Harness racing: Inter Dominion champions Don Hugo and The Locomotive set for southern raid on Hunter Cup night

Inter Dominion champions Don Hugo and The Locomotive are heading to Victoria next year for the state’s biggest meeting.

The Locomotive was a runaway winner of the Inter Dominion trotting final for trainer-driver Brad Hewitt last Saturday night. Picture: Brett Atkins/HRNSW

The two newly crowned Inter Dominion champions are heading to Victoria.

Pacing winner Don Hugo and runaway trotting hero The Locomotive will both line up at Victoria’s biggest meeting, Hunter Cup, at Melton on February 1.

Don Hugo, also a winner of the $2.1m TAB Eureka in September, will chase the $250,000 Group 1 Hunter Cup itself.

It will be Don Hugo’s first race at Melton since he ran third in the Vicbred 2YO final on December 31, 2022.

The Locomotive will return to Melton, where he is already a five-time Group 1 winner with former trainer Wayne Potter, for the $250,000 Group 1 Great Southern Star on February 1.

Trainer-driver Brad Hewitt, who guided The Locomotive to a clean sweep of three heats and the final of the Inter Dominion, said the rising five-year-old would not head south for any lead-up races.

“No, he won’t have time,” he said.

“We’re giving him a couple of quiet weeks now after the busy series and then we’ll bring him back up again.

“He can have a lead-up run here (NSW) if he needs it.”

The Locomotive WINS the G1 Inter Dominion Trotters Final! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/98uOT85N0d

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) December 14, 2024

The Great Southern Star is unique in that it consists of two heats into a final on the same night, meaning horses have to race twice the same night to be crowned champion.

Don Hugo’s trainer-driver Luke McCarthy said it was “most likely” his young star would also chase just one target in Victoria.

“I know there’s some other nice races, like the Ballarat Cup. There’s some chance he’ll go there, too, but most likely we’ll get him ready at home (Cobbitty) where he loves it and just make a hit-and-run trio to Melton,” he said.

McCarthy concedes the bar will be raised in the Hunter Cup compared to the Inter Dominion.

“I know it’ll be harder, much harder, because there was no Leap To Fame or Swayzee in this (Inter Dominion) race and they’ve been the benchmark for the past year or so,” McCarthy said.

“But my horse just keeps stepping-up and getting better each campaign. He’s still only four and if he keeps improving, he can be very competitive with those superstars.

“You’d have to say on times, he’s going to hold his own.”

Don Hugo WINS the G1 Inter Dominion Pacers Final & smashes the track record in the process! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/XbykQfqPCC

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) December 14, 2024

Don Hugo obliterated the Menangle 2300m track record last night. His scorching 1min 50.3sec mile rate for 2300m took 1.1sec off the previous mark.

Minstrel, who pushed Don Hugo with a brave second in the Inter Dominion, will return home to WA for a break ahead of the big $1.25m Nullarbor and $350,000 Fremantle Cup double at Gloucester Park in April.

Leap To Fame, who missed his Inter Dominion title defence with a throat infection, is back in work and on target for a mid-January racing return and then the Hunter Cup.

The Menangle-trained Swayzee, winner of the past two NZ Cups and the Victoria Cup, will resume from a freshen-up in the Shirley Turnbull Memorial at Bathurst on Boxing Day.

The mighty stayer is chasing a new $1 million bonus for winning all five legs of the NSW Carnival of Cups.

He’s won the first two at Parkes (September 20) and Young (November 8).

The third leg is at Tamworth on January 17, followed by Albury on February 14 and Penrith on March 15.

* Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp

Originally published as Harness racing: Inter Dominion champions Don Hugo and The Locomotive set for southern raid on Hunter Cup night