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.”

Justice started the night off right with a win in the Tabcorp Park Melton Pacers Handicap. The M0+ race was run over a distance of 2,240 metres and carried a purse worth $15,000. Justice’s horse Vito Vito was a $3.00 favourite going into the race, and the brown gelding didn’t let punters down. Starting from the front row in barrier four, Vito Vito went on to take a convincing win and over $10,000 in prize money. Tellthebanker was 8.70 behind to take second. Justice’s Artoc finished in third place 9.10 off the leader.

2010 Tabcorp Park Melton Pacers Handicap Results:

The success didn’t stop there for Justice. He followed up the impressive performance with another in race number seven – the Minuteman Free For All. Many were predicting that the Justice-trained Smoken Up would take the win in this one, and the gelding didn’t disappoint. In a thrilling race that came right down to the wire, Smoken Up managed to pull ahead of second place finisher TI Vogliobene to take the much needed win. Not only did this mark the horse’s seventh win in Australia this season, but it also secured the trainers’ premiership title for Justice. This year marks the fourth premiership win in the last five years for Justice.

While Douglas and Peacock had high hopes going into Friday night’s festivities, neither trainer came through with a win. The night was especially disappointing for Peacock when he failed to come through with a placing in The Graduate. Race number six on the card featured four Peacock-trained horses that were expected to do well. Cullens Impact, who was expected to do the best, took 11th place, finishing 19.50 off the leader. Wrongly Accused didn’t fare any better, finishing in last place 24.90 off the leader. The BL Hansen-trained Arber took first place and the $13,500 prize.

2010 Minuteman FFA Results:

On Friday night fans can catch a glimpse of the brilliant Smoken Up as he contests the $20,000 SEW-Eurodrive Sokyola Sprint (1720m) at Kilmore Tabcorp Park in Victoria.

The Lance Justice-trained and driven super star looks well positioned to break his recent succession of frustrating minor placings to secure his 34^th career win as the Tinted Cloud gelding has secured the prized inside running with barrier one.

Sure to start as the hot odds-on favourite, Smoken Up will face some truly classy competitors, including stablemate Our Malabar.

Coming off two successive victories in the Inter Dominion consolation and the Geelong Cup, the son of Live Or Die will be driven by Gavin Lang on Friday night and has drawn barrier four as he hopes to achieve a hat-trick of wins.

Both of Justice’s runners are using the Sokyola Sprint as a preparatory race for the $100,000 Group 1 Len Smith Mile, the prestigious invitation only event to be run next week.

Other gun pacers with claims are Karlsruhe out the back in barrier eight who defeated Smoken Up last start and previous Victoria Derby winner Tanabi Bromac in barrier six back from a campaign in the ‘Aple Isle’.

The highlight event of an entertaining nine-race card, the 2010 SEW-Eurodrive Sokyola Sprint is due to jump at 9:12pm as race six. Other features on the night will be the $20,000 Mittys Youthful Stakes (Race 3) and for the trotting enthusiasts the $20,000 Group 3 Uncle Petrika Trotters Free For All (Race 8).

2010 SEW-Eurodrive Sokyola Sprint Final Field & Barriers

The David Aiken-trained Karlsruhe ($7.20) raced out wide to snare victory from the Lance Justice-trained and driven favourite Smoken Up ($1.40) by racings closest margin, a short half-head, with Pacific Charm ($16.90) who used the sprint lane just over four metres back in third.

It was a frustrating result for recent millionaire Smoken Up who has finished in the placings without a win in his last eight from nine races.

Make Waves took advantage of their number one barrier to lead early on, still sitting at the front on the bell. Following closely was the short priced favourite Smoken Up with Pacific Charm on the pegs running third with just under a lap to go.

With 800m left to travel Karlsruhe was sitting second last, driven patiently by David Moran.

Make Waves held a four metre lead to Smoken Up with 600m to go. Heading into the straight Smoken Up accelerated closing the gap between him and the leader, while Pacific Charm went into the express lane and Karlsruhe was running four deep.

On the final straight Karlsruhe had a brilliant run out wide. Smoken Up hit the lead but Karlsruhe put in a gallant chase and came head-to-head with the favourite finishing in nearly a dead heat. There was nothing in it, Karlsruhe just managing victory by a short half head while pacemaker Make Waves faded to finish seventh.

A fast paced race saw Karlsruhe run his career best winning mile rate of 1:54.2, which was 1.5s faster than the previous record shared by Tintin In America and Just Callme Cullen.

Karlsruhe has now won 18 of their 103 race starts for over $234, 000 in prizemoney.

Another major pacing event that took place on Friday night was the $20, 500 XXXX Gold Autumn Championship at Gloucester Park where the talented Tony Svilicich-trained Has The Answers ($1.20 fav) claimed an emphatic 8.4m victory ahead of Gee Whiz Fizz ($10.9) with the longest priced contender Dark Sky ($59.40) in third.

2010 SEW Eurodrive Markonvina Free For All Results:

A small but superior field of eight pacers are set to contest the Markovina FFA headlined by Lance Justice’s superstar Smoken Up.

The brilliant Tinted Cloud gelding pushed his career prizemoney to over $1 million last start when he ran a gallant third in the Group 1 Watpac Inter Dominion behind Blacks A Fake, becoming one of Australasia’s highest-earning standardbreds of all time.

Smoken Up, winner of 33 of his 71 career starts to date, has drawn on the outside-front-row with barrier seven on Saturday but his experience and ability mean he is still the hot favourite.

Rivals of Smoken Up who will be looking to sneak in with an upset win in the Free For All include Make Waves drawn well in barrier one, the Lisa Miles-trained and driven Pacific Charm in two and classy Live Or Die gelding Notaswethort coming off a third place in the Geelong Cup starting on the inside of Smoken Up in barrier six.

The other quality pacing feature to be held around the country on Friday night is the $20, 500 XXXX Gold Autumn Championship at Gloucester Park featuring Tealsby Karita and the gifted Has The Answers.

The 2010 Markovina Free For All will take place as the second race at Tabcorp Park’s excellent nine-event programme on Friday night and is due to commence at 7:10pm (VIC time).

The 2010 SEW Eurodrive Markovina Free For All Final Field & Barrier Draw:

It was an intense and extremely close finish with less than ten metres separating all 11 horses at the end.

Lance Justice’s talented six-year-old Live Or Die gelding Our Malabar ($4.80) ran an impressive race out wide to narrowly beat home the odds-on favourite Tanabi Bromac ($2.60) by 1.5m with Notaswethort ($5.60) less than a meter further back in third.

The speedy Make Waves had a sensational start to the race and held the lead nearly all the way. By the second quarter he was three lengths ahead of the favourite Tanabi Bromac, but in a brilliant display of determination and ability the defending champion Our Malabar hooked out four wide and made his move.

A bunched up field raced down the home straight with Tanabi Bromac putting the challenge onto Make Waves, and the favourite made it to the front with only 100m to go. But Our Malabar raced up the outside to secure the victory in the final few metres with Make Waves getting pushed back to just finish out of the money in sixth.

It was Melton-based trainer Justice’s third Geelong Cup victory as he also won back in 2004 with Sokyloa. He also took out a hat-trick of wins at the meeting on Saturday night as Our Malabar’s win followed those of Dominus Vobiscum in the Geelong Guineas and The Evangelist in the Bendigo Bank C1 Final earlier in the night.

Running a 1:59.5 mile rate on Saturday night, Our Malabar has now saluted in 25 of his 92 career starts for over $340, 000 in prizemoney.

Our Malabar’s next black type start will be in the $50, 000 Group 2 Mildura Cup on April 10 ahead of the big goal, the $100, 000 Group 1 Len Smile Mile on April 23.

2010 Geelong Cup Results

The 2130m mobile start feature has a quality field of three-year-olds keen to secure a Group race victory including the brilliant Ross Olivieri-trained Crombie.

Drawn in barrier six and due to be driven by reinsman Mark Reed, Crombie is coming off an impressive succession of five victories, the Life Sign colt sure to start as one of the favourites.

One of Crombie’s biggest threats on Friday night comes from his stablemate Dasher VC in barrier eight.

The lightly raced Washington VC gelding has a remarkable record to date having won five of his six career starts and placed second in the other, his most recent four wins in WA for Olivieri following his short career in New Zealand.

Dasher VC will be driven by Chris Lewis in Caduceus Club and has drawn barrier eight.

Olivieri is aiming at his second Caduceus Club victory following his success in 1998 with Saab.

The less than ideal barrier draw for the sensational stablemates means there is a chance for their rivals to get the better run in on the night, with classy pacers including the David Thompson-trained David Hercules, Criminal Minds and last start winner Franco Jazzman drawn well in barriers one, two and four, in that order.

Gary Hall Senior’s Live Or Die gelding Why Live Dangerously (barrier two) will also be drawing lots of attention on Friday night as he makes his Australian race debut.

Other exciting contenders in the event include the consistent Chillin Dylan and Lombo Navigator, drawn wide with barriers 10 and 12 respectively.

The 2010 Caduceus Club 3YO Classic will run as race seven on the night’s bumper ten-event card and is due to commence at 8:45pm.

Another great pacing event to keep an eye on this weekend is the $25, 000 Listed Geelong Cup on Saturday night.

A great 11-horse field is set to fight it out in the 2010 Geelong Cup including two of Geoff Webster’s pacing stars Tear It All Away and Mister Anthony, who Webster will drive, in barriers four and six respectively.

Also engaged in the Cup is defending champion, the Lance Justice trained and driven Our Malabar in barrier nine, the Live Or Die gelding coming off a last start victory in the Watpac Inter Dominion consolation.

If Our Malabar finds success on Saturday night he will become the first ever horse to win back-to-back Geelong Cups.

Trainer Glenn Douglas has Jackson Grant and the talented Notaswethort starting from the top two barriers on Saturday night, while the fast paced Make Waves will jump from barrier three.

Also worth keeping an eye on in the Geelong Cup is Ti Vogliobene in barrier seven, the David Aiken-trained Karlsruhe in barrier eight and Tanabi Bromac in the far outside barrier 11.

The Geelong Cup will jump at 9:32pm as race seven on Saturday night at Geelong.

2010 Caduceus Club 3YO Classic Final Field & Barriers

2010 Geelong Cup Final Field & Barriers

Blacks A Fake ($3.70), trained and driven by Natalie Rasmussen, defeated the $2.20 favourite Monkey King by 2.7m with the Lance Justice’s Smoken Up ($25.50) a further 3.2m back in third.

The impressive Fake Left gelding has now won 61 of his 82 career starts, with the lucrative $500, 000 first prize for Saturday’s win elevating his total prizmoney earned to an imposing $4, 179, 693. Blacks A Fake is hands down the richest Australian pacer in history.

Blacks A Fake has competed in five Inter Dominions over his dazzling career, narrowly missing out on a perfect record in the prestigious event when he ran a gallant second to Mr Feelgood last year.

This year Mr Feelgood went out as a $17.20 chance but failed to fire after being restrained at the start of the race, finishing a dismal second last in ninth.

The unprecedented number of Inter Dominion wins wasn’t the only record Blacks A Fake broke on Sunday, he also ran a world time record for 2300m after posting a scintillating gross time of 2:42.6 for a mile rate of 1:53.8.

Click here for the official HRNSW media release on Blacks A Fake’s sensational 2010 Inter Dominion win including details on how the race went down.

Also held at Menangle on Sunday was the $60, 000 Inter Dominion Consolation where Lance Justice’s Live or Die gelding Our Malabar ($7.10) claimed a close half-neck victory ahead of another pacer from the Natalie Rasmussen stable, Western Cam ($3.70). The warm pre-race favourite Sammy Maguire ($2.70) was a further 5.5m back for third.

The other great group pacing feature held over the weekend was the $30, 000 Group 3 Bullock Consulting Devonport Cup. The testing 3020m standing start event was won by five-year-old Panorama gelding Sky Tower in a surprise victory that saw the $1.90 favourite Our Sir Jeckyl finish well back in eight.

2010 Inter Dominion Results:

Defending champion driver Anthony Butt says one of his greatest foes could become his secret weapon as he defends his Inter Dominion title with Mr Feelgood on Sunday.

Last year’s winners on the Gold Coast heads into the $1 million WATPAC final at Tabcorp Park, Menangle, facing another potentially horror draw at barrier nine.

That is nothing new for Mr Feelgood, who was written off by many after drawing the second line draw last year, only for Butt to produce an inch-perfect drive to deny Blacks A Fake his Interdom fourth title on end.

Butt knows he will need the cards to fall his way on Sunday if he is to repeat last year’s victory but he believes he and Mr Feelgood have allies – in long-time rivals Lance Justice and Smoken Up.

Smoken Up has drawn barrier 10 and like Mr Feelgood may have little option but to retreat at the start of the 2300m event and attack later.

“If Lance does that, and I am thinking he probably will, then we might get a cart into the race on his back,” says Butt.

“And that would be a good place to be. I think there could be a fair bit of speed early, with Washakie eventually holding the lead.

“So there isn’t much point most of us out wide getting involved early when we can make one long move mid-race.

“If that happens then I think the race might be a bit more even then people think and we have a show.”

Butt was thrilled with how Mr Feelgood fought on for second after setting up a track record for Blacks A Fake at Newcastle last Saturday night.

“That is not the ideal way to drive him but I knew I needed points to make the final so we couldn’t afford to be unlucky.

“But he actually fought on really well and he is racing as good now as when he won the final last season.

“We just have to hope for the same type of mid-race pressure.”

Butt rates Monkey King the horse to beat on Sunday but says the gap between the favourites and the outsiders is smaller than many people realise.

“What about a horse like Our Awesome Armbro? He could be doing no work in the trail and that is a huge advantage at this level.

“I think the great thing about this year’s final is the horses are all going in there in form and there won’t be drivers going out there thinking they have no hope.

“So it should be a beauty. While Monkey King is the horse to beat but when you look back to his Miracle Mile win in November he had the perfect run and only just got there.

“That proves how tough it is to win these big races.”

Mr Feelgood has come in for some support at long odds since Monday night’s barrier draw, as has Hunter Cup winner Bondy.

That has seen Monkey King out to $2.50 with TAB Sportsbet while Washakie has drifted from $3.80 to $4.

The final of the $1 million WATPAC Inter Dominion for 2010 will be run at 5pm Sunday March 7.

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: