Trainer Jack Butler picks up Inter Dominion contender for 2023

By Jordan Gerrans

Quality Kiwi pacer Hot And Treacherous has arrived in the Sunshine State at Jack Butler’s property with one big goal in mind.

The top New Zealand standardbred comes to Queensland with Inter Dominion ambitions for his new trainer and connections.

The 11-time career winner from 40 starts was a regular Group level competitor for his previous trainer Brian Hughes and is expected to be a major player when the 2023 TAB Queensland Constellations Carnival and Inter Dominion rolls around.

The five-year-old gelding landed at Butler’s Logan Village barn on Thursday and the leading local conditioner is looking forward to having Hot And Treacherous as part of his team going forward.

“You are always looking for a good horse and he has proven he is a good horse,” Butler said.

“It is awesome for us but the pressure is now on me to keep him being a good horse.

“We are really excited to have him.”

Hughes and the geldings former connections looked to sell Hot And Treacherous as there was limited racing options for him in NZ.

“It is a shame to see him go,” Hughes said.

“It is too hard with horses like him up here, you often don’t know if their races are going to get off the ground.

"I think eventually, because of that, horses like him are being sold or sent to trainers over there in Australia. 

“We got a fair offer for him so he is gone.”

The popular Inter Dominion series returns to Queensland this year for the first time since the Gold Coast hosted the event back in 2009.

The dates and venue for the 2023 Inter Dominion Championship have recently been unveiled, commencing on Friday, December 1, 2023.

The second and third rounds of qualifiers will follow on December 5 and December 9 respectively, culminating with both pacing and trotting Finals on Saturday, December 16.

The 46-year-old Butler says “ID23” at Albion Park is most certainly the major focus with his new stable acquisition.

“The winter carnival and Inter Dominion have to be on the radar,” Butler said.

“That is the reason behind buying him, that is the main goal, the Inter Dominion.

“He will have some bloody good horses to tackle – do not worry about that – but the series is on our back door step and that is what sold him to us.

“That will be his main goal, for sure.”

The Butler stable is certainly one on the climb in the Sunshine State.

They picked up the Horse of the Year honour two seasons ago with Group 1-winning mare Jeradas Delight before Butler was crowned as the leading conditioner in Queensland at the most recent harness awards.

He claimed his first-ever Queensland trainers premiership with 163 wins after knocking on the door of grabbing the title in recent campaigns.

It is a feather in Butler’s cap to pick up a standardbred of this quality, after Hot And Treacherous finished second to Spankem in the Taylor Mile of 2022 as well as claiming the Group 2 Cambridge Flying Mile.

“We have been here in Queensland eight years now and each year it has slightly got better and better for us,” Butler said.

“Obviously last year was our best year yet and we are getting new clients as well, which really helps.

“Hopefully we can keep going forward.”

The classy Kiwi will have a few days to settle in at Butler’s stable and will soon be at the Queensland trials.

He is returning from a spell and Hughes noted to Butler that he was nearing a return to the trials in NZ if he had not been sold.

“A mate of mine suggested we make an offer for Hot And Treacherous as they could not get runs for him in New Zealand,” Butler said.

“That is how it started, we threw an offer in and went back and forth a little bit but we worked out a deal and we went from there.

“The people who bought him are a new client for the stable, which is great, as well.”