Inter Dominion sets new wagering benchmark
Leap To Fame’s breathtaking Inter Dominion victory on Saturday night has received an exclamation point with the meeting now serving as the state’s most wagered on harness racing event.
For the second time in three years, Leap To Fame saluted in the sport’s most coveted race, becoming Australasia’s highest ever stakes winner with $4.63 million in career earnings.
With five Group 1s on the 10-race card, the Inter Dominion Final saw close to $6.8 million in turnover recorded at Albion Park, eclipsing the $6.1 million benchmark recorded on the 2021 Blacks A Fake meeting.
The 2023 Inter Dominion Final, which was run in Queensland for the first time since 2009, now sits third with $6 million wagered.
There was also a 23% uplift in wagering benchmarked against the final night of the 2024 Queensland Constellations.
Unsurprisingly, the Ladbrokes Inter Dominion Pacing Championship topped the meeting as the most bet on race, with turnover exceeding $1.2 million.
The 2025 Ladbrokes Inter Dominion Pacing Championship now sits only behind the 2023 iteration ($1.4 million) as the highest turnover on a single race in Queensland.
“The Inter Dominion has been an unequivocal success headlined by strong on-course patronage and record-breaking wagering as the perfect swansong for the Queensland Constellations Carnival,” Racing Queensland Acting CEO Lachlan Murray said.
“Not only has Saturday’s meeting set a new benchmark for turnover on a single harness meeting in Queensland, it eclipsed the previous record by a staggering 11% - achieved during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was a sight to behold as a crowd of more than 2,200 packed Albion Park to witness Leap To Fame cement his status as one of, if not the greatest standardbred we’ve ever seen.
“We now look forward in anticipation and excitement to the next two years, where the Inter Dominion will continue to call Queensland home.”
Whilst Leap To Fame’s usurped the legendary Blacks A Fake as Australasia’s greatest ever stakes earner, the Inter Dominion Trotters Championship, won by Victorian square-gaiter Arcee Phoenix, was just as compelling.
"In all my years of attending great sporting events, this one gave me the biggest thrill – what a night,” Albion Park Harness Racing Club CEO Jim Waddell said.
“The emotion of the crowd, the anticipation and the performance of Leap to Fame was one for the record books.
“It’s a boon for harness racing in the Sunshine State to have the Inter Dominion here for another two years, building on its highly successful recent iterations at Albion Park.”
Earlier on the card, Eye Keep Smiling successfully defended her Group 1 The Golden Girl crown and became the first mare to run a sub-1.50 mile rate.
Recording her 10th win in succession, Eye Keep Smiling ran a head turning 1.49.8 which included a spectacular second quarter of 26.8 seconds.
