PORTER FLIES THE FLAG FOR NEW SOUTH WALES

Last week's first round of Watpac Inter Dominion heats were dominated by horses trained in Queensland and New Zealand. Only one of the local horses delivered and while many expected it to be the Dubbo trained Karloo Mick, it was the unfancied Hava Bonvoyage that led the home state charge. The five year old finished second behind overall series favourite Monkey King on Friday night and has drawn favourably again this week for the second round of heats at Newcastle. Trainer John Porter can't wait for this Saturday night and was very pleased with the gelding's work earlier this week.

"He worked brilliantly on Tuesday morning" Porter said.

"It would be his best work since we have had him and I can't be happier with him right now. He has pulled up stunningly well after Friday night."

Hava Bonvoyage has drawn barrier three in Saturday night's final heat and is set to clash with three time Inter Dominion champion Blacks A Fake, last year's winner Mr Feelgood and Baileys Dream and while Porter is concerned about the strength of the opposition he thinks his runner can be competitive with the right run.

"I think we have drawn the strongest heat on Saturday night. On average they are all good solid horses and I think there are a number that need good points and we will be going forward very hard early."

"The aim would be to get the same run this week as we got last week. I made a few phone calls over to New Zealand to try and find out about Baileys Dream's gate speed and our aim will be to find the fence and then hand over to the right horse."

Porter is confident that his driver Greg Bennett is the right man for the job.

"In the end I will leave it all up to Greg. He knows the horse and he knows racing. We will discuss the basics and then I will leave it all up to him."

Before the series started Porter didn't have any lofty expectations from Hava Bonvoyage.

"I didn't give the horse a great deal of chance of making the final before the series started and while a few people said he was series filler, I had a bit more of an opinion of him than that."

"My family thought we would take the gamble and throw him into the series and at this stage we would be quite happy to get a run in the consolation but the aim is to get maximum points on Saturday night and get a run in the final."

Hava Bonvoyage is a former Kiwi that has had several homes since arriving here in Australia. The son of Live Or Die arrived from New Zealand having won two of his first fourteen starts but has since won nine of his next twenty seven starts.

"Dad asked me about eighteen months ago to find him a nice horse so I had a contact in New Zealand who found this horse over there about three or four months later. We bought him over and sent him to Ian Wilson and when he went for a spell at the end of his first campaign Mr Wilson didn't want the horse back."

"The horse was then sent to John Tapp and when he went for his next spell I decided that I would like to have a go with him. I gave it all away about five years ago after a stint with Harness Racing New South Wales as a director but I said to Dad I would like to give it one more try."

Porter is unsure whether he will head back into retirement after the ride with Hava Bonvoyage is over.
"I am not sure how long I will continue to train after this horse. I just had a phone call from New Zealand on Tuesday from my mate who has found me another horse after spending fourteen months looking. At this stage I'm not sure but I might call it quits again, it all depends."

Hava Bonvoyage will start in race seven at Newcastle on Saturday night. The race will begin at 10pm.

GADSBY HOPES TO BREAK AN INTER HOODOO AT HIS 25TH ATTEMPT

Sydney real estate agent Peter Gadsby has been an owner in the harness racing industry for more than twenty years and while he has won many feature races including the Miracle Mile and Victoria Cup he is still yet to win a heat of the Inter Dominion. Gadsby has had four different horses compete in twenty four heats since 2002 and while he hasn't written his acceptance speech for Saturday night at Newcastle just yet he is confident Smoken Up can break his Inter Dominion hoodoo.

Gadsby is a member of the syndicate that races Smoken Up and after drawing barrier two in heat five this week, the seven year old has been installed a $1.50 favourite for the race by TAB Sportsbet.

"You can never get too confident" Gadsby said.

"I have been lucky enough to race Double Identity, Smooth Crusa, Smoken Up and Our Malabar in a number of Inter Dominion heats over the years and there have been times I thought one of my horses would win but they haven't."

Double Identity raced in nine Inter Dominion heats during his career and finished second on three occasions in Perth in 2004. Smooth Crusa placed five times in the eight heat starts he had, Smoken Up has run two placings from his four starts to date while Our Malabar is unplaced after three attempts in Inter Dominion competition.
"The draw for Smoken Up on Saturday night is perfect and Lance (Justice) is extremely happy with him. He pulled up really well after his third last Friday night at Harold Park and the bigger track should suit him a bit more."

"We are just hoping that everything goes right this week and he qualifies for the final because he will be at his best at Menangle. He has already won a group 1 race there and his run in the Miracle Mile last year was super."

Smoken Up will compete in race four at Newcastle on Saturday night. The race is scheduled to begin at 8:30pm.

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