Cup.

Skye has entered Mister Veejays Fella, coming off a win at the track last week, due to start from barrier four.

The Fremantle Cup is scheduled as race six at Gloucester Park on Friday night and is due to start at 8:35 pm (WA time).

2009 Group 1 Stallion Station Fremantle Pacing Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw:

Although the autopsy was inconclusive, Saab’s owner Terry Ferguson advised that the horse’s death may have been caused by a brain embolism.

The 15 year old was leased to Mick Lombardo and had remained at Concorde Park during his stud years.

With the largest crop of 54 foals from Saab’s first six stud seasons, Ferguson will be selling a number of the horse’s progeny at next year’s WA Yearling Sale.

Ferguson raced Saab in partnership with trainer Ross Olivieri who led the horse to 21 career wins and took home $577,197 in stakes.

Before retiring in December 2001, Saab managed to win several prominent races in the harness racing industry including the Group One Golden Slipper Stakes as a two year old, the WA Derby as a three year old and the Golden Nugget and WA Pacing Cup as a four year old.

Saab remains the only horse to win both the Golden Nugget and the WA Pacing Cup as a four year old and he was also only one of two Golden Nugget winners to be sired by a previous Golden Nugget winner with sire Classic Garry winning the race in 1983.

His best win is undeniably the WA Pacing Cup after Gloucester Park was hit by a storm and almost flooded the entire track.

Saab copped barrier nine and came out from last place in the last lap to beat NSW champion Our Sir Vancelot in terrible racing conditions.

During his stud days, Saab managed to sire a total of 52 winners and his success in producing winning foals is expected to continue despite his death.