And in harness racing, well, the Holy Grail is the Inter Dominion.

The Inter Dominion doesn't quite have the history of the other two, but the first series was run back in 1936 and was designed to be a contest between the best from Australia and New Zealand.

Strange things happened back in the early years, but the Inter Dominion has matured and grown into an Australasian sporting institution.

Described by international observers as undoubtedly the toughest contest for a racehorse run anywhere in the world, the Inter Dominion certainly sorts out the stayers from the players, so to speak.

Run on an annual rotation basis around the states of Australia, and in New Zealand once every four years, this gathering of our best standardbreds and the fans and supporters who cheer them on, is seriously unique.

The series has been traditionally run across a fortnight, with four nights racing. Every horse must compete in three heats, over different distances, within seven days, with the highest points scorers qualifying for the Inter Dominion Grand Final.

This format has stood the test of time, although there has been criticism and scorn, the 'old' format appears to still have the most support.

As toughness often becomes as important as ability, not always the best horse wins. Yet rarely has the Grand Final been won by an ordinary horse.

At the time of writing Melbourne's much anticipated Nights Of Glory carnival was about to start, featuring the $250,000 Victoria Cup and the $400,000 A. G. Hunter Cup for the Inter Dominion standard pacers.

When the Nights Of Glory carnival is finished, and the headlines have been read and discarded, the trainers of these gladiators will have just one thing on their minds - Christchurch!

For that is where this year's Inter Dominion series will be conducted, at the world famous Addington raceway in Christchurch, on the south island of New Zealand.

This year will be the 26th consecutive carnival I will have covered as a media representative, and every year I still get just as excited as the previous one. For regular attendees the Inter Dominion is as much about horse racing as it is enjoying a hectic social schedule. It's about catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

But above all else, it's about great horses and great horsemen and women, and this year in Christchurch will be no different.

Every year we have drama, excitement, pain and joy - nothing will change in this quaint little city of 320,000 people.

Last year's Sydney Champion was the Bathurst trained Smooth Satin, the product of local breeding from a famous harness racing family - the Bathurst Turnbulls.

Trainer-driver Steve Turnbull is the son of legendary NSW horseman Tony Turnbull, best remembered as the trainer and driver of the mighty Hondo Grattan.

'Hondo' won two Inter Dominion Grand Finals - 1973 and 1974, and on both occasions Tony Turnbull was in the sulky. Last year it was Steve's moment of fame, but perhaps few actually realised how rare a happening this was.

The Inter Dominion history book is littered with amazing stories, of people defying the odds, of battlers winning the "unwinnable" and of mighty horses finding the Holy Grail.

The 2003 chapter will have started to be written on March 21, but already this year's series has a twist. The New Zealand
Metropolitan Trotting Club - the host club at Addington - decided almost 12 months ago it wanted to stage the series over THREE weeks, not the traditional two.

Now, there has been a lot written and a lot said about that decision, and this is not the forum to discuss the pros and cons of that decision, suffice to say we're stuck with the format. So, the contestants will run on three consecutive Friday night meetings before qualifying for the $500,000 Final on April 11.

Certainly this will suit the younger, less experienced horses as they will not have to back up three times in a week as has been the case at previous carnivals.

The length of the series, combined with the fact it will be staged in New Zealand, has been blamed for the disappointing number of pacers nominated for the series - 55!

It is usually a lot more and this year only 13 Australian horses have been entered, but on the plus side is the fact they are arguably the best we have to offer.

Last year in Sydney, Smooth Satin and Grand Final runner-up Shakamaker, himself an Inter Dominion Champion from Melbourne in 2000 when just a four-year-old, were clearly the best two horses at the carnival.

They say a week's a long time in the racing game, well a year is an eternity! Oh how things have changed. Shakamaker has had the worst season of his magnificent career. He's the earner of almost $2.2 million but at the time of writing he was an unlikely starter in the series because of poor form.

Smooth Satin, a virtual killing machine last season, has dropped a cog and has been chasing the new stars Double Identity and Jofess.

There's the boom WA pacer Baltic Eagle, who hasn't been seen in the eastern states but "they" say he's very good, and there is a virtually unknown Victorian still eligible for much weaker grade called Mont Denver Gold.

The big factor however, when trying to find the Inter Dominion winner this year, could be to look no further than the back yard of the host racetrack.

The most powerful stable in New Zealand belongs to a guy called Mark Purdon who comes from arguably the most famous harness racing family in the long history of the sport in New Zealand.

His father Roy Purdon is a living legend, having won 27 New Zealand trainers premierships before his retirement from competitive training five years ago.

His older brother Barry was co-trainer with his father for about 15 of those 27 years, and on his own has won every feature race in both Australia and New Zealand.

Mark made what many believed to be an extraordinary decision a little more than two years ago when he decided to move his stable base from Auckland on the north island, to Christchurch.

Not only has he taken the industry by the scruff of the neck since relocating to a stunning property just outside Christchurch, but Mark Purdon has the two Kiwi horses everybody has to beat at this carnival - Young Rufus and Jack
Cade.

Young Rufus has already shown his class this season by winning the $250,000 Auckland Cup on New Year's Eve by an amazing seven and three-quarter lengths!

He started favourite in the internationally famous $350,000 New Zealand Cup, but galloped away from the standing start, losing all chance.

He failed to handle the tight Harold Park track in Sydney in the Miracle Mile in late November but bounced back
a week later over the longer distance of The Ben Hur to win narrowly, but impressively.

On returning to New Zealand he scored stunning wins in the Auckland Cup and a 1:54.4 win in the $50,000 Cambridge Mile two weeks later.

Young Rufus was due to run in both the Victoria and Hunter Cups at the Nights of Glory in Melbourne and don't be surprised if he was a major player in both (* hoofnote: Young Rufus won the Victoria Cup & Mont Denver Gold won the Hunter Cup).

Jack Cade, on the other hand, is for me the wildcard of the series.

This injury plagued pacer has virtually missed a year through having a bone chip removed in a knee, but his racetrack record as a younger horse is stunning.

He was clearly a better horse than Young Rufus in their juvenile days and Mark Purdon has been declaring for a long time that he is the best horse he has ever had anything to do with.

Considering the line-up of stars Mark has produced over the years, that comment should be closely listened to. Jack Cade made his long awaited return to the track at Addington during the first week of February for a sizzling win. He
didn't beat much but it was the way he did it that impressed many, including me.

Grand Final on a horse called Mark Hanover, jointly trained by his father Roy and brother Barry. Mark knows what it takes to win the Inter Dominion.

Is there an Australian who can win this Inter Dominion? Several, in fact!

The best Grand Circuit horse in Australia all season has been the NSW prepared Double Identity, closely followed by last year's upset Victoria Cup winner Jofess.

They certainly can win this series, as too can the defending champion Smooth Satin, who despite racing below his best for a major portion of the season, is ideally suited to the tough racing of an Inter Dominion and I wouldn't be surprised if he turned his form around completely.

Double Identity is tough and versatile and it would appear the bigger the track the better he performs, so the magnificent 1200 metre Addington track was made for him.

When it comes to toughness Jofess is captain. He's been everywhere this season and performed admirably, winning several majors along the way. He won't find the series grinding at all. On the contrary he'll love it.

If there is to be a complete blowout it might come in the form of Mont Denver Gold, a horse I mentioned earlier still eligible for much easier races. He has rare talent, most of it seemingly untapped, but he does have a huge sprint, an asset very important at Addington.

And he'll be driven during this series by champion Victorian reinsman Chris Alford, who knows something about Addington and the Inter Dominion, having won the last series staged there back in 1995 with Golden Reign.

Making selections this far out is fraught with danger, particularly as when making them the Nights Of Glory results were unknown, but for the record this is what I think at this stage.

The best of the Australians are clearly Double Identity, Jofess and Smooth Satin, with the best outsider Mont Denver Gold.

From a Kiwi perspective their best chances lie with Jack Cade ahead of Young Rufus, with their best outsider being the evergreen eightyear- old Facta Non Verba, who just seems to get better and better as he gets older.

Over the years the Inter Dominion has thrown up many strange things. Greats like Pure Steel and Popular Alm didn't win one, but 'forgettables' like Carclew, Rondel and Rhett's Law did!

Every horse finds it so hard to win just one, yet Brian "Mr Inter Dominion" Hancock managed to win three on the trot with the mighty Our Sir Vancelot. In fact Brian has won six Inter Dominion Grand Finals as either a trainer or driver, or both.

Yet this is the first year in memory he hasn't had a horse engaged at the series.

This 2003 series promises to be special for many of the reasons already discussed, but particularly for one not yet mentioned.

This will be the fourth Inter Dominion series I have covered in Christchurch, and I've been to this beautiful little city for about a dozen New Zealand Cups.

Nowhere, anywhere else in the world have I found a place where the inhabitants live and breath harness racing. Here, harness racing is king and thoroughbred racing is the poor relation!

Everyone from the taxi driver who picks you up at the airport to the concierge who grabs your luggage from that taxi will want to talk harness racing and give you a tip.

It's a unique place, one made for the Inter Dominion. Bring it on!