Blacks A Fake

Blacks A Fake is a brown Standardbred gelding that won the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010 Inter Dominion Championships, making him the only four-time winner of Australasia's premier harness race.

A four-race campaign in Victoria that included a win and two seconds set him up for a tilt at the Inter Dominion series in Hobart during March and April 2006.

Wins in the first and last rounds of heats in the three-round series saw him start a short-priced favourite in the Final, which was run for an Australasian record stake of $1.5 million.

An injury-hampered start to Blacks A Fake's six-year-old season saw him return in October with two minor race wins, which were followed by a second in the Miracle Mile at Harold Park.

Group One wins in the Treuer Memorial and the Victoria Cup preceded an attempt at a second Inter Dominion, for which the Final was held at Globe Derby Park, Adelaide in January.

The Equine Influenza outbreak in 2007 seriously affected the early part of Blacks A Fake’s seven-year-old season, with cancelled races, travel restrictions and the fact he caught the disease all contributing factors.

Blacks A Fake then went on to the Hunter Cup, a race in which Natalie Rasmussen was originally reluctant to start given that the horse would face a 30 metre handicap against a field of many of Australia’s best pacers.

Blacks A Fake’s Hunter Cup win saw him head into the Inter Dominions at Moonee Valley in February and March as favourite.

In front of a large crowd at Moonee Valley, he won the Final and joined Our Sir Vancelot as the only pacers to win three Inter Dominion Championships.

The failure of Auckland Reactor to settle in the parked position impacted on Blacks A Fake, and he was run down by Mr Feelgood and placed second.

These performances were not enough to see him start favourite in the Final, with that honour going to New Zealand Cup and Miracle Mile winner Monkey King.

He ran down the leaders in the straight and held out the finish of Monkey King to record a record-breaking fourth Inter Dominion title.

The early part of Blacks A Fake’s ten-year-old season was highlighted by a third Gold Coast Cup; however, he was overshadowed by Mr Feelgood, who defeated him three times in Brisbane including the Queensland Pacing Championship (albeit with better barrier draws).

The two horses led throughout the trip and finished locked together; however, Smoken Up denied Blacks A Fake his first Miracle Mile by a nose in an Australasian record time of 1:50.3.

Two wins and a third in minor events preceded a victory in the Sunshine Sprint and a second in the Winter Cup, which was his final career start.