TASMANIA has given Queensland a third representative in the $2.1mil TAB Eureka after a dramatic day of twists.

A devastating health setback to the Tasracing slot runner and outstanding three-year-old Fighter Command forced him out of the race.

2024 TAB Eureka Barrier Draw is in.

WHILE a gasp went through the room and bookies eased his odds, champion driver Gary Hall Jr wasn’t at all fussed by favourite Never Ending’s wide barrier draw.

TRAILBLAZING driver Kerryn Manning had some quick and very serious thinking to do yesterday.

Manning is one of two female drivers in the TAB Eureka. The other is 26-year-old Ashleigh Delosa, who will take reins on Major Delight.

DEFENDING champion driver Luke McCarthy is the last remaining piece in the $2.1mil TAB Eureka jigsaw puzzle.

The last two of the 10 slots were filled by untapped Victorian four-year-old High Above and emerging Queenslander Sure Thing Captain.

UNTAPPED young pacer High Above has the chance to win the world’s richest harness race at just his 10th start.

AARON Bain Racing and Summit Bloodstock have amplified their promotion of the $2.1mil TAB Eureka by offering a free service to boom North American stallion Confederate.

The 2024 TAB Eureka winner will be adorned with a symbol of elegance and achievement with a custom browband to be awarded to the winning horse of the $2.1M race.  Sophi’s Hobbyshop, all the way from Norway, will be the official browband designer for The World’s Richest Harness Race.

CHAMPION driver Luke McCarthy is in no rush to lock-in which pacer he drives in a quest to successfully defend his TAB Eureka crown. McCarthy, who boasts almost 3000 wins and 79 at Group 1 level, teamed with Emma Stewart’s star mare Encipher to win last year’s inaugural TAB Eureka at Menangle.

THE last two spots in the $2.1mil TAB Eureka will now be decided this weekend. Slot holders Aaron Bain Racing & Summit Bloodstock today confirmed it had “released” The Lost Storm as its runner and were in talks with the Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin stable about a replacement.

TRAINER David Moran can see the irony of his dilemma with TAB Eureka hopeful Captain Hammerhead. Moran somewhat reluctantly ran Captain Hammerhead in last year’s $2.1mil TAB Eureka when he “won” his way into John Singleton’s slot as a three-year-old last year.

In 2006 renowned Victorian breeders Geoff and Helen Head imported the American mare Spirited Storm from North America and the daughter of Artsplace has had a remarkable impact on the breed in Australia in a relatively short period of time.

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.