Mark Purdon is favourite to win a third successive Inter Dominion pacing final.
Purdon has won the past two finals on Smolda (2016) and Lazarus (last year) and will take the reins on TAB’s $2.90 favourite Spankem in Saturday night’s $500,000 final at Tabcorp Park Melton.

Amazingly, Spankem was only confirmed as a starter in the series three days before cut-off and was $21 for the final before the opening round of heats.

Purdon’s partner, Natalie Rasmussen, has driven Spankem and stablemate Cruz Bromac through the heats, but opted to partner the latter in the final because of the affinity she has developed with him over the past couple of months.

“I’m am five from five on Cruz Bromac,” she said. “I think Spankem could actually be our best hope, but Mark’s driven him a lot and I think this is the best for both horses.”

Cruz Bromac was $3.60 favourite before Monday morning’s barrier draw, but has eased to $4.50 since drawing the back row (gate nine).

Rasmussen is also out to protect a stunning Inter Dominion driving record with four wins and two seconds from her only six drives — all on former champion pacer Blacks A Fake.

It’s a different story for champion local driver Gavin Lang, who hopes Kiwi pacer Im Pats Delight can give him his first Inter Dominion pacing final win from 11 tries.

“He’s getting better and better as the series goes on and the draw looks good. He’s right in it now,” Lang said.

TAB slashed Im Pats Delight’s final odds from $7.50 to $4.50 after he drew ideally in gate three.

The other big firmer has been WA raider Galactic Star, in from $15 to $6 after drawing the pole. He’ll be driven by Ryan Warwick.

Long-time favourite Tiger Tara faces a big challenge from an outside front row (gate seven) and eased from $4.50 to $7.50.

In other driving news, Luke McCarthy will drive Mach Doro ($51, gate four), while local freelancer John Caldow has landed the drive on Cash N Flow ($201, gate 13).

Driver Bec Bartley was pleased with an inside back row draw (gate eight) for leading local hope San Carlo, who is a solid $9 shot.

In the trotting final, local star Tornado Valley has already firmed from $1.90 to $1.70 despite drawing wide on the front row (gate six).

His major rival, classy Kiwi Speeding Spur, drew perfectly in gate one and firmed from $3.50 pre-draw to $3.10 with TAB.