Last week the preliminary heats were held with the favourites reigning supreme in three of the races, but a few surprise roughies stepping up to fill the minor placings ahead of their higher seeded rivals.

The top 10 pacers at the end of the night will get their chance at the $1million final on Sunday March 7 at Menangle.

ID10 Heat 5:

The first Qualifying heat this Saturday night sees last week’s Heat 1 winner Atomic Arc jump from barrier four. Atomic Ark caused the upset of the preliminary heats when the $25.70 outsider narrowly beat home the $2.50 favourite Changeover by a half neck with I Am Sam ($8.70) in third.

Despite their win last week, the Natalie Rasmussen-trained gelding looks outclassed this week and will need a whole lot of luck to finish in the top two and move on to the final.

Atomic Arc faces some strong competitors including the Barastoc Grand Circuit winner Washakie who ran second to Bondy in heat four last week. Prepared and driven by John McCarthy, Washakie has drawn wide for Saturday’s run starting from barrier ten.

Others to watch in the first heat this week include the Lance Justice-trained Smoken Up, drawn ideally in barrier two and Mark Peace’s Cincinnati Kid.

The talented Smoken Up ran third to Blacks A Fake last week while it was a slightly disappointing finish Cincinnati Kid in the third preliminary heat when they ran a well beaten fifth to Monkey King.

Smoken Up is likely to start as the favourite in the opening heat and his blessed barrier two start should be a breeze in comparison to his inside back row draw last week.

ID10 Heat 6:

Lining up in the nine-horse second Qualifying heat on Saturday night is the stunning winner of heat 4 last week, the David Butt trained and driven Bondy. The Live Or Die gelding has won 22 of his 41 career starts and has displayed impressive recent form winning his past three successive races. The Hunter Cup winner Bondy has drawn ideally in barrier two.

Bondy currently sits second on the ID10 points tally with 15.

Starting on the outside of the sure to be favourite is the Keith Cotchin-trained five-year-old Tanabi Bromac in barrier three. The classy Victorian, currently ranked equal ninth with 10 points, ran a crafty third in their heat last week behind the overall ID10 points’ leader Monkey King, and will be ridden on Saturday by champion reinsman Greg Sugars who replaces Gavin Lang.

Other in-form pacers engaged in the 9:00pm heat include the consistent Changeover in barrier six and Gavin Lang’s Sammy Maguire in barrier four.

ID10 Heat 7:

The third heat this Saturday sees the gifted Monkey King starting from barrier three. Monkey King is currently the highest ranked Inter Dominion contender with 17 points and the odds-on favourite to take out the 2010 series. The Sands A Flyin gelding looks well positioned to lead all the way on Saturday night as his brilliant barrier draw and sensational gate speed should see him hit the front early.

Victorian I Am Sam is also running in the 9:30pm heat and has drawn well in barrier two. The giant Alan Tubbs trained pacer ran third last week behind Atomic Ark and Changeover but faces a tough field this round.

Drawn on the far outside in barrier ten is Karloo Mick while Our Awesome Armbro, a runner-up last week, stands a solid chance after securing barrier one.

ID10 Heat 8:

The final heat at Harold Park this Saturday features another star studded field, headlined by Blacks A Fake. Trainer-driver Natalie Rasmussen will be aboard the Fake Left gelding for the second-round following their success in the second heat last week. Blacks A Fake is seeking their fifth consecutive victory, but has drawn wide with barrier nine.

The other quality runner in the 10:00pm heat is Mr. Feelgood in barrier five, but no matter what the quality of rivals, they will have a hard time defeating the three time Inter Dominion champion Blacks A Fake.

The four second round Heats for the 2010 Inter Dominion are scheduled as races four (8:30pm), five (9:00pm), six (9:30pm) and seven (10:00pm) on Saturday night’s bumper nine-race programme.

WATPAC 2010 Inter Dominion Championship Qualifying Heat 5:

WATPAC 2010 Inter Dominion Championship Qualifying Heat 6:

WATPAC 2010 Inter Dominion Championship Qualifying Heat 7:

WATPAC 2010 Inter Dominion Championship Qualifying Heat 8:

Four $40, 000 heats for the prestigious series will run and feature star-studded fields packed full of the nation’s most impressive and elite pacers.

All the big names will be there with Heat 1 looking to be the event of the night featuring I Am Sam drawn well in barrier one; the super consistent Karloo Mick in barrier three; in-form pacer Changeover in barrier six aiming for their fourth win from six starts; and the brilliant American-bred colt Mr Feelgood out wide in gate ten.

The second heat will be another hotly contested affair with the Natalie Rasmussen trained and driven star Blacks A Fake in barrier four coming off three successive wins; the Gavin Lang’s classy Sammy Maguire in barrier seven; and the prolific Lance Justice trained Smoken Up in the back row barrier eight.

Heat three sees the fantastic New Zealand pacer Monkey King (br.4) come up against the likes of Cincinnati Kid (br.5) and Tanabi Bromac (br.6) in a top class front row full of in-form runners in for a real chance not only in this heat but the series overall.

Finishing off with Heat 4, punters have another thrilling matchup on their hands with John McCarthy’s Washakie in barrier seven, the consistently good Bondy drawn well in barrier two and other great pacers including Western Cam in barrier five fighting it out to qualify for the next round.

The 2010 Watpac Inter Dominion Championship heats will run as races 4 – 7 on the meeting’s fantastic nine race programme and will commence at 8:00pm (NSW time).

Going out at generous odds of $12.70, the winning In The Pocket colt beat home the warm favourite, Mr Feelgood ($3.20) by 1.2m with Karloo Mick ($5.40) finishing just a neck back in third.

It was a gallant run for the highly fancied Mr Feelgood as he worked hard to overcome his wide draw.

Pacesetter and eventual fourth placegetter, the Geoff Webster-trained Mister Zion, showed great gate speed and led most the way. Still in the lead at the bell by over a meter, Mister Zion driven by Luke McCarthy put in a fantastic effort on the home straight but tiered in the final metres with New South Wales pacer Karloo Mick close on his heels.

Driven by trainer Mark Peace, Cincinnati Kid then got the run on the inside after sitting off the speed and behind the leaders in the early stages, to hit the lead and take home his first Group 1 victory and maiden Barastoc Grand Circuit win.

Cincinnati Kid ran a sharp mile rate of 1:59.8 after a blistering 27.8s final quarter.

Karloo Mick’s driver Greg Bennet lodged a small protest against Anthony Butt, the reinsman behind Mr. Feelgood, over suspected interference in the final few metres, but the protest was upheld.

It was Mark Peace’s second Ballarat Cup following his success back in 1994 with Dark Paul.

The win was Cincinnati Kid’s 22^nd victory from a prolific 98-race career and the $80 000 first prize boosted his total prizemoney earned to $406 595.

2010 Ballarat Pacing Cup Results:

The winning Live Or Die gelding trained by Keith Cotchin started at odds of $5.10 and defeated Cincinnati Kid ($6.10) by four metres with Geoff Webster’s Tear It All Away ($18) a head back in third.

Karloo Mick, the $3.60 favourite, could only manage fourth place despite unleashing a powerful run in the third quarter on the outside.

Tanabi Bromac, driven by star reinsman Gavin Lang, was the outside leader after starting from barrier four, then in the final lap at the 1800m mark he moved up to front-runner Jackson Grant before snaring the lead on the last turn.

Jackson Grant eased off in the final straight coming in seventh.

The victory was Tanabi Bromac’s 17^th win from his 40 career starts and brought his lifetime stakes earnings to $339 040.

Tanabi Bromac is now heading towards the prestigious $400 000 BIG6 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley on February 6 after twice winning races that exempt him from ballot for the prestigious feature.

The other two feature pacing events of the night were the $25 000 Listed The Lombo 2YO Finals (1609m). The Fillies Final ran first and was taken out by Radical Calza while Our Ponzi claimed victory in the Colts & Geldings The Lombo.

2010 Shepparton Cup Results:

Trainer driver Mal Whiteford has a strong presence in the SA Derby with three of his best pacers set to start. Whiteford will drive Kamwood Jack in the event, who has drawn ideally with barrier two. Starting beside their stablemate in barrier three, Mands Gearl will be driven by Greg Sugars. Whiteford also has Diceneasy entered, the less fancied runner drawing wide with barrier 10.

Meanwhile On-fire Mapua Legend, the only New Zealand-bred contender in the Derby is coming off three successive victories and will start from barrier seven.

Two of the top fancies in the SA Cup are the Geoff Webster trained and driven Mister Zion in barrier two, and Lance Justice’s Smoken Up, the most experienced pacer of the field, starting from barrier nine.

Mister Zion’s trainer Webster is seeking back-to-back success in the Cup following his victory with Mister Swinger last season. Mister Swinger is not defending his title this year, Webster instead opting to run the talented sprinter in the $20 000 SEW-Eurodrive New Year Sprint at Melton’s Tabcorp Park on Friday night.

Although four-year-old Mister Zion has displayed sensational form over his short career, winning 11 of his 18 starts, the 2008 SA Cup winner Smoken Up will still be the one to beat. Other competition will come in the form of the Mark Peace-trained Cincinnati Kid in barrier six and Diamonds N Furs in barrier seven.

The SEW-Eurodrive SA Derby is the first of the Group 1 features, scheduled as race four on the cracker nine-event programme for Saturday night and is due to start at 7:54pm. The SA Pacing Cup then takes place as race six at 8:52pm.

The feature trotting event at the meeting is the $25 000 Group 3 SA Trotters Cup (race three).

Globe Derby Race Programme – Saturday January 9:

2010 SA Derby Final Field & Barrier Draw:

2010 SA Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw: