As any breeder will tell you – it is damned hard to breed a winner as well as being a long drawn-out process and invariably filled with disappointment and an inordinate amount of time and money.

There is an old adage in the racing of horses that a good colt will always beat a good filly. For the time being and for the sake of the argument we will ignore the deeds of Black Caviar and Winx in the thoroughbred world.

Earlier this year the Gibson family from Young in New South Wales were over the moon when the Bathurst Harness Racing Club announced the Gibson Family as Honourees for the 2024 Bathurst Gold Crown Carnival.

In March 1988 owner/breeder Steve Johnson recorded his first ever winner when the mare Cap Sensitive won at Williams in the Great Southern region of Western Australia for trainer/driver Frank Ellis.

Pedigree enthusiasts like to talk about hot crosses in pedigrees and have done so for decades. In recent years the cross of Bettors Delight over a Christian Cullen mare has been seen as the hottest cross in the Southern Hemisphere but it is being chased down as Art Major impacts the figures when he is put over a Bettors Delight mare.

Fighter Command may be the baby of the 2024 Eureka field both in age and experience as the 3yo has had just 11 starts but he has recorded eight wins in those 11 starts including a last start win in the $80,000 The Beautide at Elwick on August 3.

Queensland breeder Kevin Seymour has been breeding from his imported New Zealand mare Call Girl and her descendants for nigh on 43 years and they have provided Seymour with a host of quality winners.

THE world’s richest harness race has another serious X factor. Recent Queensland Derby runner-up Bay Of Biscay today became the second confirmed three-year-old starter in the $2.1mil TAB Eureka at Menangle on September 7.

A PACK of exciting Queensland horses will swarm on Menangle to chase an 11^th hour slot in the $2.1mil TAB Eureka. For Real Life, Sure Thing Captain, Wisper A Secret and Regazzo Di Tilly are all expected to tackle Saturday week’s Racenet Discovery Stakes at Menangle.

The Racenet Discovery will decide TAB’s runner in World's Richest Harness Race

Trainer-driver Trent Dawson is pleading for the remaining TAB Eureka slot holders to tune-in to Albion Park on Saturday night. A dreadfully timed hoof abscess and the resultant impact on Dawson’s classy four-year-old For Real Life not only ruined his major Queensland winter targets, but also cruelled his chance to press for a TAB Eureka slot.

STAR mare Major Delight will get the chance to try and match what her former stablemate Encipher did last year and win the world’s richest harness racing. The Emma Stewart-trained Major Delight, who boasts 21 wins from just 26 starts, became the second confirmed mare in this year’s $2.1mil TAB Eureka when high-profile owners Danny and Jo Zavitsanos through their “Team Zav” slot.

LONG-TIME TAB Eureka favourite Frankie Ferocious is out of the $2.1mil feature.

OUTSPOKEN trainer Kevin Pizzuto knows D-Day is nearing. Any hopes of snatching a late slot in the world’s richest race, the $2.1mil TAB Eureka, will rely on his young stable star Dougs Platter making a statement at Menangle on Saturday night.

THE world's richest race has a real X-factor.

Big, raw and almost goofy three-year-old Fighter Command blazed his way in the $2.1 million TAB Eureka with a stunning win in Saturday night's (Saturday) $80,000 The Beautide in Hobart.

With driver Greg Sugars "cuddling" him to the line, Fighter Command cruised home by 16.1m and smashed the track record.

TOP Tassie trainer Todd Rattray would love history to repeat itself. Rattray had “the experience of a lifetime” when he won last year’s $80,000 The Beautide in Hobart with stable star Magician and went on to run slashing fourth in the world’s richest harness race, the $2.1mil TAB Eureka.

Adam Hamilton interviews tas racing expert Duncan Dornauf as the countdown continues to the world’s richest harness race. Dornauf shares exciting insights into The Beautide, where the winner will run in the $2.1m race in Tas Racing’s slot.

TRAINERS Shannon Price and David Moran have joined the $2.1mil TAB Eureka campaigning process for slots with their classy pacers Sure Thing Captain and Captain Hammerhead. It is something we will see a lot more of in coming weeks with the frantic drive to the line for the remaining slots in the race.

ONE-TIME favourite Frankie Ferocious is primed shake-up TAB Eureka betting markets once again at Albion Park on Saturday night. The Chariots Of Fire winner has endured a torrid Queensland Constellations campaign so far, but trainer Jason Grimson expects him to turn it around in the $53,040 Group 3 4YO Championship (2138m).

THE stage is set for history to repeat itself in the $2.1mil TAB Eureka. Last year’s inaugural running of the world’s richest race was won by a four-year-old mare (Encipher) and driven by Luke McCarthy. Today’s confirmation Eye Keep Smiling will race in Wayne Loader’s TAB Eureka slot gives the race great synergy.